June long weekend, aka Queen's birthday was spent up at Gold Coast Queensland. Not exactly what I had in mind but overall a pleasant long weekend. I've been up at Gold coast when I was a kid and all I could remember was theme parks. This time, slightly different activities.
Day 1: Bryon Bay, this is actually in New South Wales and is the most Eastern point of Australia. Bryon is many of my friends' favorite town, partly because it's super laid back and relaxed. It's only 1.5 hour from Gold coast so I thought I'd check it out. There's a great little hike up to the lighthouse and also the most Eastern point. Once up to the lighthouse, I could spot dolphins in the sea everywhere. The beaches were fantastic, although it's a bit cold to go in.
The most Eastern point of Australia
Bryon Bay lighthouse
lucky shot!
Bryon Bay beachesDay 2 was supposed to be kayaking with dolphins, unfortunately no spotting of dolphins but the kayaking was a nice exercise and we did spot some swamp wallabies on South Stradbroke Island.
Day 3, whale watching and tall ship cruise. For those who are prone to seasickness, this is NOT an activity to embark on. I felt so bad with all the people who were throwing up and not being able to enjoy spotting the whales, why pay $100 for the joy of throwing up?? However sitting in the front of the boat was like riding a little rollercoaster and once we are out in open sea, we were able to see 5 whales going around. Unfortunately I don't have the super long lens or a SLR camera, so after going through all my attempts of pictures, these were the best 2.
Day 3, whale watching and tall ship cruise. For those who are prone to seasickness, this is NOT an activity to embark on. I felt so bad with all the people who were throwing up and not being able to enjoy spotting the whales, why pay $100 for the joy of throwing up?? However sitting in the front of the boat was like riding a little rollercoaster and once we are out in open sea, we were able to see 5 whales going around. Unfortunately I don't have the super long lens or a SLR camera, so after going through all my attempts of pictures, these were the best 2.
best shot with the fin and Gold coast skyline
Whale tailThe afternoon was spent on the tall ship cruise to South Stradbroke Island and going around the island to check out the sand dunes. I have learnt my lesson, sandboarding = weeks of getting sand out of clothes which means that I try not to participate unless I like to do laundry. However it is still a pleasant cold walk up and down the beach. The tall ship brought us back to mainland and we got the treat of the skipper feeding the eagles.
Day 4: Hinterland trip to Springbrook, another World Heritage site in Australia. The tour included hiking through the rainforest there and checking out the glow worm caves and also visiting a fruit farm that has all different tropical fruits for tasting. Overall a good day except for the rain that came down in the afternoon, rain makes hiking semi-unpleasant.
glow worm cave
Pademelon in the wild, yet another Australian marsupial!
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