G'day Vibes Only: Adventures in Australia
Apr 16
32 min read
Updated: Jul 19
When I think of Australia, I think of kangaroos, Steve Irwin, and the Sydney Opera House. After planning a trip to New Zealand, I knew it would make sense to visit Australia too. I wanted to take advantage of the time I had and see both countries back to back. Who knows when I'll be back on this side of the world, right? Before this trip, I really did not know much about Australia, and now I realize there is so much more to see there than just kangaroos. I got to experience a few different areas of the country and learn about their history, culture, and wildlife during my time.
Koalas, Kangaroos & Crocodiles, Oh My!
My flight to Brisbane from Queenstown, NZ was pleasant and smooth. I arrived in Brisbane and took the train right from the airport to a station downtown. It was easy to purchase tickets and the train departs from the airport every twenty minutes or so. I got off the train and walked with all my luggage about a mile to my accommodation. After spending the last three weeks in hostels, I decided to splurge on a hotel room for myself to transition into my time in Australia. I stayed three nights at Royal on the Park, which is across the street from the Botanic Gardens and close to the river. This hotel had a delicious buffet breakfast, a pool & hot tub, and was a great location near the water. It was so nice to have a hotel room all to myself and my own bathroom!
The next day I went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. They mainly operate as a refuge for injured, sick and orphaned koalas. I booked my tickets on Viator which included a 1.5 hour cruise each way on the Brisbane River. The dock was about a ten minute walk from my hotel, very easy to find, and the crew was nice and welcoming! While on board we learned about the neighborhoods of Brisbane, the boat, and saw some of the historic homes. It was a pleasant ride and we had great weather. The river is a tidal river so it is not too deep and people call it the "Brown Snake" because it winds back and forth through the land. Once we arrived we had to walk up a few flights of stairs along a short path to get to the sanctuary. I was thinking there would be one or two koalas to see and I was surprised to see koalas everywhere I looked. I think they had over 100 koalas in total. Most of the koalas I saw were asleep or eating eucalyptus leaves. A few of them were awake and moving around, and I even heard one make noises. I am not sure what I thought a koala would sound like, but it is not what I was expecting. The grunting noises it made were so low and it sounded very scary! Interesting facts I learned about koalas:
Koalas sleep up to 20 hours a day and have special pads on their hind legs to help them sit on branches
The fur on their backside has patterns which are unique to each koala
Babies are the size of a jellybean when they are born and stay in moms pouch for about one year
Eucalyptus leaves are toxic with low nutrition but koalas evolved to have a special digestive system and slow metabolism which allows them to eat the plant.
The word koala means "no drink" or "no water" in the indigenous language. They do not need to drink water because they get all their water from the eucalyptus leaves
Lone Pine is also home to other animals like Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, a platypus, wallabies, reptiles, bats, dingoes, emus and various other birds. One of the sections is the nocturnal section, so you may not see any animals in that section of the sanctuary. You could also feed and pet the kangaroos but I don't really love that idea, so I enjoyed viewing them from a distance. To do so, you enter a large fenced in area where the kangaroos, wallabies, and emus roam around you. You just walk right up to them with food and hold your hand out for them. There are also a ton of lizards wandering around the sanctuary so you might see them on the pathways or around the lunch areas. I watched one lizard enjoy a grape that someone's kid had dropped. For lunch I got a chicken caesar wrap, bought myself a t-shirt and enjoyed a frozen coca cola. We met the boat at the end of our allotted time and headed back to Brisbane. For dinner tonight I chose a restaurant close to my hotel, Olive and Angelo. I ordered a pizza to go and ate it while watching a movie in bed. It felt luxorious. The restaurant did have a beautiful outdoor seating area as well. The veggie pizza was perfect with a nice crisp crust and I had enough to save for dinner the next day.
My next day in Brisbane I went to the Australia Zoo! I found a tour run by a sweet older couple on Viator, and they picked me up right outside my hotel at 7:30 AM. On our journey we passed the Glass Mountains which are formed from volcanic rock. The Aboriginal legend is that these mountains were once living humans but they turned into stone. Our driver explained that the two tallest mountains represent the father and mother and the smaller ones represent their children. We arrived at the zoo around 9 AM and the first thing we did was tour the animal hospital on site. This is where a lot of their amazing work for animals takes place. We then made our way into the zoo, our guides gave us a map and tips for the best spots and we were sent off to explore! We had about five hours which was plenty of time. The zoo is really big, so there are shuttles that can take you from one section to another which was very helpful. Our driver suggested working our way on foot toward the Africa exhibit and then taking the shuttle back to the entrance of the zoo to catch the Crocodile Show.
I saw so many animals including turtles, snakes, echidnas, kangaroos, birds, giraffes, dingoes, tigers, elephants, rhinos, zebras, meerkats, lemurs, and of course crocodiles! One of my favorites was the large cassowary which reminded me of Kevin from the Pixar movie Up. The zoo does various animal talks throughout the day, and I listened to the Tiger talk which was very interesting. They brought out one of their tigers who was blind so he used his sense of smell to find the food around the exhibit. If you come to this zoo, don't miss the show at 1:30 in the Crocoseum! Make sure to sit in a shady spot because it can get really hot in the stadium, and it poured rain during our show. Luckily I had my rain jacket. It was amazing watching the zoo staff work with various animals and feed a crocodile inches from their face! Sometimes the Irwin family will make an appearance too. Overall I am really glad I went to the zoo. Like most people my age, I absolutely idolized Steve Irwin and watched him on T.V., so I was happy to see his legacy and love for animals is continuing. I know not everyone loves zoos, but it seems like this one is really doing a lot of great things for conservation. Once we got back to the hotel, I took a shower to cool off and decided to walk around the botanical gardens to end the night. The gardens were beautiful, full of color with white Ibis birds wandering all over! I ate my leftover pizza for dinner and took a relaxing bath in my hotel room before crawling into bed.
Going Under Down Under
For the next part of my journey I wanted to check out Tasmania, or as the Australians call it, Tassie. My flight from Brisbane to Hobart was quick and I arrived just after noon. Many of the domestic flights in Australia have very strict weight limits (7 kg) for carry on bags, so I ended up having to check a bag for this flight. This happened a few more times, so if you are going to travel in Australia, be prepared to check a bag or travel very very light! Once we landed, I hopped on a Sky Bus from the airport and checked into my hotel for the night, Travelodge Hotel. Australia also has Uber and taxis, but for the most part public transportation is cheaper. After dropping my bags I walked around Hobart. This area is well known for seafood so I went to get some crab cakes and soup at Mure's Lower Deck. The portion sizes here were huge and my bowl of soup was enough for three people. I tried but could not finish it all! There are a variety of restaurants down by the water, so you should be able to find something you like. There are even some food boats (like a food truck) that are floating on the water. I went back to my hotel, watched some Australian Idol and fell asleep feeling very full and excited for the next day. For Tasmania I decided to book a 5 day guided tour through Under Down Under Tours. This included all accommodation, transport, and entrance into places like Cradle Mountain National Park. I booked the shared room option and no meals were included so I needed to prepare or purchase my own breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Group trips are my favorite way to travel because even though you are solo, you can meet new people and share in the adventure!
In the morning I walked down to the pick up point for the start of the tour. Our bus pulled up and we met Keygan who would be our guide and driver for the next five days! Keygan was a walking and talking encyclopedia of Australia and he knew so much about the animals, plants and history. We all agreed that he needs to start a podcast. Keygan if you are reading this, we are still waiting patiently for the podcast to drop! Our first stop was a walk to Russell Falls where we saw the tallest trees I've seen since I went to Redwoods as a kid. The trees are eucalyptus trees and some are over 100 meters tall! When we got to Russell Falls it was absolutely stunning. We were able to see the falls from the top and the bottom. We also got to see a pademelon, which is a small kangaroo mouse-like creature.
We then stopped at Lake St. Clair and walked around for a bit. We saw some hikers completing the 40 mile Overland Trail, which is a 6-day hike. We would later do part of this trail at Cradle Mountain. I treated myself to an ice cream cone here. At this point we all introduced ourselves. Our group represented many countries including Australia, Sweden, Argentina, Canada, the U.S., the Netherlands, Italy, the U.K., France, Poland, and Japan! We continued driving and made another stop at Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park to see another waterfall, Nelson Falls. Many of the walks on this trip were on the list of 60 great short walks in Tasmania which are marked with an orange "W" and a footprint symbol. We also stopped at the Iron Blow lookout where we saw a large hole that used to be a copper mine.
On this trip we learned quite a bit about the mining industry in Australia, which I did not really know about beforehand. They still export zinc, lead, gold and tin. Many of the small towns that we drove through in Tasmania began as mining towns. We passed by the most polluted river in Australia, the Queen River, which is nicknamed "Pumpkin Soup." It is biologically dead and has been contaminated with runoff from the mines. We all collectively gasped when we saw how orange it was, and it really did look like pumpkin soup! Here are some facts I've learned about Tasmania:
Tasmania was originally called Van Diemen's Land, but was then renamed after Abel Tasman
40% of the land in Tasmania is protected
The population is about 600,000 people
Known for oysters, poppies for the opium, and growing apples (nicknamed "Apple Isle").
Speaking of poppies, Keygan told us that in January a field of poppies was stolen. The field was about 10 tennis courts large...which is a lot of opium. No one really knows how it happened without anyone noticing.
MONA museum was created by David Walsh who won a ton of money gambling. He is known to be quirky and the museum is too. We did not visit, but it is a popular spot for tourists.
You can find many different species of pine trees in Tasmania - Huon pine, Pencil pine, King Billy pine
Salmon farming industry here is not great and has a lot of problems! Don't buy salmon here.
For our first two nights, we stayed in the town of Strahan at the Backpackers Hostel and our hall was Harry Potter themed! We were in the Voldermort room. They had a mix of small cabins and dorm rooms, plus there was a shared kitchen and bathroom. It is rumored that a platypus lives in the woods out back too, but I did not see him. I shared a room with three other girls, Nienke, Veronika and Minisha! We ended up bunking together for the whole trip. For dinner I made soup and then we headed to the beach with a few others to watch the sunset at Ocean Beach. This was one of the best sunsets I've ever seen and we saw a wallaby! We also learned that Tasmania has the world's cleanest air. So if you visit make sure to breathe it all in! Tonight was also a total lunar eclipse but I was too tired to try and stay up to see it. I did catch a little glimpse of it when I got up for the bathroom.
Montezuma Falls, Sand Dunes & Pirates
This morning a few people in our group went on a river cruise and the others did a hike to Montezuma Falls, another one of the great walks of Tasmania. I elected for the waterfall hike which was about a three hour hike. This hike was not too difficult because it was on an old railway so for the most part we walked along a flat trail. There was also a spot to enter an old mining tunnel which was cool.
Once we got to the end of the hike we reached the viewing area for the waterfall. The waterfall was really tall, 104 meters! It looked like it was pouring out of the clouds. At the end of the hike there was a big swing bridge you could walk across too. After our hike we ate lunch and made our way to the Henty Sand Dunes! The dunes are very tall, about 30 meters! I tried to run up them and I was quickly humbled and out of breath. At the top you could see the ocean and Keygan taught us a fun game called French cricket. We all took turns jumping off the dunes and watched some kids go sand surfing on boogie boards. We stopped to pick up the people that went on the river cruise and got to try some famous Tasmanian honey from leatherwood trees in the visitor center.
Tonight several of us attended a play called "The Ship that Never Was." This is a local play in Strahan that runs from Sept-May every night at 5:30, since 1994! The true story is about how 10 convicts built a ship and escaped from Sarah Island in 1834. The play is full of funny jokes and silly puns. While there are about 15 characters in the story, the play is done by just two actors. You are probably wondering how that is possible. They pull people up from the audience to participate, whether you volunteer or not. I was chosen to play the "pussycat" and Nienke was chosen to play Billy the hero! Luckily all I had to do was hiss and pretend to be a cat. Easy! We all had a lot of fun and laughed quite a bit. I highly recommend going to see it if you are in the area and need a laugh. I think it was $20. After the play we went back to our hostel and had some dinner. I ate a very questionable bag of neon yellow mac and cheese and a red pepper. Balance.
Cradle Mountain & Wombats
This morning was an early start at 6:45 AM! We stopped at the Platypus Cafe for breakfast. I grabbed a sandwich for lunch too. We made our way to Cradle Mountain National Park! Some of the hiking areas have restrictions about vehicles and offer a shuttle service, so be sure to check before you visit. We had to detach our trailer from the bus in order to enter. Keygan told us about the three different hike options and I decided to do the more challenging hike to Marion's Lookout. It was about 3-4 miles with some steep sections. We set off on our hike and it was challenging but not the most difficult hike I've ever done. At the end there are some chains that help you climb the last section to get to the top. It was really windy and chilly on this day so I was glad I wore layers. Keygan pointed out some jumping ants and trigger plants on the way too. The view of Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake made the challenging hike worth it! It is called Cradle Mountain because it resembles a miner's cradle.
On the way down we saw some small waterfalls and then reached the boardwalk where we saw a ton of wallabies! If you are not interested in doing the whole hike, you can drive to the end of the boardwalk and take a stroll on the boardwalk from there. We also did see an echidna. I learned that wombats have square poop due to the shape of their intestines. This allows them to poop on rocks and mark their territory without the poop rolling off! Wow, imagine if humans did that? 🤣 We also saw a mom and baby wombat which made me smile. Wombats also have hard cartilage on their backsides for protection from predators.
After our hike we stopped in a town called Sheffield which is famous for murals. My favorite was the one with Albert Einstein on it. I got an ice cream cone here and really enjoyed the Jamaican coffee flavor. Tonight we stayed at the Tudor Hotel. The girls and I all shared a room that had two bedrooms and a kitchen. We also had a laundry machine in our room so we all were able to do laundry. For dinner we made pizza, salad, and split a melon for dessert. On our tour we also learned a lot about the history of Australia and Tasmania, which sadly is full of violence and death. Here are some of the things Keygan shared with us:
It is estimated that Aboriginal people had lived in Australia/Tasmania for 65,000 years and survived the Ice Age. The people that lived in Tasmania are called the Palawa.
Tasmania was colonized by the British in 1803. It was colonized because the British wanted to claim it before the French did. Tasmania was used as a British prison and between 1803 - 1853 and over 70,000 convicts were sent here.
After colonization, the Aboriginal population in Tasmania was decimated due to violence, removal of the people, forced marriages, disease and disputes over stolen land. This all happened within only a few decades. By 1847, only 47 people of sole descent remained.
William Lanne also known as "King Billy" was one of the last full blooded Aboriginal men. When he died in 1869, his body was stolen, cut up, and sold around the world to be studied and displayed in museums. It took over a hundred years for his body to be returned to Tasmania.
Truganini was the last surviving Aboriginal woman. When she died in 1876, her body was also wrongfully exhumed and displayed. Her ashes were finally scattered on Bruny Island in 1976, 100 years after her death.
The language of the Aboriginal people is not well studied or understood. Since it was a spoken language, when the Aboriginal people were killed it died with them. In Australia there were likely over 250 different tribes each with different languages. What was left of the languages in Tasmania was put together into one collective language which is called Palawa kani.
The Bay of Fires
This morning began with a short walk along Cataract Gorge. This walk included a long swing bridge and once you cross it you end up in a nice park. We walked around the park and saw peacocks, pademelons and wallabies! The peacocks were following us and had babies with them. There was also a giant hamster wheel you could run in and a few of us gave it a go. It is much harder than it looks! We made a quick stop in St. Helens for food and I treated myself to a big cookie and a chocolate milkshake.
Next up was the Bay of Fires. This area was one of my favorite places on our tour. The beaches were breathtaking and the rocks had red lichen growing on them which contrasted with the bright blue water. The name Bay of Fires comes from a British navigator Tobias Furneaux who spotted several fires from tribes living along the coastline while exploring the area. The particular beach we stopped at was called Cosy Corner. Veronika, Keygan and I swam out to a big rock covered in barnacles! The water was really cold but it felt so good and I am so happy we had a sunny day to enjoy the beach. Back in the bus we all tried "musk-stix" candy which I thought was gross. We stopped at another beach to look for seashells and then made our way to our final accommodation for the night, Bicheno Backpackers. We were the only people staying here so we got the whole place to ourselves. There were dorm rooms with bunk beds and a shared kitchen. Tonight we walked down to Long Boat Tavern and ate our last dinner together as a group. I got a beef Guinness pie which was delicious.
Wineglass Bay
Our last day in Tasmania! We started our morning in the Freycinet Peninsula to check out Wineglass Bay. It is named Wineglass Bay because whalers used to kill whales in this bay and it would turn the water red, like wine. 🍷 We learned Hobart was one of the major hubs in Australia for whaling in the 1800's, similar to Nantucket or New Bedford in the U.S. Veronika and I decided to hike past the Wineglass Bay lookout and then down a bunch of stairs to get onto the beach. You could also hike up Mount Amos to get an even better view of Wineglass Bay, but we had a time limit and I was worried I would be too slow! Overall the walk to the beach was not that difficult, but we did stop to catch our breath a few times on the steps.
We then headed to the Cape Tourville Lighthouse and did another short walk. The lighthouse walk had measurements of different whale species along the pathway which was cool. I laid down and tried to stretch out to be an elephant seal but I failed. Back in the bus we learned a bit about the Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, which went extinct in 1936. They were carnivorous marsupials that had stripes. It had a dog-like body but was more closely related to a kangaroo. Keygan told us that scientists are working on a plan to try and bring them back ... haven't we all watched Jurassic Park? We made our way back to Hobart and said our goodbyes. There was a seafood festival happening down by the water and I had a really good fish chowder with a toasted piece of sourdough. I enjoyed some live music while I ate the chowder. I took a Sky Bus which I thought would get me to my hotel, but the bus driver would only drop me off at the airport. Ugh. I walked to the hotel which was about a twenty minute walk with all my luggage. I made it just before it started to rain! My flight was the next morning so I stayed at the Mantra Airport Hotel, and it was an ok stay, but I thought it would have been closer to the airport! The hotel was also under construction so there was no real front desk area.
On the Rocks in Sydney
In the morning I made my way to the Hobart airport and ran into the family from Argentina that was on my tour! We happened to be on the same flight to Sydney. While we were going through security an alarm at the airport went off that said "An incident has been detected, prepare to evacuate!" We never had to evacuate but everything stopped for about twenty minutes. It was a little scary but no one seemed to be too concerned. The alarm eventually was turned off and we got through security. I grabbed a breakfast burrito and a juice before the flight. We landed in Sydney a couple hours later and I was hoping to catch a train downtown but the trains were closed due to construction. I ended up taking a bus to Wynyard Station and then walked to my hotel. For my two nights in Sydney I wanted to stay near the water so I chose the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel. This is the oldest hotel in Sydney so it had a lot of history behind it and was in a nice location. Overall I really enjoyed this hotel. I had a cute little room and the hotel was in the same building as the brewery so it was easy to grab a quick bite to eat. I couldn't check in quite yet so I dropped my bags and went out to explore. The area I stayed in was called "The Rocks," and on weekends they run the Rocks Market which is a collection of local vendors that set up in the streets. Luckily I was there on a Sunday so I could enjoy the market. They sell a variety of food, drinks, clothes, jewelry, trinkets and souvenirs! I ended up getting a really good piece of veggie focaccia bread and a tropical pressed juice. The juice was so refreshing I wanted to get a second one! I went back to my hotel, showered, and then walked to the Sydney Botanic Gardens and the Opera House.
The next day I got up early because I wanted to go to Manly Beach. To get there you can get on a ferry near the Opera House. The ferry ride was only about ten minutes and very enjoyable. We got a great view of the Opera House from the water. Once you arrive in Manly, the beach is a quick walk down a street lined with gift shops and restaurants. I elected for eggs benedict at one of the hotels by the water. After breakfast, I started my walk down Manly Beach and watched people surfing which was very entertaining. It was a little rainy today which was a bummer but it was still enjoyable. At one end on Manly Beach there is a secret wormhole tunnel that you can walk to! I made it my mission to find the wormhole and luckily I was able to find it! It was not easy, you had to walk over a bunch of rocks. My recommendation is to try and go at low tide because at high tide the water can splash up onto the rocks. The tunnel is manmade but it almost looks like a natural tunnel. The view was absolutely worth it! I passed a few other people who were looking for it so I was nice and pointed them in the right direction. ☺️
I got the ferry back to Sydney and got ready for my next adventure, the Sydney Bridge Climb! If you are afraid of heights I would not recommend this activity. I optimistically went for the more expensive sunset climb, but it was raining for most of our climb so the sunset was not really visible 🤣. However, the experience was still really amazing and I am so glad I did it! Upon arrival you meet your guide, do a quick safety briefing and then you get into your gear. The gear includes a jump suit, harness, and if needed rain pants and a rain jacket (we needed both). You also get breathalyzed to make sure you are not intoxicated while climbing the bridge. Smart! They also make sure that you have eaten something in the last few hours. You are not allowed to have any loose items so you cannot bring your phone, have anything in your pockets, or wear a watch. They provide changing rooms and lockers for all your things. If you are wearing sunglasses or a hat these must be attached to you with little cords that are connected to your jumpsuit. This is all to prevent anything falling off the bridge and onto the road below. You also wear a headset so you can hear the guide talking to you on the bridge. We all practiced using our attachment cables and climbing up some practice ladders. This whole getting ready process takes about an hour. Once all that is done you finally make your way to the bridge through a tunnel and begin your climb. When you start, you attach to the bridge and do not have to detach until you are all the way back in the building. Along the walk, our guide shared information about the history of the bridge and he made lots of funny jokes along the way. It was opened in 1932 and took about eight years to build. Over 4 million people have completed the bridge climb including several celebrities! The hardest part of the climb was the ladders to get up to the top of the bridge. They were very narrow, steep and we had to go one at a time. Walking along the top of the bridge was not that scary, you really couldn't see the road below you so it didn't feel like you were up that high. We stopped at a few different points to take pictures which you can purchase after your tour. We finally made it to the top and enjoyed the view for a few minutes. We then crossed over the bridge and made our descent back down. You also get a Sydney Bridge Climb hat included in your tour! By this time it was really late so for dinner I grabbed some instant noodles from a convenience store and went to bed. On my walk back I also saw some huge bats! I thought they were owls at first. Although my time in Sydney was short I feel like I made the most of it and was happy with the activities I chose.
West is Best
For my final week down under I went to the West Coast! My friend Annie who lives in Australia suggested the West Coast to snorkel and scuba dive instead of going to the Great Barrier Reef. She mentioned that the GBR takes a longer time to get to while the West Coast of Australia has reefs right off shore. To get there, I had to first fly from Sydney to Perth, and then Perth to Exmouth. Many people do a road trip between Perth and Exmouth, but I wanted to optimize my time in Exmouth and driving all that way alone would have been challenging, especially since they drive on the left! My flight from Sydney to Perth was about five hours and I did catch some sleep on this flight. My Air B & B tonight was close to the airport and it was the perfect little place to stay between flights. They also provided free cereal which was a treat. After arriving I had a few hours in Perth so I decided to check out Cottesloe Beach. To get there I took an Uber downtown and a train to Cottesloe, then walked to the beach. The beach was really nice and so many people had come to watch the sunset! I grabbed some fish tacos for dinner and a enjoyed a beer. It was really warm here! Many people were surfing or taking lessons. There was also a sculpture event happening so I got to see some interesting art along the beach. On my way back to the train I saw so many white cockatoos flying around.
I got some gelato, caught the train back to Perth, and then got an Uber home. In the morning I checked out and headed to the airport. My flight was short today, and we were served a yummy quiche on the plane which was a nice surprise. Sadly, about halfway into our flight our pilots announced that we had a mechanical issue and had to head back to Perth. The landing was a bit rough and this ended up turning into a 6 hour delay! We got meal vouchers so I ordered butter chicken and bought the book Project Hail Mary. This book totally sucked me in and helped the time go by fast. We finally got back on the plane (a different one), and made our way to Exmouth. I sat next to a marine biologist who was flying up to Exmouth to examine a surfboard that was involved in a shark attack! 🦈 When we landed I saw him in the parking lot taking samples of the board which had a huge bite mark! Luckily that did not scare me from all the ocean activities I had planned. I picked up my rental car and drove about 20 miles to my Air B and B for the next five nights. It was strange driving on the left side of the road but it was not too hard. I thought the more challenging part was using the directionals vs. windshield wipers. My guesthouse for the next five days had a kitchenette, laundry, and a nice outdoor space! It was close to town and perfect for my needs. Driving in Exmouth you have to watch out for wildlife on the road, I spotted several huge emus walking around the neighborhoods.
Scuba Diving in Ningaloo
My first day I woke up at the crack of dawn to drive to Coral Bay to go scuba diving. From Exmouth it was about an hour and a half drive. The Ningaloo Reef is a fringing reef known for whale sharks, manta rays and sea turtles. According to National Geographic, it is one of the world's best places to scuba dive! On my drive down I passed all of these huge rocks, and I later found out they were termite mounds. I was wondering why they all looked exactly the same. 🤣
Today I would be doing a full day of diving (2 dives) and snorkeling with Ningaloo Reef Dive. They include all your gear plus a wetsuit, two air tanks, snacks and lunch! You can purchase photos after the tour if you would like. I met my dive buddy, Kat, who was celebrating her 44th birthday! She was so much fun to dive with and we had a great day. We got fitted for wetsuits, fins, masks, and then took a quick bus ride to the boat and loaded up. On the boat we met our dive guide Grace and photographer Steph. We went over safety, checked our gear, and headed in for our first dive of the day! The first dive site was called Asho's Gap. It had a maximum depth of about 8 meters, with tons of coral everywhere. We saw so many fish, jellies, corals, an octopus, and reef sharks! This spot is known for being a cleaning station for the sharks, they come here to get their teeth cleaned by other fish! They swim with their mouth open and lean backwards to let the fish in between their teeth. 😬 Our guide told us the sharks here can get spooked easily because they are in such a vulnerable position so we had to be careful to stay still and not swim over them. I was not nervous near the sharks at all and it was really cool to see them with their mouths open like that.
After our first dive we had a snack and started looking for manta rays to snorkel with. The dive company has a spotter plane that looks for manta rays and reports the location to the boat. The first one they spotted turned out to be a rock! We all had a good laugh. A bit later we got the word that they had found another ray (not a rock this time) so we jumped in the water to snorkel with it. After you get in the water you try and line up behind the ray and swim along with it. The manta ray was HUGE! It stayed close to the bottom but we got a really good view of it. Manta rays are dark on their backsides and have white on their undersides. The one we saw was a rare kind that was all black, called a Melanistic Manta Ray. They only make up about 10% of the population of manta rays! We snorkeled with it a couple times and then had a lovely lunch of sandwiches, veggies, and rice!
We made our way to our second dive site called the Blue Maze. This site was even more shallow, about 5 meters on average. We did not even need to do a safety stop at the end because it was so shallow. This dive site has lots of large coral structures that you can swim around. The structures are close together so it creates small tunnels and it feels almost like a maze. We saw a few pufferfish here, and a sea turtle that swam right up to us which was very exciting! I took my Go Pro with me this time and took some videos. It was overall an amazing day! If you are a scuba diver, you should 100% add Ningaloo to your list. The amount of creatures we saw was unbelievable. When we returned to land I took a walk down to the Coral Bay Shark Nursery which was a long and hot walk through the sand dunes, but I did get to see a few baby sharks and a few stingrays! I made my way back to my air b & b and cooked up some spaghetti for dinner and went to bed.
Baby Turtles Everywhere
Today I had a free day so I slept in a little bit and went to some of the local spots in Exmouth. I had a breakfast sandwich and a peanut butter banana smoothie at Mutt's. The breakfast sandwich was so tasty and had bacon, egg, hash brown and aioli. One thing I did not know about Exmouth is that there are so many little flies that constantly swarm you! They do not bite, but they are just annoying and I was always swatting them away. Some people had special hats with netting to keep them out of their face. It might be a good investment if you are staying here for more than a few days.
I decided to venture to the beach to try and find some baby sea turtles hatching. This area is just a 20-30 minute drive from Exmouth. All along the Jurabi Coast there are turtle nesting beaches and during March the babies start to hatch out. They do offer educational tours at the Jurabi Turtle Center for $25 but you can go on your own too. To find the turtles, go to the beach around sunset and wait by some of the nests. The nests look like big holes in the sand. There were so many nests on the beach, you really can't miss them. Sometimes you can see tracks left behind by the adult turtles coming up on the beach too. I ended up going to the beaches three times and on two of the nights I did see baby turtles. It was so exciting and all the people on the beach bonded making sure the turtles got to the ocean safely. You do see a lot of them getting picked up and eaten by gulls which was really sad to watch, but that is the circle of life. You are not supposed to touch the turtles or interfere so we just followed them from a distance as they made their way towards the edge of the water. Watching the little turtles dig themselves out of the sand to catch their first breath and then race to the water to start their lives in the ocean was really magical. On my last night in Exmouth I was lucky to see an "explosion" which is when all the turtles hatch at once out of the nest. Make sure you give the turtles space and do not walk on the nest areas! Turtles often use moonlight to find their way so do not use flashlights because it will confuse them. A red light is ok, so I brought one with me but I didn't really need it. Most of the hatching happened before it got completely dark. So many people were walking on the nests and were not paying attention, I even saw people trying to pick up the baby turtles to get pictures with them. Please do not be like those people and let nature do it's thing!
Snorkeling in Exmouth
My second scuba dive got cancelled because they did not have enough people signed up so I found a snorkel trip to do in the afternoon instead. This was through Cape Immersion Tours, I found a last minute ticket on Viator. The tour is a 2.5 hour snorkel with a maximum of twelve people. You get a guide who comes with you in the water, snacks on the boat, gear provided, and endless puns from the boat driver Ken. They do not provide wetsuits so I decided to rent a wetsuit for the day because I was worried about being cold or getting sunburned. I rented one through Exmouth Surf Center. For one day of rental it was around $20 and you can drop it off after hours if your tour goes later than 5 PM. They also offer a 10% discount if you mention Cape Immersion Tours! I grabbed a smoothie at Early Bird Cafe and then drove to the bus station to get picked up for the tour. It was a beautiful sunny day and the boat had a nice deck that you could sit on and look for wildlife, and we did see some dolphins! We stopped at two different snorkel sites and stayed for about an hour at each. The first snorkel was guided so we swam together as a group and the other was a free snorkel so you could explore on your own. It was a great afternoon and we saw tons of fish, coral, three really large stingrays buried under the sand, an octopus, giant clams that were bright blue and one shark. We also got to see some catfish which I thought only lived in freshwater but I learned that some species do live in the ocean. The most unique thing I saw today was a giant rock cod! It was about five feet long and looked very stoic. After our tour ended I dropped off my wetsuit rental and made some spaghetti for dinner.
Looking for Whale Sharks
My last full day in Exmouth I signed up for an all day snorkel with Ningaloo Whale Shark Swim. The hope for this tour is to be able to snorkel alongside the largest fish in the ocean, a whale shark. You also can get photos taken of you with the whale shark. Whale sharks can be found in this area from March-August when they migrate here to feed on the coral spawn. This tour includes snacks and lunch, all your gear, and transport to and from Exmouth Center. They use a spotter plane to look for whale sharks. Sadly, we did not see any whale sharks, but we had a great day out on the water. We saw tons of coral, turtles, a few reef sharks, lots of parrotfish, octopus, and some rays. I really enjoy the parrotfish because there are so many different colored ones! I was able to see an octopus camouflage into it's surroundings a few different times by rapidly changing color which was amazing to witness! We did get to snorkel three times which was nice. This was actually the very first tour of the season for them, so it makes sense that we didn't see a whale shark, they may not have arrived yet! When you don't see a whale shark, they reimburse you for a portion of your tour so I thought that was nice. If you are staying in Exmouth for a while they also offer to add you onto another day. Sadly this was my last day in Exmouth, so I could not take advantage of that offer. I did not wear a wet suit today so I did get a sunburn on my back. Whoops! I spent the evening writing out my last postcards, doing laundry and organizing my stuff for the journey back home.
Baby Snuggles in Perth
My flight from Exmouth was not until the late afternoon so I spent the morning enjoying breakfast, mailing all my postcards, and did some browsing at gift shops. I had to return my rental car by noon so I filled up with gas (I should say petrol) before heading back to the airport. The Exmouth airport is very small so you really don't need to be here until an hour before your flight. There are no bathrooms on the check in side and not really any food options here so make sure you plan accordingly. I dropped the keys off for my rental car and hung out at the airport while I waited for my flight. I arrived in Perth and made my way back to the same Air B & B from last time. I was hungry for dinner and craving some fast food so I picked up some KFC! The next day I met up with my friend Annie and her son Liam! She lives about two hours south of Perth so she drove up to meet me for brunch. It was so nice catching up and getting to meet and hold Liam. He is only about 4 months old. She so kindly dropped me at the airport for my next round of flights. Originally I was going to fly direct from Perth to London, but my flights got changed so I had three flights! Perth to Singapore, Singapore to London, an eight hour layover, and finally London to Boston. All the flights were with Qantas, I was fed very well, and they had great customer service. I did watch two of the Hobbit movies which was great. One of the flights (I can't remember which one) even gave us an ice cream bar for dessert!
I will say the eight hour layover in London was rough and I did not get a lot of sleep. I finally made it back to Boston in one piece and my mom picked me up and brought me home to my apartment! Before this trip I never really believed jet lag was real, but I was SO tired and drained. Western Australia is 12 hours ahead of Boston which is the largest time change I've ever had to adjust to, and it took me about 10 days to start feeling better and get back on a normal sleep schedule. I will never underestimate jet lag again! Overall, I really loved Australia. I especially loved the wildlife, getting to spend a lot of time in Tasmania, and being near the ocean in Exmouth. If I were to go back I would be interested in seeing Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, driving the West Coast, and seeing Uluru (the big rock!). I did not spend a lot of time in Sydney or Perth so I would consider revisiting those two cities again and maybe adding on Melbourne. Till we meet again Australia!
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