Whitsunday Island outside the east coast of Australia

When we were about to land in Sydney we were surprised to see so many one or two floored houses in a spacious area around the city as Sydney is the biggest and oldest city in Australia with 5 million people. By the way – Kwe’ kelu’sit is Aboriginal language and means – Greetings beautiful…

The view of Gold Coast from Tamborine Mountain

Once we landed we picked up our rental car and headed towards Gold Coast and Tamborine Mountain in Queensland with around half a million inhabitants to meet Ole’s relatives. Thank you soooooo much Kaylene, Jim, Lucinda and Damon for inviting us home and making us feel so welcomed. We had a really nice lunch together before walking in the rainforest nearby their house. The colors inside the rainforest were just amazing. 🙂

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We also went to a Zoo in Gold Coast to see both snakes, “lazy” koala bears as well as kangaroos. Both the koalas and the kangaroos were adorable… 🙂 After getting some information about the snakes I guess we all got a little more relaxed knowing that they would hide if they could whenever a human got in their way. Still, they said that there might be as much as 1 snake hiding/living out of every 3 houses (rooftops) in Australia!!!

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After one night in Gold Coast we went visit Brisbane. What a lovely city with both old and new buildings side by side and also green parks in between.

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The next morning we went to Sunshine Coast to drop off Emeric who wanted to stay in a youth hostel to get some time to meet Lina and other youth to go surfing.

We continued to Fraser Island to experience this beautiful island right outside the east coast of Australia. This island’s beauty was just overwhelming. Our trip around the island was great. We experienced a beautiful lake, a lush forest, bumpy off-roads and a nice drive on the beach. The whole island is made up of sand and still there are lots of greens flourishing. On our stay in Frazer Island we met Margrit, Eric and their lovely 3 daughters from Switzerland and Christian, Kristine and their beautiful little baby girl Ulla from Norway. We spent some very nice days together before heading to our different destinations.

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Our next stop was Airlie Beach, a wonderful and cosy little town a little further north on the east coast. We spent one day sea-rafting and snorkeling outside Whitsunday Island. What a magical place on earth!!! The colors we experienced there were just amazing. And – I finally took courage to skydive wich has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I will never forget the feeling… What I thought would be really scary was just peaceful and a very nice experience. 🙂 The view was amazing and we landed on our feet! WOW!

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After some days we headed back to Sunshine Coast meeting up with Christian and Kristine as we rented an apartment together from Airbnb. The next day Emeric took us out surfing on the beach. He tried to learn us some tricks and both Luna, Ole and me enjoyed it very much… We were even able to stand on the board on a wave – not bad! We also met up with Lina and went out dining and watching a movie with her. We had a really nice time! Good luck with your further studies! Other than this we enjoyed some days relaxing with Christian, Kristine and Ulla.

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After a couple of days we were once again on our way to Sydney. Once again we were lucky enough to meet Lucinda, Damon, Kaylene and Jim in Tambourine Mountain. We ate an early lunch in one of the city center. It was a real pleasure to meet you all! See you around – maybe next time in Norway? 🙂

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Back in Sydney  we left Emeric on a youth hostel with Håvard, a friend from our hometown in Norway. The next day it was finally time to see the harbour, the Sydney Opera House and the rest of the city center and of course Bondi Beach. We loved it! What a nice city! Not too crowded and many beautiful buildings and parks to see and walk in. We also met Emeric and Håvard for a cosy lunch. Finally  we got to see the musical Aladdin wich we all enjoyed very much. Our last memory of Sydney was a one night stay in a Highschool for boys. I bet we will not have a similar experience once more in our entire lives. We loooved it – even without air-condition and a heat wave over Sydney… Not much sleep but what a nice view – clear sky and full moon…

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As our stay in Australia was quite limited and our plan this time was to visit parts of the east coast, we did not visit Canberra, Melbourne, Perth or Darwin or get to know any Aborigines, but we hope to do so on our next trip to Australia!

And now – some more pictures and videos 🙂

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Whitsunday Island, snorkeling and sea rafting

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Rainforest in Tamborine Mountain

Fraser Island

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Brisbane

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Surfing in Sunshine Coast

Sydney 

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One night stay at Highschool for boys in Sydney

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