Australia welcomed me on August 14 when after just over six weeks in Papua New Guinea I landed in a town of Cairn (pronounced “cans” for my American friends). Cairns (as you can see on my Trip Map) is located in the Northeast portion of Australia in the state of Queensland. Australia has 6 states (5 on the main island and Tasmania) as well as 2 major territories and a few minor ones. Cairns is viewed by many as the gateway to one of the world’s greatest natural wonders – the Great Barrier Reef.

To put it simply, the reef is MAGNIFICENTAfter a few days of running errands, getting supplies, and working out ongoing travel arrangements I set my journey out to the reef. I found a package deal that included a boat ride to two reef destinations, first timers diving course and a guided dive, snorkeling, a 10-minute helicopter flight over the reef, and an Aussie lunch. To put it simply, the reef is MAGNIFICENT. I did rent an underwater camera and took a few quality shots, which was not easy as I am not experienced in taking photos while trying to hold still in moving water. However, these photos do not do enough justice to the overall majesty of this naturally gorgeous place. The colors are vibrant, even as you get deeper under water and the swimming creatures (fish, etc), who did not care to pause for a picture are extremely colorful. I had a great time watching one particular fish with a very tiny mouth and a huge forehead. The way “papa fish” harvested food for his family was by banging his head into the coral and having little chunks float up for the little ones to snap up and eat.

I did make an attempt at diving, but did not make it much deeper than 10 feet. One of the culprits was my mustache which would continuously let water into my mask. So I settled for a great snorkeling experience. The flight over the second reef location was quick and partially we got rained on, but the views were fabulous. I also learned that taking photos from a crowded back seat of a helicopter is another challenge I need more practice at. So I left the reef with loads of memories and a little bit of sunburn on the parts of my back I could not reach with sun screen (note: take a friend or make a friend who can help you cover your back).

After a few days in Cairns I said goodbye to my friends who also came down to Cairn from Papua New Guinea and embarked on the bus journey down the eastern coast of Australia. Greyhound Australia has a great package interestingly called “mini-trip” which I booked from Cairns all the way to Melbourne and it gave me unlimited stops as long as I continued moving in the same direction. I have since learned that a bus trip is not a quick experience. In total I have spent over 60 hours on the bus, though in chunks that were manageable. And I will say, Greyhound offered clean buses with good, mostly on-time service.

My first stop was in a place called Airlie Beach where I took an afternoon boat tour of an area called Whitsundays or Whitsunday Islands. These islands are a very popular spot for people of means to have a vacation homes and for others to come for a visit. The sand on many of the islands is very fine and pure. The beach where I was able to disembark the boat had beautiful white sand with ~25% silica. One warning was given to us – don’t drop anything electronic into the sand as such fine sand will be almost impossible to get out. Whitsundays also have a historical significance. Captain Cook swam through the area on the way to what is now Sydney. There is now even a Captain Cook island where his ships docked for a short period of time. According to the local guides, he was seeking milder weather than the almost tropical Queensland climate.

After Whitsundays and Airlie Beach I had my longest bus ride (just over 20 hours) to Brisbane. There I spent a night at a “backpackers” which is another term for a hostel. I did splurge an extra couple of bucks on a room with only 4 people in it (instead of standard 16). There was also a reminder that an average person who stays at a hostel is in their late teens or early 20s and has a bit of a different view on life than yours truly. I spent the next day walking around Brisbane. The city felt like a lot of medium US cities (Portland, Atlanta). There were plenty of things to do, historical sites and museums to see, restaurants, sporting venues, but to be fair and honest, nothing extremely special stood out about Brisbane. I did bump into a student fashion show happening on the streets of CBD (Central Business district – Australian term for the Downtown area). I also enjoyed spending time in the King George square area as I found the architecture and outdoor art interesting. There is a photo in the gallery at the bottom of this page which shows one of the oldest churches in the city being surrounded by modern building and that felt a bit intriguing to me as a mix of new and old.

Overall I found Aussies to be very friendly and kind. Also wanting to experience a bit more of local culture I was introduced to an Australian fast food chain called Pie Face. Since seeing one in Brisbane I have seen them all over Australia. They make pies with various savory feelings (steak injected with cheese, thai chicken curry, veggie, chicken and mushroom) as well as mini pies, sausage rolls (essentially pie crust with meat in the middle), some small sweet tarts and even a mini pecan pie (about 3″ in diameter). What I also loved was the marketing angle: there were smiley faces on all pies and as decor on the walls and I thought the sales clerks’ shirts that said “pie dealer” were great.

So after experiencing a couple mini pies and a highly overpriced diet coke (they are WAY too expensive over here) I spent a few more hours around the city and hopped on a bus to Sydney. I will pause here as Sydney deserves its own chapter in this story.

Thank you once again for reading my stories. There is now an option to get an email message when I post new articles. Simply enter your email address under “Get Email Updates” and click “subscribe” and you will receive a confirmation message. And please do know I will never give out your email addresses to anyone! I would also ask you to share my site and stories with your friends via social networks or email. And of course I love hearing from you, so please do comment on things you find interesting and what you would like hear more about.

I decided to post just a few photos from my travels on the blog while post all of them on my flickr stream, so if you like these, there are more to enjoy here.