#balloonaloft

We landed in a very smoky Sydney and collected our luggage and picked up our rental car from Apex. (Hyuandi Accent)

2 ½ hours later we arrived at the Cumberland Motor Inn in Cessnock. It was a clean standard room, with everything we needed. We headed to bed early, as we had to get up at 3:30am for the hot air balloon.

We met the Balloon Aloft at 4am at Peterson House. We chose our breakfast and made our way to the site were we would take off. The air balloon was set up and we boarded it. Unfortunately due to the fires, it was very smoky which meant we couldn’t see anything. After a 30-minute flight we safety landed and we got our breakfast.

Port MacQuarie

We travelled on to Port MacQuarie, it was a small seaside town. We were staying in Port MacQuarie hotel, with the room was extremely basic with a shared bathroom. There was also no air conditioning so it was very hot (as it was 35 degrees).

We walked around the town in the afternoon and had some dinner in the restaurant.

Coffs Harbour

The next day it was time to travel further up the East Coast to Coffs Harbour where we stayed in an Ibis. It was a clean room with air conditioning and private bathroom. We walked along the pier and visited the famous ‘Big Banana’. It was a very quiet town with not a lot to do!

Byron Bay

We travelled 4 ½ hours to Byron Bay in 35 degrees, it was extremely hot! We stayed in an Airbnb about a 10-minute walk from the town centre. The room was clean and tidy with a private bathroom.

As it was nice weather, we decided to walk up to Cape Byron lighthouse, it was a tough walk in the heat but the views were worth it.

We had dinner in Miss Margarita (a Mexican restaurant) and had a few drinks in the Beach Hotel and Sticky Wicket Bar.

Byron Bay was exactly what I had imagined, a very laid-back hippy town. There were many young travellers and plenty of nightlife.

The next morning it was lashing with rain, so we made our way into town for a late breakfast at Byron Fresh. We walked around the town and picked up some souvenirs. Later on, we waited until the rain had stopped and went out to Bayger, which is a famous burger bar - the food was so tasty. We watched an Australian band called ‘Thunderfox’ at the Beach Motel.

Surfers Paradise

We made our way to Surfers Paradise, only a short hours drive. We were staying in an Airbnb in Paradise Island. After we checked in, we went to the gym. Later on in the evening we walked into the town, where there was lots and lots of bars and restaurants. We ended up eating in Costa D'oro Italian Restaurant. It was so lively, with nightclubs, pub-crawls and lots of young travellers.

Looking back we should have stayed another night in Surfers Paradise!

Brisbane

The next morning, after going to the gym – we made the 1-hour journey to Brisbane. We were staying in the Ibis Styles in the CBD. I was very impressed with the hotel, it was so clean and the room was lovely. The only downside was there was no wifi.  

In the evening we walked around the city (mainly the harbor), which I was really liked, it reminded me of Sydney. We had a few drinks and snacks in the Bavarian Beer House.

The next day we went to the gym and got ready to walk around the city. It was 40 degrees, so we could only manage to stay out for 30 minutes before coming back to the hotel. We decided to do the washing and wait until it cooled down in the evening. Later on, we did some shopping and had dinner at WingHaus.

Hervey Bay

After checking out at 11am, we made our way to Hervey Bay – it took 3 ½ hours. We were staying the night in an Airbnb with a private bathroom. The room/bathroom was not very clean – least it was only for one night! We walked the pier and cooked our own dinner in the Airbnb.

Fraser Island

The next morning we were due to get the 3:30pm ferry to Fraser Island, but we decided to get the earlier ferry to have more time on Fraser Island. We had booked a 3 day/2 night Cool Dingos tour so therefore they took our bags at the ferry and they would be delivered to our room on Fraser Island.

When we got to main hotel on the island, The Kingfisher Resort (5 minute walk from the ferry), we were given the keys to our room and a shuttle took us to the ‘Wilderness Lodge’. This accommodation was very basic, it had a shared bathroom/communal area which we would be sharing with others on our tour.

That evening we met the rest of our group at the Dingo Bar and took part in a Bushtucker experience, were we got to eat different food such as Kangaroo and Crocodile.

In total there was 18 people in our tour, most of them girls and some solo travellers. When we got back from dinner, 7 of them were staying in our lodge and they made so much noise it was hard to sleep - even though we had to get up at 630am the next morning!

After our breakfast at the Dingo Bar, we got on the converted 4x4 bus and made our way to Lake Wabby and Lake Mackenzie. As the track was made of sand it was awful, there was potholes everywhere and we constantly were moving side to side!

When we got to Lake Wabby we trekked 3 kilometers over sand to a massive green dirty lake – I wasn’t impressed.

For lunch we stopped at a Rainforest park and went for a short walk along the freshwater stream. Finally, our last stop was Lake Mackenzie. It was beautiful, lovely clear water and white sand. We also saw a dingo walking along the beach!

That night we had sunset drinks at the bar and met the new people joining our group and the new tour guide, Wayne.

The final day, after breakfast we headed to 75 Mile Beach were we paid extra to take a 15minute flight over Fraser Island. It was so good, I am glad we did it!

We visited Champagne Pools, Indian Head and S.S. Maheno shipwreck. The last stop of the day was the Eli Creek, which was a freshwater creek, which was basically a lazy river. Wayne gave us Tyre Tubes to go down the creek – I really enjoyed it!

On our way back, Wayne was taking us to the ferry but as he was driving like a maniac, the bus got stuck in 2nd gear. This meant he didn’t think we would make the 5pm ferry. Fortunately we made it just in time!

Once we got back to Hervey Bay, we drove 4 ½ hours to Rockhampton Motel.

Airlie Beach

We checked out at 10am from the motel and drove 5 ½ hours to Airlie Beach. We were staying in Whitsundays Vista Holiday Apartments for 3 nights. We walked into the town in the evening and there were lots of bars, nightclubs and restaurants on the main street – it was very very busy! We had a few drinks and ate in KC’s Bar and Grill and listened to live music.

The next morning we met at the Port of Airlie at 730am and boarded the 8am boat to Hamilton Island. When we arrived at Hamilton Island we were allowed to use all the amenities on the island such as the resort pools. We walked around the island and had our lunch in the Marina Tavern (this was included on our ticket). We got the 1:10pm ferry to Whitehaven Beach, on the way to the beach and back it was an open bar with afternoon tea. The beach was absolutely stunning, beautiful white sand and clear water. We spent 2 hours on the beach.

The ferry picked us up and took us back to Airlie Beach, where we went to Woolworths and ate in the apartment.

The last day, we got the 8am ferry out to Hardy Reef. The ferry took 3 hours, with morning tea served. Once we got to Hardy Reef we took the 30minute submarine, which showed the reef without getting wet! Next we had our lunch and finally we got ready and snorkeled in the reef. I was very disappointed; I thought the coral would have been more colourful. There were fish but there wasn’t any turtles or mantra rays.  After spending 4 hours at the reef we got the 3-hour ferry back to Airlie Beach.

We got Dominoes for dinner as we were exhausted and were planning on getting up at 6am the next morning.

Cairns

We made the 7 ½ hour drive to Cairns, stopping in Townsville for lunch. We left the car back and were only charged $200 for a cracked windscreen! The arrived at the Doubletree Hilton and checked into our room. We then had a few drinks and dinner in the hotel restaurant. The hotel felt very quiet with the bar closing at 9pm.

On Christmas morning we watched a Christmas movie and went down for the lunch at 12pm. The Christmas lunch was not great and was not worth the money. The only thing good about it was the unlimited alcohol! Later on in the evening we watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.