My Australian Journey #29: Cairns and the Gold Coast

Two destinations, very far apart. However as I went to both with my mum and sister in the space of two weeks I have uploaded them together.

Cairns…

And the Gold Coast.

To very different destinations over 1,700km apart. Cairns a pretty sleepy city, smaller than Gold Coast and visited for different reasons. Backpackers flock to the numerous hostels in Cairns, as it is a destination popular for the Great Barrier Reef, as well as the start and finish for many on their east coast trip. On my first trip I was indeed staying as a backpacker, staying in a hostel for a week with three English friends.

I wonder if the Prawn Star does a Prawn Star martini?!

However Cairns is a destination for everyone. My second stay was with family so a hotel was much more appropriate. I was grateful to be able to get staff discount at the Pullman Cairns International, with a balcony view overlooking the ocean and constantly changing weather patterns.

Green Island is a tiny island just off the Australian mainland and a short boat ride makes for a great afternoon. I didn’t snorkel on this trip, this meant that I was able to relax a little more and take a lot more shots.

More shots from this trip can be viewed here in my Green Island post. Another trip we went on was the Karunda Scenic Railway, which takes you 328m above sea level to a small town with beautiful views on route. It is something I would recommend for sure and plenty of pictures and information in the post linked above and below.

Now I feel bad, because my mum always wanted me to blog about the bats that live in Cairns.. and I didn’t. It was an incredible sight to see thousands upon thousands of bats fly up into the hills on an evening, I did record a video however it is really hard to pick out the bats as it was after sunset. This video I found on YouTube gives an idea of just how may of these Fruit Bats live in Cairns.

It was a sight (and sound) to behold.

And another sight to behold is this view from the Q1 tower in the Gold Coast. Again we spent enough time there to watch day turn to night.

This city is known for being alive, and as you can see from here it is visually stunning. The highrises cling to the coastline and it makes for a pretty amazing view, if that’s your thing. More views from this building are right here in my Q1 Tower post.

A rare picture of me taking a selfie

My sister was incredibly brave (unlike me) and did a walk/climb to the very top of this skyscraper. If you’re interested in seeing more shots from this I have a post on it here. I have never been a fan of heights and being this high up is enough… I really don’t know how my sister or anyone else can do it!

This trip was great for me as I was able to see my family again after being so far away for so long. Don’t get me wrong technology has made such travel way easier and more tolerable, I can only imagine how hard it would have been even just 50 years ago. Instant communication worldwide has us better connected than ever, but nothing beats actually being with our loved ones. This trip will always be a great memory for this.

I hope you liked the post, and hope you had a great weekend with the ones you love!

 

Links to trips:

Our trip to Green Island

Our trip to the Karunda Scenic Railway

Our trip up the Q1 Tower

My sisters terrifying climb to the top of the Q1 Tower

 

 

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Sam