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    More Meandering in Melbourne

    19. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 33 °C

    It’s always a great day when you find a shop entirely dedicated to matcha. Mochi is a bonus.

    My daily matcha search on Google Maps led me to a place called “nimb”… or “nimbo”? On Google Maps it was listed as Matcha Mate, but none of the shop windows said so. When I was defeated and prepared to walk on — sad and matcha-less — Timo took it upon himself to walk back and find the shop Google Maps had turned into a mystery.

    Oh, how happy he made me. Or maybe it was the matcha. Probably both.

    Timo, it’s hard not to portray you as a knight in shining armour when you ensure my matcha fix. 😅

    Not only did I have a delicious coconut-water matcha, but also a matchamisu — you can probably guess what that is. I’m still flying high when I think about that dreamy, creamy texture and velvety flavour…

    But I digress. (As I’m writing this, I’m actually getting annoyed by my frequent use of the word matcha. And that is saying something! 😅)

    We spent quite some time walking around the Docklands and the CBD of Melbourne today. We also took the free City Circle tram for a bit — after first managing to find the correct stop. (Honestly, that was a science in itself.)

    Let me tell you: Friday night in the CBD was packed. After around 5 p.m., it became so crowded and busy that Timo kindly escorted me out and led me through a quieter park. There, we saw a guy training a kitten. Adorable, isn’t it?

    We had originally planned to go to a Thai place for dinner, but — contrary to what Google Maps claimed (yes, it still sucks) — it was closed. Not far from there, however, was a Japanese restaurant called KURU, recommended to us by a lady standing in front of the closed Thai place. And what a great recommendation that was.

    Yummy food. Happy NüfNüf.

    And then it was back to the hotel to enjoy a cold one.

    P.S.: I‘ve attached a few pics from the previous day that exceeded the limit of 25 pics - you can tell which is which by the abrupt change in weather. Hint: Today there was not a single ray of sunshine visible. 😅    Les mer

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    33.000 Steps in Melbourne

    18. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    Try to find parking in Melbourne that doesn’t cost you a small fortune.
    We declined the hotel’s parking for 30 dollars per night and instead opted for the parking garage across the street at 18 dollars a day. Compared to paid parking in Sydney, that actually felt somewhat reasonable — and I guess we were lucky.

    Our choice of parking meant that one of us had the honour of hopping out of bed before 7 a.m. to extend the parking for the day. I admit I only did it on the third day, because Timo stopped offering after two attempts during which I kept saying, “Of course I’ll do it, it’s only fair.” 😂

    Well. When I went downstairs half-asleep to extend the parking, I noticed that the car parked next to ours had its passenger-side window completely smashed in. The one behind it had a neat circular hole in the window, with police already doing what they do. I was a bit worried for our car, but I assume whatever happened there was targeted.

    Timo and I — not wanting to drive around the city — started hiking wherever our feet would take us.

    As a little aside: I often wonder how I get around when I’m on my own, because when walking with Timo, I just trust that he knows where to go. And let me tell you — that guy is always right. Sometimes annoyingly so. I maintain he’s some kind of navigation savant.
    It’s adorable that he wants to impart that knowledge unto me, but walking me somewhere I’ve trustingly waddled along to and then telling me to find the way back doesn’t work. Especially when you don’t allow me to use Google Maps. 😂

    Our first stop was the Queen Victoria Market — a huge market where you can buy all kinds of food, fruit (which I guess qualifies as food…), a few local products like kangaroo furs, and lots and lots of other products proudly made in China.

    A couple of rambutans, dinosaur lychees (giant lychees), and a blood orange slushie later, we moved on to the adjacent Brick Lane Market. Here you can find delicatessen, bakeries, butcheries, and more. I discovered that if you feign interest everywhere, people happily give you free samples — and are absolutely delighted if you tell them you’ll “circle back later.”

    In the CBD, we stumbled across something like a public cold-water mist distributor designed to cool you down on hot days — like today. It felt amazing.

    In the general area of the Botanic Gardens, we were harassed by a breeding mama and papa bird — just by walking through a wider area they deemed their territory, they swept in at us and almost collided with our heads! This happened several times. 😄

    Eventually, we arrived at the Botanic Gardens and the Shrine of Remembrance, a war memorial and museum. After having a look around inside, we wandered through the gardens, which were quite lovely. The little rainforest walk was especially enjoyable.

    My personal highlight, however, was a dusky moorhen chick. I love baby ducks.
    So I spent a considerable amount of time at the pond, taking pictures of my new friend, while Timo waited patiently. We also spotted a few fun cacti — as you can see in the pictures. 😄

    Come dinnertime, I felt we deserved a well-rated burger. It was only a 31-minute walk. Though somehow, someone always manages to turn that into two hours through conversation…

    The burger wasn’t bad — but I shall perhaps admit that it may not have been entirely worth the alleged two-hour walk. Potentially. 😂
    On the bright side, seeing this part of the city at dusk made for some lovely photos. And it led us past an Asian grocery store where I may have stocked up on coconut-, chocolate-, and matcha-flavoured mochi. There were so many good ones to choose from!    Les mer

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    Sheoak Falls and Other Scenic Stops

    17. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Boy, were we glad to get up in the morning. Funny enough, nights can be incredibly cold — but as soon as the sun hits the tent, it turns into a furnace. Unfortunately, I think we left before my desired furnace feeling had a chance to fully set in.

    We drove back along the Great Ocean Road and popped by Loch Ard Gorge, along with a few other smaller viewpoints — if only I remembered all their names. Loch Ard Gorge looked absolutely stunning in the photos. Unfortunately, the beach itself was closed at the time, but the pictures from afar are still pretty nonetheless.

    From there, we continued on to Sheoak Falls, which is only about half a kilometre from the main road. Incidentally, I think we might have seen a snake there. We definitely saw a tail wiggling out of our field of vision. Could have been a snake. Could also have been a monitor lizard. But let’s just say it was a snake. Sounds way cooler.

    Incidentally, speaking of animals, we saw koalas chilling in roadside trees!

    We made a fish-and-chips pit stop in Lorne (beautiful place!) and eventually arrived in Melbourne, where we stayed at a pretty nice hotel. After freezing in a tent for a couple of nights, we both enthusiastically embraced the idea of a comfy hotel bed.

    A very nice and unexpected bonus: we had a fairly large balcony.

    Most of the day, of course, was spent driving. At this point, just assume that I got car sick — and that Timo had childlike fun taking the plentiful curves of the ever-winding road like a carriage gliding through the metal frame of a severely twisted roller coaster. Loopings and all.    Les mer

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    Freezing in Warrnambool

    16. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    From there, we drove on to our campsite in Warrnambol, near Allansford. And this, esteemed readers, was the coldest night yet. I believe Timo left the tent at one point to sleep in the car, only to return shortly after, reporting that it was just as cold in there. 😄

    Since all we had was the aforementioned thin blanket, we resorted to serious layering: two pairs of trousers, two pairs of socks, six to seven shirts and jackets, plus hat, scarf, and gloves — at least in my case.

    And yes. I was still absolutely freezing.

    I don’t know how Timo managed with fewer layers. Perhaps he hogged the blanket?    Les mer

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    Twelve Apostles

    16. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Dinner turned into a spontaneous surprise at an Asian restaurant. While Timo was driving, I casually said, “Oh, look — an Asian restaurant,” which was immediately followed by him asking, “Wanna go?” Then came my “Yes,” a sharp curve, and shortly after, a very yummy seafood bowl.

    I had also been looking forward to a cocktail, but was informed by the staff that the person with a valid RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) certificate wasn’t present — so no alcohol could be served. 😄

    (Perhaps I should have mentioned that I am RSA-licensed… 😄)

    Our last stop for the day was probably the most popular destination in the area — the Twelve Apostles.

    No, we can’t actually say where the number twelve comes from. We certainly didn’t count that many. Apparently, significant collapses occurred in 2005 and 2009 — and I’ve since learned that there were never twelve stacks to begin with. At most, there were nine.

    Regardless of numbers, the Twelve Apostles were a beautiful sight. And — entirely unplanned — seeing them at sunset was a lovely bonus.    Les mer

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    The Great “Ocean“ Road

    16. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    A little pit stop in Nagambie to tickle our matcha- and coffee-accustomed taste buds turned out to be a delightful treat. After a relaxing (at least for 10 min) lakeside morning — and a few more hours of driving — we drove straight past Melbourne. 😄

    Intentionally, of course. To get to Allansford/Warrnambool, we first had to drive past Melbourne to reach the other end of the Great Ocean Road. Which brings me to a mild disappointment: the name. About two thirds of the Great Ocean Road don’t actually run along the ocean at all, but through forest.

    Not that I’m complaining — it was very scenic. I should, however, mention that the road is long and winding. I get car-sick. Timo, on the other hand, loves a curvy road. Possibly a little too much for my comfort. I was absolutely delighted every time there was a slow car in front of us…

    First stop along the Great Ocean Road: Point Addis. Surprise guest of the day: cute little blue birdie.    Les mer

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    A Swamp and a “Campsite“

    15. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    Today we drove past the Gum Swamp Wildlife Refuge without even being aware of it. All we noticed at first were cool-looking tree stumps galore — a very pleasant little surprise.

    The biggest surprise of the day, however, was discovering the best pies ever. Drop everything and go to the Roundabout Bakery in West Wyalong. I’m not even kidding. These pies are worth the €1,000+ plane tickets, car rental costs, and petrol. Trust me.

    On our way to the next campsite, we also came across a tree literally growing in the middle of the train tracks. Quite a sight.

    And on we drove to a free riverside campsite north of Shepparton. The alleged campsite looked nice — however, not at all like a campsite. It was a very public, non-sheltered spot next to a river… which was next to a road. We felt awkward camping there and decided to look for a proper campsite around (or across) the river.

    We did find two — both on hard gravel and not at all suitable for soft, squishy tents. (Also, getting to the campsite on the opposite side of the river gave us our first real taste of what it’s like driving on a pothole- and crack-enriched off-road track with our cute, formerly blue and shiny Suzuki Swift…)

    We decided not to camp there and drove on, further south of Shepparton. It was incredibly hard to find a free campsite that day. Eventually — late at night — we ended up at “Moira Park Scout Camp.”

    Yes. What can I say? That did not look like a campsite at all. It was in the middle of a park or forest, and there was exactly one campervan. But it was late, dark, and we had two kebabs in the car with our names on them — so we decided to set up camp in some high grass, in a spot very much not designed for tents. But hey. It was free. 😄

    That night marked our first proper cold one. A reminder of how uncomfortable it had been sleeping in 5°C weather on the South Island of New Zealand a few months ago. Just to mention this again: back then, I had two sleeping bags, a liner, and six layers of clothing.

    This time around? We shared a thin blanket and long pants.

    Well — hang on. We didn’t share the pants. Would’ve been warmer, though. 😄    Les mer

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    Camping with Cockatoos

    14. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Not at all well-rested, but glad to get up, the day consisted of: driving, matcha & coffee, and pies. We arrived at one of the nicer free campsites of our trip with daylight to spare and enjoyed a healthy wrap with our all-time favourite chilli tuna. (Seriously — look into Aussie tuna flavours! The variety is iconic and delicious.)

    Our tent was set up next to the river and — as we would hear loud and clear in the morning — right in the middle of a cockatoo habitat. They’re a noisy bunch, but probably my new favourite bird. 😄

    P.S. Try my new banana burger recipe! Take two banana slices as buns, generously cover them with peanut butter and Nutella, and add a mini chocolate cookie as the patty.    Les mer

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    First Night Camping in Goondiwindi

    13. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today was the day we finally embarked on our road trip to Melbourne. We picked up camping equipment, drove to the Goondiwindi Showgrounds (I wish I remembered the correct pronunciation…), and set everything up in the dark for the very first time. After quite some fiddling, the tent finally stood. We pumped up our queen-sized air mattress (I counted: 500 pumps and you’re golden) and went to bed at around 11 p.m.

    But wait. There’s more.

    Suddenly, the wind picked up. It was noisy, but fine — that’s camping. A quick look outside, however, offered a rather foreboding sense of doom. The sky was so heavy with clouds it looked ready to break loose above us.

    We figured: the tent is supposed to be waterproof, and we’re tired. Let’s just go to sleep and deal with it.

    This worked for a few minutes — until the wind got so strong that our dome tent bent so far it was basically lying on top of us. Then the top layer flew off, and we were exposed to the first drops of rain.

    We gritted our teeth, put the tent back together around half past midnight, and retreated to the car. I wouldn’t actually call what followed “sleep.” All in all, it was a pretty uncomfortable night.

    And the weather? The clouds passed about an hour later, and the rain never really picked up. So… yay?

    Enjoy the marvellous view we had at the campsite… 😄    Les mer

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    Pool-Time and a Chemistry Lesson

    6.–13. des. 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Timo and I were invited to stay at our friends' place for about a week. Seeing their home in summer was lovely. I spent large portions of the day in their pool — swimming, snorkelling (yes, you read that right), and generally chilling.

    Now’s the time for a short chemistry lesson. Did you know that many pools contain copper ions (Cu²⁺), originating from copper-based algaecides, copper plumbing, or heat exchangers? Add chlorine to the mix, which is excellent at oxidising metals, and things get interesting.

    But wait — there’s more.

    Hair is made of keratin, rich in sulfur-containing amino acids as well as carboxyl and amine groups. These act as ligands, meaning they can bind metal ions.

    We’re getting there. So close!

    Bleached, damaged, or porous hair (I’m blaming the Aussie sun) is particularly attractive to metal ions. And now for the grand finale: once the copper ions attach to the hair, they form copper–protein coordination complexes — which is just a very fancy way of saying: my hair turned green.

    (Writing this about a month later, I can confirm it’s still there — though thankfully more faded.)

    We also flew our little drone over their house and the surrounding area, and only flew it into trees twice. Mea culpa for 50% of the crashes. The rotor blades are a little worse for wear… but it still flies. I wouldn’t push it, though.

    During our days and nights at our friends' place, there was an abundance of animals to observe.
    Apart from their cat Milo, the most entertaining was probably the mud-dauber wasp, which we watched build several nests out of — you guessed it — mud.

    At night, we toured the garden and found a variety of spiders and toads. One particularly cool spider Timo spotted during the daytime was the dew-drop spider — a real beauty, with its silver, drop-shaped cone body.    Les mer

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    Booloumba Creek, Kenilworth

    6. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today we said hi to another friend - my former boss from the food truck. He suggested that Timo and I go to Kenilworth to check out a beautiful creek near a campsite.

    We eventually decided to follow his advice and went looking for said creek just as reception vanished and the road decided to become bumpy and flooded — not with puddles, but with actual ponds, some of them more than knee-deep. Well… our little Suzuki Swift was clearly out of its depth here (pun intended).

    So we left it there and continued on foot. We had barely crossed the first “puddle” when an Aussie guy offered to take us a bit further in his 4WD (probably a LandCruiser — honestly, those cars feel like a bit of a rite of passage for Australians, I reckon).

    He dropped us off, and we were presented with a few paths to choose from — one of them leading to Campsite 3, which was where we wanted to go. Enter Timo, confidently pointing in the opposite direction. “Let’s just go that way!”

    And “that way” we went. We did eventually reach the creek — I’ll give him that. We were also getting dangerously close to losing daylight and had to move on to make it back to Brisbane. But all in all: lovely nature around Kenilworth, and the town itself offered some excellent pies and surprisingly good artwork.    Les mer

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    Noosa Again!

    5. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Since Timo had never been to my “base” over the past few months, we went to Noosa for a day. I showed him around Hastings Street, and we dropped in on friends to say hi.

    We went for a leisurely, extended 20+ km stroll along the coast — complete with its mildly exhausting steep steps right at the beginning — and soaked in the scenery.

    Noosa is stunning, admittedly. Though, writing this a month later — after having been to plenty of cute little places around Oz — it does feel overrated and incredibly bougie. Not to mention completely overrun during the main season of the summer holidays in December.

    But! We did enjoy a delicious burger at Grill’d and a lovely beachside walk at night.    Les mer

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    Delighted in Dayboro

    3. desember 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Let’s see how I’m going to do this. I’m attempting to cover the multitude of events and locations of the past month (December) with a memory that has been trying — and sometimes succeeding — to do a decent job for nigh on 30 years now. I sure hope it’ll live up to the task at hand… 😬

    Let’s start with the happy news: after 331 days and 4 hours (no, I haven’t been counting), Timo has finally found his way to me 😊. A tear or two may have been shed. Please don’t ask for photographic evidence - though I‘m sure Timo will oblige… 😄

    Together, in a neat little blue Suzuki Swift rental car (by the way: Android Auto sucks), we barreled down highways, explored cities, and froze in mildly illegitimate campsites over the month to come. Stay tuned to find out more! (Writing this feels slightly out of character — but I like the suspense build-up. 😄)

    Our first stop together was a small cabin Airbnb in Dayboro, on the outskirts of Brisbane. We spent two days there doing very little: resting, letting Timo adjust to the jet lag, and easing into being in the same place again. Apart from beautiful sunsets, pleasant weather, and the beginning of a month-long, pie-based culinary experience, not much was happening.    Les mer

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    Day 3: KDP and Back to the Mainland

    30. november 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    On our last day aboard, I wanted to try stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) — but it was really too shaky. So I ended up doing KDP - kneel-down paddleboarding. 😄

    During that short time in the water, and in spite of the stinger suit, I got stung by something — I quickly got out of the water, hoping it was just sea lice and not a harmful jellyfish sting (like box jellyfish / Irukandji). I was fine — probably indeed just sea lice — but it gave me a little scare. There’s a known presence of sharks and marine stingers in the waters around the Whitsundays. Swimming and snorkelling are safest between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., when sharks aren’t on the prowl.

    (At night, vessels often keep blue/white water lights on to attract fish — which in turn attract reef sharks. On our nights aboard, we saw maybe 2–3 sharks, but they never came close. On other days or better locations you might see dozens. That’s the trade-off for calmer waters and better sleep.)

    After the SUP attempt, we returned to mainland. I was thrilled to feel solid ground under my feet again — yet ironically, once I sat down, I felt more seasick on land than on the boat… 😅

    All in all, I enjoyed the trip more than I expected (despite the seasickness). The meals onboard were delicious. And — perhaps most importantly — it was not a party boat: people were generally quiet, no smokers, drinking was moderate (I was happy with a few cold cans of coconut water — didn’t want to jinx it). Mealtimes were honestly the only moments I felt slightly uneasy on the shaky boat. The second night aboard also delivered blissful quality sleep. I shall miss that most of all.

    Fast forward a few hours:
    Today I also was due to fly back to Brisbane. I was worried because there was a severe storm warning — the sky looked ominous. Luckily, the storm turned out to be no big deal — just a bit of rain. We all boarded the plane, ready to take off.

    But then we didn’t. During maintenance checks they found a loose screw. An engineer was called. He couldn’t fix it. The company got involved. Eventually we were let off the plane with a promise we’d still fly in 2–3 hours. So we waited at the airport. And waited. Then — by the time a “George-Clooney lookalike” JetStar employee came to inform us — our flight was cancelled.

    The airline luckily provided accommodation. So I spent one night in the second nicest accommodation of my travels: a hotel called “Club Croc,” with a pool and a breakfast buffet. I do love a buffet. 🥐

    But I couldn’t enjoy it long — we all had to return to the airport the next morning - on our own expense, hoping to get reimbursed. And let me tell you — dealing with the airline was complicated, infuriatingly so. But I think it‘s sorted out now.

    Fast forward a few more hours to the next morning:
    My Uber driver (back to the airport), who basically just does Ubering for fun and is actually a full-time pilot, told me the “loose screw” explanation given by the airline was basically a cover story to avoid panic. As it turns out, she was onto something — there is a real global recall on the Airbus A320 family. In late November 2025, Airbus ordered urgent software updates for around 6,000 A320 jets after discovering that intense solar radiation may corrupt flight-control data. The recall forced airlines worldwide — including Jetstar — to cancel or delay thousands of flights, so our cancellation makes sense.

    Last fast forward, I promise:
    I actually arrived back in Brisbane around noon the next day!    Les mer

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    Day 2: Hiking - Whitehaven Beach

    29. november 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 29 °C

    Whitehaven Beach might be the highlight of the area. With its white silica sand and vivid turquoise water, it’s quite a sight. We had a great view from a couple of lookout platforms over Whitehaven Beach.

    We hiked down to the beach itself and explored. Guess what: we saw dozens of stingrays in shallow water! You had to watch your step — they love burying themselves in the sand, perfectly camouflaged.

    And as if that wasn’t enough: we also spotted lemon sharks. Yes — sharks! Pretty cool, huh?

    One of the crew, Justine, mentioned that about 5 minutes of the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie was filmed at that beach in 2015. For that, the film crew reportedly brought in hundreds of palm trees — since palm trees don’t naturally grow on silica-sand beaches there. After filming, apparently those palms were planted around Airlie Beach, making it look a lot more tropical.    Les mer

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    Day 2: Snorkelling in the Morning

    29. november 2025, Australia ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    Interestingly, I had a surprisingly good night of sleep! My theory after K’Gari was that good sleep comes when screen time is minimal. I might have to add two more variables to that hypothesis: meditating while lying down in the front of a boat for large parts of the day + being rocked gently to sleep like an infant by the waves. Now, I just need to figure out how to recreate “being rocked to sleep” on land. 😄

    In the morning, after a fruity breakfast, we headed to three snorkel spots. Each had its charm — though the second one was my favourite. There were lots of circular corals, which were stunning to look at. I was happy to see that the reef seemed a lot healthier than what I had seen before on Fitzroy Island or in Vanuatu. Still — there’s always room for improvement.

    Snorkelling highlights:
    • I saw two turtles — one while still on the motorboat, the other while snorkelling 🐢
    • A starfish ⭐
    • A sea cucumber
    • And a stingray, lying resting on the sandy bottom

    You’d better be excited for my copious snorkelling footage! 😄    Les mer

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    Day 1: Aboard the Whitsunday Adventurer

    28. november 2025, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    On board of the vessel, we were a group of 12 people + 2 crew members (6 Brits, 2 Dutch, 2 Swedes, 2 Danes, 1 French and me) — quite the European mix!
    After everyone had gathered, we boarded the boat and got the safety briefing. It was hot onboard, no breeze, nothing. But as soon as we set sail — of course — the breeze came, and things cooled down. Still: don’t underestimate the sun! 😅

    We sailed for a while to a spot to watch the sunset, then moved to a sheltered area to anchor for the night.

    I was a bit apprehensive before doing this tour, actually - I easily get motion sickness. Depending on conditions, however, I’ve figured out what works best: if the water is flat, I’m fine; if it’s wavy, I need to stay in the front of the boat and lie down (the black incline on the last pic is where that was). That’s exactly what I did for most of the 41 hours aboard the Adventurer - if I wasn‘t sleeping.    Les mer

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    Airlie Beach

    26. november 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Since there was no connecting flight from Cairns to Proserpine Airport, I had to fly to Brisbane first. With the early flights, I still arrived in Airlie Beach by noon. I had about 1.5 days to relax a bit — as much as you can when it’s hot and humid. I had arrogantly assumed it would be much more comfortable further south of Cairns. But no. 😄

    Airlie Beach isn’t that big — and it’s still too far north to swim without a stinger suit. Most people, from what I gathered, come to Airlie mainly to join a sailing tour to the Whitsundays. I was one of them.    Les mer

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    Fitzroy Island

    25. november 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Today I went to Fitzroy Island!
    This time I wasn’t part of any group, which meant I could finally enjoy the day without noise-cancelling headphones and just listen to the sounds of nature. Ah, what bliss.
    Fitzroy Island is a 45-minute ferry ride from Cairns. About 8,000 years ago, it was actually part of the mainland — before rising sea levels flooded the coastal plains after the last Ice Age and turned it into an island.
    What a tropical paradise Fitzroy is. I loved it!
    Everyone rushed off the ferry to go snorkelling, but I went for a hike first. Fewer people hike before snorkelling, you know. 😄
    I hiked up to the lighthouse and back (so very steep!) — it took me about an hour, and by the end of it I was soaked. Absolutely drenched. My shirt felt like it had been dipped in water. It’s just so humid and hot…
    After that, I continued on to Nudey Beach — which, incidentally, was voted Australia’s best beach in 2018. 🏝️
    What it didn’t have, however, was sand. The entire beach is made of dead coral rubble washed ashore. Do not walk there without shoes. 😅
    Once I’d taken plenty of photos, I locked my camera away and grabbed my action cam for some snorkelling fun!
    By the time I got into the water, most people were already out, so I basically had a tiny beach to myself. Bliss again.
    I saw so many colourful fish! Every time I snorkelled back and forth, new species appeared — it was amazing. My only issue was my snorkel mouthpiece. For some reason water kept leaking in and I kept accidentally inhaling it. Not fun! 😅
    But I had an absolute ball. I loved the fish and the corals.
    (Fitzroy is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which makes it a much cheaper reef experience than the big commercial boat tours. 🌊)
    After nearly two hours of snorkelling (it’s surprisingly exhausting!), I returned my stinger suit — it’s stinger season because of box jellyfish and Irukandji jellyfish — and treated myself to a meat pie. Not kangaroo this time, but pepper steak. Yum.
    And then it was time to board the ferry back to Cairns.
    All in all, I absolutely recommend Fitzroy Island! 🐠    Les mer

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    Cairns Marina

    24. november 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    In the late afternoon, I arrived back in Cairns and strolled through the marina. It’s a little surreal seeing mountainous stretches of rainforest towering in the distance, clashing with the water. 🌄🌊

    Side-note: I‘m melting here in Cairns! It‘s so hot and humid, and it hardly cools down over night… Long live AC! :D    Les mer

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    Kuranda Scenic Railway

    24. november 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Eventually, I decided to take an earlier train back to Cairns: the Kuranda Scenic Railway - very much reminiscent of the Hogwarts Express. Apparently one of the most scenic railways in the world — cutting straight through rainforest, past bridges, tunnels, and a magnificent waterfall.Les mer

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    Kuranda: Butterfly Sanctuary

    24. november 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    The shuttle bus — my personal shuttle bus, since I was the only passenger 😄 — brought me to Kuranda. Kuranda is a cute little rainforest village, though for whatever reason most places were on holiday when I got there. Some shops were open, but the majority were closed. A shame! There was a little extra section, like a tiny village within the village with “tropical island meets Western vibes.” I’m not sure how many shops were supposed to be there, but only one was open.

    Outside of the tiny village, I found a bakery that sold pies and went for a kangaroo one. It was pretty good, actually!

    Since strolling through mostly closed shops wasn’t particularly entertaining, I went to the butterfly sanctuary.
    Trying to capture those fast flutterers on camera was decent fun! They’re really quick — and beautiful — so I spent some time having my little picturesque moment 🦋📸.    Les mer

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    Rainforestation

    24. november 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Another full day today!

    First stop: Rainforestation - it's like a tiny zoo with some Aboriginal elements, a fruit garden, and a patch of rainforest.

    I started my activities there with a Duck Army tour — basically a big amphibious vehicle — and off we went into the rainforest. We even drove through water, which was pretty cool. Our guide taught us about indigenous plants; he’d learnt from Aboriginal elders and clearly knew his stuff.

    After the tour, I went to the mini zoo with free-roaming kangaroos. Actually, I think they were wallaroos — too big to be wallabies, too small to be full kangaroos. You could buy kangaroo feed and offer it to them, and you were allowed to pet them.

    Since it was full of tourists, naturally the roos’ appetite wasn’t exactly ravenous, and most of them barely ate. Fair enough. What really bothered me, though: people are getting more and more relentless. All they cared about was getting the perfect photo for social media. They poked and prodded the roos, and even when the animals tried to move away, people followed them. Maddening. 😠

    I stayed respectful around the animals and let them come to me. One actually came really close, nudged me, and practically asked me to stroke its head — then presented its chest so I could scratch it. The roo genuinely seemed to love it. After a few seconds, people began gathering around, trying to get a piece of the action. The roo moved closer to me, which was sweet… until a Russian guy bumped into me with an entitled “Excuse me,” grabbed the roo, and posed for a photo his wife took. Damn, that was sad to watch — and sad that none of the staff seemed to care.

    I wasn’t in the mood to keep exploring after that (though I did have the chance to touch a water python - fun!), so I went to catch my shuttle bus.
    All in all, this stop wasn’t worth the money for me. You’re always wiser afterwards. 🤷‍♀️    Les mer

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    Mount Alexandra Lookout and Ice-Cream

    23. november 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We made two more stops before heading back to Cairns:

    1. Ice-cream stop — They make their ice-cream locally, with rainforest ingredients. Flavours included black and yellow sapote, jackfruit, soursop, coconut, passionfruit, banana, and wattleseed. I got the 4-flavour set: coconut, passionfruit, yellow sapote, and wattleseed.
    • Yellow sapote (canistel) tastes like a dense sweet custard, almost like firm egg yolk custard.
    • Wattleseed was earthy, slightly sweet, with notes of vanilla and coffee. Surprisingly good.

    2. Mount Alexandra Lookout (Walu Wugirriga) — Nice view over the coastal rainforest, Daintree River mouth, and the Coral Sea. We didn’t stay long: back on the bus for the 2.5-hour drive to Cairns.

    All in all, a long day — 7am to 7pm. The guide knew his stuff and was serious about safety. The group was loud and oblivious more often than not. By the end, slipping on my noise-cancelling headphones and editing photos felt like heaven. 😌😄    Les mer

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    Cape Tribulation

    23. november 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    After lunch, we drove to Cape Tribulation. We hiked about 1km, and saw really cool crabs. We were also repeatedly warned about crocs in the area. But, of course, that didn’t stop a group of Instagram-obsessed tourists who wandered off without the guide. One girl spent more time taking pictures of her friends than looking at the nature around her. Then, despite multiple warnings to stay at least 5 meters from the water, she and her friend kicked off their shoes and wandered into it. The guide lost it: “Guys, do you wanna die? Get out, now!” They giggled and sauntered out, then spent another five minutes doing their Instagram thing. Maddening.

    He actually gave us a tip on how to find out if there's a croc or something else dangerous in the water. "Just chuck a dog in first." :D

    On a brighter note: I saw a blue stick insect. Not the usual drab brown — this one was turquoise / vibrant blue, hiding in green leaves. They were my favourite part of the day for me, actually.    Les mer

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