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Michael MeyerMichael Meyer
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traveled in 4 countries Read more
  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 45

    Beautiful Brisbane

    March 12, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Goodbye Noosa, at 8:10 am I hopped on the bus to Brisbane. Just a 2.5 hours busride this time😄Arriving at Brisbane I already felt that I would love the city. Well, and so was it (except for the awful traffic)😊 A shame that I basically only had half a day here! I dropped my bag at the hostel, bought a ticket for the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary at the reception, and then headed out into the city. The weather did not mean it that well with me, there were rain showers all day, but they mostly were not lasting for more than ten minutes or so. I only had time for a little stroll around the city centre and at the river, before I got on a little boat taking me to the koala sanctuary. The boat ride was a bit more than half an hour and I enjoyed it so much! Brisbane is so green and the neighborhoods along the river are just beautiful, but probably also very very expensive🤔 My visit to the koala sanctuary, I cover in a separate footprint. After the sanctuary, I had to wait quite long for a public bus back to the city. The bus ride was awful. All this traffic! What was supposed to take 45 minutes took more than 75. In the same building like the hostel there was a nice pub. There, I treated myself with a steak and a stout, went for another short stroll to take some night pictures and then went to bed for a very short sleep...Read more

  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 45

    A little koala paradise - Lone Pine

    March 12, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Since I am probably not going to see any wild koalas, I had decided to go to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. What a wonderful place it is - a real paradise for koalas and other animals. The koalas are so cute, I could watch them for hours! They have very nice enclosures at Lone Pine. I am sure they have a good life there. They also have other animals at Lone Pine. The tasmanian devil was cool to watch, the dingoes were very lazy just lying in the corner. They also have a sheep station and some pigs and goats. At the sheep station I watched a sheep dog show. Impressive, how the dog (a three year old Australian kelpie) obeyed and was able to navigate the sheep. I also enjoyed being close to the kangaroos. You are allowed to go on the meadow where they live. One kangaroo was very curious and came very close to me. There also was a feeding of wild lorikeeti. What a chaos and noise! The birds in captivity were interesting to watch, too - especially the kookaburras and the black cockatoos. Anyway, the stars of Lone Pine are the koalas and I very much enjoyed to watch them.Read more

  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 44

    Bushwalk on Fraser Island

    March 11, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Well, Lake McKenzie was actually not my highlight on Fraser Island. After lunch, we drove about half an hour to so called "Central Station". From there, we went on a 1.8 km bushwalk along a creek. That was so amazing in the rainforest - the different greens, the different trees - some of them very high -, the ferns, the creek. I could have stayed for hours😊 Being on our walk it in fact really rained. However, we did not get very wet because the leaves of the trees kept most of the rain away. Impressive! We saw two pretty big lizards, the rest of the group also saw a big spider which I did not. After the walk we had to drive back to the ferry, about 45 minutes mostly on the 75 mile beach which had not been possible in the morning because of high tide. At the beach we saw a dingo. It looks like a big dog, something in between dog and wolf. Unfortunately, I could not take a picture because I was sitting on the other side of the car, but I am happy to have seen one. Back on the mainland, we had to change the vehicle again und Cheeso drove us back to Noosa where we arrived shortly before 6:00 pm. This time I did not spot any animals except for cattle and horses, but I also fell asleep for some moments from time to time
    In Noosa, I went to the beach where I had not been yet. I made it just for twilight, so that I still could see a bit. It is a nice beach. There were some surfers in the water that I could watch. After dinner from an Asian takeaway, I "fell" into my bed. Lucky me, incl. me there were only two out of the five beds taken.    Read more

  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 44

    Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island

    March 11, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I had to get up once again at 5:00 am. At 6:00 am I was picked up for a tour to Fraser Island. We were about twelve people in the van. The drive was quite scenic, mostly on a small road, partly even a dirt road. Cheeso, one of the guides, told us we should look for koalas or kangaroos. Anyway, the speed was kind of too high to find koalas in the trees if there were any. However, a kangaroo jumped in front of us on the road and there was another one on the other side. Yeah, I saw a wild kangaroo😁However, it was not possible to take a photo. A little later, there were a few more kangaroos on a meadow about maybe thirty to fifty meters away from the road. At least, I think, it was kangaroos. At about 8:00 am we arrived at Rainbow Beach where six more people joined the group and where we changed the van for a heavy and huge four by four vehicle. Fraser Island is the largest sand island of the world and you need a respective vehicle to drive on the sand and dirt roads as well as on the well-known 75 mile beach. At Inlet Point we had to wait for the ferry. There is no harbor, it is just a beach where the ferry stops for loading and then goes back to the island. While we waited we could watch a lot of seabirds. On the short ferry transit, I shortly saw two or three dolphins. They were not very visible - no comparison to the dolphins in New Zealand. On Fraser Island the ferry just stopped on the beach again. Then we went for a long drive through the bush of Fraser Island. Honestly, I got a little annoyed from all the driving because you just see the landscape flying by. Furthermore, I got pretty tired. Part of the trip to Lake McKenzie was also on the 75 mile beach. By the time we arrived at the lake we had been driving for almost five hours from Noosa. On Fraser Island there live wild dingoes and you need to be cautious and are not allowed to take food with you when you go to the lake. My mood was not that good after the long drive, but that changed when I saw the lake. It is so beautiful😊 What a blue and turquoise color! I also went for a little swim; crystal-clear fresh water! The "white" of the beach was also amazing. After the beach- and swimtime we had lunch (sandwich and soft drink) in a fenced, dingo-safe area. After lunch, I watched two birds - I guess a female and a male - who were "flirting". At least, it looked like that🙃Read more

  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 43

    Noosa National Park

    March 10, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    At about 2:30 pm, I arrived at the hostel. It was tempting to just go to bed and have another sleep, but I wanted to go to the National Park. Where else do you have the chance to go to a National Park almost next to the city centre? Furthermore, koalas live in the National Park and I would have loved to see them. The first animals, I saw, were bush turkeys. That was already at the hostel. You find them all around Noosa. I had to go up a hill to a view point to reach the barriers of the National Park. The trail up was already in a beautiful forest. The view from up there was pretty amazing. In the National Park, I went for a bush walk that apparently not many people take. It was a little adventure and, to be honest, I had a bit of an unpleasant feeling because - other than in New Zealand - in Australia you might encounter snakes or stuff like that. Well, fortunately I did not 😄, but, when I reached some wider tracks I was not sad either. The flora was beautiful. At Hell's gates (kind of a small rough bay) I reached the shore. It was pretty windy up there. The view on the Ocean as well as on Alexandria Bay with a beautiful beach was awesome. Two ospreys ("Fischadler") where circulating over the beach and the bay. It was amazing to watch them. I continued on the beach of Alexandria Bay and then back into the forest. I was limited in time because sunset was already at 6:30ish. Unfortunately, I did not see much wildlife except for the turkeys and ospreys, as well as some small birds and butterflies. No koalas🙁 When I had left the National Park, I got really wet - another hefty shower of the wet season. Back in the hostel, I did some laundry, went for a short walk in the main street, had a sandwich and did not do much more.Read more

  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 43

    17 hours busride - hopefully not again

    March 10, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    At 9:00 pm, the bus finally left Airlie Beach. After a nice talk with a Croatian girl, who lives in Stuttgart, in the row behind me, I could sleep unexpectedly well. Fortunately, I had two seats for myself. I awoke three or four times, but fell asleep quickly again. So, I slept until about 7:00 am, when we had a breakfast break in Gin Gin. The rest of the travel, I spent mostly looking out of the window - agricultural and forest areas as well as small towns. Anyway, from 10:00 am or so onwards, I was mainly annoyed from still sitting in the bus. More than twelve hours is just too long... After a lunchbreak at a place with a huge sculpture of a kangaroo with the name Matilda, we finally arrived in Noosa at about 1:45 pm. I felt a little exhausted.Read more

  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 42

    Bushwalk, beach and snorkeling

    March 9, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Another day on and in the water... After not a good night - three idiots in my room were of the opinion that it is just normal to hold a long conversation (I would say at least half an hour) in the eight bed dorm at 3 am - my Ocean Rafting trip to the Whitsunday Islands began at 8:30 am. It was a daytrip with a speedboat. Most of the time we rushed over the sea with up to 30 knots. It was pretty fun. At the beginning, we were together with another speedboat of the same company and we jumped over their waves and they over ours. After a bit more than an hour we arrived at Whitsunday Island, the biggest of the Whitsunday Islands, where the short Bushwalk (about 15 minutes) to the Whitsunday lookout starts. Just before we arrived there, it started raining. Fortunately, the rain lasted only for some ten minutes. The view from the lookout was pretty amazing, however, I think, Europe has got islands that are similarly beautiful in my opinion. The bushwalk ended at the famous Whiteheaven beach. We went with the boat to a small bay that we had for ourselves. There, we had some lunch - mainly different salads - and a bit more than one hour beachtime. It was recommended only to swim with a bodysuit to be protected from jellyfish. I went for a short swim, but the water is actually too warm, not really refreshing. Well, the beer at the beach was good and cool though😄After the beach we went to a bay in front of Hook Island for snorkeling. Again, it was pretty beautiful to see the fish in their natural habitat. This spot was not so much for corals, but mainly for fish. We also went to a second snorkeling spot, as well in front of Hook Island. Unbelievable, it was so beautiful there: mainy beautiful corals, many fish. I think, I saw a stonefish (not sure if that is the correct name). My favourites where the loads of zebra fish I saw. Some bigger blue/turquoise and black ones where nice, too. And pretty much in the end, I saw two fish that had a pattern like a giraffe. At both snorkeling spots, I was the last one to go out of the water. Unfortunately, again, I cannot share the pictures that I took with my camera. Next and last very short stop was at another beach before we went back to Airlie Beach. Close to the marina, the skipper made some 360°-turns at full speed. In Airlie Beach, I had about two hours to walk around and have some food before I needed to pick up my backpack at the hostel and go to the bus stop. There I got to know from two Irish girls that our bus was expected to be 90 minutes late. Great - a 17 hours bus ride began with a delay🙃 Well, in the end we depsrted two hours late (even though the bus arrived with a bit less than + 90 minutes - the reason for that was a broken tyre that had to be changed) because the driver had to kick one guest out off the bus at Airlie Beach and was threatened by him. As far as I got to know, the man had smoked in the bus. The driver had to wait for the police, but the other one was gone by the time the police arrived.Read more

  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 41

    Airlie Beach (Sunset Cruise)

    March 8, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    The busride from Cairns to Airlie Beach took more than nine hours. Actually, I slept better and longer than I had expected before; until a meal break at about 9:00 am I had slept most of the time. Anyway, sleeping on the bus is not as refreshing as sleeping in a bed. From then, I looked out of the window most of the time. The area we were driving through was quite agricultural and green, e. g. I saw many sugar cane plantations, but not much cattle. At about 10:45 am, I arrived at Airlie Beach. It was very hot already. The sun here in Australia is so strong! At the hostel, I could already get into my room, an eight bed dorm again, pretty fresh because of the aircondition. I did a short walk in the main street to checkout if there was any possibilities for an afternoon program. There was not many options, but the sunset cruise on a sailing boat at 5:00 pm convinced me. Then I tried to relax and also had a snooze at the hostel. Unfortunately, there were quite a few clouds, when the sunset cruise started. Anyway, it was scenic also with the clouds. The boat, a wooden schoner, was nice. There were about fifteen people on board. We sailed out in the bay of Airlie Beach. A glass of champagne as well as some crackers with cheese were complimentary, further drinks could be bought. The light with the clouds and later the moon were beautiful, but we did not have a real sunset. There were two cruiseships in the bay. I am pretty sure, that one of them was the Artania again. It was also obvious, that it was raining at some places around. There was even a rainbow close to one of the cruiseships. Unfortunately, the rain reached Airlie Beach and also came towards us. Close before and in the marina, we got really really wet. It was a heavy rainfall for about five minutes. When the rain had stopped, I went back to the hostel to change my clothes and then went out for some dinner. However, it has been raining again and again the whole evening.Read more

  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 40

    Flying animals in Cairns

    March 7, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    After returning from the reef, I had the entire evening to spend in Cairns before I had to catch the 1:00 am southbound Greyhound bus. I was strolling a little bit through the city centre and then quite some time at the esplanade along the beach. With the sun being behind some clouds the temperature was quite convenient. It was beautiful walking there, in particular because there were so many different birds around. And, before the birds, I had spotted a tree hanging full of flying dogs and maybe other bats, quite impressive! The pelicans, I saw, were fascinating, but also some very colorful parrot-like birds, a white flamingo-like bird and some more. When it got darker (sunset is here already at about 6:30 pm), I could also see quite a few flying dogs flying above the esplanade, a little bit looking like vampires😄 What was pretty nice, too, was that there were not many tourists where I was walking. I was impressed by the many free to use facilities provided by the municipality like fitness devices or beach volleyball courts. Fortunately, I could have a shower at the hostel, even though I did not stay there anymore. Well, the effect was not so big. Here, just one minute after the shower, you start sweating again, because of the high air humidity. The rest of the evening was just waiting for the bus. I was very tired and would have loved to be able to go to bed early.Read more

  • TravelerGoing Down Under
    Day 40

    Great Barrier Reef

    March 7, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Once more getting up very early, but for a great experience and adventure: snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. I went on the "Passions of Paradise"-tour on a big catamaran. It took more than 2 hours to go to the first snorkeling stop. I spent most of the time in the inside salon because it was so hot outside in the sun. There were some nice people sitting at the same table with me, so it was alright. For snorkeling we had to wear body suits to be protected from jellyfish and the sun. It was breathtaking to snorkel there. The colors of the corals and the different fish were amazing😊It is definitely something different to see the fish in their natural habitat than in a aquarium. Unfortunately, there were also many bleached corals. I saw clown and doctor fish (Nemos and Dories😉) and many more I do not know the name of. I spent about one hour in the water. There were so many things to see. After the first snorkeling stop there was a lunch buffet in the salon with different salads and two hot dishes. It was really good and I was quite hungry. It did not take very long to sail to the second snorkeling spot, the so called "Three Sisters". This time I took my waterproof camera with me. It was impressive again, but actually I was more impressed by the first location. Unfortunately, I cannot share any of the underwater photos because the SD-Card they are on is not compatible with my phone. The same goes for the underwater pictures taken of me by the crew photographer that I bought. I will share some pictures when I'll be in Germany again. After 40 minutes I actually only wanted to take my camera back on board and then go snorkeling again, but, unfortunately I was not allowed to go back in the water because the snorkeling time had almost run out already. Going back to Cairns took again about 2.5 hours. Russel, a dive instructor and marine biologist, did an interesting presentation about the Great Barrier Reef for about half an hour. I am very glad I came here to do the snorkeling tour at the Great Barrier Reef. It was a great experience.Read more

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