So it’s been a year since our three-week Australia trip and I’ve been sitting on the trip report for a long while, hoping to carve out the time to write it but inevitably being distracted by something shiny each time. But a year is a year…and that’s too long.
Our trip would start on July 20th, 2018 out of Charlotte, NC. As anyone that has been halfway around the world knows, it’s a bit of a trip. Our itinerary took us from Charlotte to Los Angeles. We departed CLT at 5PM, arriving in LAX at 8PM local time. A three hour layover would give us an opportunity to grab some food before boarding an American Airlines Boeing 787 at 11:15PM, flying for about 15 hours through all the next day, losing a day through some magical crossing of the international date line, and arriving in Sydney at sunup, 7:15AM July 22. Apparently July 21 got put in escrow and we got that day back on the way home. Don’t ask me. It makes my head to hurt to think about it.
Across the desert southwest of the United States on the way to LAX…
I will say, the Boeing 787 was immensely comfortable. We had bulkhead seats, which was great since we could put our carry-on bags in front of us after takeoff. Kai spent much of the flight sleeping, playing Breath of the Wild on his Switch, and we were fed really good food throughout the flight. It really was a pleasant flight…
None of us had crossed the equator…so that was cool…
First look at Australia looming out the port windows…
The Cutest Boy Ever! (Sorry…he is…!). On the terminal transfer bus to the domestic terminal. Despite having flown from CLT-LAX-SYD, we had one more domestic flight on Virgin Australia from Sydney to Hervey Bay…arriving at noon to complete our epic journey.
Virgin Australia was very pleasant…departing over Sydney, you’ll notice some iconic sights below in Sydney Harbor…
On the visual approach to Hervey Bay. I believe it is an uncontrolled airport.
Hervey Bay is 600 miles up the east coast of Australia. Though we were sort of expecting it, the distances in Australia are just mind-boggling…
Finally, after a day and a half of traveling, we settled in to the Pier Resort for three days to sort of recover and start to take it in. I’ll go ahead and mention it now - we traveled to Australia in July - their winter and it was gorgeous. Every picture you see below will have a painfully blue sky. It never rained, and 90% of the time it was just clear skies and temperatures in the 70s to 80.
Our condo in Hervey Bay…
The Head of Planning and Logistics - my beautiful wife Marisa…
The Little Bear - Kai was eight years old last year during our trip. A wonderful world traveler. I think we only had one real dust-up during the trip. We found a nearby restaurant and enjoyed some wine and pizza…
Then we walked around Hervey Bay to stretch our legs. And discovered a wonderful Australian thing…drive through liquor stores! Right on Australia. This was right about when I realized we were really going to like this place.
Walking along the breakwater…
The Urangan Pier, stretching 2,848’ into Hervey Bay…
The next day (or the next?) we took an awesome tour to Fraser Island, a huge barrier island just east of Hervey Bay…
Boarding the ferry for the short trip to Fraser Island…
Once on Fraser Island, we boarded a really cool four-wheel drive bus with the coolest tour guide that gave a non-stop stream of supremely interesting facts about Australia, Fraser Island, the wildlife, fauna, and geology of the terrain we were crossing. It was fascinating.
Some of the awesome White Birch trees. There are all kinds of trees on Fraser Island that were very attractive to early settlers…
This beautiful, cool running stream ran through the area. Crystal clear water and according to our guide I think it was a spiritually important place for the native women…
Our awesome guide…and Kai really did take it all in…
Our first dingo sighting…!
On the bus we headed out of the forest after a few hours and headed down the beach to see some other sites. The bus was really a nice way to travel…
Residents from the mainland apparently come in these caravans of vehicles and just park on the beach and camp. Again, this was another one of those moments were I realized that Australia is full of “my people”. This looked like exactly the kind of stuff we’d do…
Kai riding shotgun…
Wreck of the SS Maheno, shipwrecked in a cyclone in 1935…
A fleet of planes were offering rides right off the beach. We passed that up to enjoy the rest of the bus tour…
Another stop had us wading through a stream. I tried to push from my mind all the stories of the venomous snakes and sea creatures and drop bears (cough). All went well and we didn’t step on any Fire Flatfish Poison Dart Skippers (that really isn’t a creature…but it might as well be…)
Spot the dingo!
To a northern-hemisphere resident…every sighting was something new…
We stopped at the incredible Lake McKenzie, a “perched lake” that sits 330’ above sea level, but some weird sand lens under it keeps the water in it. The bottom and beaches consist of perfect silica sand. The water is crystal clear but cold-ish…
The guide told us we could clean jewelry and teeth…so…of course…
A kookaburra! Yes! He was scouting out the picnic area…
Late in the afternoon it was time to head back to the ferry. There I realized that Australia has rednecks too. This family were feeding a dingo and many, many people were yelling at them to stop…and there was a very real feeling that the dog might bite their little kid. I thought we’d get to see a genuine “The dingo ate my baby” moment…
Back in Hervey Bay. We took a very pleasant stroll to the end of the pier, encountering a few people that we really enjoyed chatting with. It was fantastic to meet people and hear their views on our government (LOL) and everyone was super friendly and just awesome.
The next item on the itinerary the following day was a whale watching tour…
Mornings had a chill to them…particularly on a swift moving boat. Kai warming up with some hot cocoa…
The boat took us along the coast of Fraser Island - you can see that fine silica sand makes up much of the base of the island…
Hard to put into words how awesome it was seeing Humpback whales up close and personal. It almost makes you want to cry it is so awesome. They are so majestic, curious, and just a wonder of nature.
We spent half a day out on the whale tour and had a great time. The following day we grabbed a cab back to Hervey Bay airport. We had the coolest cab driver who asked if we had some extra time to kill (we did) and he asked if we had seen any kangaroos yet. Having only been on the coast and Fraser Island, we had not seen any. The next week I’d have my fill of kangaroos, but it was nice to get the sighting out of the way early in the trip. He took us to a field near the airport and we saw a dozen or so…
Next up we boarded a Cessna Caravan for what will probably remain a top life adventure - a week out on the beautiful Lady Elliot Island eco-resort on the south end of the Great Barrier Reef.
Our pilot (left) was clearly in training by the right-seater. I kept my mouth shut and just took it all in…nobody really wants to know another pilot is sitting behind you…
The pier at Hervey Bay as we departed for the 85 mile or so flight north to Lady Elliot island…
Just like FSX!
The views of Lady Elliot on approach are just jaw dropping. I can’t tell you how excited we were…!
Our approach was perhaps a touch high and fast…we touched down at the midpoint of the crushed coral and grass strip and the right seat pilot ordered a go around. So we got some additional pictures of the island on the second circuit. I loved it. The other passengers…maybe not so much.
The eco-Lodge is pretty austere, but better than some cabins we’ve stayed in. Totally adequate, no air-conditioning (it wasn’t necessary for July), no TV (yay) and a combination of solar arrays and generators provide power.