From Airlie Beach the next ‘must-do’ is a bloody long way away and not easily do-able by plane – so a 13.5 hour 860 Km overnight bus it was. There’s also an overnight train but we already had our Greyhound passes so no point spending more $$.

After a day by the pool, happy hour drinks and dinner we headed by Uber to the bus stop far too early, as Debbie likes to be there at least an hour before the Greyhound departure for some reason. Others joined us half an hour later and we waited patiently for the 21.00 departure, and then all got a little worried when there was no sign of it. Except the stoned bloke who wandered up at21.10 asking where the bus to Brisbane went from – he wasn’t worried at all even though it should’ve left 10 minutes earlier! Our bus arrived 20 minutes or so late, the backpackers disembarked and then the very cheerful (not) lady driver bellowed ‘don’t rush, this bus may not be going anywhere tonight’. Brilliant – especially as our understanding is that you are on your own if that happens. Apparently the issue was something to do with water and a warning light but she eventually got us on the road after making some calls and fiddling with stuff, then handed over to another driver shortly afterwards and telling him that he’d need to keep stopping to top up the water. We were asked to sign a waiver form – releasing Greyhound from any obligations if they failed to get us to our destination – a tad concerning. And then the driver loaded his supply of Red Bull onto the bus and said that he’d be driving us all the way to Hervey Bay. We really weren’t sure how safe that was going to be – a knackered bus and a more knackered driver fuelled on energy drinks for his 13.5 hour shift.

Anyway, a half empty bus meant we could spread out and Steve was fast asleep in no time. He has sleep apnoea and uses a CPAP machine, but there was no way of powering it on the bus and so the rest of the bus got no sleep whatsoever as Steve snores like a train without it. He woke perky & refreshed having had 8 or 9 hours of good sleep, whereas Debbie and the rest of the bus were ready to kill someone!

Hervey Bay

Pronounced ‘Har-vee’, this was the biggest settlement we’d seen for ages and we arrived at the coach terminal in a huge out-of-town shopping centre at 10.30 the morning after leaving Airlie Beach as the Red Bull-fuelled driver had made up the time lost at the start. That same guy then jumped into a Greyhound car to drive himself down to Brisbane, another 3.5 hours, to then bring a coach back up the coast. We really would not want to be passengers on THAT bus! A very informative Uber driver gave us loads of tips for our planned visits to Tasmania and the Barossa Valley later in our trip before dropping us at Oaks Hervey Bay Resort & Spa, another last minute accommodation booking that worked out well, especially as we were upgraded to a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment. Located on the seafront at Urangan, close to the pier and with an excellent restaurant attached which satisfied Debbie’s craving for a burger with pineapple. The area was pleasant enough, but we were really only there as a hopping-off point for a visit to K’gari. We later learned that we could’ve also done K’gari from Rainbow Beach, and hour or so further down the coast, and that appeared to be a more ‘happening’ place for the backpacker brigade.

K’gari

Formerly known as Fraser Island, officially renamed in 2023 back to the original name given by the indigenous Butchulla people, K’gari (pronounced ‘GAH-ree’ as the K is silent) is the largest sand island in the world – a whopping 123 Km long. It was originally part of the mainland but became an island between 5,000 and 50,000 years ago due to rising sea levels. A trip there was a must-do on our East Coast adventure and we booked a 1 day excursion with the excellent K’gari Explore Tours as recommended by Steve’s sister. Many people do 2 or 3 day tours, staying on the island, but sadly we didn’t have time and couldn’t be bothered with the luggage faff either.

Collected from our hotel, transported the 16 Km or so to the ferry terminal at River Heads, a 45 minute crossing on a vessel similar to the to Dartmouth Higher Ferry (but with indoor seating for foot passengers) and on to a huge 4WD bus on the island – the organisation was impeccable. We quickly learned that 4WD was an absolute necessity as the whole of the island is off-road on sand tracks – obvious really. A full-on day was planned, with the order of the stops dictated by the tide times.

Almost immediately we were in thick woodland, surprised that such dense vegetation grows on sand, and made our way slowly on the bumpy sand track to our first stop – Lake Mackenzie. A beautiful body of crystal clear fresh water sitting on a white sand bed which reflects the sun & sky to give a beautiful blue colour. Apparently anyway – the sun was being shy again on the day of our visit – but it was still gorgeous and we took the opportunity for a swim.

Then deeper into the island to the only sub-tropical rainforest on a sand island in the world, and a walk along a sacred creek – amazing. We also saw the remains of some of the loggers’ huts at Central Station. Before the island was protected, in the 1970s, it was mainly used for logging, and the tracks we had been navigating on our bus had originally been created by the loggers to get the timber out.

After lunch, and now at low tide, we were able to drive at 80Km/hour along the famous 75 mile beach. Even though it was now raining, it was utterly spectacular as we joined lots of 4WD vehicles speeding across the sands as the surf rolled in.

We spotted several dingos along the beach and were warned about them, in fact food/drink was banned at Lake Mackenzie because of dingos. A few days later we saw in the news that a 19 year old girl working in a hostel had been found dead on that very beach, surrounded by 10 dingos – were they the cause of her demise or a convenient place to lay the blame?

After an exhilarating 20 minute beach drive we reached a major K’gari landmark – the wreck of SS Maheno, a luxury passenger ship built in Scotland in 1905 and wrecked on the island in 1935 during a strong cyclone. It was a majestic sight even though rusted and with 3 storeys buried in the sand. Because of the danger it poses, touching/climbing/entering the wreck is strictly forbidden – unless of course you are a Russian tourist wanting posed shots, as the rules obviously don’t apply to them.

Back down the beach we stopped at Eli Creek which Steve initially thought to be fairly pointless. He was wrong of course – a freshwater delight with crystal clear water which has been filtered through sand over 100 years and flowing out onto the beach and into the sea. With water knee deep at most, we were able to wander down the creek and spotted an eel along the way, and with other tourists floating in rubber rings along the gently flowing water it was vaguely reminiscent of the Lazy River at Center Parcs. A lovely stop before more driving on 75 mile beach, then back through the bumpy interior to the ferry.

A great day, thoroughly recommended – if only the weather had been better, but as we’ve said before we knew it was rainy season in Queensland!

Noosa

A daytime 4.5 hour bus journey, with a huge detour via Rainbow Beach, took us to Noosa – a chic coastal town on the Sunshine Coast. We couldn’t afford to stay in the exclusive Noosa Heads area but found that nearby Noosaville was far more accessible to those on a budget (but not exactly cheap!). It turned out that the location of our apartment Twin Quays Noosa was excellent – on the Noosa River, a short 25p bus (or far more expensive ferry) ride from Noosa Heads and the coach station. As we made our way along the 1.5 mile route from our Greyhound arrival point, it was immediately transparent that this place was gorgeous and so were the people holidaying there.

Our apartment was just OK – large but dated, sparsely furnished/decorated and with no bedside lights. Someone had wedged a floor lamp behind the bedside table but that didn’t work either, so Debbie messaged the property manager to ask whether they had any lamps and to point out that the carpet around the bedside table hadn’t seen a vacuum for quite a while. They offered to move us to another apartment, the one immediately below, and that was gorgeous – although exactly the same in design & layout, these apartments are individually owned so the quality of furnishings varies. Our new apartment was recently refurbished and perfect for a 3 night stay – and a washer/dryer meant we could catch up on our laundry too.

We took the Noosa Ferry up the river to Noosa Heads, admiring the gorgeous waterside properties with private boat moorings and which apparently double in price every 4 years. The going rate for a direct waterfront house appears to be £5-10 million currently! The ferry terminates just behind Hastings Street, the main road lined with lovely shops and beautiful restaurants – the exclusiveness of the resort is evident throughout – and just beyond is the main beach which is gorgeous but was packed with gazebos on a sunny Sunday. So we went for lunch before braving the sands – delicious barramundi and prawns with satay sauce for Debbie, seafood laksa for Steve and a bottle of Yarra Valley Pinot Gris – lovely. And after lunch we hit the quieter end of the beach, played in the surf and got drenched when the black clouds approached and the heavens opened. While sheltering under some trees a couple said ‘hello’ – that’s very friendly we thought, before realising it was the folks from Bristol who’d been sitting next to us on our Whitsundays boat trip – small world.

Noosa has an everglades system – of which there are only 2 in the world, Florida and here – so an excursion was a must-do and we booked for an afternoon tour with Everglades Eco Safari. The wind was up at around 30 knots that day so we’d abandoned our plan to rent a little boat that morning, and on arrival at the Everglades Eco Camp 25 minutes North of Noosa we saw that the starting point on Lake Cootharaba was VERY choppy indeed. But we were assured that all would be calm once we reached the river system, boarded the boat and were pushed out into the lake by 3 blokes waist deep in the water. A wet and windy 10 minutes or so, but as promised we were soon in calm waters and gliding through the everglades, with glass-like dark waters (coloured by the tea tree) providing spectacular reflections, birdlife in the trees, a huge reptile (monitor lizard?) climbing a tree, and Prosecco & beer glasses being topped up regularly.

A lovely cruise and then back to the camp, where the safari tents were surrounded by the resident kangaroos. We wish we’d known about this place before as it’d have been amazing to spend a night there. There must’ve been 30 or so kangaroos in various parts of the camp and we spent a fascinating half an hour waiting them graze on the grass – huge males down to youngsters. We also spotted some interesting male kangaroo anatomy – Google it!

We really liked Noosa and wish we’d spent longer there – but time and budget didn’t allow sadly. It’s definitely somewhere you could easily spend a week or more, and we met a couple from Harrogate who’d rented a house there for 3 weeks (as part of a 3 month trip as they don’t like British winters). They obviously had a bigger budget than us!

Next stop Brisbane…