My backpacking route

Just thought I’d drop a quick note to say that as of tomorrow (Monday 14 November) I will be backpacking along the east and parts of the south coast of Australia for the next 4 ½ weeks. My travels will start in north Queensland in Cairns where I will stay four a few days having planned a trip to the Cape Tribulation area famed for its ancient rainforest, sandy beaches and rugged mountains. It’s one of the few places in the world where the tropical rainforest meets the sea. On my return to Cairns I will take a boat to the outer Great Barrier Reef going snorkelling and diving. I will then take the bus south stopping at Mission Beach and Magnetic Island. This island is covered in giant granite boulders, hoop pines and eucalyptus. Captain Cook named Magnetic Island in 1770 when his ship’s compass went peculiar as he sailed by. My next destination is Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands the latter of which I will explore by way of a two-day two-night sailing tour. Apparently the Whitsunday Coast has an exotic Great Barrier Marine Park which is ‘hidden’ beneath irresistible waters. This, what I hope will be an exciting trip will be followed by a three-day 4WD safari on Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the world’s biggest sand island. Its ecology is one of the many wonders of the place. Rainforests and some 200 freshwater lakes dot a landscape that contains more sand than the Sahara – reputedly. On my return from Fraser Island I will continue to Noosa where I will join a three-day two night canoeing trip through the Everglades. After this ‘adventure’ I will take the bus to Sydney where after a two-day stop I will resume my travels by air to Melbourne, Victoria. Once in Melbourne I intend to hire a car to drive along the Great Ocean Road which if one believes the Lonely Planet is one of the world’s most spectacular coastal drives. My final destination of this short road trip is the Twelve Apostles. This pretty much will be my Oz experience, at least for now. On 15 December I will fly out of Sydney to San Francisco where I will have a three-day stopover which I will spend with an old friend of mine. My scheduled arrival in Berlin is 19 December.
As I am writing these lines my backpack is already packed and ready to be taken ‘on the road’ and my camera equipment is waiting to be used. As I am still shooting film and travelling light (w/o my laptop) I will not be able to post any pictures from the trip on my website until I return to Germany. Also, I have decided to provide you with an overall report of my trip once I am back home which means that in the coming five weeks I will stay in contact with you either via email, text messages or the phone.

Sebastian

The information regarding the locations is taken from the Lonely Planet – Australia, my beloved travel companion.