There is a tendency for people to rush up the East Coast in a little over a month. I have been lucky enough to have the time and money to spend 3 months. It means I have visited alot more places and spent alot more time in places, rather than just have a pub crawl interspersed with overnight bus journeys.
I stopped in Bundaberg the night before 1770. A regrettable decision. Before I went to Bundaberg everyone asked why I was going there as the only reason to go there is to find fruit picking work. I also made the unfortunate assumption that I would find accommodation easily. I ended up staying in Bus Stop Hostel (right next to the Greyhound Bus Stop), more juvenile detention centre than hostel. It seemed to be a converted warehouse with very few friendly people. The room I stayed in was a mess with the occupant's belongings spread everywhere and half eaten food lying around. What made matters worse was that there weren't any windows in the room so there was no way to get rid of the smell of damp. The town itself isn't that bad it just lacks personality and while I was there the weather was grey and unwelcoming. I did get along to the Bundaberg Rum Distillery and did their tour which was pretty good.
After a month in 1770 I went to Rockhampton. Rockhmapton is not a tourist town. I went to the Tourist Information office and asked how I got to here and here, and was told that without a car I wasn't going here or here, but the only place a bus went was the Botanical Gardens (which were pleasant). The woman at the Tourist Office was, however, awfully impressed by my being from Essex and asked me to pass on her best wishes to Jamie Oliver. I was lucky enough to be in Rockhampton on a Friday which meant I could go and watch Rodeo practice at the Great Western Hotel (owned by Keith Urban). I started the evening with a steak in the beef capital of Australia. It is a bit of a peculiar sight bull riding. It is certainly impressive but also has a car crash quality to it. One guy got his hand caught on the reigns and was dragged around for a while. Another guy got his leg trapped and was dragged and then trampled by the bull. While he lay motionless in the middle of the ring the rest of the cowboys ran in to distract the bull and this lasted a good few minutes. Eventually they calmed the bull and the guy struggled to his feet.
My next stop was Mackay. Mackay has a lot less character than Rockhampton. When you enter Rockhampton it feels like you have stepped back into the 1980s. People walk around in checked shirts and big hats. There are quite a few historic buildings. Another reason why I liked Rockhampton was the taxi driver who picked me up from the Greyhound bus station. Every other word was bloody, I wasn't sure if this was because he was angry until I realised he used bloody like other people would use ummm. Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend walking around Rockhampton at night, it is a bit dodgy. Mackay in comparison is much plainer. I was staying at Gecko's Rest which is a fine hostel apart from the Bogan's (Australian Chavs) who stalk the corridors. Outside of town there is a huge bay and if you walk down on to the mudflats you can see thousands of tiny crabs wandering around.
After Mackay I went to Airlie Beach for the Whitsundays trip. Airlie is renowned as a party town for backpackers and does have the feel of a Club Med seaside resort. The hostels are known to be particularly bad for cleanliness, facilities, and bed bugs. "Goodnight, mind the bed bugs don't bite", had little meaning for me until I reached Australia. When checking into a hostel you should always check your prospective bunk for tiny holes in the wood where they reside, you also need to check the mattress for blood spots, and if you are against the wall they can nest in unpainted mortar. You will know when you have been bitten by bed bugs because you have rows of itchy chicken pox style spots. They are taken from hostel to hostel in rucksacks and sleeping bags (hence why sleeping bags are banned in most hostels). I was under the impression that bed bugs were tiny but apparently they can get up to an inch long. A girl I know woke up to discover bed bugs crawling over her breasts. The yachts on the Whitsundays are not immune, backpacker yachts don't let you take bags with zips on board (as they nest in the zips). Alot of the cheaper boats are infested and even the higher end racing yachts like British Defender have problems. In the classy Whitsunday Magic this wasn't a problem, I could have as many zips as I liked.
I am probably doing Airlie Beach a bit of a disservice. The scenery is pretty and I stayed in a good hostel at Backpackers on the Bay. Just make sure you avoid Beaches, Magnums, and Koalas. I would suggest not going closer than a barge pole to anything relating to Koala Backpackers. I have not heard a good thing about any of their hostels. I have been told that their Fraser Island Self-drive trips are pretty appalling. Two 4x4s went out on one occasion, one group had half the food needed for the trip and the other group had all the food but an empty gas bottle. I did break the rule of avoiding Magnums when I stayed in their resort on Magnetic Island. Magnums always looks cheaper than other hostels but that is because all you get included is your bed with a bottom sheet. They do not give you a top sheet, a pillow, or a blanket. For all of these luxury items you have to pay a fee and a deposit. I had one of my worst nights sleep their surrounded by a choir of snorers. In saying that Magnetic Island is very pretty and I had a good evening watching toad racing with a German guy called Leonard. The toad racing was highly entertaining with a very funny Aussie bloke running it. He auctioned the toads before the race and had a variety of nicknames for them. Whenever the bidding got to $16 he would give the toad a kiss (sweet 16 never been kissed). A big crowd was watching, including US Navy guys on shore leave who seemed to have more money than sense when it came to purchasing toads. US Marines and Navy personnel have been a feature in alot of places on the East Coast. They have been participating in the largest naval training exercise in history with Australian forces. I always find it amazing to see how young the military guys look. I would imagine that the Marines have got to be pretty pleased to have been posted to the East Coast of Oz rather than Baghdad.
On from Magnetic Island I went to Mission Beach. It is one of the more undiscovered spots on the East Coast. I stayed at the Beach Shack. It is a very small pleasant hostel, you cross the road and you are on the beach. The beach is beautiful, it is a tropical paradise lined with palm trees. I went swimming there and had stingrays swimming beneath me. I also went walking in the rainforest on the lookout for Cassowaries. Cassowaries are very similar to Emus except thy are more colourful, aggressive and have bigger claws. I didn't see any and I'm not altogether sure what I would have done if I had (apparently running away isn't the best method of not getting clawed).
I went on to Port Douglas and I had my run in with Team Japan at Port O'Call. Port Douglas is a resort town for those with some cash in their pockets. It is much prettier than Cairns. The beach is reminiscent of Mission Beach, but much busier. Port Douglas also has very aggressive Mosquito's which land on your face and try and bite you (or actually bite you as a friend of mine discovered). I then went on a tour up to Cape Tribulation with Tropics Explorer. On the way we stopped at the Daintree River to do a Crocodile spotting cruise. We spotted a big Saltwater Crocodile and a Freshwater Crocodile, we also got up close and personal with a tree snake. The drive up to Cape Tribulation has some great views as you wind up through the Daintree Rainforest. From one of the lookouts you can see the Low Isles group of islands where Steve Irwin was killed. Cape Tribulation was named by Captain Cook when he struck a reef off the coast and the Endeavour nearly sunk. When you wander round it doesn't feel like it has changed and you wonder whether this is what Captain Cook saw himself. It is an undeveloped place with a few accommodation options and a couple of shops. There are certain sections of the beach that you aren't allowed to walk along because Saltwater Crocodiles live there, it isn't unusual to see them sunbathing on the beach or swimming in the sea. Cassowaries also live in the rainforest, but I again didn't bump into any. I stayed at Ferntree Lodge which has good accommodation and location but the kitchen is appalling. The kitchen at Ferntree Lodge is probably the worst I have come across in Australia. Dead insects littered the kitchen, the facilities were completely inadequate, there was one bowl and one spoon for everyone, and the staff couldn't of cared less.
Choice can be paralysing. We have firmly established that the East Coast is setup for backpackers. It means that when you want to do something then there are a multitude of ways to do it for a variety of different prices. The Great Barrier Reef has arguably the most options of any on the East Coast. For starters you can jump on a boat from Cape Tribulation, Port Douglas or Cairns. They then visit different types of sites, some go to islands, others to cays, or to the inner reef, or to the outer reef. Now within these different types of sights are different places. You then also need to factor in the speed and quality of the boat, which becomes more important when you realise that getting out to the reef isn't the smoothest of crossings. After much deliberation I finally choose Silverswift from Cairns. It is the fastest ship out of Cairns and stops at 3 different sights on the outer reef. It was a pretty rough journey to get out there and back, within 10 minutes of leaving port people were throwing up on the back deck. There was one time where we hit a particularly big wave and everyone on board let out a collective gasp as we crashed down on the other side. In saying that I and the majority of people were perfectly fine. The snorkeling was excellent. I had heard so many reports of coral bleaching and lack of fish that I was surprised to see the variety of colours and fish. It was worth paying the extra money to go to the outer reef on a decent ship. I got alot of great photos and even managed to find Nemo. I spotted a turtle from the boat, but unfortunately none while I was in the water.
