Day 1 – Travel Day to Sunny Queensland!

It feels so good to be back out and exploring again! We started our travel day at about 9 o’clock where we got a lift to the airport for our 11.30 flight. The airports in Australia have been a bit silly recently. With wait times for security lines being reported at over an hour, it was suggested that we be there 2 hours before our domestic flight, just to ensure we got through in enough time to board our flight.

It turns out that either the reports were exaggerated, the amount of people travelling has lowered in the last day or two, or we were just very lucky, because we were checked in, baggage dropped, through security and waiting for boarding just after 10 o’clock. We filled in the time with Krispy Kreme donuts (which seem to have become a routine for me while flying, it’s all I craved at Changi airport in Singapore too) and just a chat and catch up with what we’re doing on this trip.

It does seem a little silly, but until now, I hadn’t really been too familiar with what we were actually going to be doing this trip. Drew and I have been blessed with Amy and Anthony, who are travel angels and have organised everything to do with this one! Amy is amazing in what tours and experiences she finds – it is sure to be a fantastic introduction back into the world of travelling!

The flight went relatively smoothly. I have been suffering with a headache the passed couple of days, so I unfortunately felt that the whole time. But with a few podcasts downloaded, and a few chapters of a book read, we were descending into Sunshine Coast airport. Now I’m not a nervous flyer at all, but the decent was awful as there was some cloud cover which made for a bumpy landing.

This has to be the smallest airport I’ve visited. The tarmac, baggage claim and exit only had 2 doors between them, so we were collecting our hire car in no time! From the Sunshine Coast airport, we had a 2-and-a-bit hour drive to Hervey Bay, to our accomodation. We stopped briefly in Maryborough to see the birth place of Pamela Lyndon Travers, the author of Mary Poppins. We were unfortunate to arrive a little late in the day, as most buildings were closed, but there is about a block in Maryborough where you can visit historical sites that either featured in, or was the basis of buildings or scenes in her writings. There’s even a museum in the old bank where she was born, with a bronze statue of the famous character out the front.

We arrived at our motel at about 6pm, where we quickly checked in, met the owner who is a gem, and headed to drop our bags off before heading out again to find some food. On our walk to a local burger place, I was very happy to discover that we are situated directly across the road from the beach! We made sure to stop there quickly to submerge our toes in the sand and enjoy the sound of the crashing waves in the dark before heading home for the night.

Tomorrow we have a big day, getting picked up by a shuttle at 7.25 to head to an all day tour of Fraser island! There will be some magical experiences tomorrow from what I’ve seen, and I look forward to writing all about it. But as for now, it’s time for some sleep. See you all tomorrow with some beautiful photos and stories to share!