From Cairns to Brissy

Day 1: Cairns to Wallaman Falls

Julia and I rocked our double backpacks once again as we trekked across town to pick up our home for the week, a Jucy campervan we nicknamed Sherman. Soon enough, Julia was behind the wheel and we were on our way!

Although we had been in Cairns for the last few days, we had time to kill until we picked up our friend Kayla, who was flying in from her skydive boogie later that night, so decided to further explore the surroundings. We drove to Kuranda to see koalas, crocodiles, and kangaroos (oh my!). The town was pretty cute too, small and touristy, with lots of different types of food. We even found a vegan food cart that sold fresh coconuts, yummy wraps, and acai bowls!

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Next, we had a whole list of waterfalls to see. After getting lost about three times, we finally arrived at Barron Gorge National Park. The walk from the parking lot to the falls lookout was lovely, it felt like we were truly in the middle of the rainforest, with vines and leafy green trees all around us. The waterfall was gorgeous as well, cascading down about 400 feet. Then, only an hour away we got to the Crystal Cascades. The walk along the water to Fairy Falls takes only twenty minutes, but it’s a place I could’ve spent the entire day relaxing at.

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As the day wrapped up, it was time to pick up Kayla and make our way to our campsite at Wallaman Falls. This is where the real adventure began. Apple maps stated it was only a four-hour drive away, so trusting it to guide us, we followed the directions down a dark dirt road through the forest, not a sign of life in sight. But when we arrived at our “destination,” we knew something was up. Frantically trying to figure out how to get out of this place before we got murdered by a scary animal (cassowaries!!) or a serial killer, we figured out that we should have been using Google maps all along, as we were still an hour and a half away from our actual campsite. Once back on the freeway, we were faced with our next challenge: our empty gas tank. To our luck, were in the middle of absolutely nowhere with the only gas station miles ahead. An hour later (and stoked we made it this far) we discovered all three gas stations were closed. So logically, we made the decision to push up the mountain and figure out the gas situation later (keep in mind none of us had service and its around 1 am). The uphill road was an obstacle course, to say the least. We had to avoid countless frogs that jumped on the road, try to see through the pouring rain that was hitting our fogged up windshield at an angle we have never seen before, all while using the least amount of gas as possible. Thankfully, we made it around 2 am, overjoyed to see other campervans there. We quickly made our beds, and went to sleep, thankful to be alive and excited for what’s to come.

Day 2: Wallaman Falls to Saunders Beach

Rudely awoken by the harsh humidity of the wet tropics and sun glaring through the windows, we sprang up eager to start our day. Due to this new sleep schedule, our morning ritual quickly became coffee and peanut butter jellies for our early breakfast. Although we were only a short drive from the iconic Wallaman Falls, our empty gas tank and zero cell service halted us from seeing it. Instead, we cruised down the entire mountain, only breaking for the occasional cow in the middle of the road, and praying we made it to the gas station. To our luck, we did. It was the most relief we felt in hours. Agreeing that we did not want to drive up that god-forsaken mountain again, we carried on with our journey, this time to the Cardwell Spa Pools. I was shocked to find that the pools looked exactly like they did on Instagram, perfectly blue, peaceful, and inviting. There was only one couple there when we arrived so it felt like our own little playground. As rain fell down on us, the moment became even more magical, and I felt so lucky to be on this journey, and bless as hell to have survived the night.

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Next, I decided it was time for me to try out driving on the opposite side of the road. Considering I’ve had my fair share of bad car luck for everyone to go around, I was extra cautious when I got behind Sherman’s wheel. Surprisingly, it was a lot easier than expected! But I did drive way too close to the sidewalk and over a foot from the middle for most of the time (this phenomenon makes tourists easy to spot).

A few hours later we arrived at Saunders Beach. We were warmly welcomed with fresh coconuts by a very nice (but homeless maybe??) man who comes to collect the freshly fallen fruit every few days. Munching on our coconuts, cooking our pasta dinner, listening to music and watching the sunset over beautiful palm trees right next to the beach was the perfect way to end our day. We ran around the stretches of warm sand and joked about how Saunders Beach was the perfect location for the next Nicholas Sparks book cover.

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Mr Coconut man warned us that once the sun sets, the bugs attack. He wasn’t wrong. Bugs love me, and my all natural biodegradable piece-of-trash mosquito repellant was no guard for the offenders. Thankfully, our camp neighbors for the night, two Dutchmen who have been living out of their van for a year now, had DEET…and really good house music. We soon pulled up chairs and sat under their colorful deco lights, talking about our journeys and music. What could be better?

Getting ready for bed, I came back to the van to find a still snake right next to our camper. Surprising myself and everyone around me, my first reaction was to start singing “there’s a snake…there’s a snake…a little snake…and its not moving…why isn’t it moving….” to which everyone died of laughter, while I, still in shock, realized that I had been punked by the Dutch house lovers.

Finally settling down in our makeshift van bed, Julia and I tried to fall asleep for hours with no luck. The all-encompassing humidity made it impossible to be comfortable. Instead of sleeping, we decided to slide open the doors and pop our heads out to look at the stars. I have seen some magical night skies in my camping days, but this was something else. We could see the milky way so clearly. And right next to us, we saw our first real fireflies, taking us back to our middle school Owl City days.

Day 3: Magnetic Island to Airlie Beach

On Magnetic Island you can rent “topless barbie cars” and drive around the whole island scoping out the beautiful beaches and pretending like you’re living in a barbie world. But of course, it was pouring rain when got here, and I had a horrible migraine so I blacked out most of my memories of this place. Nonetheless, it was a fun stopping point for the trip.

After the ferry, we drove down to Airlie Beach and to possibly the best motorhome park ever, the Island Gateway Holiday Park. After our amazing pasta dinner (yes we eat pasta for every meal) we swam in the pool for hours analyzing our birth charts (thanks co-star) and for the first time in a few days we took a REAL SHOWER. We were amazed, to say the least. 5-star reviews all around.

Day 4: Whitsundays

The Whitsundays have been a dream destinations for me for a while. We did a one day boat snorkeling tour and got to see a whole new part of the Great Barrier Reef. The snorkeling here was magnificent, I even saw my first real nemo clownfish (there are many different types of clownfish). After two different snorkeling locations, we arrived at Whitehaven Beach. Words cannot describe this place. The white silica sand, blue water, perfect weather, sharks and stingrays swimming around you. Incredible. What a place. Our tour guide, Jimbo, said around thirty times that the silica sand is a great skin exfoliant, so we tested our luck and scrubbed our whole bodies. He was right. Way better than any exfoliator I’ve ever tried from Lush.

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Remember how I said we love tours? Well, we freaking love tours. Not only did we befriend a 19-year-old gal trapped in a 30-year-olds body that owns a dingo (a type of wild dog that literally eats babies), we met dad. And a captain who loves doing fat donuts in open water #speed. This tour really emphasized educating people about reef health and how pollution and climate change harm the fragile ecosystem, which I was very glad to hear as the other boat really did not talk about it unless I brought it up.

Day 4-5: Bruce Highway – Where dreams go to die

After our last dinner in Airlie Beach, we began the worst 13 hours of our lives. We forgot to research where we should sleep during the night of driving down this horrible highway to Noosa, so we figured we would test our luck and wing it.

Nope. Wrong choice.

Only four hours in, our first sign of bad luck appeared as a frog jumped onto Julia’s lap mid-drive. Freaking out, we pulled over to begin “Operation Get the Frog Out of the Car.” The poor little guy was terrified, but we got him out and back to safety. Then the rain came. Sleets of rain on a two-lane highway with only semi trucks and our little Jucy van struggling to see through the downpour. Finally arriving at the biggest city on the map, Rockhampton (yes yes just like Brockhampton only its not on Spotify) we expected there to be any campsite or motorhome we could stay. False. Instead, we left the sleeping Kayla in the back and headed into what became our favorite gas station ever. Julia was so dead she ordered an “empty coffee”…so this was the state we were in. Loading up on oreos and bread, we pushed on with about 9 more hours to go. Right when our eyes started going in and out of focus, we found a camping spot for the night! Once we arrived, we realized we entered the gates of hell in which we would be murdered if we didn’t escape within the next thirty seconds. At this moment, Bruce Highway felt like home.

The entirety of the Bruce Highway past Rockhampton had absolutely zero places to pull over without getting hit by a semi truck, or getting stuck in the mud due to the rain, so we kept going. An hour before sunrise, we drove past a camping sign for Lake Monduran, aka our saving grace. The campsite was full of fishermen’s boats and also what consisted of the best one hour nap we ever had (we being Julia and me, as Kayla had been asleep for about 10 hours already). A fisherman probably wondering why there was suddenly an obnoxious lime green and purple van next to his, woke up Julia by staring through her window. A little freaked out, but with a new boost of energy, she started the car and floored it to Rainbow Beach. After what seemed like a lifetime, we finally made it to Noosa.

I am not lying when I say I am obsessed with this place. Everything is perfect: the beaches, the houses, the people, the food. We wandered around in search of our first real meal in 24 hours, to find what seemed like the best vegan pizza we have ever tried (probably because we were so hungry a wet sock would taste like a marshmallow). Then we stopped at a cute bar with fancy cocktails and outdoor seating to people watch and laugh about our terrible night. As dozens of people walked by us, one blonde head stood out to me, it was my freshman year roommate Hallie. What a small world!

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That night, for the first time during our whole road trip, we slept like babies in the comfort of our van.

Day 6: Noosa

We spent the day walking along the coast to swim in the fairy pools, which are just as magical as they sound, swimming at different beaches, surfing at sunset, painting, and splurging on nutrition bowls and nice-cream. Basically having the best day of our entire lives.

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Day 7: Noosa to Brissy

Dreading the day our wonderful Noosa getaway would come to an end, we procrastinated packing up the van by swimming one more time at our favorite beach. The drive down to Brissy was beautiful, full of sunshine and singing along to The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Parting our way with Sherman, we ubered to the heart of Brisbane. I’ve been told over and over that Brisbane is pretty boring and not worth the trip, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Brissy was great. It was clean, cute, and perfectly located between the Sunshine and Gold Coasts. Not to mention that it is the proud owner of the Grand Chancellor Inn, the best hotel of all time. The three of us enjoyed our last day exploring the city, being truly clean for the first time in a week, and eating delicious vegan burgers. Overall, an amazing last day.

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Day 8: Home

Patiently awaiting take off, I reflected on this incredible week and a half. It felt like three lifetimes ago that Julia and I were making friends with all of the UK at Gilligan’s, or that we lived on a boat for two days. Oh how time flies when you’re having fun! I am so grateful for this fake-spring-actually-fall break and all the great memories it brought me, even the horrible night on Bruce Highway brought us some funny stories! Never before having lived in a van, I had no idea how it was going to go. I expected the three of us to want to kill each other after one day of being trapped in a confined space. But we didn’t. We didn’t even have one argument. I am so lucky to have found friends that I can share everything with, including a campervan, and still want to spend more time together. I can’t imagine my time down under without them, and for that, I am so thankful.