h3o
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Australia, what a kick ass country. My only regret is not allotting more time there. I spent 9 days up north (Cairns, Cape Tribulation, Daintree, Port Douglas, Atherton Tablelands and Cooktown), 5 days in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and 5 days in Sydney. sorry for the long post! If you want to see underwater photos from this trip, pm or post your email below and I'll email you an ofoto.com invite to the album.
I'll start off with the diving... I definitely wanted to do a live-aboard going out to the Northern Ribbon reefs or the Coral Sea after the research I did before I left. I was on a tight budget and I had a hard time deciding whether to book ahead or take advantage of the stand-by rates and book when I got there, but I was worried about the risk of not finding one going to the north or coral sea with vacancies... I decided to take the risk and not book any live-aboard till I got there... what a great decision. At the supposed height of the dive season there, we found ALL the live-aboards I had in mind at way better rates than posted at their online sites and not to mention lots of room. We arrived late Sunday night and there was a Spirit of Freedom cod hole/ribbon reefs 4 day trip that was leaving at noon the next day.
So we started walking around to the different dive shops and agencies and found that the stand-by rate was $750 AU for quad share, instead of $950 as advertised online. We were also able to get rental gear a lot cheaper (from Pro-Dive who also booked our trip) for $50AU for the entire trip including computers and torches. We were pretty excited so we took the offer, but I'm sure we could have gotten a better deal because of how close to go-time we were and considering the boat was currently at 18 passengers out of 28 allowed. The stand-by rate of $750 was also advertised on computer print-outs on the walls and everything, so it seemed like a normal deal type thing... not really a stand-by, stand-by rate... On another note, after we got back from the trip on the walk back from the dock, we found the TAKA office and the same trip was $550 AU. We didn't have much regrets because we had such a great time on the Spirit of Freedom, and the boat seemed a lot more comfortable and newer as compared to the Taka. We met up with a guy from Holland later at our hostel who went on the Taka trip to the Coral Sea who said it was a barf fest because the rough seas and rocky boat. I imagine it isn't too bad at other times though...
The first day, we were supposed to dive Opal reef but changed plans to Norman reef because of the rough conditions. Norman reef, being one of the reefs that the day boats and cheaper live-aboards frequent, one of the reefs reputed for having dead coral and being overcrowded with snorkelers and check-out divers... Norman reef wasn't at all what I expected. It was beautiful. People have told me it really depends on the mooring too, one part of the reef could be sh*t, the other amazing. I guess we must have parked at the better spot. The viz wasn't too great, maybe 60', but there was a variety of life... blue-spotted rays, turtles, sharks, napoleans, beautiful giant clams, and a lot of reef fish. The formations of the reef were awesome, nice swim throughs, nice colorful reef top flats, caverns and other interesting terrain. We did see some big areas of dead coral though, but it was only a section.
We did a night dive there later and it was one of the best night dives I've done so far... The current took my buddy and I a little farther than expected and we ended up pretty far from the boat and the other divers (we didn't realize till we surfaced though). We poked our lights around while cruising along a wall and found the usual night stuff. Then I decided to shine the other way into the darkness to see what might swim by. I saw what I first thought was a shark, but then realized it was the most massive sea turtle I had ever seen. It swam off and dissapeared so we continued along the wall. We headed back, this time cruising along the reef flat. We saw the turtle we had seen earlier, he was sleeping with his head under a rock. We examined it close up, petting his shell trying not to wake him up, we stayed there behind him for about 5-10 minutes. Then he poked his head up without moving and just looked at us... looked at me, then turned his little head and looked at my buddy, stared for a few seconds and then put his head back under the rock and went back to sleep.
He didn't seem to mind us at all, and he certainly didn't fear us. We decided to leave him alone and head back to the boat. We surfaced to a gorgeous sky, it seemed like there were more stars than sky. I realized I was in the middle of the ocean, somewhere off the coast of Australia which in itself is a long way from anywhere and it was a great feeling... 
The next day we did Lighthouse Bommie for our first dive, the bommie itself was amazing, a huge pinnacle in the middle of an aquatic desert, it was teeming with life. The viz was excellent, well over 100', we saw tuna slicing through the water super fast feeding on mackeral or sardines or something. There were gargonians and whips all over the place and huge CLOUDS of yellow striped fish on the floor around the bommie (see photo) just floating there neutrally motionless. Swimming through the cloud was cool, the fish barely moved and made way for you only until you got really close.
The next two dives were at Cod Hole. Cod Hole was awesome, the giant potato cod were SECONDARY to the cool reef terrain, extremely healthy and colorful coral life and kick ass viz. I was expecting just a sandy area with little patches of coral where giant cod gather and expect you to feed them. It was nothing like that, the reef was arranged in alley rows that descended in steps like a giant stairway, and with the 150 plus viz, the big picture was breath taking. The cod just kicked back motionless totally unfazed by your approach, we hung out with a few, petted some, and took some pictures with them. If you have one of those underwater scooters, this is the place to use it, there is so much to explore and so much you can see in every direction. Other than the amazing reef and potato cod, there were leopard sharks, white tips, and huge schools of needle fish, I've never seen so many of them.
This post is getting pretty long so I'm just going to sum up the rest of the dives, we did some at Clam Gardens and Joanne's Joy the next day, the viz wasn't too great, maybe 50 at most.
The service on the boat was excellent, the food was great, the cabins were simple, 2 bunk beds and a bathroom, air conditioned and cozy. We were told that the seas were rougher than usual, I usually get sea-sick but I was on ginger and dramamine the whole time and didn't feel a thing. I would highly recommend the Spirit of Freedom, even being on a tight budget, I felt more than obligated to leave a nice tip conisdering the great service and awesome time we had. I ended up spending how much I would have if I booked ahead, so bascially the discount I got allowed me to leave a decent tip.
**** the Land activities ******
We stayed at hostels the whole time and met a lot of cool people along the way. We got together with a guy from Holland and rented a 4wd to head up to Cooktown to see Daintree and Cape Tribulation along the way. The coastal scenery was amazing, the rainforest beautiful and the drier areas were cool too with the kangaroos and cockatoos. There were a lot of nice waterfalls, swimming holes and side trips to take stop along the way.
For an awesome party in Cairns every night, check out the legendary "woolshed". Wall to wall drunken crazyness, beautiful girls and all in all a great time. After a few more days in Cairns, we hopped on a cheap Virgin blue flight to Brisbane (by the way, Virgin Blue fares are just as cheap if you book them while you're there). Brisbane was a nice city, a windy river runs through it and you can take a fast sleek catamaran for cheap public transport that gives you awesome views and is a better alternative to the tourist river boat cruises. You get the same view for way less than what you would pay on the big tour boats. We stayed at Palace backpackers, which was a total party place with one of Brisbane's liveliest bars in the basement (down under bar). We bunked with 4 Irish people and had a blast. After a few days, we took a train to Surfer's paradise. The weather was awesome (as it was for the entire trip, it rained once out of 20 days) and the beach was long, gold, and not as crowded as I expected... not so much surf though. The Gold Coast was extremely touristy, but the beach is well worth the trip. The sand is so clean it squeeks when you walk on it. It's the most flawless beach sand I've ever seen, you'll come across a rock or shell like every half mile, it's all consistent, clean, gold sand. It is VERY clean for being a frequented beach.
We headed to Sydney on Virgin Blue (it's cheaper to fly than to bus in Australia). We stayed at Jolly Swagman's in Kings Kross, then moved to Noah's at Bondi Beach. Both were fun hostels, there isn't much in Bondi though, the nightlife was completely dead and there isn't much besides Bondi itself. Kings Kross is great for cheap accomodation, the most backpackers, and a good position to explore all of Sydney. We did the walk around the botanical gardens for the opera house and bridge views, took a ferry to Manly for for even better view of the opera house and the city. Any ferry leaving from Circular Quay will give you great harbor views.
The next day we took the short monorail around Sydney, to Darling Harbour and were able to get some cheap student rate tickets to the Sydney Aquarium. The next day we took a 2 hour train ride to the Blue Mountains. We stopped in the main town of Katoomba and walked down the long road to the 3 sisters lookout. We started the day late so we didn't have much time to hike, but after seeing the amazing view, it was well worth the 4 hour roundtrip. The view from 3 sisters on a clear day with the misty blue comes up to par in my opinion to the sunrise/sunset views of the grand canyan. it was really nice... definitely check out the blue mountains.
**************************************************************************************************************************
All in all, the trip costed... (in US dollars)
$1,098 airfare on Continental from Lax to Cairns...we could have got it cheaper but we wanted to stop in Guam(extra $100 to stop) for a week (to visit family and dive)
$1,600 p/p for everything in Australia for 20 days including accomodations, food, live-aboard, 3 one-way airfares, a day tour here and there, 2 days of 4wd rental and other transport. Keep in mind though we stayed at places where it averaged $15/night AUD per person and also went to the grocery store and did some cooking at the hostel.
My advice to anyone on a budget would be not to book anything until you get there, airfares, tours, live-aboards, there are just so many more options when you get there and for much better competitive prices. As far as live-aboards, there are too many there, so you won't have to worry about not finding a trip you want to go on for a decent price. This was in May/June, so I'm not sure about other times of the year, but everyone was telling me this was the peak of the dive season in australia...
Especially in Cairns in backpacker country, there are really good tour deals to explore the rest of the country. A cab driver was telling me that travelling has been down lately and that there are a lot of great deals going on.
Oh, and for a really good day tour of the atherton tablelands rainforest and waterfalls, check out "Uncle Brian's tour". It was probably the best day of the entire trip. It is also the number one rated tour in all of Cairns. It costs $85 AU for a full day tour (8am to 8pm). Uncle Brian is a great guy... this is a must do if you'll be in Cairns. read his guestbook at his site...
I'll start off with the diving... I definitely wanted to do a live-aboard going out to the Northern Ribbon reefs or the Coral Sea after the research I did before I left. I was on a tight budget and I had a hard time deciding whether to book ahead or take advantage of the stand-by rates and book when I got there, but I was worried about the risk of not finding one going to the north or coral sea with vacancies... I decided to take the risk and not book any live-aboard till I got there... what a great decision. At the supposed height of the dive season there, we found ALL the live-aboards I had in mind at way better rates than posted at their online sites and not to mention lots of room. We arrived late Sunday night and there was a Spirit of Freedom cod hole/ribbon reefs 4 day trip that was leaving at noon the next day.
So we started walking around to the different dive shops and agencies and found that the stand-by rate was $750 AU for quad share, instead of $950 as advertised online. We were also able to get rental gear a lot cheaper (from Pro-Dive who also booked our trip) for $50AU for the entire trip including computers and torches. We were pretty excited so we took the offer, but I'm sure we could have gotten a better deal because of how close to go-time we were and considering the boat was currently at 18 passengers out of 28 allowed. The stand-by rate of $750 was also advertised on computer print-outs on the walls and everything, so it seemed like a normal deal type thing... not really a stand-by, stand-by rate... On another note, after we got back from the trip on the walk back from the dock, we found the TAKA office and the same trip was $550 AU. We didn't have much regrets because we had such a great time on the Spirit of Freedom, and the boat seemed a lot more comfortable and newer as compared to the Taka. We met up with a guy from Holland later at our hostel who went on the Taka trip to the Coral Sea who said it was a barf fest because the rough seas and rocky boat. I imagine it isn't too bad at other times though...
The first day, we were supposed to dive Opal reef but changed plans to Norman reef because of the rough conditions. Norman reef, being one of the reefs that the day boats and cheaper live-aboards frequent, one of the reefs reputed for having dead coral and being overcrowded with snorkelers and check-out divers... Norman reef wasn't at all what I expected. It was beautiful. People have told me it really depends on the mooring too, one part of the reef could be sh*t, the other amazing. I guess we must have parked at the better spot. The viz wasn't too great, maybe 60', but there was a variety of life... blue-spotted rays, turtles, sharks, napoleans, beautiful giant clams, and a lot of reef fish. The formations of the reef were awesome, nice swim throughs, nice colorful reef top flats, caverns and other interesting terrain. We did see some big areas of dead coral though, but it was only a section.
We did a night dive there later and it was one of the best night dives I've done so far... The current took my buddy and I a little farther than expected and we ended up pretty far from the boat and the other divers (we didn't realize till we surfaced though). We poked our lights around while cruising along a wall and found the usual night stuff. Then I decided to shine the other way into the darkness to see what might swim by. I saw what I first thought was a shark, but then realized it was the most massive sea turtle I had ever seen. It swam off and dissapeared so we continued along the wall. We headed back, this time cruising along the reef flat. We saw the turtle we had seen earlier, he was sleeping with his head under a rock. We examined it close up, petting his shell trying not to wake him up, we stayed there behind him for about 5-10 minutes. Then he poked his head up without moving and just looked at us... looked at me, then turned his little head and looked at my buddy, stared for a few seconds and then put his head back under the rock and went back to sleep.
He didn't seem to mind us at all, and he certainly didn't fear us. We decided to leave him alone and head back to the boat. We surfaced to a gorgeous sky, it seemed like there were more stars than sky. I realized I was in the middle of the ocean, somewhere off the coast of Australia which in itself is a long way from anywhere and it was a great feeling... The next day we did Lighthouse Bommie for our first dive, the bommie itself was amazing, a huge pinnacle in the middle of an aquatic desert, it was teeming with life. The viz was excellent, well over 100', we saw tuna slicing through the water super fast feeding on mackeral or sardines or something. There were gargonians and whips all over the place and huge CLOUDS of yellow striped fish on the floor around the bommie (see photo) just floating there neutrally motionless. Swimming through the cloud was cool, the fish barely moved and made way for you only until you got really close.
The next two dives were at Cod Hole. Cod Hole was awesome, the giant potato cod were SECONDARY to the cool reef terrain, extremely healthy and colorful coral life and kick ass viz. I was expecting just a sandy area with little patches of coral where giant cod gather and expect you to feed them. It was nothing like that, the reef was arranged in alley rows that descended in steps like a giant stairway, and with the 150 plus viz, the big picture was breath taking. The cod just kicked back motionless totally unfazed by your approach, we hung out with a few, petted some, and took some pictures with them. If you have one of those underwater scooters, this is the place to use it, there is so much to explore and so much you can see in every direction. Other than the amazing reef and potato cod, there were leopard sharks, white tips, and huge schools of needle fish, I've never seen so many of them.
This post is getting pretty long so I'm just going to sum up the rest of the dives, we did some at Clam Gardens and Joanne's Joy the next day, the viz wasn't too great, maybe 50 at most.
The service on the boat was excellent, the food was great, the cabins were simple, 2 bunk beds and a bathroom, air conditioned and cozy. We were told that the seas were rougher than usual, I usually get sea-sick but I was on ginger and dramamine the whole time and didn't feel a thing. I would highly recommend the Spirit of Freedom, even being on a tight budget, I felt more than obligated to leave a nice tip conisdering the great service and awesome time we had. I ended up spending how much I would have if I booked ahead, so bascially the discount I got allowed me to leave a decent tip.
**** the Land activities ******
We stayed at hostels the whole time and met a lot of cool people along the way. We got together with a guy from Holland and rented a 4wd to head up to Cooktown to see Daintree and Cape Tribulation along the way. The coastal scenery was amazing, the rainforest beautiful and the drier areas were cool too with the kangaroos and cockatoos. There were a lot of nice waterfalls, swimming holes and side trips to take stop along the way.
For an awesome party in Cairns every night, check out the legendary "woolshed". Wall to wall drunken crazyness, beautiful girls and all in all a great time. After a few more days in Cairns, we hopped on a cheap Virgin blue flight to Brisbane (by the way, Virgin Blue fares are just as cheap if you book them while you're there). Brisbane was a nice city, a windy river runs through it and you can take a fast sleek catamaran for cheap public transport that gives you awesome views and is a better alternative to the tourist river boat cruises. You get the same view for way less than what you would pay on the big tour boats. We stayed at Palace backpackers, which was a total party place with one of Brisbane's liveliest bars in the basement (down under bar). We bunked with 4 Irish people and had a blast. After a few days, we took a train to Surfer's paradise. The weather was awesome (as it was for the entire trip, it rained once out of 20 days) and the beach was long, gold, and not as crowded as I expected... not so much surf though. The Gold Coast was extremely touristy, but the beach is well worth the trip. The sand is so clean it squeeks when you walk on it. It's the most flawless beach sand I've ever seen, you'll come across a rock or shell like every half mile, it's all consistent, clean, gold sand. It is VERY clean for being a frequented beach.
We headed to Sydney on Virgin Blue (it's cheaper to fly than to bus in Australia). We stayed at Jolly Swagman's in Kings Kross, then moved to Noah's at Bondi Beach. Both were fun hostels, there isn't much in Bondi though, the nightlife was completely dead and there isn't much besides Bondi itself. Kings Kross is great for cheap accomodation, the most backpackers, and a good position to explore all of Sydney. We did the walk around the botanical gardens for the opera house and bridge views, took a ferry to Manly for for even better view of the opera house and the city. Any ferry leaving from Circular Quay will give you great harbor views.
The next day we took the short monorail around Sydney, to Darling Harbour and were able to get some cheap student rate tickets to the Sydney Aquarium. The next day we took a 2 hour train ride to the Blue Mountains. We stopped in the main town of Katoomba and walked down the long road to the 3 sisters lookout. We started the day late so we didn't have much time to hike, but after seeing the amazing view, it was well worth the 4 hour roundtrip. The view from 3 sisters on a clear day with the misty blue comes up to par in my opinion to the sunrise/sunset views of the grand canyan. it was really nice... definitely check out the blue mountains.
**************************************************************************************************************************
All in all, the trip costed... (in US dollars)
$1,098 airfare on Continental from Lax to Cairns...we could have got it cheaper but we wanted to stop in Guam(extra $100 to stop) for a week (to visit family and dive)
$1,600 p/p for everything in Australia for 20 days including accomodations, food, live-aboard, 3 one-way airfares, a day tour here and there, 2 days of 4wd rental and other transport. Keep in mind though we stayed at places where it averaged $15/night AUD per person and also went to the grocery store and did some cooking at the hostel.
My advice to anyone on a budget would be not to book anything until you get there, airfares, tours, live-aboards, there are just so many more options when you get there and for much better competitive prices. As far as live-aboards, there are too many there, so you won't have to worry about not finding a trip you want to go on for a decent price. This was in May/June, so I'm not sure about other times of the year, but everyone was telling me this was the peak of the dive season in australia...
Especially in Cairns in backpacker country, there are really good tour deals to explore the rest of the country. A cab driver was telling me that travelling has been down lately and that there are a lot of great deals going on.
Oh, and for a really good day tour of the atherton tablelands rainforest and waterfalls, check out "Uncle Brian's tour". It was probably the best day of the entire trip. It is also the number one rated tour in all of Cairns. It costs $85 AU for a full day tour (8am to 8pm). Uncle Brian is a great guy... this is a must do if you'll be in Cairns. read his guestbook at his site...
