G’day!
How have you all been? Wow its been an amazing start to the new year for me and I’m dying to share it all with you. We did so much so what I’ll do is just break it down into weeks instead of days.
Before I start, we got a surprise upgrade from Dubai to Melbourne OMG It was amazing!
Week 1
We arrived on the 30th December and lets just say jet lag was a complete killer for the first few days. The plan was to head into the CBD for New Years Eve night and go to a small pub called Pony Fish which is on the Yarra River and watch all the fire works go off on the tops of the high rise buildings…it was going to be epic! What actually happened was a little different. So we were all getting ready, we were all dressed and I was just about to do my make up when all of a sudden David told me he just couldn’t do it, he felt so weak and tired and sick. #JETLAG Helen and I did a secret little hooray celebration skip around the kitchen as we were so wreck too, I was jet lagged and Helen (my sister) hadn’t been sleeping so she felt like she had jetlag too lol David went to bed feeling terrible and Helen & I got into our comfy clothes, got on the couch, made cups of tea and watched all the New year celebrations on tv while ringing our sister back home in Dublin….really we had the best sits in the house!
Ok so our week in Melbourne what did we do….
Helen got us a motor bike trip for our Christmas present which was brilliant. We would highly recommend doing this. Its such as great way to see Melbourne. We really had great fun.
https://www.facebook.com/Toursontrike
Gin Tasting
We decided to go to Healsville for a night and have a gin tasting experience at Four Pillars distillery. OMG it was amazing. I love gin anyway so I was in heaven but David wouldn’t be a massive gin drinker but he loved it too. You can also get nibbles there but we just stuck to the gin and some peanuts:-)
https://www.fourpillarsgin.com.au/
Chandon
On the way to Healsville we stopped off at Chandon. Now to be honest neither of us really like champagne but we thought we should just go anyway :-)Its a lovely place with lovely views.
Edgars Mission
Edgars mission is a place I’ve wanted to go for a very long time. I was in Melbourne about 5 years ago and wanted to go then but there were bush fires so we couldn’t make it.
Finally I go there this time and it was brilliant. It’s an animal sanctuary for all animals, from cats and Dogs to Alpaca and pigs it’s a home for everyone. If you love animals and want to support a great place, you defo need to visit this place.
https://www.edgarsmission.org.au/
Week 2 & 3
Off to Cairns we go! Port Douglas
We stayed in Port Douglas which I fell in love with. Great little motel which was very near the main strip, close to everything. We went to Mossman gorge and Daintree rain forest, it was amazing. You park in the carpark and then you get a small bus up to the gorge. They drop you and collect you. there’s buses every 10-15 minutes so you can leave when you want. I think it was $10. When we got up to the gorge we decided to work up a sweat first so we did the rain forest walk which was beautiful, the most amazing trees and sounds from the rain forest. Its around 45 minutes.
https://www.mossmangorge.com.au/
The Sound was unbelievable
This tree was absolutely huge, so many branches coming out of it. Truly beautiful.
Finally we got the the gorge and had a wonderful swim. We were so hot after the walk, we jumped in. A little chilly to start but then it’s perfect and refreshing.
On our way to the gorge we came across this beautiful beach. Not sure the video does it justice but it was amazing and annoyingly we couldn’t swim due to the stingers and crocodiles. In a lot of parts of Oz we realised you can’t swim. In the places where you can swim there are netted areas so you’re protected from the stingers and crocs.
Cape Tribulation
Cape Trib is where we did Rainforest Surfing which was zip lining through the rain forest. It was so much fun. A little scary at times as we were so high up in the trees but once again beautiful. Amazing and huge butterflies, jumping spiders which didn’t make me very happy and tree kangaroos had been spotted there but we didn’t see any. It was so much fun and the guys who run it are brilliant and made us feel very safe.
They told us we had to go upside down which was pretty scary indeedo! ❤
Whitsundays
We did a lot of driving. Our shortest drive was 6 and half hours which turned out to be around 8 and I think the longest was 10 and half hours but to be honest it flew by. We then headed to Airlie Beach. Backpacker central with a great vibe.
The first full day we had there we just went to the beach, a really small one with few people which was great and we just lay in the sun and swam in the sea as there was a netted area. Sometimes it’s nice just to chill on the beach and rest for the day with a little bit of sight seeing walking.
Day 2 we went on an adventure with Big Fury boat company. Wow Wow Wow
From snorkeling on a reef to amazing views with lunch on the beach, it was a fabulous day and I would highly recommend this company. Its a fast boat so only takes around an hour for the first stop which was snorkeling. I thought I was going to hate it as I have a slight fear of the sea etc but I completely fell in love with it, could have stayed all day. They supplied me us with life jackets if we wanted them so of course i took one. 🙂 They also supply everyone with stinger suits which are a must just in case there’s any around, better to be safe than sorry!
This guy was so good and great fun.
Look at the colour of the sea…incredible!
We were having a lovely lunch on the beach which was supplied by Big Fury and this landed in the sea. EPIC!!
Harvey Bay
Harvey Bay was basically just a stop over as we had been driving for so long. It was only a one night stay. A did lovely pier walk and dinner and that was basically it. We had such fun here actually as we went for a meal which wasn’t very good, i won’t give you the name but it was just hilariously bad that we made it into a fun night! Yes we are weird! lol We went back to your hotel room balcony and had a few cans of our new favourite thing, JD and Coke in a can….savage! 🙂
Surfers Paradise
Then it was Surfers Paradise. We stayed with Davids friend for 2 nights while we were there. We didn’t get there until late the first night so it was really only had one day there as we left early the following morning to get on with our adventures. 🙂
We were so use to the warm waters in Port Douglas and Airlie beach
It was so weird been on the beach and then turning around and seeing high rise buildings.
Byron Bay
In Byron we stayed in lovely villas called La Vista. Family run and very friendly and accommodating. Maybe could have done with a little more de cob webbing in the villa but very clean otherwise. Damien the owner was great and got us anything we needed. He also suggested lots of restaurants and things to do during our stay.
https://www.lavistabyronbay.com/
There’s such a great vibe in Byron, very chilled and relaxed.
Cape Byron Lighthouse
Cape Byron Lighthouse is a must see. Very windy up there so hold on to your hat but defo worth the see.
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/historic-buildings-places/cape-byron-lighthouse
With a little bit more of a walk you also get to the most easterly point of the Australian mainland
And finally back to Melbourne
Brighton Beach Boxes
As we only had 2 days in Melbourne we just stayed local so off we went to Brighton Beach boxes which was lovely. We spent a few hours here just sunbathing and chilling.
http://www.brightonbathingbox.org.au/
And then it was home time 😦
It was truly the best holiday adventure I’ve ever had. I got see see so many amazing things with my best friend in the world. I really enjoyed every single moment and hopefully we will have many more adventures together.
Now here are some recommendations
Melbourne:
Ponyfish Island http://www.ponyfish.com.au/
Lord of the fires http://www.lordofthefries.com.au/
We had lunch here and it was delicious http://www.urbanprojuice.com.au/
We had a bit of fun at the casino in the crown Plaza https://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/melbourne/melfs/hoteldetail?cm_mmc=GoogleMaps-_-CP-_-AU-_-MELFS
Port Douglas :
We had breakfast at https://www.facebook.com/bettysbohemianbeachcafe/
We stayed at http://www.portdouglasmotel.com.au/
We ate at http://www.2fishrestaurant.com.au/
Whitsundays Airlie Beach:
Boost Juice https://www.boostjuice.com.au/
Our Day trip http://www.airliebeach.com/daytrips/bigfury/
We had a couple of ciders at http://beaches.com.au/beaches-bar-grill/ with all the young backpackers 🙂
Harvey Bay:
We ate at http://danandsteph.com.au/ for breakfast and it was delicious
Surfers Paradise:
Lord of the fries again http://www.lordofthefries.com.au/
Boost Juice again https://www.boostjuice.com.au/
I hope you enjoy this post as its taken a long time and I’m sure I have forgotten a few things. We did do lots more smaller things but this is basically a quick review of our adventurous trip
Hope youre all well and having a great 2018 so far
Lots of love
Marie-Ann
xoxo
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Marie-Ann
I started this blog just to write. Write what I wanted to say and keep an account so I can go back and read it when I'm grey and old. :-)
Grew up in the music industry and lived it for years. Music will always be in my life.
Lover of food, fashion and music. Cruelty Free. Vegetarian. Vegan. Plant based.
Fibromyalgia, Endometriosis, IBS
It is my Diary. Real life and day to day events. x
Also check out my YouTube Channel- Marie-Ann Hughes
Forever Sparkle Sparkle 
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