I visited Queensland, the northeast part of Australia where you can find the Great Barrier Reef, twice during my time abroad. The first trip was with my parents to Lizard Island, and the second was with Jen to Fraser Island. Both were incredibly different but equally beautiful and amazing.
Queensland with the Parents
We began our trip up North with a day in Cairns, which Google calls the “Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef”. From Cairns, we boarded the Kuranda Scenic Railway. The ride takes you through the beautiful mountains of Northern Australia, ending in Kuranda, a village in the rainforest.
Kuranda is definitely a tourist trap, but it was great anyway. There is a little village with arts and crafts markets and shops that you can walk through on your way to or from the attractions.
Attractions include a butterfly sanctuary,
Birdworld,
and the Koala Gardens. Remember in my Sydney post when I wrote about the indoor zoo and said there were better opportunities to visit kangaroos and koalas in other parts of Australia? Well this is the place to do that. In some places, like New South Wales (where Sydney is located), it is illegal to touch a Koala. In other places, like the state of Victoria, where Melbourne (my next post) is located, it is illegal to hold a Koala, but you can pet them. Queensland is one of the only places in Australia that you are able to hold a Koala. These laws are to protect the Koalas and the humans because Koalas can get vicious if they are stressed. I asked why it would be legal anywhere if this was the case, and they said that the Koalas in Kuranda are so used to being held that they are comfortable with it. I’m pretty sure that is code for “we drug them”. Sorry animal lovers. It was still pretty cute. We also got to feed some kangaroos.
There are also some non – wildlife experiences in Kuranda. For example, the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park. Here we got to experience some of the culture of the Australian Aboriginals. We learned some dances and learned about their customs and traditions.
On the way back down to Cairns, instead of taking the railway, we took the Skyrail. This was basically a Gondola ride over the rainforest to get us back home, and it was probably beautiful although honestly I don’t really remember this at all. If I didn’t have pictures I probably would not even know that I did this. I have a really bad memory though, so this is irrelevant to how much I liked it. I’m sure it was great and I probably liked it better than the train because it seems cooler.
After Cairns, we headed to Lizard Island, a tiny island off the coast. The only way to get there is by tiny plane, which is great for me because I hate boats, but not so great for people who hate planes.
Seriously, this is the entire runway.
And this is Lizard Island from the sky before landing on that tiny runway.
Lizard Island only has one hotel, the Lizard Island Resort. It was clear when we arrived that it was very much geared towards couples, and mostly honeymooners. I can honestly say I’ve never felt like a third wheel with any member of my family except for this weekend with my parents. I slept on a pullout couch in their living room in a small hut. We had a lovely candlelit dinner on the beach. It was probably the first time the resort did this for three people. I’m honestly surprised they even had three chairs and I wasn’t just sitting on the sand next to them.
Other than me crashing my parents second honeymoon, though, the scene was beautiful. The resort was on the beach and next to a large hill that some might consider a mountain. Up on the top of this hill is Cooks Look, the highest point on the island, and the hike up there is a top attraction on Lizard Island. Once up there, you can see the entire island and look out onto the water. I am embarrassed and sad to say we made it super close to the top, but turned around. If you read about this hike, you’ll see it is recommended for high fitness levels. It was really difficult, long, and hot. We were doing a little rock climbing on the way up and rock sliding on the way down. We didn’t make it quite to the top, but it was a great hike with great views anyway.
A lizard on Lizard Island 
This is also where I did my first and last scuba diving. As you may have gathered, I do not like boats. Scuba diving isn’t really my thing, but I gave it a try. The Great Barrier Reef is the top place in the world for expert divers right? Well since I’ve been there I can officially be done! And I DID find Nemo, so I feel like I really knocked scuba in general off my bucket list.
Honestly all I needed was a little photo evidence that I went scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef to decide never to scuba dive again. 
What I’d rather be doing… 
We got some sharks on our boat. 
There are SO MANY little islands off the coast, and Lizard Island is just the one we went to and it was beautiful. If you decide to visit this part of Australia, think about your interests and do some research (or let me do it for you) to make sure you pick the best island for what you’re looking for.
Queensland with Jen
For example, Fraser Island. Fraser Island is a ferry ride from Hervey Bay. This was where I went on my second trip to Queensland, and this time it was with Jen.
Fraser Island is the most untouched place I have ever been in my life, and it was beautiful. When I say untouched, I mean there are no roads. There are driving paths through the woods and beaches, but it’s all sand. Nothing is paved.
Only four wheel drive cars are able to operate on this island, and we did a group bus tour of the island for the few days we were there. This trip was really mostly about just seeing and taking in the beauty of such a natural place, so I think pictures will do more justice than words here. I’ll try to give a short explanation of each stop on the tour though.
We began our trip hiking through and around Eli Creek, Fraser Island’s beautiful freshwater stream. We made a quick pit stop to take a sip of this beautiful natural fresh water stream.
From there we headed over to Lake Mackenzie, a beautiful freshwater lake. The water is the clearest I’ve ever seen, and views are stunning, as you can clearly see below, and the perfectly white sand is a natural exfoliant.
We then headed over to the site of the SS Maheno shipwreck which has been on the beach since 1935. Note: as a rule, boats are dangerous, and this is proof.
Next was the Pinnacles, the colored sand cliffs along the beach.
And then the Champagne Pools, bubbly pools formed from ocean water caught between the rocks on the coast.
Next up: Lake Wabby, another beautiful freshwater lake. It was on our way to or from Lake Wabby via the Hammerstone Sandblow (large dunes that we had to drive over or around), that we spotted a real live wild Dingo! (And a car stuck in the sand, which is apparently pretty common.)
I left Australia telling people that Fraser Island was my favorite place that I traveled to (within Australia – New Zealand was a whole different level for a different day). This was one of the most fascinating beautiful places I have ever been. Lizard Island was amazing, but it was a luxury resort on the beach and you can really do that anywhere (obviously not always with Great Barrier Reef scuba diving but I wasn’t really into that anyway). I know my words didn’t do it justice since my memory is fading after 10 years, but I hope my pictures did somewhat of an okay job of showing you the beauty of this island. If you are taking one trip up to Queensland, Fraser Island is the place to go.
TRAVELING WITH ARDEN 
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