May 7, 2023

Day seven of Queensland’s East Coast Roadtrip

Agnes Waters to Mackay

A Dangerous Arrival

Background

I’ve met two Irish girls in the Gold Coast who invited me to tag along on their road trip up the East Coast of Queensland, Australia.

Despite only just meeting these girls, I spontaneously agreed and am having the time of my life.

I’ve created this article as part of a sixteen day series, documenting my experience of exploring Queensland. For better context and understanding, I encourage you to read my previous articles.

Main Characters

Driving at night

A close call!!

The suns set and its time for a 5 hour drive to Agnes Waters. Aisling managed to book Cool Bananas Backpackers, where we’ll spend the night, to break up our trip to Airlie Beach. It goes to show how huge Australia is! Airlie looks so close on the map, but would have been 11 hours driving (or 17 if we’d taken the Greyhound Bus like our friends).

I must’ve dosed off to sleep in the back of the car and wake up to the girls screaming in the front seat while the cars swerving. It’s pitch black outside and we’re going about 100kms on the open road.

A huge, angry, muscular kangaroo just jumped out on the road in front of our car, almost taking us all out. It easily would’ve been taller than the car with a strong build. If we had hit it, it would easily be game over for all of us, including the kangaroo.

Agnes Waters

Rest assured, we arrive at our hostel in Agnes Waters in the early hours of the morning. The hostel is so quiet; theres a small group of five people having drinks in the common area; they seem to be the only guests at the hostel. Our dorm has about eight beds but is completely empty.

Cool Bananas was one of the vibiest hostels on our roadtrip! The quiet complimented the beachy, surfy environment. Below are some photos.

Time to hit the road

The hardest part of leaving is reordering the bags into the car strategically so the doors close.

The drive is long, and we’ve listened to our playlists repetitively. Our favorite tunes at the minute are new releases: Stick Season by Noah Kahan and Ceilings by Lizzie McAlpine!!

Traveling from Noosa to Airlie Beach is an 11-hour drive. We’re lucky to be doing this by car. Other travelers we’ve spoken to are taking the Greyhound bus which take 18 hours!!!

I’ve heard some nightmare experiences from the girls in Noosa. They’d sat next to snorers and smelly people. On one trip, the driver hadn’t closed the luggage compartment properly, and luggage fell out from underneath the bus on the motorway. They weren’t even compensated for the damaged/lost luggage.

Because I’m the shortest, I drew the short straw (literally) and have to sit in the back seat with the overflowing bags, surfboard, skateboard, and everything else. The surfboard never got used, but it’s taking up prime real estate in the car

A night in Mackay

Tonight we’re priveleged to be staying at my aunt and uncle’s house in Mackay. I haven’t seen them since my Nana passed away a few years ago. They had pizza and beers waiting for us, and the rugby on the TV.

Nothing was a problem; we had good yarns, telling my uncle about our kangaroo incident, which is very common here. They’re not as harmless as they seem.

My Uncle was shocked at the state of the car. There’s so much rubbish, clothes, and belongings mixed in together. He even offered to clean it for us.

We accumulate things so easily… The day I met Aisling, she had a big graze on her leg from a pair of roller skates she’d just bought. The next week she bought a skateboard; she used it after a few drinks one night, and guess how that resulted. I don’t think she used either of them again. Yeah, they’re also in the back of our car haha.

When packing our bags in the Gold Coast, I found a big black trash bag full of clothes she’d put aside to wash and forgot she owned ahha. I can’t talk, I brought a suitcase on a ‘backpacking’ trip and have two bags waiting for me in the Gold Coast.

May 8, 2023

Day Eight of Queensland’s East Coast Roadtrip

Cape Hillsborough

Mackay – Cape Hillsborough – Airlie Beach

tIME to waKE UPP aNNabelLE!

This was my hardest wakeup so far. I slept in my cousin’s double bed, and it was so comfortable. I get a message from Aisling telling me to hurry up because we’re about to leave for Cape Hillsbrough to see kangaroos on the beach with the sunrise. I was actually keen to skip it and sleep longer, but I’m grateful they convinced me to get up.

No better way to experience Australia than seeing kangaroos on the beach.

Before we even reached the car park, there were kangaroos everywhere. I’d never heard of this place until my Uncle suggested it last night. Others had arrived here by tour bus; we were so lucky to have jumped out of bed and driven 30 minutes down the road.

It was a little overcast, so our photos were’nt Instagram quality, but we got the gist.

The girls wanted to continue straiggt to Airlie Beach after, but I convinced them to go back to my Uncles for a nap. It was obviously well-needed because we slept for a couple of hours and felt so revived!