May 7, 2023
Day seven of Queensland’s East Coast Roadtrip
Agnes Waters to Mackay
A Dangerous Arrival
Background
My name is Annabelle, I’m 20 years old and have decided to move to Australia on my own.
When arriving to Australia a couple of weeks ago, I met two Irish girls (Aisling and Altan) who quickly became good friends of mine. The girls invited me to join them on their road trip up the East Coast of Queensland! While traveling was never part of my plan of moving to Australia, I spontaneously agreed to join them.
This is part two of my Queensland East Coast roadtrip! For better understanding, I encourage you to read part one of my series ‘Gold Coast to Byron Bay‘ which talks about the difficulties of goodbyes and my exciting introduction to Byron Bay.
Throughout this article, the girls and I travel from set off to the beautiful Noosa, where we’ll spend the next three nights. Stopping at the Glass House Mountains and the Sunshine Coast on the way.
Main Characters
Aisling
Ireland
Altan
ireland
Me
new zealand
The Dangers of Driving at Night
A close call!!
After watching the sun set in Noosa, it’s now time to get back on the road. We have no idea where we’re staying tonight, but we need to continue north up the coast. Aisling came across a hostel in a small coastal town called Agnes Waters, 5 hours away. We were able to book a room in a hostel called Cool Bananas. The idea is to stay the night here to break up the trip to Airlie Beach. Airlie looks so close on the map, but it would have been 11 hours for us to drive (or, 17 hours if we’d taken the Greyhound Bus like our friends).
It’s 9 p.m. and completely dark outside. I’ve dozed off in the back seat. I wake up to the girls screaming and the car swerving, while going 100 kilometers on the open road.
A huge, angry, muscular kangaroo had jumped out in front of our car, almost taking us all out. It was much taller than the car. If we’d hit it, it would’ve been game over for everyone.
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!