my time in: Queensland, Australia (Brisbane & Cairns)
after working for 11 straight weeks, Anabel and i headed north to vacation in Queensland
synopsis
Cairns, best for: scuba and marine enthusiasts
Cairns, top things to do: visit the Great Barrier Reef, skydive, visit Gilligan’s
Cairns, costs: $/$
Cairns, cultural overview: a city built up by its tourism industry, not much to do here otherwise
Cairns, favorite memory: SKYDIVING
Brisbane, best for: city lovers, wildlife enthusiasts, food, pubs
Brisbane, top things to do: visit the Lone Pines Animal Sanctuary, visit the Australia Zoo with Robert Irwin, grab drinks along the Brisbane River
Brisbane, top restaurants: Chu the Phat, Sul.zip, Joe’s Famous Deli, Felons Brewing Co.
Brisbane, costs: $/$
Brisbane, cultural overview: laid-back, artistic
Brisbane, favorite memory: reuniting with my friend Phoebe who i met in Ischia, Italy
Anabel and i spent a few days each in Cairns and Brisbane, after working as housekeepers in Sydney and Melbourne. we really balled out.
in our first stop, Cairns, we booked a tour with Skydive Australia to jump out of a dinky little plane from 15,000 feet up in the air. this has long been on my bucket list, and it was absolutely insane to do skydive with the Great Barrier Reef in sight. honestly, free-falling for 2 minutes might seem terrifying, but the worst part was being in the plane itself. they make you wiggle your way to the open door and hook your legs around the outside of the airliner before your tandem instructor hurls you out. Anabel said watching me fall out was scarier than jumping herself. once you’re in the air though, there’s so much wind resistance that you don’t even feel like you’re falling. anyways, that was sick.
on day two in Cairns, we booked a tour to visit the Great Barrier Reef, one of the natural wonders of the world. this was INSANE. sadly, because we were flying out the next day, we couldn’t scuba dive because of air pressure concerns, but we snorkeled which was still worth it, especially since the reef isn’t even that deep. the tour included two trips out into coral sites on a glass bottom boat, and three snorkel locations. we held a moon jellyfish, swam with a sea turtle, saw tons of vibrant sea fish, sting rays, and live coral and at the end, fed a bunch of barracuda, who were ridiculously fast chasing after the bait. this was one of the most breathtaking and inspiring experiences i’ve had, and i’m so grateful to have been able to see it with my own eyes. also side note, there was a family of Tr*mp supporters on our boat who we lowkey had beef with, after befriending an elderly Australian woman named Sue and discussing the absolute horrific state of American politics. but literally why would you wear a MAGA hat abroad? you’re asking for dirty looks.
besides that, there’s not much to do in Cairns, besides chill at the free Esplanade Lagoon, which is right in the center of downtown and sort of reminiscent of an all-inclusive resort pool. the oceans in Cairns are allegedly riddled with gators, so people don’t really chill on the beach. on our last night, we joined some people from our hostel, Summer House for a night out. Serpent Bar, part of our hostel, has weekly events and a daily happy hour serving a beer pitcher for $5AUD. PJ O'Brien's Irish Pub was super fun, playing a good mix of 80s, 90s, and recent pop music with an amazing live band. Gilligan’s was a massive venue, with different floors dedicated to different genres of music, and a huge techno room. we pulled an all nighter here before our flight to Brisbane.
in Brisbane, we stayed at Bunk, which is by far the nicest, most comfortable hostel i’ve ever visited. the city is split by the Brisbane river, giving it beautiful walkways along the water and cliff points where you can watch the sun set. Kangaroo Point has the best views of the city, in my expert opinion (i was there for 3 days). Anabel and i grabbed a drink with my Aussie friend Phoebe, who i met in Ischia, along the river at Felon Brewing Co. this spot had gorgeous views of the city skyline, plenty of outdoor and indoor seating, and their own in-house beer.
we went to the Lone Pine Sanctuary, where they have koalas, free-roaming kangaroos, dingos, a massive crocodile, farm animals and other native Australian wildlife. some of the kangaroos here are so built that they have to be enclosed in their own facility, otherwise i’m sure they’d punch someone, but most of them were very friendly and fun to pet. you can also pet the koalas for an additional cost, as well as visit their hourly events, like the bird show where owls and hawks will fly around the crowd and scare the shit out of you. also in Brisbane is the world famous Australia Zoo, where Robert Iriwn, son of Steve, still works. sadly the tickets are booked out ridiculously ahead of time, so we couldn’t go but it’s on my bucket list.
we visited the Museum of Brisbane, which had an amazing archival photography exhibit, where modern artists scoured through old photos of Brisbane as it was being built and reimagined them. they also had an exhibit called “Precious” featuring categorized items that’d been archived from public and private collections, like owl figurines, beaded purses, Aboriginal garments, rugby playing cards, cigarette trays and more. it felt like walking through a collection of your grandparents old trinkets. near the museum is the Cathedral Square, where every Thursday they have the Brisbane City Markets, featuring food stalls from various cuisines. on a sunny day, it was lovely to stroll through here and gaze at the various options being served.
the best food i had in Australia was in Brisbane, at Chu the Phat. this Asian fusion restaurant served a delicious braised lamb, cooked down in a savory Szechuan sauce and served with eggplant and steamed buns. other great eats we had were in Koreatown on Elizabeth St, where we ate at Sul.zip. they serve huge portions of comforting Korean food, with the option of doing DIY K-BBQ. Joe’s Famous Deli is an homage to Italian-American sandos. located on Albert Lane, a bustling street in the center of downtown, they served a crazily affordable lobster roll ($12) and delicious truffle fries.
we did a day trip to Byron Bay and Sunshine Coast. Byron was an adorable small surf town, reminding me a lot of a bigger Bermagui. Sunshine Coast was a lot like Sydney and Brisbane: tall skyscrapers, very industrialized and corporate, but unlike either city it had the benefit of having a beach in the city proper, not in the burbs. so essentially ‘twas the Australian version of Miami.
overall thoughts
i would certainly return to Queensland and visit Byron, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Cairns again, as well as the loads of other small towns and beautiful beaches up the northern coast. from Whitsundays to Noosa to Fraser Island, there’s still a lot more to explore.
next stop
after Brizzy, we headed back to Sydney for a few days before my flight to Taipei to start off my ASIA LEG!!! check out the itinerary for that here!
images
and here are a shit-ton of videos from Cairns (the reef and the skydive), as well as a silly little TikTok Anabel and i made about our inside jokes from Australia while in the Sunshine Coast.