We still had a long way to go to reach Cairns, so we kept driving on the beautiful scenic roads of Australia. It’s fun how they use trivia questions in roadside signs to keep driver’s attention on the road—then some miles further you get the answer. This kept us engaged for the hundreds of kilometers we had ahead.

Airlie Beach welcomed us with incredible blue caribeean-like waters and the excitement to finally see the Whitsunday Islands. There is no cheap way to reach Whiteheaven Beach, one of the World’s Top 10 most beautiful beaches. Even if you want to camp there overnight, the boat transfer will cost you quite a lot. So given the tiny price difference we decided to splurge here and fly over the beach.

Cruising over its magnificent turquoise blue tonalities that are created by the tides on one side of the beach called Hill Inlet is pretty impressive—again nature being the best of artists. Our little airplane also flew over the Great Barrier Reef which was definitely THE highlight. Seeing huge manta rays and even a shark over these huge coral formations in middle of the ocean was nothing less than spectacular.

On our way north we stopped at many different lookouts. The vegetation kept getting denser as we got closer to the northeastern tip of Australia. A jungle dip at Josephine Falls cold waters early in the morning felt extremely refreshing. We had the chance to swim in the pools next to the waterfall and even slide down a big (and steep) natural rock slide.

Some species of native bats of Australia are tremendously huge. The can be easily spotted in broad daylight hanging upside down trees making squeaking sounds as they look down on you with their big round eyes. That’s what I call Halloween in Australia.

The drive between Cairns and Port Douglas is a beautiful scenic road that goes along the coast through tiny beaches. Port Douglas is a quiet little town with a great long stretch of beach called the 4 Mile Beach. The only problem up there is that you can only go swimming in designated areas because there is a high concentration of salt water crocodiles (!).

Crossing the Daintree River unequivocally welcomes you to the Rainforest Forest, one of the oldest rainforests in the planet, with many hikes and platforms that take you along the lush jungle. I was really fascinated by the fan palms everywhere—walking in the jungle and looking up felt like something from a dream. The long roots of the trees are all connected in wavy shapes. I always feel so much peace walking in rainforests, I find their presence and sounds so comforting knowing they’ve been around for so long and still stand high and untouched. Cape Tribulation Beach is where the rainforest meets the reef, two UNESCO World Heritage sites one next to the other.

On our flight back to Sydney I was lucky enough to get a left window seat and admire once more the amazing Great Barrier Reef from the plane. All these spread out coral formations and bright turquoise water are so vast and unique, it definitely feels hard to describe in words. It’s amazing how coral reefs only occupy 1% of the oceans but hold more than 25% of all oceans’ species. Unfortunately, temperatures are raising due to global warming (aka human’s footprint on the planet) and they are dramatically bleaching out. We hope to come back and explore other parts of this unbelievable country. For now, peace out, Australia – you’ve been rad!