Travels | The Löfmans

Let’s celebrate our holiday

Yeah, I don’t have lots of vacation this year thanks to Chiquita not having lots of vacation since she spent it all on Oz, when I was on a leave of abscent. But, we had 1.5 weeks and we spent most of it with Sofia and Mattias and a little road trip to Halmstad, Copenhagen, Mön, and Lübeck.

Copenhagen (and Denmark in general) is somewhat expensive for us Swedes now since their currency has out grown ours and is much stronger. It hurts when you pay 67 Danish crows for a beer and you know that this then costs around 85-87 Swedish crowns! Copenhagen is a nice town and we got to see plenty of touristic sites like “den lille Havfrue“, the Royal Castle, Nyhavn, Tivoli, Halvandet, and Ströget, amongst some of the things.

On our way the Germany we took a detour to Mön, and Möns Klint. It was a rather cumbersome walk to walk down 5 million stairs to get to the beach, and then to walk on big stones (instead of sand, that normally on a beach), and then up 5 million stairs again. I was exhausted! But it was nice.

Lübeck was really nice. It felt old and cosy. I had lovely beers and fantastic food, Hunters Schnitzel (yummy)!

On our way back we bought loads of alcohol, becuase thats what you do.

When it rains it Cairns

Wow, it’s really raining in Cairns!

We arrived very early in the morning, somewhere around 6 am, and after a phone call to the hostel we were picked up and driven to our home for the next four days.

Cairns isn’t that big but still we managed to book a hostel on the outskirts of downtown. This means it took us 5 minutes by car to get downtown. 🙂

It rained the entire time the first two days and then it was full on sunshine the following two days. Pretty good I reckon.

The first day we had the famous “forgotten the name”-pie at a local cafe. And then we just strolled around town trying to find something interesting to see or do, we didn’t really manage. Anyway, after walking around for a while we found the big mall. It was freezing cold inside, once again the air-con was spewing out cold air to a maximum. Why do they do that? I couldn’t be bothered walking around in shops so after a healthy Burger King meal I went to the movies (and saw Vantage Point) while Chiquita went shopping.

We got a tip on a restaurant from a very nice girl in the reception so after a short taxi cab ride we ended up at the rather fancy Waterbar & Grill down by the water. We were dressed like backpackers, and all the other weren’t. But, our money was as good as theirs, so we got served. I had steak and Chiquita had a Mediterranean platter. The steak was decent, but Chiquita’s platter was really good! Yum!

The next day we were up bright and early to go to Kuranda. There had been a land slide over the railway tracks during the night, so unfortunately we couldn’t go by the scenic railway but the cable car ride was working. It was very nice going over the hills like that. We had two stops before Kuranda. One in the rain-forest and one at a waterfall.

It’s much more humid here (Cairns and Kuranda especially) that the rest of the places we had visited during our Australian trip. In the southern parts there is drought and here there is an abundant amount of water. The heat was more of a sticky, moist heat up here which made you feel rather yucky all the time. But since everyone else probably felt the same it was alright.

Kuranda is a small town with lots of Aboriginals, and Aboriginal art. The also have a market that’s kinda famous I guess. We strolled around, had a mediocre lunch, browsed the market and then went home. Couldn’t really say that it was worth it, but the trip there was kinda nice.

The girl at reception tipped us of another restaurant as well, so unimaginative as we are we went to that one as well. We did, however, stroll around for somewhere else to go but nothing really stuck out. It was a lovely pasta place and I had a lovely spaghetti something (that I now don’t remember).

We woke up bright and early again for yet another day trip, this time to Cape Tribulation which is located within the Daintree National Park and the Wet Tropics World Heritagearea. It is (apparently) the worlds oldest now living rain-forest and has lots and lots of plants and wild life undiscovered anywhere else.

For me it was just yet another rainforest, but still nice to see.

The day-trip involved a trip to (yet another) zoo. But this one was fun to go to since we now got to pet the kangaroos and wallabies and get really, really close to them. We also got to see a Joe up close. It was, I think, the best zoo.

After the zoo we went to Mossman Gorge and swam in the river. It was a bit cold but felt rather good.

So, when we had freshened up a bit in the river we went to Cape Tribulation and watched the rain-forest meet to barrier reef. Lots of stingers in the water so you couldn’t swim but that was OK. We had lunch at a (I guess) fancy resort there and then we headed back home (after a quick stop to wander in the rain-forest of course).

On the trip back home we also went crocodile hunting. We were pretty lucky and got to see two baby crocs, an eagle (of some sort), two pythons and one hell of a tour guide. He looked bushy, like he didn’t like people – but he was alright.

We were both pretty tired after the long trip so we just had a bbq at the hostel and then crashed.

Next day, up at daylight for some snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. I was somewhat reluctant to go since we had had such a good time in Airlie Beach (didn’t want to ruin that impression with something not so good) but boy, am I glad we went.

We went with Ocean Spirit to Oyster Reef and Upolu Reef and they too were totally different to each other. From what I have seen of the Great Barrier Reef I consider this trip to be absolutely magical when it comes to the corrals, the colours were vibrant and it felt like swimming in an aquarium. We never did get to see a turtle but Chiquita (I’m so envious) got to see a reef shark. I was in the water perhaps twice as much as Chiquita but I didn’t get to see any shark, it really unfair.

The lunch buffet on the boat was also amazing. I had the best shrimps (or whatever they were). I was so happy we took this trip.

We left Cairns and Australia the next day to start our journey home.

Thank you Oz, you are magnificent!

And I must say that Chiquita did a truly exceptional and absolutely amazing job when planning and booking and organising our trip. Everything was planned, that needed planning, nothing left to chance, nothing not looked at. Everything ran smoothly and was just right. Thank you my darling for all you hard work (and for me nagging about it when you did it)!

Airlie Beach, Whitsunday’s & The Great Barrier Reef

We arrived in Airlie Beach around 9 o’clock in the morning (11th of March) after approximately half a day greyhound bus ride out of Hervey Bay. I don’t think I’m exaggerating, when I say half the bus was full of Swedish or at least Scandinavian speaking passengers between the ages of 18-22. Even before I arrived in Airlie Beach I had a notion I would really like Airlie Beach…

Our bed and breakfast was on a steep hill about 5-10 minutes walk from the town centre, we took a taxi as our bags were weighing us down and we didn’t really know where we were going. Also taxis are way cheaper in OZ then in Sweden, so this was luxury we treated ourselves to many a time during our holiday. Our B&B turned out to be just lovely with an almost private pool and a great view. After checking-in and leaving our bags we headed back down to town for some breakfast and to explore our new surroundings. We ended up at the man-made lagoon (as you can’t swim in the see due to the deadly jelly-fish), which for being man-made really was quite lovely. After relaxing at the lagoon for a while we headed for some lunch. The restaurant we chose was nice but we got the least service-minded waitress in history I think… In a somewhat bad mood after our not so great lunch experience, we headed back to our B&B to meet the lady who I had booked our stay with. She wasn’t available when we checked in and now we were to have a brief meeting to receive our voucher for the excursions we had booked through her and also adding an other excursion to our plans, a trip to The Great Barrier Reef. Included in our package I had booked at the B&B there was sparkling wine and chocolates included. We decided to enjoy this out by the pool, this was not difficult! In the evening we went back to town for dinner and ate some beef I believe and finished off with a drink a few doors further down. We didn’t make it late as we knew we had an early morning next day.

On the 12th of March we had an outing to Whitehaven beach with The Camira, a very purple Catamaran, with a pick-up early morning. The weather wasn’t picture perfect but good enough and we were excited to do some snorkeling and to see Whitehaven Beach, ranked as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Our first stop was to do a little snorkeling just outside one of the many (74) Islands belonging to The Whitsunday’s. After putting on our stinger suits for protection against the deadly box jelly-fish we plunged into the water. Unfortunately this was no good at all and all we saw was brown water and sand… A little disappointed we continued our trip towards Whitehaven Beach. As we started to get close to the beach we were very lucky to see a giant sea turtle in the distance. The beach was beautiful and very bright as the sand was so white. The high percentage of silica even made it possible to polish jewelry (just like the sand at Lake McKenzie). Back on the boat after an hour or so at the beach, we enjoyed a delicious grilled lunch on board the boat heading back to Airlie beach. It was first on our way back Peter realized it was an open bar and made sure to make the most of that before getting of the boat in the late afternoon… After having freshened up back at our B&B we went to town for some dinner and drinks. That evening Peter kept on “collecting” friends for us in the bar and we ended up with an English vet, an English marine biologist and a young back-packer from Switzerland I think it was at our table.

The next day (13th of March) after having changed rooms (as we decided to stay on it was necessary to change rooms) we finally had a bit of a “slow” day and we enjoyed a pick-nick by the sea and a slower pace. In the evening we had dinner at The Hogs Breath, that we had been recommended by the cabdriver on our first day in Airlie Beach.

On our last day in Airlie Beach (14th of March), after yet another early start, we headed out to a pontoon on The Great Barrier Reef . The trip to the reef was to put it least “difficult”. Even though I had taken a seasickness pill I felt very sea-sick and just managed to make to the Reef a couple of hours out of the port without throwing up. The crew warned everyone about the rough sea and highly recommended anyone who was prone to seasickness to take seasickness pills. Even though, many people were sick and the crew were busy handing out bags to throw up in, nice… not! Despite the rocky boat ride to the potoon it was well worth it! After getting into our stinger suits and snorkeling gear we jumped into the sea and this time not to be disappointed. The first fish to greet us was a huge bright blue fish that they call Wally. Even though his size, we were not intimidated as he was a very kind fish and we could pat him without difficulty. We continued to enjoy a guided tour in the water by a marine biologist and saw many other beautiful fish and sea-creatures. After lunch aboard the potoon we headed home and even if it was a very bumpy ride, I felt much better then on the way out. In the evening we had dinner at the same place we had dinner on our first evening in Airlie beach, before heading to the bus-station and Cairns…

Are the Dingos dancing on Fraser?

Well, after a short bus ride we arrived at Hervey Bay around 8pm. Since it was a Sunday and we saw lots and lots of churches and other religious buildings and stuff, and since Hervey Bay is a small town we figured that perhaps shops and restaurants close early so when we saw Subway nearby we went there to get dinner to go.

The hostel was nice and clean and we got a very nice room (even though the air-con didn’t work). We ate our subway and got to bed pretty early.

Rise and shine. Today is Fraser Island day!

The weather was pretty horrible. Warm but grey skies and rain in the air. We drove to ferry and the ferry took us to Fraser Island.

I’ll tell you up front. I’m not all that impressed with Fraser Island. It’s a sand island, yes. it’s got Dingos, yes. It’s got lakes, yes. It’s got rainforest, yes. It’s got miles and miles of beaches, yes. But, what’s it all for when the sand make for one hell of a bumpy ride, and you never see the dingos, and it rains in the rainforest, and you can’t swim at the beach?

But enough of me ranting and being negative. Lake McKenzie was very nice (but it would have been nicer if it hadn’t rained) and it felt good to swim in a lake with crystal clear water (instead of the murky ones in Sweden). The sand was perfectly white and beautiful. I wonder what it would look like when the sun shines on it?

Half an hour after we left Lake McKenzie the sun came out and all clouds disappeared and it turned out to be a truly wonderful day. But hey, that’s life.

We had a so-so lunch and after that drove on the 7 mile long beach, had a walk in a small river, and saw the shipwreck Maheno (got some really nice shots of Chiquita there).

There definitely are some great scenery on Fraser Island, and things to see but nothing really (in my humble opinion) that stands out to make Fraser Island a must see whilst in Australia.

All in all, though, it was a good day and we enjoyed our-selves very much.

Busy in Brisbane

We arrived in Brisbane early afternoon on the 5th of April and it was nice an warm even if the skies were a little grey. We could tell it was getting warmer, the further North we were traveling. It was very exciting seeing Kristina and Mike again, especially since they are having a baby very soon!! When we arrived at their apartment, just outside of Brisbane, we had some drinks and caught up little before going to Kristina’s mum, Gunilla, for dinner. Gunilla’s house was only minutes away and it was great to see Gunilla again and also meet Kristina’s dad Barry for the first time. Kristina who grew up in this house took us for a tour of the house. Before dinner Gunilla had us harvest a pineapple from her garden. To our, or at least my, surprise this grew on a little bush and not a tree as I thought! After this, we had a very tasty chilly fish, that Kristina’s mum is famous for and I can understand why, it really was very good!

The next day (6th of March) we traveled 45 minutes to Surfer’s Paradise and had a swim and a look around. It was fun to see, since one has always heard so much about it. After that we went to have a gorgeous steak for lunch back in Brisbane. This was followed by a trip to Garden City mall, were we had a quick look around and then went to the movies, so called Gold Class movies. Mike had been very secretive about this part of the day (Kriss was eager to tell us, but Mike wanted it to be a surprise) and we were excited to learn, that we would enjoy very comfortable reclining seats and being served drinks, ice-cream and other goodies through out the movie. After this, we all said we never wanted to go to the regular movies again! After a busy day we relaxed at the apartment in the evening.

We probably had one of our most busy days throughout our whole trip on the 7th of March. In the morning Kristina and Mike had to go a doctors appointment for the pregnancy, so Peter and I just hung out at a café for a bit. When they returned we all went to The beautiful South Banks, where we had breakfast at a restaurant down by The Brisbane River. The weather was lovely and breakfast was tasty. Then we went for a walk through the Botanical Gardens to get to the pier where Kristina and Mike had book us all on a cruise along The Brisbane River. While enjoying the sights of the River we also enjoyed cheese and wine, which was included in the tour. This, while an unusually small and somewhat strange man, who I believe was the boat’s captain told us about Brisbane. Unfortunately, we couldn’t hear a word he was saying but that was fine and we went onto the deck and enjoyed the sun. After the boat tour, we continued to enjoy The area of South Banks and I cooled my feet off in the water at the very nice man made beach (there are sharks in the Brisbane River and for obvious reasons one can’t going swimming there). We strolled along the River to the museum for an interesting and colorful exhibition featuring Andy Warhole. At the exhibition, there was the possibility to have your photo taken and rearranged to look like the famous Andy Warhole pictures with four pictures in one, each fourth being in a different shade. This was fun but for some reason Peter and I kept on looking like complete morons in our photos haha… After this we had dinner at a very tasty Turkish restaurant still in South Banks, followed by a comedy show at the theater. Mike and Kristina had arranged for the best seats and we really, really enjoyed the show. Also, it felt good to finally take on something cultural during our vacation! After this I started to feel quite sick like I was coming down with a cold, Peter and Mike felt it a bit too, so we headed off the pharmacy for some drugs…

The next day, 8th of March, we all felt a little better after a sleep in and we did a trip to the mall Carindale. I enjoyed shopping, whilst the others went to a movie, 10’000 BC. While at the mall Kristina and Mike also showed us the very spot where the met in the children’s toy department. Then back home for a a rest, before we went to the Mount Coot-tha Lookout and The Summit Restaurant which offered a great view of Brisbane by night. After dinner we were supposed to go to a desert place in The Valley in the city, that Kristina really wanted to take us to but unfortunately the line was half way around the block and we decided to change our plans. We went to “Cold Rock” instead, where you can pick lots of goodies to be crushed and mixed in with your ice-cream and then headed home.

On the 9th of March, Kristina and Mike very kindly drove us 2,5 hours North of Brisbane to Noosa, where we were to start the part of our trip that would be carried out by Greyhound bus. When arriving in Noosa we where all starving and headed staright for lunch along the main street of Noosa. After lunch we headed for the beach and had a lovely walk and foto session. We also caught a qlimtz of a surfing contest! Then we headed back to the mainstreet of Noosa, had ice-creams and checked out a little gallery with some really great nature pictures of Australia. Then it was unfortunately time to say good-bye and Krisitna and Mike headed off home and Peter and I waited for our ride North at the bus-station… We couldn’t believe how much we had managed to fit in during or time in Brisbane, this of course all thanks to Kristina and ike’s very well planned tour of all of the best Brisbane has to offer! Kristina and Mike, we really can’t thank you enough, we had an amazing time!