I'm out of here #12: Gili Trawangan - Between Mindblows and your Inner Peace

I still have loads about Australia to tell you guys, but I'm Feeling more inspired to inform you about the places I am visiting now in Indonesia. I'll save some Posts for the cold and rainy days back home, before I'll head to my next destinations in Europe. Fortunately, I still have interesting stuff coming up, so I might won't be that affected from post travelling Depression :)

One of the things you absolutely should consider when visiting Indonesia, is taking a trip to the Gili Islands. These tiny pieces of paradise are located in the Lombok area, and can be reached from Bali in about 3 hours (for Details see the Infos below).

I decideed to choose Gili Trawangan for my base Destination. I've read a lot of stories about Gili T, and really wanted to figure out what is true and what is myth: the parties, the drugs, People going crazy and other madness. But I also read about how peaceful it can be. So I tried to put an ideal one week trip together, trying to set everything in chronological order ;)

"Fly me to the moon"

The Island is known as the "big City" of this trio surrounded by turquoise blue, so if you plan to do some Party, you made the right choice. Gili T attracts a younger crowd, most of them between the 20s and 30s, the ones who want to Party and have fun, which is pretty hilarious to watch at some Points of the evenings. The main street right at the Harbor is mostly populated by bars. In order to not compete with each other, you'll have one bigger Event just at one Location per night. The Parties move from bar to bar each night and are different themed depending on the day of the week.
If just alcohol doesen't satisfy your Party Lion Needs, don't worry: on a certain time at night you'll have plenty of Dealers offering "to fly you to the moon", which means, obviously, that you can buy some "Magic mushrooms".

Sama-Sama Bar on the Main Street

Live Music

I don't belong to the drug Lovers, but if you consider to go out and you eventually wanna enjoy a laid back Drinks night, I'll definetly reccommend the bar Sama-Sama (which by the way means "you're welcome" in Indonesian), which has great musicians playing live every evening. I was actually very impressed to find so many talented musicians here.
You'll spend 25K for a regular Bintang Beer, 50K for a Long drink or Liquor. Ladies, please Keep always an eye on your beverages! ;)

Into the Blue

In the last three months on my travels, I discovered my love for snorkeling. This Island is perfect for it because of the clear water and the high number of turtles that aren't afraid to  come very Close to  the beach. The underwater world is stunning and very colorful here, it will Keep you entertained for a whole afternoon. The best  snorkeling spot is located around a Restaurant called "Bamboo": from there  on you'll  have less People and a wonderful view on Gili Meno almost for yourself.

Cycle around and be romantic

Gili T is free from any Kind of Motor vehicles, so you have the choice of how to get around on the Island. You'll be around it in 1:30 hrs by walk or in 45 minutes by bike. The clouds from Lombok will start to come over to the Island around 3 PM, that would be the perfect time for a cycle since it's not too burning hot.
In Addition to that, if you decide to cycle around at that time, make sure to stop at Casa Vintage Cafe around 6 PM for sunset watching. It's a beautiful spot to hang in a hammock, drink a beer and order one of their huge platters for a late afternoon Snack. The sunsets  are stunning  and you'll go home with tons of amazing Pictures. Casa Vintage also Features a secondhand shop as well, which has a lot of great stuff in Terms to bohemian themed Fashion.
There are several cool spots around Gili T to shoot some great Pictures, like the swings into the ocean in front of the Villa Ombok Resort.

Casa Vintage

Calm Down

It's not only about the Party here, even if it seems so. If you move one street behind the Harbor, you'll hear almost no noise anymore. This is the nice Thing about this Island: it's the perfect fit for everybody, wheter you wanna Party or just relax. Since Bali is very spiritual, I joined some yoga and Meditation classes at the Yoga Place, which is only 6 months old. The Studio offers also a vegetarian Café and you can enjoy your meal with a view over Gili T's roofs. Most classes are Held in the morning or around sunset. Prices vary between 80K and 120K. The teachers are amazing and the courses are also suitable for beginners, give it a try!

Escape

If you should seriously get bored on Gili T, you still have the possibility to have a 30 minutes boat drive over to Gili Air. This Island is more rough and less noisy, but it's absolutely worth a visit. You'll walk around almost by yourself, will face some huge Spiders :) Boats depart daily around 9 AM, tickets are avalaible directly at the Harbor usually for 60K.

Practical Infos

Where to sleep: once again, we were lucky by booking through Airbnb. David, Marc and Adam's place was the perfect retreat: Close to the port, a couple of the best Restaurants in Walking distance, free bikes to use, awesome breakfast and a great familiar atmosphere. You'll get a cold Bintang at your Arrival and will get some precious informations for your stay. You can book your room here.

Granola, Yoghurt, Honey and Banana Pancake *.*

Where to Eat: For those who want some good fast Food, Le Petit Gili has a great selection of burgers. It's located right next to the street market, in case you'll still hungry, or if you just wanna try some street Food.

If you want to get out of your Hotel for breakfast, then you should totally try Café Kayu, located on the main street. Have fun deciding here, it's actually pretty though! The menu Features breakfast types for every taste, some yummy smoothies and (this is important!) Illy Coffee.

The view from Kayu Café

If you want to have it classy for one night or you're lucky enough to have a date, then I totally reccommend the beautiful Pearl Beach Lounge. This Restaurant is part of a huge Resort, your table will be directly on the beach, and the Service is impeccable. I tried their tuna tartare and the feta samosas, my friend Sandra the classic Nasi Goreng, and they were all simply delicious. <3

How to get there: the fastest way is to depart from Panang Bay. The easisest way to organise a stressful trip to Gili is to ask your Hotel or inform yourself via Google. There are a lot of Providers, but make sure you don't pay over 550K for both ways. You'll have a shuttle picking you up included in the ticket Price. Shuttle and Boat Transfer take around 3 hours.

The random stuff: Gili T should be fun for everyone. You won't really be in danger. The only tips here are the following: watch your  Drinks and don't expect to find your stuff on the beach if you go for a drunken, naked swim ;)

Enjoy Paradise <3

I'm out of here #11: Australia - Rainbow Beach - Sand Dunes & Slow Life

Yesterday I started my trip back south, I'll be soon in Brisbane since my flight to Bali will leave from there. However, the lovely City of Brisbane doesen't have a beach nearby, so I decided to stop in between, in Rainbow Beach.

Rainbow Beach is a quiet Little village located strategically just in front of Fraser Island, so most backpackers stop here to make their daytrips, and come back for one night or two before heading again on a bus.
This place here is very small, which doesen't mean it isn't worth staying here: in fact, it has a great relaxed atmosphere, and it makes you appreciate the simple things in life again. Getting a coffee and just having a walk down the beach felt completely different somehow, the beach is nearly empty and time seems to stand still.

A lot of houses overlook the ocean here - jealous!

My neighbour Fritz :)

Besides the usual walk on the beach, there are a couple things more to discover in Rainbow Beach: yesterday evening, after the heat became a Little bit more enjoyable, I was taken by my landlord to the Carlo Sand Blow, which is located just a few steps away from town.
This huge dune is 120 km high, and overlooks the Ocean on one side and the rainforest on the other. You'll have a great view over the whole coastline here, which makes it an amazing spots for  photographs, sunset watching or, as the younger crowd does, just cruising down the dunes with a bodyboard.

You'll reach the Carlo Sand Blow after a short bushwalk at the very beginning of the Great Cooloola Walk, a 5 days hike that will bring you down to Noosa, while you'll experience views over the coast and Fraser Island. As I could read at the entrance, this hike seems to be something for pros, so I wouldn't exactly start Walking around five days in the heat without knowing the essential survival tips and without having the right Equipment ;).

More Useful Tips

What to do: Besides your Fraser Island daytrip (book here) and great walks, Rainbow beach offers other activities for water Lovers, as for example Dolphin View Kajaking. Tin Can Bay is also on a 30 minutes drive away, you'll have the possibility to feed the dolphins there. I'd recccommend a stay up to five days if you wanna include Fraser, otherwise I think that three days are the perfect length for a Relaxing gateaway.

Where to Stay: I booked myself  Jill's and Justin's beach shack, and it couldn't be a better idea! The Studio is lovely decorated, has an extra king size bed, and an own Little Patio outside. The landlords are very welcoming and have plenty of tips of what to do in the area. They seem to Support the local businesses here in Rainbow Beach, which in my opinion is absolutely great. You'll feel at home istantly and you'll hard want to going to leave this colorful Little gem. Plus: breakfast is included!You can book your stay here.

Food & Co.: If you'll live in a self contained Apartment you'll might be cooking on your own.  However, I'd like to encourage you to try the Restaurant Arcobaleno on the beach: it's a nice italian Restaurant with italian People cooking in the back, and you'll feel the difference when you'll eat the dishes. :)

So have fun here, lay back, enjoy the breeze, and don't rush yourself...

I'm out of here #10: Australia - Fraser Island

I have mixed feelings when it comes to arranged day trips. I've seen various of them and I didn't experience always supersweet stuff. Depending on where you're travelling at, you'll see how differently organized this trips can be.

As I told you in my latest post, Fraser Island was one of the three spots I wanted to see for sure during my trip here in Australia, despite the town of Nimbin and the Whitsundays. These last two played hard to get with me because of the weather conditions, but I'll catch them some day for sure ;)

Fraser Island can be visited from different places on the Sunshine Coast, Noosa or Rainbow Beach are two of them. Since I've been to Noosa already, I decided to do my day trip from Hervey Bay, a quiet town on the Pacific Ocean, which offers one of the best Piers on the water I've seen so far.

I booked my tour with Fraser Free. This company offers a one or two day tour on Fraser, depending on what you want to see. My time here in Hervey Bay got pretty limited so I opted for the day trip.

Early days

Your day will start pretty early, so make sure you didn't hit the bars town last night, otherwise it's not going to be a happy day for you. The tour operators usually pick you up around 7:30 in the morning in your hotel/hostel, so all you need to do is be ready by that time. After a short ride to the harbour, you will switch almost immediately to the ferry that takes you on Fraser Island in about one hour.

PS: If you didn't follow the bar rule above, this might be your hour to rest out your hangover...

The 75 Mile Beach

Bumpy Roads and Deep Forest

Fraser Island is a 123 km long stretch of sand and forest and on the World Heritage's listing with Australia's Uluru, Kakadu and the Great Barrier Reef. We were greeted by our guide Bryan, who had a pleasantly great sense of humour while he was telling us the stories about the forest we were about to visit, and what to expect from our day. Be aware that you might should eat a good breakfast in the morning in order to handle the bumpy, sandy roads you'll about to hit the whole day. It could get unpleasant if you have some issues with your stomach, so some bread should be on you're menue while you're still on the ferry.

The rides between the places can be pretty fun, like being on a mini rollercoaster. The huge van is well equipped with seatbelts, so your safety is not on a risk. We stopped at one of the loads of rainforests, enjoying trees and nature that only grows on Fraser Island. There are plenty of creeks flowing across the island, which preserves the green despite the heat.

The 75 Mile Beach and the Maheno Shipwreck

After enjoying the shades of the forest, your ride will continue on the world famous 75 mile beach, between the wide sandy beach and the Pacific ocean, you can lay back and relax by looking at this amazing view. The four wheeled 4WD Bus will take you to one of the most visited attractions on a Fraser Tour: The Maheno Wreck. This shipwreck was build in Scotland as a luxury passenger ship for the Trans-Tasman crossing. However, things changed and it was used later as a floating hospital during World War I, to be sold afterwards to a ship-breaker in Japan. The ship was caught in a cyclone while it being towed to Osaka, and became beached on Fraser in 1935.

72 shades of sand

Dingoes and Eli's Creek

Dingoes are one of the different animals you'll might face if you're lucky. Dingoes might look like cute dogs to you, but if you really should face one, the rule is to avoid eye contact and move away SLOWLY - otherwise they will chase you because they think you wanna play. Dingoes were brought to Fraser by Asian sailors, as a source of meat for their travels. Some of them managed to escape, so that's how they ended in this beautiful part of Queensland.

You'll get the chance to step off at Eli's Creek for a refreshment break, which I highly reccomend especially if you have children: they can play safely in the fresh and clear waters without being in danger. The creek flows directly in the Pacific and pours four millions litres of water an hour. If you're not a big water rat, you'll enjoy a walk over the bridges for sure.

Lake McKenzie

After our lunch break in one of the first built resorts on Fraser Island, we spent a great 2 hours break on our last stop, which was Lake McKenzie. It was very strange for me to swim in non salty water for the first time in ages! It might be weird also because you have white sand under your feet and the waters are like on a postcard of a tropical paradise. It's also a nice spot for snorkeling, since the water is very calm out here, or for great photographs - even if it's hard to get any picture without having a big crowd on the background ;)

Useful Tips:

Where to Stay in Hervey Bay: I opted for the Aussie Woolshed Backpackers, which is a family owned place. It's located in central Hervey Bay, steps away from the beach, and the gardens look like you'll in the middle of the outback. I'm enjoying the shades of the trees and the hammocks while writing, which is very nice if you could use some relaxing time on your own.

Fraser Island Tours: Fraserfree offers a various range of tours. Mine was the Fraser Island Explorer, which can be upgraded to the Fraser Island Premium Tour: this might be a good one if you don't wanna mind about carrying around extra water from home or similar things, everything is a little bit more comfortable. Prices starting from AUD 170 (1 Day Tour)

Getting to Hervey Bay: Greyhound Australia brings you easily everywhere on the Sunshine Coast. If you plan different stops, this might be a good option because the distances are no more than 3-4 hours between the most popular towns. Otherwise Hervey Bay has an airport, which can be reached directly from Sydney.

 

FAQ Series #3: How do you handle changed travel plans without freaking out

Sometimes things don't exactly go as planned. This concept concerns life in general, but also more specific things: like here, travelling. There where three places that I desperately wanted to see during my trip on the Australian coast: Nimbin, Fraser Island and the Whitsundays. I had to cancel Nimbin because of Cyclone Marcia back in the days and now the weather seems to wanna play crazy again, so no Whitsundays for me.

Yeah, it sucks, but I see the whole thing from another point of view: this will might be a reason to come back and I have the chance to rearrange my travels, which is one of the things I like the most: spending my time on a map and trying to figure out where to go. It's challenging, and in the whole tragedy of the situation, fun!

So dear traveller, if you may have booked some trips already, don't get pissed if there are some changes to do. If you're usually early enough, you'll be able to cancel your hotels without having to pay a fee, you'll even might find a cheaper accomodation as before, and if you're about to loose a hundred box on a coach trip or abflight you can't refund, well, that's life. It happens, it's called travelling. That's the fun part about it, you're just forced to figure things out, you're not going to die. You will see a different place you didn't even know the existence about, and it could turn out that this exact place will be the best you've seen on your whole trip. Basically, you could laugh your butt off, in the very end.

The challenge here is to stop struggling about the thought "oh, what will I be missing" - stop that, there's no place for drama here! Since I guess you're not going to die tomorrow, you'll have plenty of opportunities in the future to book yourself a flight again, and go out wandering in this world. Even if it will happen in two years: who cares!

Same for me: no Whitsundays and no stoned Hippies in Nimbin. My list could be longer: I have the sensation to have missed a bunch of cool spots in Sydney, or, poor me, I was locked three days in my apartment in Byron Bay because of heavy rain, I missed a lot. Yes I did, but this encourages me to make sure I'll be back. I didn't really see the entire continent anyway.

There's always a way to sort things out, you'll just need to be a wee bit flexible. And most important of all, you don't need to get angry about it. It's a concept you could apply to daily life as well. I started doing it, and, oh wonder, it works out with a lot of things.

It's very funny to see how this post turned out. I wanted to write about totally different stuff. Like "Yeah, but I made it to Fraser Island at least". But this will be the next story, I suppose. Changes are fine.

Peace, Love and Sandy Feet <3

Lake McKenzie on Fraser Island -
one of the things I had planned to talk about.
You'll get more in the next post ;)