Ride to Paradise! - Exploring the Whitsundays.

This time last week I was all checked in at the Redcat Adventures office in Airlie Beach, ready to head to the Coral Sea Marina and set sail on our super rapid, Wildcat catamaran vessel! Having escaped the farm for 3 days I was more than excited to be spending the next 2 nights & 2 days in pure luxury at the stunning Paradise Cove Resort, not to mention the adventures that lay ahead exploring the Whitsunday Islands aboard the boat. I've never been 100% sure on the idea of solo travel, it can be pretty daunting but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet, be you & put yourself out there. In this case I was so delighted I did. - I met the loveliest group of people on my tour, the guys running the trip literally made it; Jayden & Shano (Jayden the first Aussie lad I've met with top banter & Shano the 'Aussiest' looking Irish lad in Queensland!), alongside a big group of Irish girls, solo travellers, like myself, from America, Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy etc, girls from England starting out on their working holiday visas & a few lovely couples, including an older couple from Bournemouth on their holidays. Everyone got involved with everything on the trip and it was a great vibe from start to finish.
Once we'd had a quick intro on land from Jayden, picked up our 'stinger suits' (essentially a very sexy & fashionable garment worn to protect you in certain Aussie waters & make you look like scuba steve or cat woman, depending on how you want to see it!) We were then on board the boat at the Marina all set to head to the resort.
Arriving in to the bay where our beautiful secluded resort was located was an actual 'Ride to Paradise.' Palm trees scattered across the freshly mowed lawn & hammocks swaying in the breeze. We dismounted the boat, feeling the sea beautifully warm on our feet, and headed up the beach towards the promise of afternoon tea upon arrival at the main house, we were not disappointed!

Gorgeous platters of fresh fruit, crisps, dips, cheeses & of course a selection of beautiful cakes.

The rooms at the resort are all pretty luxurious! I booked a bed in one of the shared single dorms, which, as a backpacker is of course the cheapest option, having said that, regardless of your room you have access to the whole resort including the unbelievable outdoor bath tubs! I've also spent the last 3 months sleeping on a farm hostel mattress, which frankly made my bed nothing short of luxury! If you do however have some spare cash or want to treat yourself, the deluxe suites are insanely beautiful. All of the couples on our tour got upgraded to these rooms, so if you are a couple and your tour is fully booked you may just get upgraded too! All of the rooms are also en suite with a toilet & sink and the showers are just outside the lodges. Is there anything more amazing than looking up in the shower and seeing nothing but sunshine, blue skies & palm branches!? I told you it was paradise

Above are some pictures taken from the Redcat Adventures website  of our beautiful lodge pictured  from the outside with the stunning veranda amongst the trees, and inside of our shared 6 bed dorm. Added details not pictured included gorgeous fluffy throw blankets which were piled high ready for us to use as we wished which was lovely in the evening & really added to the luxurious feel of the stay. You will find a full range of prices & pictures of all the rooms on their site, so you can pick the perfect one for you! 

Once we were all settled in to our rooms we were free to explore the resort for the afternoon. One amazing thing about Paradise Cove is the variety of activities depending on how active you want to be. Along the front the equipment is all there for kayaking & paddle boarding, completely self serve & free of charge so you can head out whenever suits you. Follow along the secret path through the trees and you'll find a full sized tennis court with equipment, a basketball net & football goals. - Not to mention the pool, jacuzzi hot tub, table tennis & hammocks to kick back in & read a book if you fancy a little less of a 'full on' afternoon! We had just put our stuff down in the rooms when one of my new friends from the tour appeared on the veranda in her (oh so stylish) stinger suit ready for kayaking! I couldn't help but appreciate how easy it was to find like minded people on this trip, of course I was up for a spot of kayaking!

Now, what better way to wind down after an afternoon on the water than with a 5pm beverage & an outdoor bath with your pals!? The Oxford dictionary states 'Paradise' is a place that is extremely beautiful and that seems perfect, like heaven. Now you can see why this resort is called Paradise Cove! All the showers & bath areas are also fully equipped with luxury shampoo, conditioner, body wash & bubble bath so don't worry about packing those for your trip! I think it was while I was lying here in this bath staring out in to the golden palm trees & hearing the sea crashing on the shore that I had to remind myself I'm supposed to be a 'backpacker on a budget!' ;-) Can I stay in Paradise forever!?

After our rather leisurely bath, dinner was served at 7.30pm, a delicious meal and desert accompanied by any drink you've brought with you - you can bring as much booze as you wish but no glass or red wine. Having said that, I think I had 3 ciders the whole time we were there, the vibe was very chilled and definitely not a party trip. - I would say I'm still drying out from the farm hostel life so that suited me perfectly! After dinner we headed down towards the beach to the fire pit underneath the stars. I've never seen a more beautiful clear sky, we even saw a shooting star. It was a brilliant setting to sit and chat with new friends and fellow travellers while toasting marshmallows, mesmerised by the dancing flames. What an evening!

Next morning we were up and out fairly early so to make the most of the day ahead! After a lovely continental breakfast of cereals, toast & fresh fruit (side note; get involved with the watermelon in Aus people, it's insanely good!) We were back on our boat ready to whip through the waves to the beautiful Whitehaven beach. We arrived at the north end and the iconic Hill Inlet lookout point. The plan was to visit the beach here too, however as the tide at the drop off point wouldn't allow for a lengthy stay, our quick thinking skipper decided to scoot us round to the south end of the beach. Turns out this was much more secluded away from the traffic of the other tour groups, we ended up eating lunch on the beach too which was glorious!

The view from the Hill Inlet lookout point

We spent the time swimming in the crystal clear waters, sunbathing & of course tucking in to our lovely picnic lunch of pasta, bread rolls, cold meats, cheeses & salad served up by our fab crew Jayden & Shano of course! We got a good 2 and half hours at the beach which was just bliss, obviously enough time to get that instagram snap, if you've followed me for a while you'll know I haven't been anywhere iconic unless there's a bridge pose photo! ;-)

Next up was our first snorkelling stop off. I've never really done any proper snorkelling, when I worked as a nanny in Greece, we occasionally took the kids snorkelling but we'd be lucky to see a handful of fish. This, on the other hand, was a real snorkelling experience! The team at Redcat have a license to feed the fish, so when we drop in to the water at the snorkelling point it's like climbing in to an aquarium! What an unbelievable sight - we saw all kinds of fish, big and small. Alongside the fish, we saw the reef restoration work that the Whitsundays council implemented following a cyclone that damaged a large part of the reef 2 years ago. It was great to see a man made structure built in to the sea bed to encourage the reef to grow back and keep our wee fishy friends happy!

Just when you thought the stinger suit couldn't get any more glamorous! - Simply accessorise with a mask & snorkel for that day to night look ;-)

That evening we had another delicious home cooked meal, a few wild games of 'Articulate' at the dinner table in-between courses & of course back down to the fire pit for more chilling under the stars. We had one more snorkelling trip in the morning so it was a fairly early night for us all ahead of the 8.30 departure next morning.
I had such an amazing experience on this trip and would recommend it to anyone, whether you're on your own, with friends, young or old, a truly great tour with something for everyone. I'll leave you with this wee video of my GoPro footage from the 3 days, it's my first time using it so they will only get better! ;-)

Finally, I know a lot of my instagram followers were dying to go to the resort after seeing some the instagram posts I uploaded, so of course I'll give you my top 3 insta shots to get on the trip;

You can follow me on instagram Here! If you would like to watch my stories over the next few weeks now that I'm free of farmer life and adventuring down the East Coast of Australia! 

Thanks for reading & let me know if you book the tour! You may be able to get a discount booking through a travel agent or get $50 off if you book through Sailing Whitsundays which is the company I used.

Happy Travels!

L x

Making the jump & moving to Australia!

One month in to living in Sydney and it's starting to feel like home! From the moment I decided to leave my job in the UK, pack up my life and fly solo across the world to embark on this little adventure, I had no idea what to expect! Recently, I've been thinking what better way to get back in to writing my blog, than sharing my experiences over in Australia with you all. Who knows; it may make you want to up and go yourself!

I will be completely honest, the last month has been challenging. I don't think I realised just how settled I had become living in Cheltenham over the last 4 years. Not only that, but I'd completely forgotten what it was like to move and know no-one, even though I've done it a fair few times before! Starting something new in life can be tough, even if it's moving jobs down the road and all else remains the same; same house, same friends, same hours. The mind loves routine and familiarity, so it's only natural to feel that any small change can be a little unsettling. That said, if you stay in your safe bubble for your whole life, you are restricting yourself more than you know. I'll be the first to tell anyone that this is HARD at first, but ask yourself - what's the alternative to change? I was so ready for a shake up in my day to day routine, it's easy to look back on your old life with rose tinted glasses when you're feeling low but actually, change is the best thing you can do when you aren't 100% content with how things are. - Be it your job, your relationship, your hobbies or opportunities. Everyone deserves to be happy and it doesn't get handed to you without you getting out there and finding it! Moving out here is not at all a small change, but my god I can tell it's going to be such an amazing adventure! All the uncertainty gets more and more worth it with everyday that I wake up in this beautiful city. It really has given me such a great opportunity to get out my comfort zone and grow as a person (Oh yaaa gap yah, finding myself jokes aside!) ;-)

So a few weeks in to Sydney; I've found (and quit) my first job, lived in an 8 man room in a hostel, been to Bondi beach more times than I can count, rinsed about 40 'free trial' gyms across the Eastern Suburbs, been on several nights out & walked what feels like the whole of Sydney!
Here's a quick run down of the details ;-)

Wake Up! Sydney Central & the cafe next door where I spent most mornings eating breakfast in the sunshine!

Week 1 in the hostel; I stayed at Wake Up Sydney! which is the most ideal location from the airport. A quick train to Central station gets you right across the road from your temporary home, which believe me, after 27 hours of travelling was much appreciated! The hostel was clean and pretty straight forward. The reason I booked to be in an 8 bed mixed room was purely on recommendation on your chances of meeting people you get on with are much higher in a big room. I was so lucky that my roommates were all great people who were up for getting up and out the hostel to explore the city. On my second day we went to Bondi and walked the coastal walk along through the neighbouring beaches. This photo, taken at Tamarama Beach, still makes me smile. - The hilarity of self timer is just as funny with 4 complete strangers as it is with your best friends! We still never got us all jumping but at least we had fun trying!

A Scottish, Dutch, German, Slovakian & an American attempt a synchronised jump. . . 

Team Hostel Morning HIIT Session 

Thursday Night 'Backpacker' night at IVY 

The main thing I made sure I did in the hostel was get stuck in and say YES to all the social plans, you are there solo, so even if you're not sure, you really aren't in a position to pass up some company. Worst thing that can happen is you don't have the best time and you can bail! Guaranteed you will get more out of the experience by getting involved. The hostel are amazing at putting on daily social events to get involved in. Some other highlights of my week in the hostel are in the pictures surrounding; We hit the gym, had a fair few nights out & ended the week on the Sunday sunset Seadeck Boat Party  with my new Canadian pal that I'd met on the Monday night at the hostel & kept in touch with throughout the week before 2 of her party left for NZ and she was needing company too. We thought why not do something fun for her last day in Sydney! This is what happens when you put yourself out there, circumstances go in your favour! :-)

Seadeck Sydney boat party - Every weekend in Sydney! 

The weeks since, I've been staying at a friends house while he's home so his room was going spare. This has been ideal, It's given me the chance to really get to know the area in Bondi Junction before committing to an apartment, the beach is just a 30 min walk away and I have the Westfield shopping centre and my gym right around the corner too! I would definitely recommend asking around friends if anyone has a room going if you're moving out, as that extra time I had to get to know areas around Sydney was great. I am now in an Air b'n'b while my friend is out visiting on hols, but will then move in to my new apartment next week which I'm so excited about, to get properly settled in & unpacked!

Finally, when I started telling people I was moving to Aus, I got a lot of reactions of 'OMG on your own!? Do you know anyone out there?' I brushed these off saying yeah on my own, I know a couple of people but I'll be fine, I'll befriend anyone me! Of course it's hard when you feel like an outsider, but my friends who I know 'loosely'-  instagram or only met a couple times, haven't seen them for years etc have been amazing!! Everyone is like one big family out here in terms of Brits sticking together, so even if you know someone who you think you haven't kept in touch with and not sure whether to message them, I was the same and I can tell you just do it! It opens up so many other opportunities to meet people and it can feel a little awkward sending that first message but It's got to be done! So aside from a sense of adventure, and a bit of grit to pull the trigger and go, what else do you need to do when moving out to Australia!? I'm going to write my next post on this so you have all the details for you or a friend who fancies the move! :-)

For now, I'm off to enjoy the Easter week in Sydney with my friend & my new friends! Thanks to everyone who supported my move or gave me advice, I'm truly living my best life! 

Linds x