Having spend a whole day relaxing and sailing at the Whitsunday's, it was time for another long day of driving. To make it a little more enjoyable, we took a break about halfway through and stopped at Billabong Sanctuary just outside Townsville. One of my have-to-do-things while in Australia, was to pet a kangaroo. So when we saw the sign at the side of the road, we had no other choice than to stop.
At the sanctuary there are all sorts of australian native wildlife, ranging from koalas to wombats to crocodiles to dingoes and many more. Most of the animals are kept in enclosures and there are certain times of the day when they are fed or you can take pictures with them. We decided to skip the koala cuddling as the queue was way to long and sticked to the kangaroos that were freely roaming the grounds. There are bags of kangaroo found available for purchase at the entry desk and I could have happily stayed there, feeding and stroking those amazing creatures. They were so unbelievably soft and trusting, I wished I could have taken one home.
At some point though, we had to say our goodbyes and continue our way towards Mission Beach. Here we wanted to spend the night before heading to Cairns the next day. And what a beautiful place it was. Just look at this endless beach:
The best thing about the place however was not the beautiful beach, but the fact that you could go skydiving right above the camp ground. My sister and I didn't have to be asked twice if we wanted to try it. So at the next available slot we met our tandem partners and hopped on the plane. It all went so fast we didn't even have time to get nervous until we already were up in sky and the first pairs were jumping off the plane. I am gonna be completely honest, I really did nearly pee my pants up there. But once we were out of the plane and falling the fear was gone and it felt amazing! Such an adrenalin rush. And then the views once the parachute opened and we were gliding through the air. Indescribable.
If I could I would have gone again right away. It was an incredible experience and something I've always wanted to do. So all in all that day was a perfect bucket-list adventure.
The next morning we drove the last miles up to Cairns. We strolled through the town, took a break in a cute café right at the harbor and went to a market where we treated ourselves to some fresh coconuts.
It was another perfect day and the last one on the east coast, as the next day we flew into Darwin to start the second part of our trip exploring the Northern Territory. But more in that in the next post.
What is on your bucket-list you are dying to check off? Let me know so I can get some inspiration for my never ending list of things I still want to do and see.
Have a wonderful day and don't forget to smile!
♡
No comments:
Post a Comment