Introduction

The legendary Australian east coast — fabled by many travelers as one of the "must do" stretches of the planet. Amazing landscapes and beaches, a vibrant backpacker culture, and access to some of the best surfing, snorkeling, and diving in the world.

I did the east coast in two parts: Cairns to Brisbane in August 2015, and Sydney to Cairns in January 2016. What follows is ordered traveling from Sydney up.

The only big tourist city in Australia

Even though Melbourne stole my heart, Sydney gets some very warm words. It's by far the most interesting Australian city for pure touristic purposes — the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, spectacular museums, amazing beaches. Something like LA, in that it's huge and best experienced from the suburbs.

Manly Beach is a short ferry ride from Circular Quay, less crowded than Bondi and even more relaxed. The road from the ferry terminal to the beach is littered with cute little cafes and worth the walk regardless of the weather.

The Coogee to Bondi walk is worth the 1.5 hours if you've had enough of lying on the beach — beautiful lookouts the whole way. I kept passing the same guy over and over and eventually said hello; funny how travelers are easy to get in touch with like that.

If you go to Sydney, you have to go to Bondi. Hustle and bustle on the beachfront, hip cafes, consistently great waves.

AKA the wet canyons

I had zero preconceptions going in — hadn't even googled it — I just knew it was one of the "must do's" close to Sydney. After a cheap Sunday train ride, my Swiss friend and I (plus a few strangers from a Facebook backpacker group) set off on a 5-hour circuit hike.

Turns out the Blue Mountains look like a miniature, green Grand Canyon — miniature being a testament to how grand the actual Grand Canyon is, not a knock on this one. About a third of the way through the hike we got ambushed by heavy rain with only cheap ponchos for protection. We'd already made it down the canyon, so we climbed back up the Giant Stairway — a thousand vertical steps — a couple of kilos heavier from the rain. Miserable in theory, but it gave the group a real sense of camaraderie.

The mountains had one final surprise: leeches. We found a couple on the way up the stairway (to the great distress of the girls in the group), and three more fell out of our shoes once we were back in Sydney — funny, because we'd been joking about that exact possibility on the train.

Where backpackers go

Mention the east coast and the first question you'll get is "Sick dude! How was Byron Bay?" It epitomizes the whole experience — perfect climate year-round, famous surf, chill attitude to everything. After a week of shitty Sydney weather I was ready to get my surf on again. Plan: kick back for four days with surf and drinks. That's exactly what happened.

One warning — in peak season (Dec–Feb) it can be almost impossible to book. For early January there were literally no beds left on Hostelworld; the only way I got a room at Aquarius was by calling the hostel directly (thanks to a Lonely Planet tip, since they weren't listed online). Pricy at 50 AUD for the first three nights, but worth it — landed in an 8-bunk dorm after a 13-hour night bus and immediately made friends with the Canadian in the opposite bunk. Surfed, drank, day-tripped to Nimbin, and didn't want to leave when it was time to move on.

Paradise is lost and the surf is better elsewhere

Mixed reputation, but everyone agrees it's the Las Vegas/Miami of Australia — if you like that, you'll enjoy this. More hustle and bustle than Byron (then again, almost everywhere is). You can still surf by day and party by night; Surfers arguably has the best pub crawls on the coast, though dress a bit fancier for some places.

Two nights at the Down Under hostel — clean, central, good time. Best thing I did: the morning breakfast buffet and skydeck view at the Q1 building, hungover or not.

Don't swim in the river, do go to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Warm all year round, a decent little break from the beach (though you don't need that long a break from the beach). If you find yourself here: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary for the first half of the day, then the museum precinct on the north shore of South Bank, walking past the lagoon into the botanical gardens across the river. Lunch on the way if you can afford it — I couldn't.

I had friends living there so I got some local flavor too, but the above is a solid day for anyone passing through. And there are bull sharks in the river, so don't swim there.

Crikey!

Founded by Steve Irwin, the largest zoo in Australia — everything from crocs (Steve's favorite) and koalas to elephants, giraffes, and tigers. Big enough that a single day might not be enough; if time is tight I'd actually recommend the Lone Pine Sanctuary in Brisbane instead.

Not too much else to say — if you like zoos or crocodiles or both, worth it, though pricy (~80 AUD for bus plus entry from Noosa). "You'll be glad if you go, but you won't be sad if you miss it." Shout out to my Swedish bro Henrik for coming along.

Another beach break

Noosa Junction, Noosa Heads, and Noosaville combine into the little paradise simply known as Noosa. I spent a whole week here doing essentially nothing — hammocks, waves, a little remote work (shout out to Dolphin Beach House for the wifi).

Recommend the coastal walk through the national park, a bonfire party at the beach, and kayaking the river. Can be a bit hit-or-miss since it's fairly quiet, but for me it was exactly what I needed.

Getting closer to nature in a 4x4

The world's largest sand island, just off Hervey Bay — roughly 4 hours north of Brisbane or 9 hours south of the Whitsundays. Two ways to explore: rent a 4x4 yourself, or join a tour like Dropbear Adventures. We went with the former.

Mostly untouched by human development aside from the dirt roads, which is what makes it unique. First half of the day exploring the lakes on the south side — Lake McKenzie has some of the clearest water I've ever swum in. The island is over 120 km long but not very wide, so the only efficient way to get around is the Beach Highway — the eastern shoreline itself, doable at 70–80 km/h, which feels pretty intense with only sand under your wheels. Catch: you can only drive it at low tide, or the rental agency will skin you alive. When the tide finally receded around 1pm we raced to the coast to reach the Maheno shipwreck, had about ten minutes to take pictures, then sped back to catch the ferry. Worth it.

Tour agencies will try to sell you three days on Fraser; in my opinion that's too much. I did it in one day, which felt rushed — I'd recommend two, enough time for spots like Indian Head up north while still moving on to the next stop. Time is limited on the east coast, after all.

The hidden gem

The hidden gem. On my first east coast trip we broke up the journey between the Whitsundays and Fraser Island with a night here — that was enough to half fall in love with the place. I'd planned to come back and work here for a week in January but ran out of time and prioritized a Whitsundays cruise instead.

Agnes Water has the cheapest surf in Oz and one of the coolest hostels going, Cool Bananas — if Greg's on duty, you're in for a treat. It's a tiny place and the east coast is huge, so I don't fault you for not staying long, but give this backpacker gem a shot.

74 pieces of paradise

To reach the Whitsundays you stay in the seedy little party town of Airlie Beach — most of the hostels are essentially resorts, not exactly my thing. The real way to experience this place is on the water: time your bus, drop your bag somewhere, and set sail. I arrived from Noosa after an 18-hour bus ride at 7am, dropped my luggage, and was aboard the racing yacht Apollo before 8.

The Apollo runs a 3-day, 2-night cruise — pricy, but very memorable. About 25 passengers and 3 crew, everyone with their obligatory bag of goon (4 liters of wine for 10 dollars), which made for some very happy sailors. We snorkeled, dived a bit, and on day two hit the famous Whitehaven Beach lookout — worth noting we didn't actually set foot on the beach itself, but the lookout might be even better. Check what your specific trip actually does before booking; you could be in for a surprise either way.

Small, but full of surprises

Just outside Townsville — I only stayed a night on the Cairns–Brisbane trip, but it's one of the experiences I remember most fondly, mostly because we got lucky with timing and packed a lot in. We checked into the X-Base hostel around 2pm — my first big resort-style hostel, and I wasn't sold at first (no private alcohol, no free wifi took the charm out of it), but with not much else to do at night on the island it actually worked out.

After checking in we fed the local rock wallabies, who show up in the same spot every day at 4pm — bring water rather than carrots, since everyone else brings carrots. Then raced to the other side of the island (glad we had our own car) to catch the sunset at West Point, and ended the night with some Brits from the hostel, waking up absurdly early the next morning to catch the sunrise too.

The next day: the free Forts Walk, and a koala with a joey spotted in the wild. Nuff said.

Heart of the reef

Near the top of the east coast, one of the best entry points to the Great Barrier Reef. Arrived on the night bus once again in the early hours, dropped my bags, and headed straight to Pro Dive Cairns — booked onto a three-day trip for my Advanced PADI certificate plus Nitrox. Intensive: four dives on day one, four on day two, three on the last — eleven dives total.

The GBR isn't "great" because it's the most stunning reef on Earth — a lot of its beauty is fading from coral bleaching — it's great because it's enormous, over 2,600 km long, with some stretches far better than others. On my first trip we'd just booked the cheap Green Island day trip, the closest reef from Cairns; fun, saw a small white-tip shark, but concentrated mostly around the jetty — not quite what I pictured when I thought "Great Barrier Reef." Pro Dive Cairns took us hours out into the heart of the reef instead, and going under there felt like entering another world entirely.

If that last paragraph made the reef sound anything less than beautiful, let me be clear: it contains some of the grandest sights I've ever seen and the best diving I've ever done. Watch the videos if you don't believe me.