Tag: Outdoors

Sydney Beaches and Pools

Sydney Australia is a wonderful city to visit! It’s especially great to visit in summer, which is when we were there. On top of celebratory fireworks and outdoor festivals, Sydney has many excellent and popular beaches. Summer is hot; the temperature got to almost 40C, and the best way to cool off is to jump in the water. The good news is Sydney beaches and pools are plentiful, and the water is definitely cool. Sometimes it’s too cold, but when it’s this hot, it feels good, at least for a while.

Summer Weather in Sydney

Australia’s biggest city, Sydney is located on the New South Wales coast. Considered to be part of a temperate climate zone, Sydney has warm to hot summers and no dry season. Our experience in summer is temperatures from high teens to high 30s C, with days of full sun alternating with days of clouds and/or rain. Sometimes the best days are the cloudy ones because that sun is strong!

City Pools

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Animals of Australia’s East Coast

One of my favorite pleasures when visiting new places is encountering the local wildlife. Not at zoos or in cages, we like to see the animals in the wild! And we’ve had a great time spending time with the animals of Australia’s East Coast. Picture the animals you can only see in Australia and we’ve been fortunate to get up close to a lot of them! Here are some of our best sightings and places to see animals of Australia’s East Coast.

Kangaroo Animals of Queensland Australia
Kangaroo in North Stradbroke Island

Australia’s East Coast

We spent almost four months in the state of Queensland, the second largest and third most populous state in Australia. For reference, Queensland is 7 times larger than the United Kingdom, and is home to 5.5 million people.

Queensland occupies the northeast coast of Australia, from Gold Coast up to Cairns. We sailed from Gold Coast up to Townsville, with plans to make it to Cairns next year.

Highlights of Queensland include beaches and coastlines, beautiful islands in the Coral Sea, the capital city of Brisbane, The Great Barrier Reef, and awesome animals. Although we did have a few issues with the boat in Queensland, we loved all the great sights and amenities.

Queensland in Australia map
Map of Australia with Queensland highlighted

Other than Queensland, we’ve seen animals of Australia’s East Coast in New South Wales, from Coffs Harbor down to Sydney. We’ve only been in about half of Coastal NSW, but we’ve seen a lot of wildlife.

Koalas

australians and koalas

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Magical Magnetic Island

One of the top things to do if you make it to Townsville, Queensland is a trip to nearby magical Magnetic Island. It’s an ideal destination if you like beaches, parks, swimming, fishing, hiking or wildlife.

Getting to Magnetic Island

I accidentally called it Magical Island a couple of times because it really felt that way to me. The locals call it “Maggie” so maybe that’s why I got confused. We anchored in Horseshoe Bay for two nights, and sailed to Townsville in a couple of hours, but the ferry is even quicker. It runs regularly from the Townsville waterfront and takes about 30 minutes. Once you’re on Magnetic Island, there’s so much to see and do!

Horseshoe Bay in Magical Magnetic Island
Horseshoe Bay Anchorage in Magnetic Island

Amenities on Magnetic Island

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