Bros 'n Boats!

The end in Australia is near and we must say we have had a beautiful time and met amazing people.

A memorable stop on the East Coast was Byron Bay, mostly because it was where we met two like-minded guys which would become a part of our 'travel posse'. There is Sebastian, the Swiss 'Argentinian wannabe' playboy. Happy to polish our French every now and then, we ran into him several times on our trip. The most surprising moment was when he organized a water-balloon attack from a rivaling sailboat in the Whitsunday Islands. Later during the night he literally entered our ship. Since we're on the topic, the Whitsunday Islands were a glorious stop with paradisaical white sand beaches marked by snorkel-ripe reefs with abundant sea life. Or as PJ, our fellow backpacker and friend from Holland would sarcastically say "een egte k*tvakantie".

Paradise on earth - Whitehaven beach

Sebastian, dM3 and PJ

In Byron Bay we also met Geoff. He voluntarily shared the information that Justin Bieber is in fact Canadian, so we decided to give him a hard time about it. He got his revenge by proving to be a true monopoly mastermind, and we only managed to beat him once in a legendary resource-pooling tactic some might refer to as "bending the rules".

In better times, right after winning Monopoly game 1

Luckily Geoff was a good sport and up north he joined us again for a road trip to Cape Tribulation where rain forests and beaches meet. We tasted crocodile and kangaroo burgers and discussed Geoff's everlasting love for Justin Bieber. Later we caught him red handed on the beach:

Geoff LOVES Justin Bieber

Meanwhile we also met hyperactive Marianne from Norway, who kept stalking us at hostels along the way, all the while jumping out of airplanes and helicopters. We didn't actually mind so much as she showed us her extravagant dance moves and 'not so gracious' poses in the background of our pictures. She traveled along with Kim, a hilarious guy who entertained a full bar with break-dancing moves only to be severely injured in the process.

Back in Cairns we headed out on a dive and snorkeling cruise on a luxury yacht. On the boat we met Rod and Daniel, not only true dive masters with an enormous amount of dives under their belt, Rod is also one of the funniest men we have ever met. They took Dimitri out under water and taught him some master skills, while Rod was making obscenely funny signals. He is the living example of what we want to grow up to be: a funny gentleman enjoying life to the fullest.

Dive masters preparing for a night dive

Rod with a Nemo "tasted like chicken"

We will miss Australia, lovely Tanya, crazy Sebastian, PJ, Marianne, Justin' Geoff, Chicken Rod, Mamy Bénédicte, the Whitsunday crew, the Pro-dive Cairns crew, and all the others who made our stay unforgettable. Thanks to all of you!