corneredglobe

Brisbane is an afterthought for most travelers coming to Australia. The ugly duckling of the big cities, derided by locals as being nothing more than an overgrown small town and ignored by tourists for more cultured destinations like Sydney and Melbourne. I'll admit the only reason I visited Brisbane is because I did the hop-on/hop-off greyhound from Cairns to Sydney and it was on the route. Otherwise I wouldn't have visited.

So does Brisbane deserve its lackluster reputation? Is it a city that warrants time in your travel itinerary?

Queensland is blessed with a gorgeous coast that's lined with incredible beaches offering excellent surfing conditions for people of all levels. If you were ever curious about surfing or wanted to give it a try then this is place to do it. Up and down the Sunshine and Gold coast are lots of schools ready to teach you how to ride a wave.

Noosa was one of my favorite stops on my trip through Queensland. This beach town is famous for being the Hamptons of Australia. It exudes a monied atmosphere, especially around Hastings Street which is lined with high end boutiques, smart restaurants and coffee shops. Even though this town attracts more than its fair share of well heeled visitors, it actually offers a little something for everyone.

This is a mistake ... a terrible terrible mistake.

I'd just checked into my hostel in Airlie Beach and was shocked to find a bar blaring loud music IN the hostel. During my travels I've been like a pendulum swinging between cheap shitty hostels to way-over-my-budget but dammit I need to pamper myself accommodations.

Tonight I managed to find the shittiest hostel in Airlie Beach filled with drunk young backpackers.

I've read lots of articles on the subject of solo travel. More often than not, these articles tend to romanticize the concept of being a solo-traveler. I feel like they give half the picture on what it's like to travel on your own, which I think is not fair to the reader. Don't get me wrong, I'm a solo traveler and have been all my life. So I'm very familiar with the the good, the bad and the ugly aspects of traveling on my own. These are my two cents on this subject.

The WhitSunday Islands is a premiere destination in Queensland. It offers stunning islands and some of the best sailing experiences in the world. The islands are part of the Great Barrier Reef, and most are designated as National Parks. Whitehaven beach was recognized as the best beach in the Pacific by TripAdvisor readers in 2015. When you land on this beach you'll recognize immediately what all the fuss is about. The azure blue sea laps against the glistening soft white silica sands. At the northern end of the beach sits a stunning cove, where the tide shifts with the sand to create a beautiful fusion of colors.

Located in the North of Queensland, a short ferry ride from Townsville, is Magnetic Island. It was named by Captain James Cook in 1770. As he passed by this island his compass stopped working, which he blamed on magnetic force fields emanating from it. So he called it Magnetic Island.

This sleepy little island offers its visitors a unique landscape. More than half its landmass is marked as a National Park and is preserved in its raw state. Only the outer fringes of the island have been developed to support a tiny residential population of around 2,000 people.

The Great Ocean Road is one of the world's most scenic road trips. It's been voted as one of Australia’s top 10 destination experiences in 2013 and it's recognized as having one of Australia’s top 10 sunsets by Aussie’s themselves. The winding road guides you through world class surfs, canopied rainforests, beautiful small beach towns, past the iconic 12 Apostles and ending with the small fishing village of Port Fairy.

Melbourne has a love affair with coffee. This is a city that's home to countless cool coffee shops serving up artisanal cups of magic. It's the one place in the world where I pity Starbucks. I can only imagine the hipster population turning up their collective noses at the sad cup of Joe that Starbucks dares to peddle to this sophisticated town.

This past month I've sampled quite a few different places trying to find the best coffee in town.