Face to face with calm turtles, gentle rays and curious sharks, the surface sending shimmering rays of vibrant sunlight through the water, casting a magical glow over you. A turtle sees you and soars closer, curious about the strange creature in their home. Dazzling colours and glorious, rippling surface patterns scatter, reflecting off the bottom of the shallows. It's breathtaking, and yet you've never been able to breathe easier.
Home to beech and podocarp forests and sweeping, crystal-clear waters of pristine azure and turquoise blues, this stunning walk weaves across swing bridges, boardwalks and raw stone. It gives you the innate sense of being immersed in the forest itself.
The climbing vines clinging to the trees, the countless waterfalls among the trees, the barrelling glacier-fed rapids that lined the road in sections. It was all so mesmerising. It is no wonder why the Maori people hold Milford Sound so close to their hearts and their culture.
Fish of all shapes, sizes and vibrant colours surrounded us and every time we dove down, they followed us, curious at the huge animals that were visiting their space...little starfish and other little ocean creatures peppered the wrecks and the surrounding sand banks and it was spectacular...It is quite a unique and special ecosystem that has been forged from the remnants of human activity.
So there we were, talking and watching the soft blue sky intertwine with the whites and dove greys of clouds and the sound of coral gently tinkling into the shore as the ocean rushed in to meet the edges of Fitzroy Island.
We did not know what this year would hold for us. As of this very moment, I am sitting in my office looking out at a perfect view of the sunlight filtering down through the green leaves of the trees, a perfect blue sky, and bird song fills the air. And to top it all off, the butterfly migration is in full swing. There are butterflies gracefully arcing through the wind every which way. This is paradise, surely?
We had this insanely beautiful view all to ourselves. Moonlight Crag sits in my top five hikes in Queensland for a very good reason: while some hiking trails are lovely the entire way with one hidden gem that draws in the crowds, Moonlight Crag has incredible views the entire way and has no less than four magical spots that are crowd pleasers.
When you drive along this beach with the windows down, the colours of the water and the sand dunes flow together to create a vibrant kaleidoscopic memory that you will not forget. And even on cloudier days, it is still an amazing little spot.
You are surrounded by beautiful little coloured fish. They literally will swim towards you out of curiosity and then stay with you as you swim around, especially next to the wrecks.
The waterfall breaks over a fallen tree, and the result is something that seems out of a fairytale – you’re in a cave, watching a waterfall break and churn into a creek that flows between a rainforest. At night, the entire underside of the cave lights up with hundreds of glow worms.
With stunning waterfalls surrounded by dense Australian bush, this place is special. Interestingly, Cedar Creek Falls was also the shooting location for television series Terra Nova. Even so, this magical little spot remains (mostly) a secret.
