Fitzroy Island
WHO
Our family of four traveled to Fitzroy Island during our two week road trip in Australia. Averhy was 15 and Eden was 12 when we took this trip.
This photo was taken on our hike to the top of the island, where it was just a little bit windy…
WHAT
Here is our packing list for our entire 12-day trip to Australia. The clothing items are all per person. Our trip included both summer and fall temperatures, and we decided to bring our own snorkels for the Great Barrier Reef. I used the Ziploc bag method to pack for this trip, as well as the clothing folder. We used one carry-on suitcase and four backpacks (Sky’s magic backpack, the Helena Camelbak, my camera backpack, and Eden’s UnderArmour school backpack.) If we did this entire trip again, I would not bring the snorkels, and would have packed half the number of tshirts because we were able to do laundry twice during the 12 days. Because we were only on Fitzroy Island for one day, one Ziploc bag contained all of our shirts/socks/undies for that day and our shorts were in the clothing folder. We packed our swimsuits into the snorkel carrying cases, which were convenient for carrying the wet suits at the end of the day.
passport
camera/lens/cards
chargers (phone, car, camera)
SJCam/memory cards
power adapter
headphones
Trtl pillows
2 shorts
8 tshirts
1 hiking pants
2 tshirts for hiking
3 jeans
snorkel
sunglasses
basic toiletries
2 long sleeve shirts
2 nicer shirts
1 dress
10 underwear
3 bras
10 socks
1 swimsuit
Kindle
1 puffy coat
2 sweatshirts
1 tennis shoes
1 flip flops
1 nicer shoes
1 water shoes
1 baseball cap
WHEN
We were in Australia the first two weeks of August 2019. We decided to go at that time because it worked well with our summer vacation schedule. August is technically winter in Australia, but the temperatures in Cairns and Fitzroy Island felt like summer (80*F) because it is located close to the equator. August was a great time to visit Australia because it was not the busy tourist season. We were able to hike the trails and enjoy the beaches on Fitzroy Island without crowds.
WHERE
This was our last full day in Queensland, so we checked out of our AirBnB in the morning, and went straight to the airport at the end of the day to fly to Melbourne.
During our time on Fitzroy Island, we visited the spots marked by yellow stars on the map. It is a small island, so there is time to see pretty much everything in a day.
WHY
We initially decided to go to Australia because NextVacay.com alerted us to a cheap round-trip flight to Sydney. After booking the initial flights, I researched different ways to see the Great Barrier Reef because that was on my bucket list. I soon learned that Australia is a lot bigger than I thought, so rather than driving from Sydney to Cairns (which would have taken 2 days), we decided to fly. We chose to spend one day on Fitzroy Island because it is part of the Great Barrier Reef system, and was the closest to Cairns.
HOW
There are a few options to get to Fitzroy Island from Cairns. We chose the Fitzroy Island Flyer because the departure times going to/from the island worked best with our schedule.
It was a 45 minute ride to the island, and on the way we saw a whale in the distance. This is the view of the beach when you arrive.
As soon as we arrived, we signed up to visit the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center later in the day. Visits are limited, and you can only purchase tickets on the day of your visit.
We decided to hike to the lighthouse and the summit of the island first, then go snorkeling after working up a sweat. The hike was surprisingly steep at times, but there were butterflies and beautiful views to keep us going!
The view from the summit was gorgeous, and the water is stunningly blue! The hike took about 2 hours from start to finish.
After the hike, we went snorkeling - but before we even got in the water, we were surprised to see two humpback whales breaching in the bay! It was pretty incredible and something we’ve never seen before.
We snorkeled for a little while - Sky and Averhy stayed out longer than Eden and I did, because the water was cold and Eden got a little claustrophobic - but we can say we’ve seen the Great Barrier Reef for ourselves!
After getting some lunch, we went to the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center. It was interesting learning about the efforts to help these animals, and seeing them up close. We finished the day relaxing on Nudey Beach (no, it’s not a nude beach) before hopping on the last ferry back to the mainland.
Final Tips
If you want to see the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center, take the earliest ferry to the island so you can get your tickets before the time slots fill up.
There are lockers available to store your things while you explore the island.
If you want to go snorkeling here, I would suggest starting on the beach right by the pier. We started further down the beach, and it was too shallow to really swim comfortably without touching the coral.
If you’re traveling from the USA to Australia, be prepared for a LONG flight… but depending on when you leave, you might be traveling in darkness the entire flight, so it’s easier to sleep. We used Trtl travel pillows, and they were okay. Not quite as comfortable as the ads make them look, but they did the job. Do you have a travel pillow you love? Let me know in the comments below!
