G’Day and welcome back to the Down Under Diary! This blog is all about kangaroos at sunrise. Yes, that postcard-perfect scene from Queensland where kangaroos hop along the beach while the sun rises over the ocean. We were beyond excited! Until we arrived and realized we had no reception, no WiFi and two upcoming job interviews. What could possibly go wrong?
Short Recap
After our unforgettable Fraser Island tour, where many of you voted you’d love to take a bath in the Champagne Pools or float down Eli Creek, we headed towards the iconic Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park. One of the few places in Australia where you can watch kangaroos and wallabies on the beach at sunrise. We were ready for magic!
April 30, 11:00 | Digital Detox 📵
We arrived at Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park, excited for kangaroos, but quickly hit with a reality check: no internet. Not a single bar. Turns out, this place is an intentional offline zone, a full-on digital detox. But Simona and I had important online application interviews scheduled that evening (hers at 20:00, mine at 21:30 because of the different time zones that late). We asked the staff if there was any way to connect. Maybe hidden WiFi? A hotspot? But nope, nothing. Driving back to the nearest town wasn’t an option either: not in the dark, and not in Australia. So, plan B: cancel the interviews. We wandered around the campground, email drafts loaded and fingers crossed for just a few seconds of connection. After some tense pacing, Simona managed to send hers off. Mine was still stuck in the outbox. Defeated but hopeful, we tossed our laundry in and I prayed for a miracle internet breeze to come through.
💡 Insider Tip: Don’t rely on reception at Cape Hillsborough, it’s a true digital detox.
💡 Insider Tip: Always google the internet availability of the place / campground if you have important calls coming up.
April 30, 13:00 | Kangaroo Meet & Greet 🧺
Our mood instantly lifted when we spotted three kangaroos casually lounging in the middle of the campground. Suddenly, hanging up laundry became a front-row seat to the ultimate Aussie wildlife show. We couldn’t resist – we crouched down, gave them a gentle scratch, and they genuinely seemed to enjoy the attention (note to future selves: as adorable as they are, you’re actually not supposed to touch them.) A kookaburra watched the whole scene disapproving. It was such a surreal Aussie moment. If it hadn’t been for the stressful internet-and-application-interview situation, we might’ve fully melted into the magic of it all.
💡 Insider Tip: Keep a respectful distance from wildlife.
April 30, 16:00 | Hiking With Spiders 🕷️
With my email still stubbornly stuck in the outbox, we decided to make the most of it and set off on a hike along the Andrews Point track, which came with warnings about tides (and spiders). The further we walked, the bigger they got, but we got pros in dodging below spider webs. At the top of the hill, sweet victory: a flicker of reception appeared, and I finally managed to send out the email to postpone my interview. What a relief! And the views from the first lookout, Twin Beach Lookout, rewarded us with golden light draped over dramatic cliffs, hidden coves, and the vast ocean below. At Turtle Lookout (no turtles, sadly), dusk started creeping in. With no internet for navigation, we relied on the old-school paper map from reception, which said the full loop takes 2–2.5 hours. Since it gets dark fast in Australia, we picked up the pace and skipped the next viewpoint. We made it down to the beach just in time for sunset. You can cross over to Wedge Island at low tide, but we weren’t about to risk anything. We were back at the campground before dark and somehow, we finished the entire loop in just one hour – thanks to our Swiss hiking genes.
✨ Hidden Gem: Andrews Point Lookout – stunning views with minimal crowds.
💡 Insider Tip: Grab the printed version of the map at reception and start early!
April 30, 18:45 | Dinner & Guys Watching 🍝
Back at the laundry area, the kangaroos had moved on, but three fit young man had taken their place, doing an evening workout. As we collected our dry clothes, we couldn’t help but sneak glances from behind hanging shirts. The idea of offering them some of our extra pasta floated around, but none of us dared to make the first move. Missed opportunity? Probably. Full bellies? Absolutely.
💡 Insider Tip: Pasta is always a winner and who knows, maybe next time it’ll come with a side of conversation.
April 30, 20:00 | Rubbish Mistake 🗑️
When you’re living out of a campervan and using campground facilities, showers become a whole operation. Since most camping sites don’t offer any shelves or surfaces (mostly just a single hook) we each have a two-bag system: one shower bag with our fresh clothes, and another with all the essentials like shampoos, brush, and towel. It’s a routine we’ve perfected over weeks on the road… or so we thought. That night, Sabrina was suddenly missing one of her bags. We tore the van apart, checked every corner. Then it clicked: just before heading to the shower (where by the way dozen geckos were clinging to the ceiling), she’d taken out the rubbish. One dash to the campground bins, there it was: her shower bag, chilling beside last night’s leftovers.
💡 Insider Tip: Bring two waterproof bags for the showers, one for clothes, one for toiletries.
💡 Insider Tip: Double-check what’s in your hands while throw out the trash.
May 1, 04:45 | Magic Morning 🌅🦘
Our alarms went off at 4:45 am, way too early, but for a good cause. Equipped with our torches (yes, we finally remembered to use them!), we made our way through the dark to the beach. Turns out, we weren’t the only ones – a whole crowd of sleepy-eyed tourists had already gathered behind a row of bright marker cones. A ranger paced along the imaginary line, reminding everyone: ‘No touching the kangaroos!’ (Oops… too late as we already petted them the day before), ‘Turn off your torches!’ and ‘No camera flash, please!’.
Around 5:30 am, as the first golden light broke over the ocean, kangaroos and wallabies slowly hopped down from the forest (or rather, the campground) toward the beach. Quick side note: wallabies are closely related to kangaroos, just a bit smaller and easy to recognize by the white stripes on their hips and across their faces. According to the ranger, the animals usually come out at low tide to search for food the waves bring in. But suspiciously, it didn’t really look like low tide… As everything came into view with the rising sun, we spotted leftover piles of food scattered across the beach. It seemed the kangaroos weren’t there for the sunrise after all, but for snacks. So yeah, it was kind of a staged wildlife moment, but still incredibly beautiful. Wild(ish) kangaroos, the sound of the ocean, and the sky turning gold over the waves, it felt absolutely magical.
✨ Hidden Gem: Sunrise with kangaroos at Cape Hillsborough Nature Tourist Park, even if it’s staged, it’s stunning.
💡 Insider Tip: Get there early, bring a torch and a hoodie, it’s colder than you’d think pre-dawn.
May 1, 07:00 | Back to Civilization 📶
After what was probably our earliest breakfast of the entire trip, we packed up and hit the road once more. Our next destination is Airlie Beach! But before any sightseeing, there was one top priority on our minds, find reliable internet to check if we’d received any replies from our job applications. And if you’re curious about how Simona’s and my postponed interviews turned out, stay tuned for the blog post about Magnetic Island!
Digital Detox Poll 📵
Cape Hillsborough brought us something we definitely hadn’t looked forward to: an unplanned digital detox. No internet, no reception, no Wi-Fi – just kangaroos, wallabies, and the ocean. At first, it felt like a crisis (especially with pending job interviews), but in the end it was kinda peaceful. Now we’re curious: could you survive a few days off the grid? Vote below!
Missed a Blog Post?
No worries! Catch up on all the Down Under Diary adventures here:
- 🌴 #1: G’Day – The Ultimate Australia’s East Coast Road Trip
- 🏄🏼♂️ #2: Sydney – Giant Spiders, Jetlag, & the Great Easter Brekkie Fail
- 🦘 #3: Emerald Beach – Campervan Issues, Kangaroos, & the Surprise Visit on the Dunny
- 🌊 #4: Noosa – Rain Disaster, Desperate Cash Hunt, & the Coastal Walk with(out) View
- 🐕 #5: Fraser Island – Guided Adventure Tour, Dingos, & the Champagne Pools (with Video!)
- 🌅 #6: Cape Hillsborough – Digital Detox, Failed Job Interviews, & the Sunrise Kangaroo Dream (this blog article)
Your Turn!
I’d love to hear from you! Share your stories in the comments at the very bottom of the page (after the “You might also like”) in English or German.
What has been your biggest internet struggle (while traveling)? 💭
What’s been your most unforgettable (or regrettable) job application story? 💭
Thanks for following along, cheers from Cape Hillsborough and ’til next time in Airlie Beach!
Yours, Géraldine 👋🏻👩🏼🦱🌅
I’d love to hear from you! You can answer in English or German
🇦🇺 What has been your biggest internet struggle (while traveling)? 💭
What’s been your most unforgettable (or regrettable) job application story? 💭
🇨🇭 Was war dein grösstes Problem mit dem Internet (auf Reisen)? 💭
Was war deine unvergesslichste (oder bedauerlichste) Bewerbungsgeschichte? 💭
Dear Géraldine 👋🏼 Wow – your photos look exactly like how I imagine Australia 😍 (well, maybe with a working internet connection 🛜🤭). At our «Mökki» in Finland, we didn’t have proper internet for years – just a USB stick you had to plug into the laptop. And even then, the connection was terrible! 😅 I still remember the first time I was in love and could only check my messages a couple of times a week for almost five weeks – it felt like a mini end of the world. 💔 I’m really looking forward to reading how your job application story continues! 👩🏼💻 My most unforgettable one was probably when I was desperately looking for an internship. My exchange semester got cancelled due to Covid, so I sent off yet another application without much hope… got an interview the same day, and a few hours later, I had the job. 😂 I’ll never forget that moment – and the internship turned out to be one of my best experiences! ✨
G’Day Saara, thanks for sharing your story! I can totally imagine the heartbreak of waiting days to check messages when your heart’s all in 😢 Wow, that’s a fast application process and lucky timing! ✨ I can promise you, our job interview situation only got more chaotic from there. Without giving too much away… let’s just say we had another campervan issue, and in the end, I barely had time to prepare. It turned into a full-on emotional rollercoaster 👩🏼💻🎢 Stay tuned, it’s coming soon!