Airlie beach still... not much to do but sunbathe and read. I've been browsing through Anna's pictures and sighing, remembering when I was going somewhere new every other day amnd never even had the chance to get bored (unless it was with yet another ruin!)
Yesterday I tried to get a volunteer position on a boat, but the waiting list is huge, so that's out of the window. The sailing trips are about $340 for 3 days (on average) so I think I'll skip it and go snorkelling further north.
Tonight it's new years, and I'll probably be with a few of the guys from the Oz bus - sitting next to the sea watching the fireworks and drinking cheap wine.
On the 2nd I'm going further north, to magnetic island, where I can go walking, sea kayaking and snorkelling. I'll be there a few days before travelling up to Cairns on the 6th and finally flying to Auckland, New Zealand on the 12th. Really looking forward to being in New Zealand, and have already been registering online with job companies so that I can a job as soon I get there (so sick of spending lots of money without being able to earn any back!) So, that's the plan! New country, all very exciting.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
India Photos
Hey Everybody!
Just a quick note: my lovely travel buddy Anna (part of the goa crew) has uploaded her piccies from India. It's her camera I used when I chased the goan creep down the beach! Unfortunately there is none of the skew-if shots of his back as he pelted away from me (think Anna deleted these), but this is just as I whipped the camera out and he turns round. Idiot.
She also has some other lovely photos, you can look at them here. One of my favourites is this one of Julie and the little guy from the Hostel - in the Anjuna rave club, Paradiso... hilarious.
Just a quick note: my lovely travel buddy Anna (part of the goa crew) has uploaded her piccies from India. It's her camera I used when I chased the goan creep down the beach! Unfortunately there is none of the skew-if shots of his back as he pelted away from me (think Anna deleted these), but this is just as I whipped the camera out and he turns round. Idiot.
She also has some other lovely photos, you can look at them here. One of my favourites is this one of Julie and the little guy from the Hostel - in the Anjuna rave club, Paradiso... hilarious.
Day 129 - Airlie Beach
I'm in Airlie beach now, base for the Whitsunday sailing trips and great barrier reef heaven.
But, again I have been rubbish at updating the blog, so I'll fill in on what I've been up to (I would upload photos, but this stupid computer won're let me, so you'll just have to wait for those...).
I spend christmas day morning on the beach, frying in sunshine and watching people wonder round in their swimming costumes with christmas hats on. Very odd. At lunchtime we went back to the hostel and fired up the barby on the balcony. Everyone had burgers and salad, and I had veggie kebabs, and we drank wine and generally relaxed and got merry. After dinner we had mince pies and christmas cake and listened to the carols that were showing on the TV ("I'm dreaming of a white christmas", "Let it snow" etc. - doesn't quiiite work in the middle of summer). In the evening we watched some dvds: Love Actually and Charlie and the Chocolate factory (the first and best version obviously) and ate lots more food.
Eating on the balcony...
The xmas spread
Let them eat cake, lots of cake (so bloomin' bright outside!)
Boxing day I had to get up at the frankly rude time of 5.30 am to be picked up by the fraser island tour I had booked. After being collected I was dropped off at the dock and loaded onto the Kingfisher Fraser Island ferry with the couples and families on the tour, guides and the grim-faced resort staff that had to take the trip over every day. At the other end the tourees were loaded onto a 4WD coach by our guide Rob ("g'day mate"). It seems day tours are the trip of choice for couples and families (the backpackers generally opting for the self-drive 3 day trips) so I was the only party of 1 - but it was ok, I got to sit in the front next to Rob and actually see the trenches and hills before we hit them and all got thrown around in our seats.
Fraser Island is a huge all-sand island, left behind by one of the huge continents before everything shifted around. It's a world heritage site and at about 125km long by 18 wide it is the largest sand island in the world. It's really beautiful, covered by rainforests, lakes and huge sandblows. We visited the rainbow sands and McKenzie lake, driving along the beach or bouncing across the tracks through the rainforests. McKenzie lake is beautiful, the water is warm and the sand is so pure and perfect it actually polishes your jewellary! We rounded off the tour with walk through the rainforest around centre point. The trees grow out of sand and crstal rivers of overflowing groundwater run here and there. I was so absorbed in looking around that I didn't notice that a leech had decided to make friends with my foot until I got back to the coach. Luckily Tour Guide Rob was on hand to burn it off with a cigarette lighter, eeeew yuuuk. We got back at about 7pm and I cooked dinner, ate dinner, and collapsed into bed.
Driving along the beach
Rob the guide/driver - look, the sea!
The rainbow sands (not really rainbow, more various shades of orange/yellow)
The Maheno boat wreck
New sport, walking up Eli Creek and floating back down (funfunfun)
Lake McKenzie: perfect white sands (if it were not for the cloudy sky, the water would be azure blue too!)
The next day was the day of departure. The oz bus picked me up at 7.30 am and we headed off on the loooong drive to Airlie beach, so long, infact, that we were having an overnight stop at a cattle station in Kroombit to break the trip up. We got to Kroombit at 2pm and the fun commenced. First up: goat branding! I teamed up with Carolyn and Karen, Carolyn chasing, me picking up the goat and pinning it to the floor (tipping) and Karen branding. Unfortunately the goat was a particularly bouncy one (Carolyn claimed it sensed her fear) so took ages to catch, so we came last. Afterward we tried clay pidgeon shooting. I really sucked at that; not only did I fail to shoot a single one of the clay disks, I also nearly managed to hit the shed full of ammunition and gunpowder. Ooops - hehe. Then the potato gun came out (boys and their toys) and we shot a few limes at aforementioned shed. Oh, I forgot to add, the whole time this was going on it was raining (first time in months apparently - bloody typical if you ask me) so we were completely covered in mud and goat shit by the time we were loaded back on the jeep to be driven back to our cabins. After dinner (beef, and pasta for me - yaawn) we had a go on the mechanical bull. I came 2nd with a time of 11 seconds (the winner stayed on for 17) - it was hilarious to watch the boys expressions of agony as their crown jewels were crushed before they were flipped onto the mat. Then came the inevitable drinking games, that started with pass-the-parcel and rapidly degenerated from there.
The goat branding team avec war paint (i.e. mud)
After the clay pidgeon shooting
The mechanical bull: 1) be nice to me bull 2)this doesn't seem too bad
3)aaaaaarrrghhh!!!
Drinking games...
Happy drunk people...
The next day we had to leave early. Again I swore never to drink again, and spent most of the remaining 10 hr trip curled up on my seat, asleep. We stopped off on the way for a quick game of bowles (like you do) - not quite sure why, gues it was to break the interminable journey up.
Bowl, check, beer, check (yes - my vow never to drink again lasted a whole 4 hours)
We got to airlie beach about 7pm and promptly went out for dinner, which again degenarated into drinking games (after 1/2 an hour of a game involving tipping beer into a glass floating in a beer jug, and downing it when it sank, I groaned and left). I'm in the Airlie beach YHA over new years, and hope to go sailing on the 2nd of Jan. Carolyn and I are going to do the rounds today of the travel companies to try to find volunteer work on board one of the sailing boats (so we don't have to pay the extortionate prices). I can't wait to snorkel in the reef. Yay.
Yet more drinking games (highly intellectual stuff this)
But, again I have been rubbish at updating the blog, so I'll fill in on what I've been up to (I would upload photos, but this stupid computer won're let me, so you'll just have to wait for those...).
I spend christmas day morning on the beach, frying in sunshine and watching people wonder round in their swimming costumes with christmas hats on. Very odd. At lunchtime we went back to the hostel and fired up the barby on the balcony. Everyone had burgers and salad, and I had veggie kebabs, and we drank wine and generally relaxed and got merry. After dinner we had mince pies and christmas cake and listened to the carols that were showing on the TV ("I'm dreaming of a white christmas", "Let it snow" etc. - doesn't quiiite work in the middle of summer). In the evening we watched some dvds: Love Actually and Charlie and the Chocolate factory (the first and best version obviously) and ate lots more food.
Eating on the balcony...
The xmas spread
Let them eat cake, lots of cake (so bloomin' bright outside!)
Boxing day I had to get up at the frankly rude time of 5.30 am to be picked up by the fraser island tour I had booked. After being collected I was dropped off at the dock and loaded onto the Kingfisher Fraser Island ferry with the couples and families on the tour, guides and the grim-faced resort staff that had to take the trip over every day. At the other end the tourees were loaded onto a 4WD coach by our guide Rob ("g'day mate"). It seems day tours are the trip of choice for couples and families (the backpackers generally opting for the self-drive 3 day trips) so I was the only party of 1 - but it was ok, I got to sit in the front next to Rob and actually see the trenches and hills before we hit them and all got thrown around in our seats.
Fraser Island is a huge all-sand island, left behind by one of the huge continents before everything shifted around. It's a world heritage site and at about 125km long by 18 wide it is the largest sand island in the world. It's really beautiful, covered by rainforests, lakes and huge sandblows. We visited the rainbow sands and McKenzie lake, driving along the beach or bouncing across the tracks through the rainforests. McKenzie lake is beautiful, the water is warm and the sand is so pure and perfect it actually polishes your jewellary! We rounded off the tour with walk through the rainforest around centre point. The trees grow out of sand and crstal rivers of overflowing groundwater run here and there. I was so absorbed in looking around that I didn't notice that a leech had decided to make friends with my foot until I got back to the coach. Luckily Tour Guide Rob was on hand to burn it off with a cigarette lighter, eeeew yuuuk. We got back at about 7pm and I cooked dinner, ate dinner, and collapsed into bed.
Driving along the beach
Rob the guide/driver - look, the sea!
The rainbow sands (not really rainbow, more various shades of orange/yellow)
The Maheno boat wreck
New sport, walking up Eli Creek and floating back down (funfunfun)
Lake McKenzie: perfect white sands (if it were not for the cloudy sky, the water would be azure blue too!)
The next day was the day of departure. The oz bus picked me up at 7.30 am and we headed off on the loooong drive to Airlie beach, so long, infact, that we were having an overnight stop at a cattle station in Kroombit to break the trip up. We got to Kroombit at 2pm and the fun commenced. First up: goat branding! I teamed up with Carolyn and Karen, Carolyn chasing, me picking up the goat and pinning it to the floor (tipping) and Karen branding. Unfortunately the goat was a particularly bouncy one (Carolyn claimed it sensed her fear) so took ages to catch, so we came last. Afterward we tried clay pidgeon shooting. I really sucked at that; not only did I fail to shoot a single one of the clay disks, I also nearly managed to hit the shed full of ammunition and gunpowder. Ooops - hehe. Then the potato gun came out (boys and their toys) and we shot a few limes at aforementioned shed. Oh, I forgot to add, the whole time this was going on it was raining (first time in months apparently - bloody typical if you ask me) so we were completely covered in mud and goat shit by the time we were loaded back on the jeep to be driven back to our cabins. After dinner (beef, and pasta for me - yaawn) we had a go on the mechanical bull. I came 2nd with a time of 11 seconds (the winner stayed on for 17) - it was hilarious to watch the boys expressions of agony as their crown jewels were crushed before they were flipped onto the mat. Then came the inevitable drinking games, that started with pass-the-parcel and rapidly degenerated from there.
The goat branding team avec war paint (i.e. mud)
After the clay pidgeon shooting
The mechanical bull: 1) be nice to me bull 2)this doesn't seem too bad
3)aaaaaarrrghhh!!!
Drinking games...
Happy drunk people...
The next day we had to leave early. Again I swore never to drink again, and spent most of the remaining 10 hr trip curled up on my seat, asleep. We stopped off on the way for a quick game of bowles (like you do) - not quite sure why, gues it was to break the interminable journey up.
Bowl, check, beer, check (yes - my vow never to drink again lasted a whole 4 hours)
We got to airlie beach about 7pm and promptly went out for dinner, which again degenarated into drinking games (after 1/2 an hour of a game involving tipping beer into a glass floating in a beer jug, and downing it when it sank, I groaned and left). I'm in the Airlie beach YHA over new years, and hope to go sailing on the 2nd of Jan. Carolyn and I are going to do the rounds today of the travel companies to try to find volunteer work on board one of the sailing boats (so we don't have to pay the extortionate prices). I can't wait to snorkel in the reef. Yay.
Yet more drinking games (highly intellectual stuff this)
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Day 124 - Hervey Bay
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYBODY!
Am now in Hervey Bay, and it's not that bad after all!
I had a bit of a disaster this morning when my bus didn't turn up, and when I rang Oz Experience I was told that despite the fact that I both booked and confirmed the bus for the 24th, there was no bus running. Let's just say I panicked a bit. I rang Oz Exp and shouted, so they told me to ring Greyhound and book a bus that they would refund the cost (from the tired, accepting tone of voice of the operator I guess this happens on a fairly regular basis). So I called Greyhound. Office closed. So I went online and booked a ticket on the first bus outa Bris. Then I looked at the bus and realised that it was already 7.35 and my bus was leaving from the Coach terminal in 10 minutes. I went "Aaaargh", picked up my bags and ran out the hostel, waving wildly at the taxis whizzing by. Thankfully one stopped, and when I told the guy my bus was leaving at quarter to, he raced over to the coach station and dropped me off as close as he could. Then I picked up my bags (why do I have to carry so many around: backpack, day pack, yoga mat and huge bag of food/crockery? It makes last minute panics so painful) and ran to the bus. The doors were just closing so I sort of just went splat against the door and desperately hammered on the glass. Drivers here aren't like those in England, and like to leave on the dot, so I got much grumbling and muttering as the guy opened the luggage compartment and assigned me a seat ("mumble, mumble, knew I shouldn't have got out of bed this morning, mumble". Anyway, the trip went quickly and I was deposited, along with my pile of bags, safely at Hervey Bay bus stop at about 2pm.
The owner of my hostel, the Friendly, picked me up from the stop. The hostel is really nice - more like an apartment with a proper bed (not bunk), kitchen and living room with widescreen TV and DVD player! I managed to find Laura, who is also staying here, and also met a couple of other girls staying in the apartment above mine. Tomorrow we are going to have a BBQ on the balcony (have bought tuna steak and ingredients for vegetable kebabs - yum, oh and red wine) and then we will go to the looooveelly loong beach to sunbathe all day in the lovely weather. Picture of the beach below. Will take more piccies tomorrow of BBQ in sunshine, and us sitting on the beach in bikinis and santa hats to induce complete jealousy in those of you stuck in soggy England. Tee hee.
Am now in Hervey Bay, and it's not that bad after all!
I had a bit of a disaster this morning when my bus didn't turn up, and when I rang Oz Experience I was told that despite the fact that I both booked and confirmed the bus for the 24th, there was no bus running. Let's just say I panicked a bit. I rang Oz Exp and shouted, so they told me to ring Greyhound and book a bus that they would refund the cost (from the tired, accepting tone of voice of the operator I guess this happens on a fairly regular basis). So I called Greyhound. Office closed. So I went online and booked a ticket on the first bus outa Bris. Then I looked at the bus and realised that it was already 7.35 and my bus was leaving from the Coach terminal in 10 minutes. I went "Aaaargh", picked up my bags and ran out the hostel, waving wildly at the taxis whizzing by. Thankfully one stopped, and when I told the guy my bus was leaving at quarter to, he raced over to the coach station and dropped me off as close as he could. Then I picked up my bags (why do I have to carry so many around: backpack, day pack, yoga mat and huge bag of food/crockery? It makes last minute panics so painful) and ran to the bus. The doors were just closing so I sort of just went splat against the door and desperately hammered on the glass. Drivers here aren't like those in England, and like to leave on the dot, so I got much grumbling and muttering as the guy opened the luggage compartment and assigned me a seat ("mumble, mumble, knew I shouldn't have got out of bed this morning, mumble". Anyway, the trip went quickly and I was deposited, along with my pile of bags, safely at Hervey Bay bus stop at about 2pm.
The owner of my hostel, the Friendly, picked me up from the stop. The hostel is really nice - more like an apartment with a proper bed (not bunk), kitchen and living room with widescreen TV and DVD player! I managed to find Laura, who is also staying here, and also met a couple of other girls staying in the apartment above mine. Tomorrow we are going to have a BBQ on the balcony (have bought tuna steak and ingredients for vegetable kebabs - yum, oh and red wine) and then we will go to the looooveelly loong beach to sunbathe all day in the lovely weather. Picture of the beach below. Will take more piccies tomorrow of BBQ in sunshine, and us sitting on the beach in bikinis and santa hats to induce complete jealousy in those of you stuck in soggy England. Tee hee.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Day 121 - Brisbane
Today I went to the zoo! Australia zoo, to be precise - home of the late and great Steve Urwin. I went with Laura, and we had to get up at a rude 7am and catch a 1 hr train and then a bus to get there, and then pay 47 bucks to get in, but it was worth it. (Plus my tan got topped up nicely!)
Here are the pictures:
Taz (tazmanian devil)
Sleeping Dingo
Wombat (soo cuute)
What! No food?
Even cuter than the wombat... sleeping koala
Manically depressed kangaroo
Lazy Kangaroo
Lazy elephant (not dead, just sleeping)
Steve Urwin wannabe annoys a 17 ft croc
Kookoburra (urm, don't know how to spell it!)
Huuuuge tortoise (you can't really tell from the piccy, but this beast comes up to my knee)
The story of the late Harriet - interesting stuff!
I've also added some pictures of me in wetsuits/drunk (tho not at the same time thankfully) to the Day 115 post.
Here are the pictures:
Taz (tazmanian devil)
Sleeping Dingo
Wombat (soo cuute)
What! No food?
Even cuter than the wombat... sleeping koala
Manically depressed kangaroo
Lazy Kangaroo
Lazy elephant (not dead, just sleeping)
Steve Urwin wannabe annoys a 17 ft croc
Kookoburra (urm, don't know how to spell it!)
Huuuuge tortoise (you can't really tell from the piccy, but this beast comes up to my knee)
The story of the late Harriet - interesting stuff!
I've also added some pictures of me in wetsuits/drunk (tho not at the same time thankfully) to the Day 115 post.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Day 120 - Brisbane
Today I got up too late to go to the zoo, so I went for a wander around the city instead. I found the library and did some reading, and wondered into a few shops (resisting the temptation to purchase, may I add). Very uninteresting. I've got a few more days here in Brisbane, then I'm making my way north to Hervey Bay for xmas in the heat - it's going to be soooo wieeerrrd.
Oh... and I've been doing some boredom-browsing and discovered that for all of you who have expressed an interest in zorbing, you can do it in the uk too!
I quote:
Oh... and I've been doing some boredom-browsing and discovered that for all of you who have expressed an interest in zorbing, you can do it in the uk too!
I quote:
- Hesitant? Just sit and slide all the way down. (yeah - this was me, hard to run when there's three of you in the ball!)
- Hero? Take on the Hydro-Zorb challenge: Run all the way inside the wet zorb from the top of the hill to the bottom.
- Hungover? Ask for really cold water and you are guaranteed to come out cured.
- Have friend? Try two or more inside the Hydro-zorb together - a great bonding experience!
Now you really have no excuse not to do it! (Well, you don't if you are anywhere near Dorset)
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Day 119 - Brisbane
I left Byron bay yesterday noon, after waving goodbye to the 7 guys I share the apartment with (bye smelly boys, bye dirty dishes and piles of empty beer cans and pizza boxes in the kitchen every morning) and swapping my books at the book exchange.
Marc and Helena were also leaving on the same day. Fortunately most people were staying in Byron for xmas, so we had the mini bus to ourselves. It was a 1 hr drive to surfers paradise, where we were picking up some more people, and because we were running late, we stopped off at a beach on the way.
It was a lovely beach, and the white sand was so fine that it squeaked as we walked over it, and I was shaking the stuff out of my clothes for hours afterward.
Naff beach picture
After we picked up the lot form surfers paradise (4 brits, 5 canadians), we had a suprise - we were going zorbing! Zorbing is a crazy thing invented by the Kiwis (no surprises there) that involves climbing in a huge inflated ball with water in it, and rolling down a hill. Marc, Laura and I volunteered to go first...
Rolling down the hill
Climbing out
It was so much fun, 6 seconds of the ball bouncing/rolling down the hill and us 3 sliding around inside and laughing our socks off. After it finished we decided to be 'speed bumps' i.e. lie in the path of the oncoming ball. That was also funny, like getting whacked on the back by a huge beach ball (which is, I suppose, essentially what was happening)
The Zorb ball team photo
We arrived in Brisbane at about 6. Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, and the 2nd largest city, in terms of area, in the world. It sucks a bit if you don't have a car, but there is still quite a lot to do: I want to go to the koala sanctuary, the zoo and the dolphin resort. I can't wait to hug a Koala - cuuuute! But today I'm going to be all active and go to the gym - need to work off the yoghurt and pancakes I ate for brekkie.
Marc and Helena were also leaving on the same day. Fortunately most people were staying in Byron for xmas, so we had the mini bus to ourselves. It was a 1 hr drive to surfers paradise, where we were picking up some more people, and because we were running late, we stopped off at a beach on the way.
It was a lovely beach, and the white sand was so fine that it squeaked as we walked over it, and I was shaking the stuff out of my clothes for hours afterward.
Naff beach picture
After we picked up the lot form surfers paradise (4 brits, 5 canadians), we had a suprise - we were going zorbing! Zorbing is a crazy thing invented by the Kiwis (no surprises there) that involves climbing in a huge inflated ball with water in it, and rolling down a hill. Marc, Laura and I volunteered to go first...
Rolling down the hill
Climbing out
It was so much fun, 6 seconds of the ball bouncing/rolling down the hill and us 3 sliding around inside and laughing our socks off. After it finished we decided to be 'speed bumps' i.e. lie in the path of the oncoming ball. That was also funny, like getting whacked on the back by a huge beach ball (which is, I suppose, essentially what was happening)
The Zorb ball team photo
We arrived in Brisbane at about 6. Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, and the 2nd largest city, in terms of area, in the world. It sucks a bit if you don't have a car, but there is still quite a lot to do: I want to go to the koala sanctuary, the zoo and the dolphin resort. I can't wait to hug a Koala - cuuuute! But today I'm going to be all active and go to the gym - need to work off the yoghurt and pancakes I ate for brekkie.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Day 117 - Byron Bay
I've booked my ride out of here, I'm leaving tomorrow on the 2 o'clock bus. Quite glad, it's nice here, but already getting a bit boring; the options being a)beach b)tv or c)shopping. Unfortunately a)it's currently raining b)is boring and c)I'm broke. So I'm off-ty, going to Brisbane.
Yesterday I did some cycling midday, but mostly hid from the freakish downpouring of rain. In the evening I met a load more oz experience guys and spent couple of hours playing hilarious, complex drinking games and guzzling hideous, cheap aussie wine before crossing the road to visit cheeky monkeys. Consequently, today I have spent half the day recovering from a hangover (they get worse with old age) whilst occasionally wincing when I have a flashback of some drunken act and vowing never to drink again.
I've sorted out my xmas plans; I'll be in Hervey bay for xmas. I've booked a luxary day trip to Fraser Island, Oz's giant sand pit, for xmas eve. Then, on the 27th, I head north to Airlie beach, for some sailing round the Whitsunday islands, and maybe some snorkelling/scuba diving in the great barrier reef.
Yesterday I did some cycling midday, but mostly hid from the freakish downpouring of rain. In the evening I met a load more oz experience guys and spent couple of hours playing hilarious, complex drinking games and guzzling hideous, cheap aussie wine before crossing the road to visit cheeky monkeys. Consequently, today I have spent half the day recovering from a hangover (they get worse with old age) whilst occasionally wincing when I have a flashback of some drunken act and vowing never to drink again.
I've sorted out my xmas plans; I'll be in Hervey bay for xmas. I've booked a luxary day trip to Fraser Island, Oz's giant sand pit, for xmas eve. Then, on the 27th, I head north to Airlie beach, for some sailing round the Whitsunday islands, and maybe some snorkelling/scuba diving in the great barrier reef.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Day 115 - Byron Bay
I've been busy. Haven't had access to the internet for a week, and I've done so much... so sorry for the huuuge post!
On Sunday I did some more exploring, then in the evening went to a random house party with Helen, a girl from my dorm. The house party was near Bondi beach, and we met some other travellers and generally got very merry and made lots of friends and lots of noise.
On Monday, my last day in Sydney, we went to Bondi beach and spent the day drinking beer and admiring the tanned locals behind our sunglasses. Helen had finally managed to find an apartment for christmas, and offered me floor space, but I'd already booked a seat on the oz experience bus the following day for the journey north (good job - or I'd have been tempted to stay for new years!)
Getting up on tuesday morning at 5.30 wasn't fun, but the march to the Oz Experience office woke me up (was running late). Once there I filled up with coffee and met the other peopple who I'd be sharing the journey with on the next few days. Kiran, 26, from London and Marc, 30 also from London, were my fellow brits. There was also a bunch of Canadians, some French speaking, all v. friendly. Some Germans and some Danish guys made the numbers up to 18. Finally we had our driver/guide in the form of Stringer, a crazy ozzie bloke with a naff lline in jokes. We all had to get up and introduce ourselves, then we spent the rest of the 6 hour journey listening to music, playing card games and chatting away, getting to know each other.
Our first stop was Barrington Tops, and Barriington River Backpackers hostel. This place was literally the middle of nowhere, with no phone, no internet and no mobile reception. The place was run by a bloke called Dave - typical ozzie guy; sarky, tubby and very hairy. The place itself was great, the accom was swish and the main area, down the hill by the river, was an immitation of the old mining shacks that were around during the Barrington gold rush sometime way back. We scoffed the all-you-can-eat pizza and guzzled our beer whilst we decided what 'extreme sports' to participate in. We pretty much all decided to give the night kayaking a go. Night kayaking is a 6k kayak over grade 1 (easy) and grade 3 (pretty hard) rapids and rocks in the pitch black with nothing but a bloody bike light strapped to our forheads. It was fuuuuuuun. The hostel website, www.barringtonriverbackpackers.com, said it would put piccies up, but they aren't there yet! Anyway, I made it to the end without falling out, but it was crazy, so I think the photos will be somewhat amusing (if they ever arrive!). After the kayak we all climbed into the roasting hot tub to sooth our cold, aching muscles. Heaven! The hostel was advertising for people to stay and help out for a few days in return for free accommodation - I was v. tempted, I had had such a great time, but I was looking forward to the next location... Surf Camp!
On Wednesday morning we left early to make the long journey to surf camp. Journeys on the bus, despite being surrounded by loads of people to chat to, where uncomfortably hot and cramped, and I waaas so glad to reaach the camp at 2.30. As soon an we arrived, a tanned, hyper guy in a wetsuit jumped on the bus and started yelling at us in an excited manner.
"Yeeeaaah, dudes and dudettes, how's it going? Are you excited to be here? We are going to learn to surf. Yeah! We are going to have fuun and look cool. Aaallriiight"
Oh god, I am too tired for this.
We dumped our stuff in our cabins, changed into our swim stuff and congregated in the main area for wet suit fitting. Half an hour later we had all hauled ourselves into our wetsuits and were handed boards to carry to the beach. We got half an hour of very enthusiastic tuition on the sand, then basically told to go practice in the sea. For hours. Well, I will say this for their technique; by the end I had had a good workout and managed to catch many waves and stand up on the board (however briefly)! That evening we all had free BBQ and much alcohol (again... my Indian weight loss is so going to be cancelled out with all this boozing!). I was exhausted and crawled into bed sometime before the wheelbarrow beach races (what a shame I missed that, not!)
The next day was an early one (again) and all us girls wussed out of our morning serfing session, preferring to laze over breakfast and tan on the beach. Below is pic of us all surfing (that's us, the little black dots) and one of me and Emily (from Canada) on the beach (note my brown arms and white legs.. niiice).
After we had finished sun bathing/surfing we went baack and packed up our stuff (again, v. tempted to stay) and got back onto the sweltering bus, destination Byron Bay - otherwise known as heaven on earth, the place where travellers go and never leave.
So that's where I am now! I'm staying at Holiday Village: simply the best place to be with free bike, surf board and video hire. I'm in an apartment with ensuite showeroom and its own chillout room (with TV) and kitchen. Last night we went to cheeky monkeys (cheesy club over the road) to support the two German girls, Sandra and Alex, who had entered the wet t-shirt competition (yes, I know) in a desperate bid to win the $300 prize mooney so that they could stay in Byron over christmas. Unfortunately they didn't win, mainly because they refused to sink to the depths of removing their t-shirts altogether (many other contestants didn't have such ??) but we still had lots of fun and danced like crazy things. Below are some pictures from the night, I forgot to carry on taking them after the firsst half hour, but at least I took a few!
The gang (pre going out drinks)
Me and Joe (from Canada)
The crazy German girls, releaved the ordeal is over ... Em and Hamish, grooving on the dancefloor
The rapids (ok - so this bit isn't so impressive)
Me and Kiran, wine in hand
Joe attempts to play the guitar
Sexy wetsuits - again! Dressed for surfing
And more drinking (the hair - sea water made it go mad - ok?)
Huuge cricket, Em tried not to scream
Kiran makes a new friend
We lost the washing up game, and had to wash up, in fancy dress! Not good. (Josh hogs the picture, as usual)
On Sunday I did some more exploring, then in the evening went to a random house party with Helen, a girl from my dorm. The house party was near Bondi beach, and we met some other travellers and generally got very merry and made lots of friends and lots of noise.
On Monday, my last day in Sydney, we went to Bondi beach and spent the day drinking beer and admiring the tanned locals behind our sunglasses. Helen had finally managed to find an apartment for christmas, and offered me floor space, but I'd already booked a seat on the oz experience bus the following day for the journey north (good job - or I'd have been tempted to stay for new years!)
Getting up on tuesday morning at 5.30 wasn't fun, but the march to the Oz Experience office woke me up (was running late). Once there I filled up with coffee and met the other peopple who I'd be sharing the journey with on the next few days. Kiran, 26, from London and Marc, 30 also from London, were my fellow brits. There was also a bunch of Canadians, some French speaking, all v. friendly. Some Germans and some Danish guys made the numbers up to 18. Finally we had our driver/guide in the form of Stringer, a crazy ozzie bloke with a naff lline in jokes. We all had to get up and introduce ourselves, then we spent the rest of the 6 hour journey listening to music, playing card games and chatting away, getting to know each other.
Our first stop was Barrington Tops, and Barriington River Backpackers hostel. This place was literally the middle of nowhere, with no phone, no internet and no mobile reception. The place was run by a bloke called Dave - typical ozzie guy; sarky, tubby and very hairy. The place itself was great, the accom was swish and the main area, down the hill by the river, was an immitation of the old mining shacks that were around during the Barrington gold rush sometime way back. We scoffed the all-you-can-eat pizza and guzzled our beer whilst we decided what 'extreme sports' to participate in. We pretty much all decided to give the night kayaking a go. Night kayaking is a 6k kayak over grade 1 (easy) and grade 3 (pretty hard) rapids and rocks in the pitch black with nothing but a bloody bike light strapped to our forheads. It was fuuuuuuun. The hostel website, www.barringtonriverbackpackers.com, said it would put piccies up, but they aren't there yet! Anyway, I made it to the end without falling out, but it was crazy, so I think the photos will be somewhat amusing (if they ever arrive!). After the kayak we all climbed into the roasting hot tub to sooth our cold, aching muscles. Heaven! The hostel was advertising for people to stay and help out for a few days in return for free accommodation - I was v. tempted, I had had such a great time, but I was looking forward to the next location... Surf Camp!
On Wednesday morning we left early to make the long journey to surf camp. Journeys on the bus, despite being surrounded by loads of people to chat to, where uncomfortably hot and cramped, and I waaas so glad to reaach the camp at 2.30. As soon an we arrived, a tanned, hyper guy in a wetsuit jumped on the bus and started yelling at us in an excited manner.
"Yeeeaaah, dudes and dudettes, how's it going? Are you excited to be here? We are going to learn to surf. Yeah! We are going to have fuun and look cool. Aaallriiight"
Oh god, I am too tired for this.
We dumped our stuff in our cabins, changed into our swim stuff and congregated in the main area for wet suit fitting. Half an hour later we had all hauled ourselves into our wetsuits and were handed boards to carry to the beach. We got half an hour of very enthusiastic tuition on the sand, then basically told to go practice in the sea. For hours. Well, I will say this for their technique; by the end I had had a good workout and managed to catch many waves and stand up on the board (however briefly)! That evening we all had free BBQ and much alcohol (again... my Indian weight loss is so going to be cancelled out with all this boozing!). I was exhausted and crawled into bed sometime before the wheelbarrow beach races (what a shame I missed that, not!)
The next day was an early one (again) and all us girls wussed out of our morning serfing session, preferring to laze over breakfast and tan on the beach. Below is pic of us all surfing (that's us, the little black dots) and one of me and Emily (from Canada) on the beach (note my brown arms and white legs.. niiice).
After we had finished sun bathing/surfing we went baack and packed up our stuff (again, v. tempted to stay) and got back onto the sweltering bus, destination Byron Bay - otherwise known as heaven on earth, the place where travellers go and never leave.
So that's where I am now! I'm staying at Holiday Village: simply the best place to be with free bike, surf board and video hire. I'm in an apartment with ensuite showeroom and its own chillout room (with TV) and kitchen. Last night we went to cheeky monkeys (cheesy club over the road) to support the two German girls, Sandra and Alex, who had entered the wet t-shirt competition (yes, I know) in a desperate bid to win the $300 prize mooney so that they could stay in Byron over christmas. Unfortunately they didn't win, mainly because they refused to sink to the depths of removing their t-shirts altogether (many other contestants didn't have such ??) but we still had lots of fun and danced like crazy things. Below are some pictures from the night, I forgot to carry on taking them after the firsst half hour, but at least I took a few!
The gang (pre going out drinks)
Me and Joe (from Canada)
The crazy German girls, releaved the ordeal is over ... Em and Hamish, grooving on the dancefloor
Today I'm going to do the laundry then hit the beach. I went yesterday (to the beach that is, not the laundry) and it is just perfect; a long strip of soft, white sand. Had to watch out for stingers in the water though: at one point a few little blue ones appeared and I pegged it out of the sea, paranoid that I would get stung, much to everyone's amusement!
Added photos:
The group dressed in extreme Kayaking gear - niiice
The rapids (ok - so this bit isn't so impressive)
Me and Kiran, wine in hand Joe attempts to play the guitar Sexy wetsuits - again! Dressed for surfingAnd more drinking (the hair - sea water made it go mad - ok?) Huuge cricket, Em tried not to scream Kiran makes a new friend We lost the washing up game, and had to wash up, in fancy dress! Not good. (Josh hogs the picture, as usual)
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