So Byron Bay was overated. But it was also good with free lessons in fire twirling, didgeredoo playing and bush tucker, gorgeous rolling waves in the bay and lovely open hostel grounds which made a welcome change from the high rises of Surfers Paradise.
We spent a night out in the woods at a free rave, which is like a hippie subculture all of its own with people letting themselves go totally to the music. It took us so long to get there and actually find it I wasn't really in the mood for it by the time we finally arrived, but it was interesting to be there as it's something I hadn't seen since home. At points I found myself looking at these people and wondered where the pleasure was in dancing in the cold on a random area of land and at other times the music caught up with me and I understood why. As I fluctuated between these feelings I more often than not wondered why I wasn't tucked up in a nice warm bed!
From Byron we travelled south to Port Macquarie and saw all of the inside of the hostel for one night, which I actually rather liked as it was quiet and small, rather than the 200 odd people at the hostel in Byron Bay. So onto Sydney - we were so impressed that we had finally made it and so had our car which was liable to breakdown at a moments notice! I'd forgotten the hectic driving and sheer volume of people and cars in cities and it was back to aggressive London driving in order to get anywhere. So our last few days in the Aussie adventure were spent in Manly with the bonus of having to get a ferry to the city which meant seeing some great views of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. We've also discovered that all decent lounge bars are in Sydney and no where else...! We also discovered that they're frightfully expensive.
I think that Africa is where my heart still lies as a place for travelling, but I've learnt a lot while travelling Australia; the various roadtrips and the families visiting are easily the highlights of our time here. So here I sign off from Australia and fly out to new and distant shores wondering as ever what the next stop will hold.
29 May 2005
18 May 2005
Roadtrippin' the Well Beaten Tourist Track
So we made it to Surfer's Paradise - ironic really since it's not even close to being one of the best surfing areas in Australia, but there you go. The area started developing in the 1960s when some dude started meter maids in gold lame bikinis - apparently they still exist, but I have yet to have the pleasure of meeting one.
There is a gorgeous long beach with hundreds of sky rise hotels/apartments towering over it - it you like large phallic buildings all trying to out-do each other and people everywhere then this is your place. Sadly it's not mine, but it is kinda fascinating in it's own unique way. The hostel is full of backpackers which makes for a hectic but generally friendly place, but much of the entertainment revolves around a night on the lash - fine a couple of times but really rather repetitive otherwise.
So now we know that much of our route down to Sydney is going to be along the well beaten track of a million other tourists - not much of a challenge, unless you count trying to get a decent night's sleep in a dorm but ho hum. We continue next to the hippie mecca that is Byron Bay - most people we've chatted to either love it or hate it, so I guess we'll find out soon enough.
There is a gorgeous long beach with hundreds of sky rise hotels/apartments towering over it - it you like large phallic buildings all trying to out-do each other and people everywhere then this is your place. Sadly it's not mine, but it is kinda fascinating in it's own unique way. The hostel is full of backpackers which makes for a hectic but generally friendly place, but much of the entertainment revolves around a night on the lash - fine a couple of times but really rather repetitive otherwise.
So now we know that much of our route down to Sydney is going to be along the well beaten track of a million other tourists - not much of a challenge, unless you count trying to get a decent night's sleep in a dorm but ho hum. We continue next to the hippie mecca that is Byron Bay - most people we've chatted to either love it or hate it, so I guess we'll find out soon enough.
10 May 2005
Calamity Roadtrip
At the start of our journey we blew a tyre, a fuel line and had to blow into a breath test as we were travelling on a bank holiday weekend where the police presence is all around! So the roadtrip started off on a rather challenging, if slightly mechanical note.
First stop, Mission Beach for a rather unforgettable night and an insomniac dorm buddy which drove me completely nutty resulting in about three hours sleep and a rather grumpy morning (surprisingly enough). Off in the morning to Ayr which seems to have all of nought going for it apart from being a good base for fruit picking workers. The hostel was in a state of disarray as they were in the middle of doing a complete refurbishment on the place, but it meant a private room for only $10 - total bargain! The only other benefit of Ayr was so that the lads (we have acquired a Dutch travel buddy to add to the two of us and the teddy) could scuba dive the Yongalla Wreck which has been there so long it's a whole reef eco system all in its own right - apparently lovely, but I didn't partake.
Eungella National Park was our next stop up a crazy road into the mountains with breath taking views of the valley below. Sadly the car didn't think it was all that great and we reckon we've lost a cyclinder in the engine due to the strain going up hill - ho hum. The chalet we stayed in was full of local folk or oldies on holiday and had the feel of a Bristish B&B circa 1950. Nevertheless the views from the lawn were absolutely outstanding with mountains to the left and right and a patchwork valley strewn below. Our second night was spent with the locals in the newly advertised Pub Trivia Night - our team name "Norfolk 'n Chance" - say it really quickly in a northern English accent and you get the drift! Even so, we didn't come last despite the Australian emphasis on a lot of the questions so we were happy with that - we even managed to win a prize for something-or-other. It was an amusing look at Australian life out of town if nothing else.
After making it back down the mountains in one piece we headed to Yeppoon to discover the backpackers there to be a building site so off we trotted a little further down the coast to a tiny town called Emu Park - although no emus to be seen. The backpackers was also tiny - it slept 13 poeple when full in an old timber house very typical of architecture in Queensland. The manager there was short on words but big on being helpful and sorted out our trip to Great Keppel Island; a half hour ferry ride away and close to the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef. We stayed in a holiday village (words that I shudder to hear) but it actually turned out to be rather lovely. Just seconds from the beach with sand underfoot, a tropical garden, hammocks and generator power turned off at 11pm we stayed a few nights just chilling out and chatting shite as it should be. One of the days on the island was spent snorkelling just off the shore line which was home to a surprisingly large amount of hard and soft coral. It was the first time we'd been able to go in the water without stinger suits to stop the jelly nasties killing us off so that in itself was exciting, plus we saw all manner of marine life including a harmless shark that likes living on the sea bed (can't remember it's name but may have begun with a w!) and a sting ray. The benefit of going snorkelling with well qualified scuba divers is that they tend to know the names of obscure marine life - sadly most of the names didn't really sink in as I was too busy asking if they were really sure the shark was harmless.
Our next stop involved more fuel line fixing on the way (much joy), but we finally made it to Agnes Waters / Town of 1770 (so named as some dude (Captain Cook probably) arrived on the shoreline that year). The hostel seemed pretty new and was really nicely set out with a huge, comfy lounge, a fire pit outside, hammocks and a large kitchen with everything in it apart from a tin opener that worked. The atmosphere was pretty chilled with much didgeredoo and guitar playing and more chatting of shite and we also had the privilege (for probably the last time) of a dorm with nice people in it that also respected other peoples right to a decent night's sleep! There wasn't all that much to do on our measily budget but we managed a free tour of the local area in 4WD trucks - we were late (courtesy, as ever, of me) and the trucks were full so we were jammy enough to get our own 4WD to drive ourselves, which as you can imagine was mayhem but good fun!
Next the dubious pleasures of Surfer's Paradise...
First stop, Mission Beach for a rather unforgettable night and an insomniac dorm buddy which drove me completely nutty resulting in about three hours sleep and a rather grumpy morning (surprisingly enough). Off in the morning to Ayr which seems to have all of nought going for it apart from being a good base for fruit picking workers. The hostel was in a state of disarray as they were in the middle of doing a complete refurbishment on the place, but it meant a private room for only $10 - total bargain! The only other benefit of Ayr was so that the lads (we have acquired a Dutch travel buddy to add to the two of us and the teddy) could scuba dive the Yongalla Wreck which has been there so long it's a whole reef eco system all in its own right - apparently lovely, but I didn't partake.
Eungella National Park was our next stop up a crazy road into the mountains with breath taking views of the valley below. Sadly the car didn't think it was all that great and we reckon we've lost a cyclinder in the engine due to the strain going up hill - ho hum. The chalet we stayed in was full of local folk or oldies on holiday and had the feel of a Bristish B&B circa 1950. Nevertheless the views from the lawn were absolutely outstanding with mountains to the left and right and a patchwork valley strewn below. Our second night was spent with the locals in the newly advertised Pub Trivia Night - our team name "Norfolk 'n Chance" - say it really quickly in a northern English accent and you get the drift! Even so, we didn't come last despite the Australian emphasis on a lot of the questions so we were happy with that - we even managed to win a prize for something-or-other. It was an amusing look at Australian life out of town if nothing else.
After making it back down the mountains in one piece we headed to Yeppoon to discover the backpackers there to be a building site so off we trotted a little further down the coast to a tiny town called Emu Park - although no emus to be seen. The backpackers was also tiny - it slept 13 poeple when full in an old timber house very typical of architecture in Queensland. The manager there was short on words but big on being helpful and sorted out our trip to Great Keppel Island; a half hour ferry ride away and close to the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef. We stayed in a holiday village (words that I shudder to hear) but it actually turned out to be rather lovely. Just seconds from the beach with sand underfoot, a tropical garden, hammocks and generator power turned off at 11pm we stayed a few nights just chilling out and chatting shite as it should be. One of the days on the island was spent snorkelling just off the shore line which was home to a surprisingly large amount of hard and soft coral. It was the first time we'd been able to go in the water without stinger suits to stop the jelly nasties killing us off so that in itself was exciting, plus we saw all manner of marine life including a harmless shark that likes living on the sea bed (can't remember it's name but may have begun with a w!) and a sting ray. The benefit of going snorkelling with well qualified scuba divers is that they tend to know the names of obscure marine life - sadly most of the names didn't really sink in as I was too busy asking if they were really sure the shark was harmless.
Our next stop involved more fuel line fixing on the way (much joy), but we finally made it to Agnes Waters / Town of 1770 (so named as some dude (Captain Cook probably) arrived on the shoreline that year). The hostel seemed pretty new and was really nicely set out with a huge, comfy lounge, a fire pit outside, hammocks and a large kitchen with everything in it apart from a tin opener that worked. The atmosphere was pretty chilled with much didgeredoo and guitar playing and more chatting of shite and we also had the privilege (for probably the last time) of a dorm with nice people in it that also respected other peoples right to a decent night's sleep! There wasn't all that much to do on our measily budget but we managed a free tour of the local area in 4WD trucks - we were late (courtesy, as ever, of me) and the trucks were full so we were jammy enough to get our own 4WD to drive ourselves, which as you can imagine was mayhem but good fun!
Next the dubious pleasures of Surfer's Paradise...
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