It took a while to compose the Fraser Island post, that was actually all over a week ago!
So, I was dropped back in Noosa and recovered my car, which was slowly being buried by bits of the tree I left it under. That evening I drove over to a place called Tin Can Bay. The main attraction of Tin Can Bay is that every morning at about 7am two dolphins swim in and you can go in the water and feed them for free! I got there at night and slept near the place they were supposed to come. Woke up at about 7am and by the time I got down there the dolphins had already arrived. There were only 2 people there so I got in the water and got to stroke one of the dolphins! At 8am we could feed it some fish - you could drop the fish right into its mouth!
Later that day I went to rainbow beach, named because of its coloured sands. They were much the same as the coloured sands on Fraser Island but I viewed them from a massive sandblow that also overlooked the entire bay, beautiful! Next stop was Bundaberg but there wasn't much there (except free internet) so I didn't stay long!
That afternoon I drove to 'the town of 1770', which sticks out from the mainland and curves round to form a big bay. This means that you can sort-of watch the sun set into the water - one of the only places this is possible on the east coast. While I was watching the sun go down a couple of South African girls called me over to see a group of dolphins that had come over to the shore (it must have been dolphin day!). I got talking to them and we got some dinner and chatted long into the night :)
The next day I went for a final surf for a while. Further north is the home of the Box-Jellyfish, a highly deadly jellyfish which ensures that no-one even goes in the water, let alone surfs!
The next stop was Gladstone but I was delayed getting there cos my car broke! Suddenly the temp gage shot up so I stopped to take a look. One of the hoses had a hole in it and coolant was coming out of it. Filled it up with water and just about managed to get to a service station. Unfortunately it was the least accessible hose in the whole car and I didn't really have any tools, so I had to pay the mechanic to fit the new hose. Luckily repairs are quite cheap in Oz so after parting with $50 (about 20 quid) I was on my way again! Gladstone is just a really big port, so didn't really have anything interesting to do. Took a few pics and grabbed a late lunch and buggered off!
Got to Rockhampton late-ish and had a wander around. Again, there wasn't much in the way of tourist attractions so I went to the cinema to watch Pan's Labarynth, which is really good! The next day I went to the city's botanic gardens. They had a small zoo there which was quite good - there were chimps, snakes, koalas, baboons, loads of weird birds and many more!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Fraser Island!
Note: I've added some stuff to the last couple of posts :)
Day 1
I didn't need to look for a place to sleep that night, the woman at the booking office said I could leave the car round the back of the shop while I was away, so I thought I might as well sleep there too! I was so excited about going to Fraser Island that I didn't sleep much that night and woke up at 6:30am. It was pissing it down with rain. I stood outside the shop waiting for the bus to come get me at 8am and by 8:20am I was wondering if they had forgotten me! But no, the bus turned up and the guide introduced me to all the other people in the group. There was a German couple, a French girl, an Irish couple, a Swiss girl, two American girls and an Italian couple (who I practiced my Italian on!).
Once we were down the road a bit the guide said that usually the weather is good on Fraser Island if its bad on the mainland.....I thought that was quite optimistic but he was right! By the time we rolled up the beach to the crossing point the sun was beating down on us and it was a beautiful day :) It was nice to get out of the bus because we had just done about 80km of unsealed 4WD tracks and sandy, bumpy, beach roads (anyone who knows me well will know that I get VERY travel sick!). Anyway, as the ferry carried us over, the guide told us a bit about the island. Fraser Island is the biggest 'sand island' in the world and is composed entirely of sand apart from one anchor point, an old volcano sticking out of the sea. Over thousands of years sand that was washed off the mainland built up around the anchor point to create the island. The island is home to loads of rare animals and trees. For example, Fraser Island is home to the purest dingoes in the world (because they don't allow dogs on the island to prevent cross-breeding) and a species of tree that resists salt water and only grows there and in French Guiana.
Once we were on the Island we thundered up the beach (the main 'road' on the island is the beach!) to the accommodation owned by the company. This comprised of three, 6 bed, dorms, each with a shower (with hot water!) and toilet - a luxury compared to my usual accommodation (the bed in the back of my car). The guide said they had a room for the couples, a room for the girls and a room for the boys....this meant that I got a room for myself!!!
We had lunch and headed off to our first destination, Eli Creek, a freshwater creek running over bright white sand into the sea. The guide explained that the island collects rainwater like a sponge but it can't escape because the salt water under the island is denser. Consequently, it just bubbles up out of the sand, heavily filtered along the way, and runs off into the creek. All the taps on the island were basically pipes shoved into the ground with little pumps on them. He said that more fresh water flows into the sea daily than Sydney uses in a week! Next was a quick photo stop at the Maheno shipwreck, which was blown ashore by a storm while being towed to Japan in 1935. Apparently the Australians trained the RAAF on Fraser Island, who used the boat for target practice. At one point a bomb landed right in the middle and split the ship in half, one half sinking into the sand! After that we went on to the coloured sands. These are cliffs made of compacted, different coloured sand, each layer left behind by a different ice age....there is also an aboriginal dream-time story of how the coloured sands were formed.
We ended the day at Indian Head, which is the remainder of the volcano that is the anchor point for the island and the only body of rock on the island. The main attraction of Indian Head is to sit at the top and look down through the crystal-clear waters at the sea life. There are a LOT of sharks in this area (so much that you aren't allowed to swim in the sea), so we were all looking out for them. There were millions of small fish, loads of big tuna, a few stingrays and some manta-rays. Then we saw about 10 bottle-nose dolphins surfing along on the waves! They would surf down the wave, climb back up it and do a jump at the end! We saw a small shark and then just as we were about to leave a 2 meter long shark but it was quite near the bottom so was more like a big black blob....and that was all on day one!
Day 2
Got woken up at 7:30am by out guide making cockerel noises outside the rooms! After a quick breakfast we drove into the rainforest (on the bumpiest road I've ever seen!) for a 5km hike through the bush. It was quite hard going because I couldn't really stand on the back part of my right foot (due to the cuts I got from surfing), but I made it in the end. When we reached the end of the track the guide met us there to show us a couple of trees. One was a 2000+ year old tree that only grows in about 20 places in the world and was used by the BBC in the documentary 'walking with dinosaurs'. The other was a patterned tree which inspired an American to create the classic camouflage pattern!
After that we drove to Lake Birrabeen. Apparently the lake exfoliates you and is known to the aboriginals as a healing pool! But the next lake was the most amazing. Lake Boomanjin is surrounded by Melaleuca trees, which is where tea-tree oil comes from. the oil seeps out of the Melaleuca trees into the lake, creating a big healing pool! I spent ages in this pool and the next day my foot didn't hurt at all. In fact, at the time of writing (3 days later) all the cuts have almost completely healed, amazing! At the end of the day we returned to the camp to find that some dingoes had got into the kitchen and were trying to find our food. The guide had to chase them out with a broom!
Day 3
After breakfast we were dropped off on the beach at the start of a walking track. We walked through the forest for about 30 minutes until we came to a huge sandblow (a dune with no vegetation to hold it in place that gets blown over by the wind). After walking about 3km over this sandblow we came to Lake Wabby, the deepest of the lakes on Fraser Island. The surroundings were beautiful, there was rainforest on one side and miles of sand on the other side. We had brought a body board to slide down the sand dunes on and some bread to feed the 'giant catfish'. I jumped in the water with some bread and waited for a catfish to come. Suddenly I was surrounded by all these big dark shapes and could feed them right out of my hand! Spent a while trying to catch one but I didn't manage it!
After a 30min walk back we returned to the camp for a late lunch and then headed off the island. It was a great trip, if you are ever in the area you have to check it out!
Our bus!
A Wedge-Tail, the biggest raptor in the world (I think!)
Driving up the beach!
The Coloured Sands
This spider was just outside the kitchen!
Eli Creek
Looking left from Indian Head
And right
The group
The wreck of the Maheno from the front
And again from the back, most of which is under the sand!
Lake Wabby
Feeding the giant Catfish at Lake Wabby
Trying to catch one
Healing myself in Lake Boomanjin
A dingo that lived near our accommodation
Lake Birrabeen
Day 1
I didn't need to look for a place to sleep that night, the woman at the booking office said I could leave the car round the back of the shop while I was away, so I thought I might as well sleep there too! I was so excited about going to Fraser Island that I didn't sleep much that night and woke up at 6:30am. It was pissing it down with rain. I stood outside the shop waiting for the bus to come get me at 8am and by 8:20am I was wondering if they had forgotten me! But no, the bus turned up and the guide introduced me to all the other people in the group. There was a German couple, a French girl, an Irish couple, a Swiss girl, two American girls and an Italian couple (who I practiced my Italian on!).
Once we were down the road a bit the guide said that usually the weather is good on Fraser Island if its bad on the mainland.....I thought that was quite optimistic but he was right! By the time we rolled up the beach to the crossing point the sun was beating down on us and it was a beautiful day :) It was nice to get out of the bus because we had just done about 80km of unsealed 4WD tracks and sandy, bumpy, beach roads (anyone who knows me well will know that I get VERY travel sick!). Anyway, as the ferry carried us over, the guide told us a bit about the island. Fraser Island is the biggest 'sand island' in the world and is composed entirely of sand apart from one anchor point, an old volcano sticking out of the sea. Over thousands of years sand that was washed off the mainland built up around the anchor point to create the island. The island is home to loads of rare animals and trees. For example, Fraser Island is home to the purest dingoes in the world (because they don't allow dogs on the island to prevent cross-breeding) and a species of tree that resists salt water and only grows there and in French Guiana.
Once we were on the Island we thundered up the beach (the main 'road' on the island is the beach!) to the accommodation owned by the company. This comprised of three, 6 bed, dorms, each with a shower (with hot water!) and toilet - a luxury compared to my usual accommodation (the bed in the back of my car). The guide said they had a room for the couples, a room for the girls and a room for the boys....this meant that I got a room for myself!!!
We had lunch and headed off to our first destination, Eli Creek, a freshwater creek running over bright white sand into the sea. The guide explained that the island collects rainwater like a sponge but it can't escape because the salt water under the island is denser. Consequently, it just bubbles up out of the sand, heavily filtered along the way, and runs off into the creek. All the taps on the island were basically pipes shoved into the ground with little pumps on them. He said that more fresh water flows into the sea daily than Sydney uses in a week! Next was a quick photo stop at the Maheno shipwreck, which was blown ashore by a storm while being towed to Japan in 1935. Apparently the Australians trained the RAAF on Fraser Island, who used the boat for target practice. At one point a bomb landed right in the middle and split the ship in half, one half sinking into the sand! After that we went on to the coloured sands. These are cliffs made of compacted, different coloured sand, each layer left behind by a different ice age....there is also an aboriginal dream-time story of how the coloured sands were formed.
The Butchulla people, the Aboriginal inhabitants of Fraser Island, who call Fraser Island k'gari, tell of a girl who left her man to go off with the rainbow man. Now, the disgruntled jilted lover was a bit of a hero when it came to using his killing boomerang, and he decided to hunt down his ex and kill her for shaming him. He eventually found her on k'gari and threw his boomerang at her. The rainbow man, however, threw himself in front of her in an act of selfless love, and when the boomerang hit him he was shattered him into a million colourful pieces that fell onto the dunes of k'gari.
We ended the day at Indian Head, which is the remainder of the volcano that is the anchor point for the island and the only body of rock on the island. The main attraction of Indian Head is to sit at the top and look down through the crystal-clear waters at the sea life. There are a LOT of sharks in this area (so much that you aren't allowed to swim in the sea), so we were all looking out for them. There were millions of small fish, loads of big tuna, a few stingrays and some manta-rays. Then we saw about 10 bottle-nose dolphins surfing along on the waves! They would surf down the wave, climb back up it and do a jump at the end! We saw a small shark and then just as we were about to leave a 2 meter long shark but it was quite near the bottom so was more like a big black blob....and that was all on day one!
Day 2
Got woken up at 7:30am by out guide making cockerel noises outside the rooms! After a quick breakfast we drove into the rainforest (on the bumpiest road I've ever seen!) for a 5km hike through the bush. It was quite hard going because I couldn't really stand on the back part of my right foot (due to the cuts I got from surfing), but I made it in the end. When we reached the end of the track the guide met us there to show us a couple of trees. One was a 2000+ year old tree that only grows in about 20 places in the world and was used by the BBC in the documentary 'walking with dinosaurs'. The other was a patterned tree which inspired an American to create the classic camouflage pattern!
After that we drove to Lake Birrabeen. Apparently the lake exfoliates you and is known to the aboriginals as a healing pool! But the next lake was the most amazing. Lake Boomanjin is surrounded by Melaleuca trees, which is where tea-tree oil comes from. the oil seeps out of the Melaleuca trees into the lake, creating a big healing pool! I spent ages in this pool and the next day my foot didn't hurt at all. In fact, at the time of writing (3 days later) all the cuts have almost completely healed, amazing! At the end of the day we returned to the camp to find that some dingoes had got into the kitchen and were trying to find our food. The guide had to chase them out with a broom!
Day 3
After breakfast we were dropped off on the beach at the start of a walking track. We walked through the forest for about 30 minutes until we came to a huge sandblow (a dune with no vegetation to hold it in place that gets blown over by the wind). After walking about 3km over this sandblow we came to Lake Wabby, the deepest of the lakes on Fraser Island. The surroundings were beautiful, there was rainforest on one side and miles of sand on the other side. We had brought a body board to slide down the sand dunes on and some bread to feed the 'giant catfish'. I jumped in the water with some bread and waited for a catfish to come. Suddenly I was surrounded by all these big dark shapes and could feed them right out of my hand! Spent a while trying to catch one but I didn't manage it!
After a 30min walk back we returned to the camp for a late lunch and then headed off the island. It was a great trip, if you are ever in the area you have to check it out!
Our bus!
A Wedge-Tail, the biggest raptor in the world (I think!)
Driving up the beach!
The Coloured Sands
This spider was just outside the kitchen!
Eli Creek
Looking left from Indian Head
And right
The group
The wreck of the Maheno from the front
And again from the back, most of which is under the sand!
Lake Wabby
Feeding the giant Catfish at Lake Wabby
Trying to catch one
Healing myself in Lake Boomanjin
A dingo that lived near our accommodation
Lake Birrabeen
Monday, March 26, 2007
Noosa
Noosa is a beautiful place. This area of the coast is dominated by resort-ish type places with high-rise buildings and fast food restaurants everywhere, but Noosa doesn't have any of that! It is like a small but modern town in the middle of a tropical paradise....the shops and apartments are surrounded by palm trees and beautiful beaches with no high buildings to spoil the view!
As soon as I arrived I headed over to the national park, which is also where the good surf is. The best place was just behind a load of rocks....the waves were quite easy but getting into the water was a mission cos there were rocks running from the car park to 5 meters out to sea! After that I went for a look at the national park. The park is fairly small by national park standards with 5 walks that take you through different types of forest. I did them all (over the next three days), the best was the coastal walk - I saw a koala while walking it!
In the evening I headed over to Noosaville to do some fishing. Surprisingly, I caught a load of bream! Its unusual for me to catch more than one or two fish so, for the first time, I actually had enough fish to make a meal! Cooked them on a BBQ wrapped in foil...mmmmmm
For the next couple of days I just surfed in the morning, walked in the day and fished in the evening. On the third morning I was surfing in the usual place but the waves were much bigger. This was great for the surf but made it really hard to get in, and even harder to get out. As I was getting out the water I was standing on a rock and looked back to see a big wave coming towards me. Just managed to turn back into the sea before it smashed me. Luckily I landed on my feet. Unluckily I landed on a rock covered in little mussel things with sharp shells. After I got out I looked and saw a load of gashes on the bottom of my foot and a small chunk missing from my heel! There is a happy ending to this story in the next post so don't worry.
Anyway, later that day I randomly bumped into some people I'd met in Manly! They were booking their trip to Fraser Island and that got me thinking I should sort out my Fraser Island trip! Went into the booking agents to have a look and before I knew it I had booked a three day trip leaving the next day!
The sun coming down just after I finished surfing on the first day, notice the bastard rocks!
The sunset, going....
...going...
...gone!
Dolphin Point on the coastal walk
Somewhere in the rainforest!
As soon as I arrived I headed over to the national park, which is also where the good surf is. The best place was just behind a load of rocks....the waves were quite easy but getting into the water was a mission cos there were rocks running from the car park to 5 meters out to sea! After that I went for a look at the national park. The park is fairly small by national park standards with 5 walks that take you through different types of forest. I did them all (over the next three days), the best was the coastal walk - I saw a koala while walking it!
In the evening I headed over to Noosaville to do some fishing. Surprisingly, I caught a load of bream! Its unusual for me to catch more than one or two fish so, for the first time, I actually had enough fish to make a meal! Cooked them on a BBQ wrapped in foil...mmmmmm
For the next couple of days I just surfed in the morning, walked in the day and fished in the evening. On the third morning I was surfing in the usual place but the waves were much bigger. This was great for the surf but made it really hard to get in, and even harder to get out. As I was getting out the water I was standing on a rock and looked back to see a big wave coming towards me. Just managed to turn back into the sea before it smashed me. Luckily I landed on my feet. Unluckily I landed on a rock covered in little mussel things with sharp shells. After I got out I looked and saw a load of gashes on the bottom of my foot and a small chunk missing from my heel! There is a happy ending to this story in the next post so don't worry.
Anyway, later that day I randomly bumped into some people I'd met in Manly! They were booking their trip to Fraser Island and that got me thinking I should sort out my Fraser Island trip! Went into the booking agents to have a look and before I knew it I had booked a three day trip leaving the next day!
The sun coming down just after I finished surfing on the first day, notice the bastard rocks!
The sunset, going....
...going...
...gone!
Dolphin Point on the coastal walk
Somewhere in the rainforest!
Friday, March 23, 2007
I know I said I'd get a job in Brisbane....
...but I missed the beach too much!
So I left Brisbane to continue my travels up the coast. Drove to a place called Caboolture and took the loop road through the Glass House Mountains national park. The drive through the forest was cool but the mountains themselves were amazing. I climbed the Mt. Beerburrum lookout, which was really steep but gave a great view of all the mountains. Then I drove to the Glass House Mountains lookout for a 360-degree view of all the mountains in the range. Ended the day in Caloundra and did a bit of surfing!
The next day I drove to Noosa. It is the nicest place I've been to since I left Sydney, the surf is good and the place is beautiful! But my internet time is running out so ill write about it properly later. To summarise, I got some good surf by the rocks and consequently cut my foot so I can't surf for three days (boo!), I achieved my ambition of catching some fish and eating them (yay!) and went on some beautiful walks through the rainforest (yay!).
Gonna head to the Fraser Island area soon, should be good!
Here is an aboriginal story the guide from Fraser Island told me about the Glass House Mountains. I actually nicked it from Wikipedia, hence the extra interesting bit on the end.
Mt. Beerwah
Mt. Coonowrin
Mt. Tibrogargan
Mt. Coonowrin again!
So I left Brisbane to continue my travels up the coast. Drove to a place called Caboolture and took the loop road through the Glass House Mountains national park. The drive through the forest was cool but the mountains themselves were amazing. I climbed the Mt. Beerburrum lookout, which was really steep but gave a great view of all the mountains. Then I drove to the Glass House Mountains lookout for a 360-degree view of all the mountains in the range. Ended the day in Caloundra and did a bit of surfing!
The next day I drove to Noosa. It is the nicest place I've been to since I left Sydney, the surf is good and the place is beautiful! But my internet time is running out so ill write about it properly later. To summarise, I got some good surf by the rocks and consequently cut my foot so I can't surf for three days (boo!), I achieved my ambition of catching some fish and eating them (yay!) and went on some beautiful walks through the rainforest (yay!).
Gonna head to the Fraser Island area soon, should be good!
Here is an aboriginal story the guide from Fraser Island told me about the Glass House Mountains. I actually nicked it from Wikipedia, hence the extra interesting bit on the end.
The mountains are the subjects of several Aboriginal tales and Coonowrin is said to be the son of Tibrogargan and Beerwah. During a violent storm, Tibrogargan commanded his son Coonowrin to take his mother Beerwah and his siblings and help them move to safety. Being scared of the storm, Coonowrin instead ran off and when his father found him he hit him on the back of the head, resulting in Coonowrin's crooked neck. Tibrogargan was so ashamed of his son's cowardice that to this day he sits with his back to Coonowrin.
It used to be possible to climb Coonowrin, but this is now forbidden for safety reasons. During a geological survey of the mountain some years ago, substantial cracks were found near the peak (behind Coonowrin's "face") and it is thought that at any time half of the mountain could suddenly break away from the remainder.
Mt. Beerwah
Mt. Coonowrin
Mt. Tibrogargan
Mt. Coonowrin again!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Onward to Brisbane!
Got off towards Surfers Paradise, which is not that far from Byron, early and drove straight there, only stopping to take a picture of the stones that mark the NSW-QLD border.
Unfortunately, Surfers Paradise does not live up to the images you might imagine when you hear the name.... The place is full of high rise buildings, concrete, fast food and bars. The beach isn't that good either! Its a good place to go out drinking and we had a good night there, but a surfer's paradise it is not.....
The next morning we arrived in Brisbane and had a look round the city center. It was quite lively and the river that winds its way through the city center is beautiful.
Brisbane was also the place where I would be leaving the Italians. They are flying back to Italy on the 24th March so had less than a week to do the Brisbane-Cairns part of the East Coast. There are lots of day trips and activities I want to do on my way to Cairns so it would be impossible for me to keep up with them! Furthermore, Brisbane is also a good place to get a job and funds are low....very low....
After looking around they decided to make the long drive up to Noosa, so I said goodbye to three of the nicest people I've met on my travels, wished them good luck on the rest of their travels and a safe journey home. Spent the rest of the day looking around the city and came across an area called SouthBank. There are green flowery parklands, which make a nice change to the concrete jungle of the city CBD, free museums, art galleries and a library with free internet. Also, just as I was getting beach-sick (Brisbane is 30km inland) I randomly came across an artificial beach in the middle of the city! I also went to Mt. Cootha, just outside the city, which has a lookout with amazing views all the way to Moreton Bay!
I wasn't alone for long 'cos the next day two more Italian friends from Manly arrived in Brisbane. They are on a bus journey up the coast and would be in Brisbane for two days. In the evening we went to an area by the river called Kangaroo Point, in which there are lots of rocky cliffs. There is a big rock climbing community and it was a nice cool night so we thought we'd have a go!
I dunno if anyone reading this has climbed a real cliff before but its fucking hard! I've been on an artificial climbing wall before and its much easier.... We went for a drink afterwards and none of us had enough strength left in our hands to grip a beer with one hand, much to the enjoyment of the other patrons....
The next day we were walking around the city and got given a copy of a free paper. On the front there was something about St. Patrick's day, which we had all completely forgotten about, and was actually that day! Got on the drinking early (they had green beer!) and before we knew it, it was the evening. Had a great night and randomly met some people who went to Brunel (my old uni) and were also doing the coast but the opposite direction from me. The guys were supposed to arrange a hostel for the night but due to the early start to drinking we completely forgot.....this meant that we'd be three in the car, not exactly spacious!
Woke up the next day with a big fat hangover and said goodbye to the guys. That was two days ago and I've spent the time in between chilling on the fake beach, looking at the museum and art galleries and job hunting.....oh and I went to 'the Gabba', Brisbane's cricket ground.
Looking over to Surfers Paradise
These big stones mark the New South Wales-Queensland border
One last picture together :)
Saw this big lizard-type thing in the rainforrest area of SouthBank
There is a, quite random, Napalise Pagoda in the middle of the SouthBank area
The view of the whole city and surrounding suberbs from Mt. Cootha
Around Mt. Cootha there was an 'aboriginal art trail' which was a 2km walk around the forrest that took you past traditional aboriginal works of art.
Here is another piece of aboriginal art
Brisbane CBD by day
And again by night (looks much better by night huh!)
The bones of a dinosaur in the museum. This one is apparently called the 'Muttaburrasaurus'!
This strange fly-ish thing sits between Queensland museum and the performing arts centre....Oh, I almost got run over by a bus taking this photo!
A traditional aboriginal band was playing in SouthBank the day I arrived...They were damn good!
The cliff we climbed....
Professionals!
30 bits of wood hand carved into different shapes....
This room was amazing! You walk in, stand on a small platform and florescent lights light up different coloured spheres hanging all around you. The walls and celing are mirrors and the floor is covered in water. Its very dark and the door closes behind you. Basically, it feels like you are floating in space surrounded by little coloured stars because you are not aware of the platform or the mirrors. Its one of the best pieces of modern art I've ever seen!
Unfortunately, Surfers Paradise does not live up to the images you might imagine when you hear the name.... The place is full of high rise buildings, concrete, fast food and bars. The beach isn't that good either! Its a good place to go out drinking and we had a good night there, but a surfer's paradise it is not.....
The next morning we arrived in Brisbane and had a look round the city center. It was quite lively and the river that winds its way through the city center is beautiful.
Brisbane was also the place where I would be leaving the Italians. They are flying back to Italy on the 24th March so had less than a week to do the Brisbane-Cairns part of the East Coast. There are lots of day trips and activities I want to do on my way to Cairns so it would be impossible for me to keep up with them! Furthermore, Brisbane is also a good place to get a job and funds are low....very low....
After looking around they decided to make the long drive up to Noosa, so I said goodbye to three of the nicest people I've met on my travels, wished them good luck on the rest of their travels and a safe journey home. Spent the rest of the day looking around the city and came across an area called SouthBank. There are green flowery parklands, which make a nice change to the concrete jungle of the city CBD, free museums, art galleries and a library with free internet. Also, just as I was getting beach-sick (Brisbane is 30km inland) I randomly came across an artificial beach in the middle of the city! I also went to Mt. Cootha, just outside the city, which has a lookout with amazing views all the way to Moreton Bay!
I wasn't alone for long 'cos the next day two more Italian friends from Manly arrived in Brisbane. They are on a bus journey up the coast and would be in Brisbane for two days. In the evening we went to an area by the river called Kangaroo Point, in which there are lots of rocky cliffs. There is a big rock climbing community and it was a nice cool night so we thought we'd have a go!
I dunno if anyone reading this has climbed a real cliff before but its fucking hard! I've been on an artificial climbing wall before and its much easier.... We went for a drink afterwards and none of us had enough strength left in our hands to grip a beer with one hand, much to the enjoyment of the other patrons....
The next day we were walking around the city and got given a copy of a free paper. On the front there was something about St. Patrick's day, which we had all completely forgotten about, and was actually that day! Got on the drinking early (they had green beer!) and before we knew it, it was the evening. Had a great night and randomly met some people who went to Brunel (my old uni) and were also doing the coast but the opposite direction from me. The guys were supposed to arrange a hostel for the night but due to the early start to drinking we completely forgot.....this meant that we'd be three in the car, not exactly spacious!
Woke up the next day with a big fat hangover and said goodbye to the guys. That was two days ago and I've spent the time in between chilling on the fake beach, looking at the museum and art galleries and job hunting.....oh and I went to 'the Gabba', Brisbane's cricket ground.
Looking over to Surfers Paradise
These big stones mark the New South Wales-Queensland border
One last picture together :)
Saw this big lizard-type thing in the rainforrest area of SouthBank
There is a, quite random, Napalise Pagoda in the middle of the SouthBank area
The view of the whole city and surrounding suberbs from Mt. Cootha
Around Mt. Cootha there was an 'aboriginal art trail' which was a 2km walk around the forrest that took you past traditional aboriginal works of art.
Here is another piece of aboriginal art
Brisbane CBD by day
And again by night (looks much better by night huh!)
The bones of a dinosaur in the museum. This one is apparently called the 'Muttaburrasaurus'!
This strange fly-ish thing sits between Queensland museum and the performing arts centre....Oh, I almost got run over by a bus taking this photo!
A traditional aboriginal band was playing in SouthBank the day I arrived...They were damn good!
The cliff we climbed....
Professionals!
30 bits of wood hand carved into different shapes....
This room was amazing! You walk in, stand on a small platform and florescent lights light up different coloured spheres hanging all around you. The walls and celing are mirrors and the floor is covered in water. Its very dark and the door closes behind you. Basically, it feels like you are floating in space surrounded by little coloured stars because you are not aware of the platform or the mirrors. Its one of the best pieces of modern art I've ever seen!
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Byron Bay
Probably the most important thing to mention in this post is that I have a new surfboard! I got it from Byron Bay which is a good place to find a cheap board 'cos it has a big surf community. It is only 6' 5" long and in great condition. It cost $420 but they gave me $220 for my old board and threw in a leg rope, fins, a fin key and some wax for free :)
My new board! It is almost new and amazing to surf...it looks pretty cool too!
We stayed in Byron for 3 days (2 nights). On the first day we arrived after lunch and went for a swim in the sea. The whole place is a popular backpackers destination and was full of colourful vans, station-wagons, hippys and young people! Unfortunately that meant that the rangers (pretend police) are really strict on camping/sleeping in vehicles. After dinner we finally managed to find a place that didn't look too obvious so I went to sleep while the others set up their tent.
The next day I woke up early but found the others already up....they had been woken up by a ranger who threatened to fine them if he saw them camping again. Anyway, we spent the day sitting on the beach, surfing and generally chilling out. That evening we were cooking up dinner on a public BBQ (there are electric BBQs EVERYWHERE in Oz), when we were joined by two homeless guys on the BBQ next to us. One was a raging hippy, complete with tie-dye shirt (I wish I got a picture), who went on about how bad the government was and everyone should have their own vegetable garden....
The other one however, was a really funny guy who had a dog that did tricks! After we ate he put on a show for us, with the dog jumping through hoops, picking up stuff with a tennis racket and giving us all a high-five!
The guys wanted to go to a different town the next day and didn't wanna camp in Byron again anyway so they headed off to find a place to sleep towards the town. I wanted to surf my new board again so stayed and went back to the same place to sleep. I got woken up at 7am to someone banging on my car....I could see it was a ranger but all my windows are covered, so, through a mixture of tiredness and laziness, I just ignored him and stayed inside. Oh, and it was raining quite hard. After another 10 mins of banging on my car shouting 'I know you're in there' I thought I better get out. By now the guy was quite wet and pissed off, which I thought was quite funny.....he deserved it for waking me up! He gave me the same 'I'll fine you $110 if I see you here again' speech he gave the others (although I think he used more swear words with me!) and told me to be gone in 1 minute. Even though I was hungover and half-asleep, I happily Obliged....
Spent most the day surfing and met up with the guys when they returned at about 4pm. We went up to the lighthouse and looked at the views all along the bay. The water was so clear we could see stingrays swimming about just off the rocks. In the evening we drove out of Byron to a rest area on the way to Surfers Paradise to spend the night without being hassled by rangers.....
Byron Bay lighthouse. Apparently this is the most powerful lighthouse in the southern hemisphere.
Looking out from the lighthouse at Byron Bay
More views from the lighthouse
The most Easterly point of Oz is at Byron Bay. I have now been to the most Ssouthern (Wilsons Promontory) and Eastern points of Oz (doubt I'll get to the Northern and Western points!)
My new board! It is almost new and amazing to surf...it looks pretty cool too!
We stayed in Byron for 3 days (2 nights). On the first day we arrived after lunch and went for a swim in the sea. The whole place is a popular backpackers destination and was full of colourful vans, station-wagons, hippys and young people! Unfortunately that meant that the rangers (pretend police) are really strict on camping/sleeping in vehicles. After dinner we finally managed to find a place that didn't look too obvious so I went to sleep while the others set up their tent.
The next day I woke up early but found the others already up....they had been woken up by a ranger who threatened to fine them if he saw them camping again. Anyway, we spent the day sitting on the beach, surfing and generally chilling out. That evening we were cooking up dinner on a public BBQ (there are electric BBQs EVERYWHERE in Oz), when we were joined by two homeless guys on the BBQ next to us. One was a raging hippy, complete with tie-dye shirt (I wish I got a picture), who went on about how bad the government was and everyone should have their own vegetable garden....
The other one however, was a really funny guy who had a dog that did tricks! After we ate he put on a show for us, with the dog jumping through hoops, picking up stuff with a tennis racket and giving us all a high-five!
The guys wanted to go to a different town the next day and didn't wanna camp in Byron again anyway so they headed off to find a place to sleep towards the town. I wanted to surf my new board again so stayed and went back to the same place to sleep. I got woken up at 7am to someone banging on my car....I could see it was a ranger but all my windows are covered, so, through a mixture of tiredness and laziness, I just ignored him and stayed inside. Oh, and it was raining quite hard. After another 10 mins of banging on my car shouting 'I know you're in there' I thought I better get out. By now the guy was quite wet and pissed off, which I thought was quite funny.....he deserved it for waking me up! He gave me the same 'I'll fine you $110 if I see you here again' speech he gave the others (although I think he used more swear words with me!) and told me to be gone in 1 minute. Even though I was hungover and half-asleep, I happily Obliged....
Spent most the day surfing and met up with the guys when they returned at about 4pm. We went up to the lighthouse and looked at the views all along the bay. The water was so clear we could see stingrays swimming about just off the rocks. In the evening we drove out of Byron to a rest area on the way to Surfers Paradise to spend the night without being hassled by rangers.....
Byron Bay lighthouse. Apparently this is the most powerful lighthouse in the southern hemisphere.
Looking out from the lighthouse at Byron Bay
More views from the lighthouse
The most Easterly point of Oz is at Byron Bay. I have now been to the most Ssouthern (Wilsons Promontory) and Eastern points of Oz (doubt I'll get to the Northern and Western points!)
Monday, March 12, 2007
Manly to Byron Bay
Headed off a bit later than expected....due to the fact that I managed to lock my keys in the car...doh! It took about an hour and several assorted bits of wire to get in but we got on our way in the end.
Drove up through North Sydney, which took ages, then finally onto the coastal road towards Gosford (which wasn't much to look at, but has the same name as the place where I went to sixth form!). The first stop was a place called Budgewoi, a small town with a lake on one side and the sea on the other. Grabbed some lunch and had a surf at one of the beaches then we were on our way again.
Next we drove through a place called Swansea, which is just near the entrance to Lake McQuarie, the biggest salt water lake in the whole of Oz. After that the road took us through Newcastle (yes, another town/city that shares its name with a place in the UK) which is the second largest city in New South Wales. Its a big industrial port and there were lots of huge ships pulling into the dock and big cranes to remove the cargo. Other than that it wasn't particularly interesting and definitely not the most beautiful of places....so we headed on.
Ended the day in a place called Nelson Bay, a fishing town in the port Stephens area. You could see all around the inlet and we watched the sun go down while eating dinner by the beach, beautiful!
The next day we drove to Seal Rocks, a small village on the sea, surrounded by lush green mountains. The place was beautiful and also had some good surf so I got in the water. Once I got in I realised that the waves were so consistent because they were breaking off a reef....there is nothing more scary/exciting that knowing you could get smashed along the rocks if you fall off a wave but it was too good to resist!
The next stretch of road took us in between Wallis Lake and the sea and at some points the land was so slim that it was like being on a bridge all the way along! Had a quick stop at North Haven to grab some lunch and carried on to Port Macquarie.
The sun was going down by the time we got there so we found a place to stay and cooked up some burgers! The next morning we went to the 'Koala Hospital' to look at the koalas! You could get really close to them and they were much less docile than the ones I saw on Raymond Island, probably because we got there just after feeding time! Just before leaving we went to the breakwater (a load of rocks they chuck into the sea to stop the land from being washed away by the waves). All the rocks in this particular breakwater have traditionally been painted/drawn on by travellers passing through. All the different coloured rocks along the ocean look really cool and we found one to write on ourselves (we only had a black pen unfortunately so its not very imaginative).
Next stop was a Crescent Head, a place which is supposed to have some of the best waves on the east coast. Again it was on a reef so very consistent but the waves were also the longest curling waves I've ever seen! Each time you caught the wave you just cruised along for about a minute before it died out. The water was so clear you could see the fish swimming along by the board as you went, amazing!
After so much surfing we were a bit behind schedule (we were supposed to be meting someone in Byron) so we drove about 120km straight to Coffs Harbor. Got there pretty late and somehow ended up in the most ghetto area of Oz I've ben to so far....quickly ate dinner with one eye on the car, only stopping to decline the numerous offers of drugs....needless to say, we found a different area to sleep in!
In the morning we went to Muttonbird Island, which is actually now joined to the mainland by breakwater rocks and is home to 1200 muttonbirds, although I only saw three.... Next we walked around the towns botanic gardens which was divided up into sections, each with plants/trees from different countries.
The afternoon was another long drive all the way to Byron Bay. The long drives aren't too bad though as I'm with Edoardo whos decided to teach me Italian, its coming on quite well! Got to Byron early afternoon, met up with some friends from Manly and spent the afternoon at the beach!
Pictures soon.....
Before I left I went to North Head, in Sydney Harbour Nartional Park. The views across to Sydney are amazing....
Pellicans at Budgewoi
Seal Rocks
Looking out over the river in North Haven
Just about to head off to Port Macquarie
Looking out over Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie
A Koala from the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie!
To get down to the breakwater we could walk 1km along the path or slide/fall down the steepest hill you've ever seen.....we took the hill way....this is Gas just before he tripped and rolled to the bottom!
Some of the stones, the colours were amazing!
The coloured stones stretch for miles, its hard to find a free one!
Our stone is near these ones....
Edo writing on our breakwater stone
Me doing the same......
Our breakwater stone! If you ever happen to go to that area look out for it!
Blue waters at Crescent Head :)
Breakwater at Coffs Harbour
The view back to Coffs Harbour from Muttonbird Island
Some big flowers in the botanic gardens
Drove up through North Sydney, which took ages, then finally onto the coastal road towards Gosford (which wasn't much to look at, but has the same name as the place where I went to sixth form!). The first stop was a place called Budgewoi, a small town with a lake on one side and the sea on the other. Grabbed some lunch and had a surf at one of the beaches then we were on our way again.
Next we drove through a place called Swansea, which is just near the entrance to Lake McQuarie, the biggest salt water lake in the whole of Oz. After that the road took us through Newcastle (yes, another town/city that shares its name with a place in the UK) which is the second largest city in New South Wales. Its a big industrial port and there were lots of huge ships pulling into the dock and big cranes to remove the cargo. Other than that it wasn't particularly interesting and definitely not the most beautiful of places....so we headed on.
Ended the day in a place called Nelson Bay, a fishing town in the port Stephens area. You could see all around the inlet and we watched the sun go down while eating dinner by the beach, beautiful!
The next day we drove to Seal Rocks, a small village on the sea, surrounded by lush green mountains. The place was beautiful and also had some good surf so I got in the water. Once I got in I realised that the waves were so consistent because they were breaking off a reef....there is nothing more scary/exciting that knowing you could get smashed along the rocks if you fall off a wave but it was too good to resist!
The next stretch of road took us in between Wallis Lake and the sea and at some points the land was so slim that it was like being on a bridge all the way along! Had a quick stop at North Haven to grab some lunch and carried on to Port Macquarie.
The sun was going down by the time we got there so we found a place to stay and cooked up some burgers! The next morning we went to the 'Koala Hospital' to look at the koalas! You could get really close to them and they were much less docile than the ones I saw on Raymond Island, probably because we got there just after feeding time! Just before leaving we went to the breakwater (a load of rocks they chuck into the sea to stop the land from being washed away by the waves). All the rocks in this particular breakwater have traditionally been painted/drawn on by travellers passing through. All the different coloured rocks along the ocean look really cool and we found one to write on ourselves (we only had a black pen unfortunately so its not very imaginative).
Next stop was a Crescent Head, a place which is supposed to have some of the best waves on the east coast. Again it was on a reef so very consistent but the waves were also the longest curling waves I've ever seen! Each time you caught the wave you just cruised along for about a minute before it died out. The water was so clear you could see the fish swimming along by the board as you went, amazing!
After so much surfing we were a bit behind schedule (we were supposed to be meting someone in Byron) so we drove about 120km straight to Coffs Harbor. Got there pretty late and somehow ended up in the most ghetto area of Oz I've ben to so far....quickly ate dinner with one eye on the car, only stopping to decline the numerous offers of drugs....needless to say, we found a different area to sleep in!
In the morning we went to Muttonbird Island, which is actually now joined to the mainland by breakwater rocks and is home to 1200 muttonbirds, although I only saw three.... Next we walked around the towns botanic gardens which was divided up into sections, each with plants/trees from different countries.
The afternoon was another long drive all the way to Byron Bay. The long drives aren't too bad though as I'm with Edoardo whos decided to teach me Italian, its coming on quite well! Got to Byron early afternoon, met up with some friends from Manly and spent the afternoon at the beach!
Pictures soon.....
Before I left I went to North Head, in Sydney Harbour Nartional Park. The views across to Sydney are amazing....
Pellicans at Budgewoi
Seal Rocks
Looking out over the river in North Haven
Just about to head off to Port Macquarie
Looking out over Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie
A Koala from the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie!
To get down to the breakwater we could walk 1km along the path or slide/fall down the steepest hill you've ever seen.....we took the hill way....this is Gas just before he tripped and rolled to the bottom!
Some of the stones, the colours were amazing!
The coloured stones stretch for miles, its hard to find a free one!
Our stone is near these ones....
Edo writing on our breakwater stone
Me doing the same......
Our breakwater stone! If you ever happen to go to that area look out for it!
Blue waters at Crescent Head :)
Breakwater at Coffs Harbour
The view back to Coffs Harbour from Muttonbird Island
Some big flowers in the botanic gardens
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