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Published: February 23rd 2007
Turning 30
no mid life crisis here:-)Welcome to the Dirty Thirties.
Where did it all go? 10 years ago I remember being saying good teens with a hint of sadness, however, still at Uni I had my whole life ahead of me and the world to explore. Approaching 30 is much more a time for reflection. Where am I, who have become, am I happy are all things to ponder. I have to admit the idea of turning 30 had troubled me for at least a couple of years but as moist people find the closer I got to it the more comfortable I became with the idea….. after all it is just another decade.
About a year ago rumours started to circulate that a few of my friends from UK would make it out here I was a tad sceptical as some are always planning to travel but never actually do. Hats off though David and James left London in September with a view to meeting me for my 30th (
their blog) with others planning to join. Still a little sceptical (many people go travelling and it takes them longer than they thought!) I was delighted when I saw the flight confirmation with them landing a
Daybeds at Dish
Two dishes at Dish few days before my 30th. Lisa also managed to make it out to see the guys and enjoy my 30th.
To accommodate such an entourage I rented quite a plush
house so we could just sit back and chill. Esther and I went up on the Saturday checked in and checked out our annex. Knowing that my backpacker friends wouldn’t exactly be chucking the cash around I booked a table that night at byrons premier restaurant
Dish. The interior is absolutely amazing and we had drinks on the day beds before heading to our table but I have to say the food was disappointing for the price.
The next day was full of excitement first to show up was Lisa, straight in from London, then Rod from Sydney. Naturally we headed down the pub for some Sunday beers and a good old catch up. I’d planned to meet Sus and Jill (the Scottish backpackers I’d met from my last visit to byron) while I was in byron but didn’t quite expect to bump into them in the pub. With the booze freely flowing 8 of us from the pub headed back for a bbq at the flash pad. Midnight:
Lunch at Nimbin
could be hawaii though enter David and James…… quick catch up and a complaint for a neighbour and we all headed to bed.
Nimbin
I’d been up in Byron in August and did a little scout about to see what things we could do as a group. I thought ‘Jims’ tour’ of Nimbin would go down really well with everyone so booked us all up and bought some lays so that we could get in the swing of things!
Getting picked up at the house probably wasn’t the usual backpackers style but Jim was very impressed with the lays. As blogged before it is the tour with tunes and every corner has a story and tune to go with. Last time I had Irvin as a diver so it was nice to have the original ‘Jim’ and a slightly different set of tunes. As before I got to meet Paul the hippy and chill in his house for a bit……. And it occurred to me that everyday for an hour he entertains 30 or so backpackers as if his life wasn’t strange enough already?
One thing that was certainly different was Jim spotting a wild Koala in a tree as we drove
past…… to be in oz for over a year and not see one is probably a big oversight but to see my first one in the wild was very fortunate as they are very shy creatures.
Back to the house it was time to go for a swim and use the bbq once more.
The Big Day
I was scared of turning 30 but I am petrified of heights. Logically then I decided to do a skydive on my 30th birthday and it worked. On the days leading up to the day nobody was talking to me about my age just the jump. To join me three other - Rod and Dave both novices and Esther who already had 2 jumps behind her. It does seem a little illogical to jump out of a perfectly good plane and as if to follow this we’d had some debate on how high to go - common concenus was as high as possible, 14,000 feet to be precise, which is a good 70 seconds of free fall.
I slept remarkably well and was woken with some breakfast in bed and a box of presents. We where picked up at 9
on the dot and taken to the centre although we found that a big group had booked in before us so we were told to expect a wait and didn’t actually end up jumping till 11ish (which is incidentally exactly when I turned 30 on GMT time). I thought the wait would make me more nervous but seeing guys come down to land on a massive high and then watch their videos removed some of the unknowns.
On a Tandem jump you don’t need to do that much but still a 5 min induction on what to do seemed a little blasé considering we were going to jump out of a plane. After that it was kit on and a short walk to the plane. It was decided that as I’d dragged everyone along I would have to be the first to go through with it, which I was secretly glad of, but this did leave me with unenviable position of sitting by the door which is a) transparent b) no thicker than a sheet of cling film. Even though I have a fear of heights flying has never really bothered me and even in the small plane it really
I am Freee
Free falling wasn’t that bad. Approaching 14,000 feet an amber light is illuminated and the door is opened….. time to take a reality check…… 30 seconds later and I see green…… no going back now legs out the door and before you know it you’re falling to earth…. And fast!!!! 70 seconds is probably long enough to get used to freefalling but then it’s bang - you shoot upwards as your stomach is still heading down. Gliding about twists and turns is very peaceful and very different from the windy part before and the scenery is spectacular. The landing was quite emotional as those that have seen the video will testify (hopefully should have it up soon on the blog soon)
Back to the house for some more pool time and to show the others our video an afternoon nap and then out to town. I initially thought we do a bbq for my birthday meal but everyone seemed up for going out so we went to the balcony restaurant where the food was both reasonable and very good (put dish to shame). Esther, using a dubious but still believable excuse, popped out and bought a birthday cake to be delivered
later with sparklers and candles. From the restaurant there was a man on the street with a telescope and for a small donation we were all able to see Saturn and it’s ring for the first time - something with the position of the earth made it one of the best days for 80 years anyway another first for the 30th.
Trying to cling to the twenties we hit Cheeky Monkeys - on my last visit to Byron I hadn’t actually gone there, which for a 7day stay I’m told is quite an accomplishment. From the stories it was clear that is one of these nightclubs where everyone mocks but actually loves and always has a good time…… unfortunately for us although we most definitely wished to mock it, it didn’t really capture our mood and we were left feeling a little bit old as people whooped with excitement as tracks I’d never heard of bellowed out of the speakers.
No real hangovers the next day but plenty of sun at the beach and for the nights entertainment we headed to the Arts Factory (where is stayed the last time) to Cockatoo Paul and his show. Once again it
well done but was so identical to the performance I saw 6 months previous his claim to being an ‘artist’ is almost fraudulent.
Gold Coast
We only wanted to stay in Byron for 5 days so when looking for somewhere to head afterwards the gold coast looked like a good idea. Unfortunately a good indication of the time we had in the gold coast was I did not take one photo in 3 days.
The biggest highlight was a trip to ‘wet n wild’ a group of 5 30 year old perhaps did look a little out of place but our screams and smiles were that of teenagers. Things have come along way since we were the age for water parks and most of the rides where tandem which, as a party of 5 caused a little problem but it was also cool to share the experience. Lisa was by far the best to ride with, high pitched screams which were always followed with decibels of laughter and then repeated. Fresh from the skydive none of the rides really had us shaking in our thongs but one which was a good few hundred meters of freefall certainly made
us think with the non-skydivers taking the slightly more tame version. The best ride by far was the tornado where you ride in a dingy facing each other then freefall into a funnel skimming from one side to the other. A great day out and the only thing that probably saved the gold coast experience.
Travelling used to be reserved for the intrepid but places like Australia east coast have become so easy and accessible that literally anyone can do it. We stayed in the ‘surfers paradise backpackers resort’ and if there is any example of how travelling is not really travelling anymore it is this. The staff were all brits and loving their ‘costa del sol’ life style….. unfortunately the sort of people who used to dream about becoming 18-30 holiday rep now come out to oz and work at tacky backpackers and claim that they travelling - which I suppose they are but ‘travelling’ isn’t always on geographical dimension.
Oh and before I sign off we did sample the Gold Coast nightlife but it wasn’t really for us!!!
I am now 30....... suppose I should try and get some sense of responsibility!
Big thanks for everyone
that made it up to Byron for my birthday!!!!
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Ms Bananas
non-member comment
Outrageous!
Love and miss ya Pet. Keep on keeping on...V proud of ya!!!! Come and do some of that fun in Hawaii so I can play too. Lovesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss