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Published: December 12th 2008
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I know this blog has been 6 months in the pipeline, but it does actually carry on from the previous one, I just forgot about it whilst I was busy working in Sydney....!!
So we left Tin Can bay having hand fed the dolphins and made our way down the coast as far as Noosa. Noosa National Park is a headland that covers an area almost 23 square kilometres and has many coves and beaches backed by forest. It's a very picturesque area and there are many walking tracks to discover. We decided we would walk one of the routes that was 4km or so and took us along the coastal path. The weather wasn't particularly great as it was drizzly but it was still warm and pleasant enough to walk in. There are many koalas inhabiting the trees in the park so we walked along slowly enough to glance up every now and then in the hope to spot one. After about ten minutes or so we came across a couple who were pointing their camera up in the direction of the tree above and we knew that there must be a koala there. This was my first Koala
spotting since being in Australia so I stood there for some time admiring the little fellow and taking shots myself. We eventually started to walk away and take some coastal shots when a surfer walking in the other direction past us, motioned for us to turn around, and we spotted the koala crossing the path and climbing another tree. We were literally a couple of metres away, it was amazing to see a koala walking (rather clumsily I might add!) and I managed to get a video clip of him climbing the tree next to us. After much admiring of said koala, we carried on our walk, which was a short trail that took us to a couple of beaches. The weather continued to be pretty miserable so we didn't stay long but it was nice to get out of the van and stretch our legs and get some fresh air.
After this we made our way down as far as Surfers Paradise for a quick stop off for dinner and to see the sights before making our way to Byron Bay. Cape Byron is Australia's most easterly point, 153° 39´ east, located on the north coast of New
South Wales and Captain James Cook named Cape Byron after circumnavigator John Byron (Grandfather of English poet Lord Byron). Byron is a little bit of a 'yuppie' place, attracting mainly backpackers, and is a popular place for the surfers - much like Bondi Beach in Sydney. The first night we arrived late from Surfers Paradise and decided to sleep on the side of the road near a couple of other camper vans, only to be rudely awakened by some tap-tapping on our window around 7am in the morning by the ranger/policeman. Ooops, obviously one is not supposed to just pull up on the side of the road but we claimed we had been driving through the night and were tired but would move on. Luckily, the campsite we had already chosen to stay in the following night allowed us to check in early and we got our heads back down for a couple of hours (well, actually I slept til midday whilst Romana went to explore the local activities on offer). Romana had found one of the cheapest surfing lessons on offer which included a fish and chip supper that evening so we decided to book for the afternnon surfing
slot. We happened to be the only ones on the surfing lesson which was good as we had more or less one-to-one tuition with our instructor (who happened to be hilarious). He took us to a very secluded bay with hardly any waves but they were big enough for us to ride nonetheless. I surprised even myself by managing to stand up and surf straight away (admittedly we did have huge boards) and after about 6 or so times standing up and riding for about 50metres or so, then jumping off into waist hight water, Romana and the instructor joked that I would get through the whole lesson without even getting my hair wet! I think having had some snowboarding lessons may have helped but I was still really pleased with my achievements. Romana was getting increasingly better too, and then came the time for us to paddle and catch our own wave (the instructor had been pushing us onto them at first) and my arm strength just wasn't good enough to get up speed and get my own wave, but Romana did this with ease and was standing up every time too. By the time we had finished the
sun was setting over the bay and we made our way back to the campsite for a very welcome fish and chip supper! That evening we headed out to a bar on the beachfront and watched a band called 'polaroid fame' play who were really good.
The next day we made our way back up the coast and stopped off at mermaid beach for a bit of a chill out and sunbathe, Surfers Paradise again for Romana to do a bungy thing and then went into Brisbane where we picked up one of Romana's Uni friends and went back to his house where we stayed for a very civilised evening going out for dinner and drinks and a welcome sleep in a proper bed! Then we said goodbye to our chubby friend and made our way back to Sydney... a great trip had by all and despite some of the fallbacks, we managed to see most things that we had wanted to.
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Dad
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fun
Nice to catch up with your news! Have fun