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Published: March 15th 2011
On Monday 14 February we watched the movie Eurotrip and then Ryan (an Australian friend of Thuur) drove Eefje, Thuur, Clint (another Dutch friend of Thuur) and me around Newcastle for some sightseeing. We went for a walk to the Wharf, then Ryan drove us around Newcastle Beach, Nobby’s Beach and Bar Beach and we had a late lunch at a place where they had fantastic burgers, called Grill’d. Then we went to Woolworths (supermarket we visit the most in Australia), where we did our grocery shopping. We drove back to campus and Thuur and me played tennis. In the evening we went to a student party where they played sex trivial and after that we went to an afterparty at Abbots (another campus).
On Tuesday 15 February we woke up around noon, did some laundry, went to the supermarket, played tennis and went on the internet. In the evening we ate noodles, said goodbye to Thuur and thanked him for staying at his place. We had to take a train from campus (Warabrook) to Newcastle and there we took the Greyhound Bus at 9.50 pm. We arrived in Byron Bay at 7.50 am in the morning. We tried to
sleep in the Greyhound Bus which is almost impossible. Almost everytime we took the Greyhound we got two seats for ourselves, but still it’s almost the same as trying to sleep in an airplane. There is even more turbulence in the Greyhound Bus than in an airplane.
On Wednesday 16 February we were picked up at the Greyhound Bus stop by a bus which took us to Cape Byron Lodge Hostel. We dropped our backpacks, walked to the supermarket, came back to the hostel, checked in and went to the Main Beach in Byron Bay. I swam in the ocean, went for a run and made lots of photos. Every day when we are going in the sun we put sunsreen on and at the end of the day when we come back from the beach and after we had a shower we put aftersun on. Eefje and me had dinner, watched the movie Borat and went to bed.
On Thursday 17 February we moved to a different hostel closer to the beach, called Main Beach Backpackers. We walked to Wategos Beach and from there I did some nice walking tracks, one to Palm Valley and one around
Cape Byron to the most easterly point of the Australian mainland and to the lighthouse. I was able to see dolphins from the most easterly point. On the way back we bought new headphones for my ipod, did grocery shopping and I bought 6 bottles of Perroni in a bottle shop and Eefje bought wine. Then we got pizza from Dominos, had some drinks in the hostel and went to a bar called Cheeky Monkey’s.
On Friday 18 February we went for a walk to Little Wategos Beach after our breakfast (toast with ham and cheese and fresh orange juice). I made my lunch (four slices of bread with marmelade, an appel or a banana , a peach and 1,5 liter water) like every day. We made some pictures of Little Wategos Beach and walked back to the Main Beach where I tried bodyboarding for the first time. That was cool and it was going quite well for the first time. When we came back from the beach we had a shower (like every day) and ate noodles.
On Saturday 19 February we went to the Main Beach again with some Irish girls and Welsh guys we met
in the hostel. I tried bodyboarding for the second day and it was going better already. I listened to my ipod, read a book and we saw a guy picking up a snake, because the battery of his phone fell in between the rocks where the snake was. In the evening Eefje and me went on a pubcrawl (about 100 people). It cost 25 Aud and started at 7 pm at a bar called the Nortern, where we had free entree and a buy one get one free drink. Then we went to Aquarius where we had free entree, a free drink and free pizza and fries. After that we went to Lalaland where we got free entree and 4 Aud spirits and 5 Aud Mojitos and then to Cocomangas where we had free entree and a free drink. We ended in Woodies where we got free entree and a free drink and then we went back to Ckeeky Monkey’s again.
On Sunday 20 February we went to Tallow Beach, a beautiful untouched long beach on the east side of Byron Bay. I went for a run there, found some beautiful shells and Eefje and me found out how
many days in Australia we had left and where we wanted to go. We came back in the hostel, had noodles, went for some ice cream and then to the Beach Hotel where we danced and had some drinks.
On Monday 21 February we did our laundry and we booked surflessons with Koolkatz (I booked for 3 days and Eefje for 1 day). At 2 pm we got picked up at the hostel and then we drove with a group of 14 people to a small village just outside of Byron Bay called Lennox Head, an excellent place to learn surfing. We came back around 6.30 pm and the first lesson we learned how to turn the board around, how to get on the board, how to stand on the board and to surf straight to the beach. When we came back, I went to the Subway for a chicken teriyaki sandwich and then we went for a drink in Woodies before 10 pm (we got 5 times free entree and 5 free drinks at Woodies at the pubcrawl). There we met some Germans (Marius, Yannick, Tim and Sanna) we met at the pubcrawl on Saturday and they asked
me to join them to Cheeky Monkey’s and so I did. They got me in for free (normally 5 Aud), cause they knew the girl who was working at the entrance and also knew the barcrew so we got our beers for free (Tooheys New). I went home at midnight, because I had my second surflesson the next day at 9 am.
On Tuesday 22 February I woke up early and after breakfast I went for my second surflesson where I learned how to turn, how to get on my board by myself and catch waves on my own. We went to Lennox Head again. It is better to go surfing in the morning, because the tide is high. I improved a lot and didn’t fall of the board so much as on the first day. After about 3 hours of surfing we went for a swim in a tea tree lake. The water of this lake is good for your skin and hair, because of the oil from the tea trees. When I came home I worked on my travelblog.
On Wednesday 23 February I had my last surflesson (about 2,5 hours) and in this lesson I
learned more about paddling towards deeper water, catching higher waves, wave selection and learning how to increase and decrease speed. After the lesson I got a free T-shirt. Then I went on the internet, did grocery shopping and in the evening we went for dinner at Cheeky Monkey’s. Then we went to Woodies for a free drink and then to Cocomangas for another free drink. After that we went back to Cheeky Monkey’s and stayed there for the rest of the evening.
On Thursday 24 February the weather was very bad so we stayed home, watched the movie Save the last Dance 2 and after that we went to a travel agency, called Wicked where we booked Fraser Island, sailing at the Whitsunday Islands and diving at Magnetic Island (Great Barrier Reef).We booked everything for 923 Aud and all the trips are open dated. Because we spend so much money, Wicked gave us some hostel vouchers (worth more than 200 Aud) we could use in the hostel where we would stay along the east coast. We also got a free kayaking tour in Noosa, that normally costs 150 Aud. Normally the price of all the trips would be 1149
Aud, but we got the whole package for 923 Aud per person. In the evening we had noodles again and we went out to the same bars as the night before.
On Friday 25 February the weather was better again so we went to the Main Beach in Byron Bay, played volleyball and soccer, did some bodyboarding, swimming, reading and I listened to my ipod. In the evening we went for dinner at Cheeky Monkey’s again, where we had a cheeseburger with fries. Cheeky Monkey’s is a restaurant and bar where you can also watch sports and they have a lot of entertainment every night. They gave away a free skydive to a girl that had the nicest bodypainting. We did the same pubcrawl as the nights before, because of the free drinks in Woodies before 10 pm and Cocomangas before 10.30 pm.
On Saturday 26 February we checked out of our hostel before 10 am, left our backpacks at the Main Beach Backpackers Hostel and went to Wicked to print our itineries (we always have to do that if we travel by Greyhound Bus) for the Greyhound Bus. We took the Greyhound Bus at 1.05 pm to
Surfers Paradise and arrived there at 1.40 pm (it’s a 1 hour and 35 minute drive and a time difference of 1 hour). When we arrived in Queensland we went to Backpackers in Paradise, the hostel we booked and where we could stay for two nights for 18 Aud a night. We got this cheap accomodation, because of the hostel vouchers we got with the trips we booked with Wicked. We dropped our backpacks at the hostel, checked out the hostel, went to the beach where I went for a run. On the way back we did grocery shopping at Woolworths and went on a clubcrawl with Wicked for 40 Aud. We could go for two nights (Saturday and Wednesday) to five different clubs (Beer Garden, Billy’s Beach House, Cocktails and Dreams, Vanity and Sincity) and we got free entree, a bbq and a free drink in Beer Garden, free entree, a shot and potato wedges in Billy’s Beach House, free entree, pizza and a free drink in Cocktails and Dreams and free entree and a free drink in Vanity and Sincity. We went with almost 300 people and had a great time. Eefje and me also got a Wicked
VIP discount pass, which we coud use for free entree at all the clubs the whole week, free internet, discount on food and much more.
On Sunday 27 February I made some pictures of the hostel Backpackers in Paradise, bought two pens and six pencils at Woolworths and then we went to the beach. I swam, went for some ice cream and for two cheeseburgers at Mc Donalds (buy one get one free with VIP discount pass), then to a travel Agency called Tribal Travel where we could go half an hour on the internet for free (VIP discount pass). In the evening we ate noodles, made plans for the next days and I worked on my travelblog.
On Monday 28 February we checked in in a different hostel called Islander after having breakfast in Backpackers in Paradise. I left my backpack in the hostel to pick it up later and first we did grocery shopping at Woolworths, then we went to the beach where I went for a run for 1,5 hours, swam in the sea, listened to my ipod and read a book. We went again to Mc Donalds to get two cheeseburgers and then to
Tribal Travel to go on the internet. After that I bougt fluid for my contacts and went to the bottle shop where I bought six bottles of Tooheys New for 15 Aud. We ate noodles and played tennis (Islander has a tennis court) from 9-10 pm. After that I went in the sauna and then watched the movie Silence of the Lambs in the common room with a guy from Wales and we drank some beers. Eventually I went out, but nothing was open so I came home very early.
On Tuesday 1 March I went to the backpackers reception in the morning, got cutlery (10 Aud deposit) and had breakfast. Then I went to the Vodafone store, because they didn’t take minutes of my Vodafone to Vodafone talk and took too much credit of my flexible credit. Then I did some laundry and went to the beach. At the beach Eefje and me met two Dutch girls, called Lisa and Merel. Lisa was travelling and Merel was studying in Brisbane. In the evening I watched the movie Black Swan with Lisa and went with four other girls we met in the hostel from Italy, Holland and Germany to
ladies night (free drinks for ladies all night) in Sincity.
On Wednesday 2 March I slept in, went to an ATM and then to Woolworths to buy some fruit. Then I went to see my German friends (Tim, Marius and Yannick) at the hostel Backpackers in Paradise and booked two extra nights in Islander. Then I had a nap in the afternoon and went to the same clubcrawl we did on Saturday. The difference was that this time we went with our 3 German friends and the Irish couple and we went to a club called Twenty1 instead of Cocktails and Dreams.
On Thursday 3 March the Irish couple, Eefje and me wanted to go to the Quiksilver Pro (World Championships Surfing) in Coolangatta, but the waves were not good so it was a layday. We went to the beach instead, where I went for a 1,5 hour run, swam in the sea and listened to my ipod. Then around 4.30 pm we went to Mc Donalds for 2 cheeseburgers and to Tribal Travel to on the internet for half an hour. On my way back I bought a sixpack of Tooheys New at the bottle shop and
went back to the hostel. There I had some drinks with two Dutch girls and decided to go to a RnB/ladies night in Sincity with a guy I knew from Byron Bay (Robin from Sweden) at 10.30 pm. Because we came in before 11 pm we got in for free and we had a great night.
On Friday 4 March: I checked out of the Islander hostel at 10 am, cause a girl (Klarisse) I knew from the festival Good Vibrations in Sydney flew over to see me. I booked a room in Backpackers in Paradise again for two nights, because I was staying in a mens dorm in Islander and Klarisse couldn’t stay in that dorm. I was very tired from the nights before so when I checked in at Backpackers in Paradise I went straight to bed and caught up on some sleep. At 4.45 pm I picked up Eefje and we went on the Wicked clubcrawl again. Klarisse arrived with the bus from Gold Coast Airport at 9 pm and I picked her up from the bus stop. We walked to Backpackers in Paradise and we talked until 3 am.
On Saturday 5 March: Eefje,
Klarisse and me wanted to go to the Quiksilver Pro (World Championships Surfing) in Coolangatta, but in the morning the waves were not good enough that’s why they put the tournament on standby. We decided to go to the beach instead and Klarisse and me listened to some Dutch music on my ipod, went for a swim, went for a walk on the beach and through the shopping streets of Surfers Paradise. Then we walked to the hostel, where I showed Klarisse some pictures and movies of Dubai. After that we changed clothes and got ready for our last clubcrawl in Surfers Paradise. Klarisse and me picked Eefje up at 4.45 pm and we started the clubcrawl again in the Beergarden at 5 pm. We also met another guy there that we met the day before on the clubcrawl. His name was Aki and he was from New-Zealand. We had sausages with bread again in the Beergarden, potato wedges in Billy’s Beach House and pizza in Cocktails and Dreams. We went home around 00.30 am and we went to sleep for a few hours. Then I brought Klarisse back to the bus, which left at 4.15 am, cause she had
to catch a flight from Gold Coast Airport at 6 am. After I brought Klarisse to the bus I walked back to the hostel and went back to sleep.
On Sunday 6 March I had to check out at 10 am in the morning. I walked to the city to make some last pictures of the clubs we went to, the main streets (Caville Avenue and Elkhorn Avenue) and of Mc Donalds where I normally never go, but this week almost every day. Then I walked back to the hostel, chilled a little bit at the swimming pool and laid in a hammock. Finally I took my backpack and walked to the bus stop where I met Eefje around 00.40 pm and where our Greyhound Bus to Brisbane would leave at 1.10 pm.
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