Surf's Out!

After leaving the Australian Zoo, my next stop was to make my way down the Gold Coast and do some surfing. I've wanted to try surfing for a long time, and although I wasn't expecting to carve any waves on my first go, I did want to see how I could get on. My first stop along the Gold Coast was a town adequately named "Surfer's Paradise" or Surfers as everyone refers to it.

Surfers had nice long sandy beaches and a decent nightlife. There seems to be a never ending queue of skyscraper condos waiting to be built here. Although there are all ready quite a few, the main street was lined with sales offices complete with scale models. I have heard more than a few people complain about these skyscrapers ruining the beachfront, but I kind of liked them. There was plenty of surf in Surfers, but I wouldnt call it paradise. There were some intermediate showers, but I still managed to keep my tan ticking over. The hostel I stayed at rented out surfboards, so I was set. The waves were not that harsh, and I got some good practise in.

I was also learning how to cut some corners to save some money. After staying in the hostel for a few nights and showing my face around, I checked out and just slept in my van that I parked outside. I could still use their pool and shower and no one was the wiser. This would not be the last time I used this trick.

After Surfers, I decided to head out to Lamington National Park. I had gotten a recomendation on this park from a fellow traveller earlier in the trip. Apparantly, the camp grounds were full of kangaroos that you could feed yourself in the morning. There is also a tree canopy walk, which I had never experienced before. I got a bit of company for this trip. I met a Swedish guy, David, in Surfers who wanted to see the park, so we headed out together to camp.

That night I was fixing something to eat after dark. I heard some russling above in the tree that I had parked underneath. I looked up only to see my headlamp illuminate a tree possum less than a foot away from my head. He was ugly as sin and not at all shy. I let out a shriek (a manly one) and jumped out of the way. David found this hilarious. The light was not bothering Mr. Possum at all and he kept advancing with those sharp claws. I had closed up the van so he couldn't get at the food and　David was keeping him at bay with a stick. I thought he had finally gone away and so David and I got in the van. Not more than a few minutes later, we heard him land on the roof. He was still trying to get at the food, but his claws weren't that sharp. We kept banging the ceiling and listening to where he would run next. It was kind of like playing whack a mole. Eventually he buggered off.

Morning came and the coast looked clear. I didnt see any kangaroos about, although there were a few wallabies hopping around. Mostly though, there were wild turkeys everywhere. I had just poured myself a cup of tea and in my other hand was a piece of bread. One of the turkeys had come up real close to me. As I looked down at him I thought, "He wont bother me if I dont bother him". Just as I was thinking that, he flapped his feathers and flew up to yank my breakfast out of my hand. This prompted me to flail my arms about and let out an even more manly shriek than the night before, losing my cuppa in the process. David had another good chuckle and I was convinced that the animal kingdom was out to get me. If only I had my turkey fryer with me. After breakfast, we did a bit of parrot feeding and then hiked for a few hours. The tree canopy walk was ace and the trails we did had more than a few waterfalls. We got to see a mini-lobster or crayfish that was bright blue. Although the water was clear, I had trouble getting a picture of it and ended up with my right leg submerging up to my hip. Very refreshing.

After our hike we were off to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is the eastern most part of Australia and is known for some great surfing. It's got a great beach scene and it is infected with backpackers. There is an alternative vibe here as lots of hippies came here and never left. To save money, I would just park my van on the streets and sleep overnight there. By day I would hit the beach.

One of the days I did some hanggliding. It was my first time ever on a hangglider, and the feeling was incredible. In order to launch it, I had to run with the pilot off of this wooden ramp and hope that when our feet left the last plank that we wouldn't sink down into the trees below us off the cliff. That was pretty scary. Once we were in the air though, it was breathtaking. We flew out along the penensula and over the lighthouse. My pilot was very good and could tell which way the wind was comming by just looking at the waves. We ended up landing right on the beach. Piloting the glider is a lot more complicated than I thought and I was thankful to have an experienced pilot there. In order to do it yourself, you would need about 7 days worth of lessons. I was glad just to get up there. I can check that off my list of things I've never done before.

I rented a surfboard and practiced throughout the week there. Some days were better than others. The rip tide was pretty strong on this one particular day, and I wiped out something fierce. As the wave crashed over me, it sucked the nose of my board under and took me with it. I'm not sure what happened after that but I did receive a pretty good knock on the head from my surfboard. The result was a headache of proportions I can not remember ever experiencing. I had to leave the ocean and have a good lie down on the beach. It didn't pass so I had a cold shower and went to lie down in the van for a bit. I was feeling pretty weak and more than a bit queezy. I had to periodically open the door to puke on the street which seemed to amuze everyone. 4 hours later I was feeling better but not 100%. I wouldn't feel completely back to normal for another week. Turns out I had a concussion. I guess I can check that one off my list of things I've never done before as well, although I wouldn't recomend doing it again.

The concussion put my surfing practice on hold and I gave myself some R&R time in a town called Port Macquarie. I spent most of the time resting, but I did have a chance to try a kagaroo kebab. Pretty darn tasty. I don't really have too much to say about the town other than when the sun went down the sky filled with more bats than I ever could have imagined. They live in a swamp nearby and at sunset they form massive flocks to head out up the coast in search of fruit trees. There were thousands of them in the sky! After my head started to feel better, I headed down to Sydney...

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