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Published: March 6th 2009
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Lake Mckenzie
Fraser Island All good things have to come to an end, but for me the east coast ended all too abruptly. The worst floods in 20 years in North Queensland meant roads closed and change of plans. However, before we hit the floods we had thrilling adventure up the East Coast of Australia. The coast is littered with stunning beaches, picturesque islands, world class theme parks and permanent party atmosphere with a profusion of like minded travellers exploring Australia most travelled route Sydney to Cairns.
So we packed up the campervan and headed off from Bondi, leaving our home and our friends in search of adventure. Our new home was well equipped and ready for one of the world most famous road trips. Doing the coast in campervan, oppose to the bus, gave us the freedom to venture off the beaten track and stay is some more remote places. One of these places was Crescent Head, which is one of the most famous surf beaches in Australia. We camped just 50 yards from the beach, trying to catch a wave on the body board, enjoying being a beach bum again. Another beach we stayed beside was One Mile Beach in
Nelson bay, where we spent our evenings around a camp fire on the beach, making new friends and enjoying our freedom. We also spent a couple of nights at the scenic Tamborine National Park, where spotted a rather large goanna (very large Australian lizard) beside our campervan.
Although we had the freedom to explore more secluded places, our favourite spots along the coast are the iconic world famous places. My personal favourite was Fraser Island. The biggest sand islands was ours to explore for a few days in self-drive adventure 4x4 adventure that included picturesque lakes, glorious coastal views , delicious food and great camp site entertainment. We had a great set up where the guys of the jeep set up the tents while the girls prepared the meals, (thanks Serena and Michelle) and Arnie kept us entertained belting out song after song on his five sting guitar. Not only was Frasier island great fun, it is also one of the most beautiful places we have been with the magnificent Lake McKenzie , gorgeous Lake Wabby and Champagne rock pools gave us ample opportunities to cool down and unwind.
Another favourite along the East Coast has
Croc Show
Australia Zoo to be Byron Bay. One of Australia’s most famous beaches is definitely the party capital of New South Wales. The town is swamped with travellers and Aussies alike, trying to catch a wave during the day and party at night. Byron Bay’s proximately to hippy village of Nimbin adds to the laid back atmosphere throughout the town. Byron Bay has abundance of bars, clubs and restaurants but more often than not we ended up at Cheeky Monkeys. As the name suggest, this bar has backpackers partying all night long with table dancing and drinking games the order of day. When its time to go or you are asked to leave for being drunk, there is 23 hour pie shop that produces some of the finest meat pies in Australia. (Since arriving in Sydney last year, I have become a big fan of the meat pies). Following our last night out in Byron Bay, after a bellyful of beer, I woke up the next morning with no phone but a half eaten pie, some of suggested I traded my phone for a pie.
We made a two night stop in Brisbane to celebrate Macca’s (our Cork neighbour from Bondi)
Lake Wobby
Fraser Island birthday. In true Irish fashion we celebrated late into the night with a big group of us out sampling the best of Brisbane nightlife. The following evening, we went to Benson and Pedro’s apartment for a mighty session, with Arnie (who we would meet again on Fraser Island) and Sweeney together putting a fantastic performance on the guitar and accordion. One of the most memorable nights out we had up the East Coast
Along the coast we took advantage of opportunity to go to some world famous theme parks. The first we visited was Wet n’ Wild Water Park. We spent the day flying down slides, running around like big kids that we are. The Black Hole and Mach 5 were two of my favourites, it was a fun-filled day all round. We also visited SeaWorld on the Gold Coast. There are an amazing selection of dolphins, seals, string rays, sharks and countless different types of fish. The highlight of the day was the Dolphin show where a team of dolphins along with their instructors entertained a large crowd, with some impressive aerobatic moves, simply breathtaking. We also visited Steve Irwin’s Australia zoo, which was my favourite. In
Dophlin
Sea World this zoo, the animals are not trapped in small cages, but are allowed to roam in larger semi-natural enclosures. At Roo heaven, kangaroo lay lazily in the shade as people gather around to get up close and photograph them. At the world famous crocoseum, in true Steve Irwin fashion, a croc show entertains the crowd. There is also a poignant tribute to Steve Irwin, and his contribution to the zoo can be seen at this exhibition.
By the time we reached Airlie Beach it was raining and raining and raining. It was wet season in North Queensland and they were experiencing the heaviest rainfall in years. Roads further north were closed, sailing trips were being cancelled, and possibility of us seeing the Whitsundays (or Wet Sundays as they were fast becoming known as) was slim. After few days of torrential rain and a lot of drinking, the weather improved and fortunately for us our sailing trip went ahead. After starting in the bar rather early, to cure a bad hangover, we arrive down to the boat a little late and drunk with beers in hand. We certainly have made better first impressions as we made our way onto
Broomstick
Witsundays Islands the boat, Colin with Goon (cheap Australian wine) in hand slips onto his ass, kicks something, badly bruises his big toe while the rest of us break into hysterical laughing. Priceless! The trip improved from there, we did some incredible sailing, in some far from ideal weather conditions. We also got a chance to do some snorkelling and scuba diving which was amazing. All the food which was prepared by the crew was delicious and we a couple of great nights on the boat with some pretty cool people.
When we arrive back to Airlie Beach from Whitsundays, the weather had not improved, the roads remained closed and news reports suggest it was going to get a lot worst before it gets better. So it was decision time for the group. We all had different plans after the east coast, I changed my flights to New Zealand, while Adam and Colin decided to go in search for fruit picking jobs, while Darren and Podge were very undecided what was next for them. On the day, Colin, Adam and myself were due to fly to Brisbane, the weather improved, roads opened and due to frustrating saga with campervan company, Podge
White Haven Beach
Witsundays Islands and Darren decided to try and drive to Cairns.
So not all of us made it to Cairns, and it was a disappointing end to an adventurous 5 weeks in the campervan. It was also end of the group travelling together for over a year. While the rest of the group remained in Australia in search of work I decided to venture across to New Zealand. Our trips to Fraser Island and Whitsunday Islands stand out as the highlights of the East Coast, but we had so much fun everywhere we went meeting so many cool people and seeing the some of best places in Australia.
Author Note: Big thanks to Adam and Podge who drove the rest of us up the coast. Again thanks to all the lads for use of photographs. The last year travelling has been the best year in my life and I couldn’t have picked better travelling companions. Looking forward to seeing you all in a few months or a few years!
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