Sydney to Cairns in 2 Weeks: Part 1

Oceania » Australia
February 8th 2009

Published: March 16th 2009

With only 2 weeks until our flight out of Cairns and 1500 miles of driving still to be covered, maybe heading inland to the Blue Mountains wasn't the best move. But since when have either of us ever made the best move!

We arrived in the town of Katoomba in the glorious sunshine but thankfully, due to the elevation of the place, it was a bit cooler up here. The hostel (Katoomba YHA) was a converted old hotel and they'd not really changed much about the place. It's defo one of my top hostels so far on the trip. Really spacious with loads of places to chill out. The kitchen was big and clean, as were all the other rooms. The overall atmosphere was a pretty chilled one, nothing like Collaroy. I liked it immediately. Our 1st evening, we walked down to the edge of one of the mountains, did a bit of a track along the egde until we arrived at Echo Point, some big viewpoint place. Stayed here until the sun set and took a zillion photos of it. Was pretty spectacular though. The next morning we drove out to the Jenolan caves which, even though they were only a few miles as the crow flies, took an hour to drive there cos there was some big valley in the way! Typical. The tour of the proper caves that were underground was $25, but Gary was suffering from a case of stingygititis so we made do with the freebie caves, which were still a bit cool at least. Went back to Echo Point that night to see the valley at night. It was so warm and there were a few people there with booze just enjoying the place. I could have happily sat there all evening with a few beers watching the moon cast shadows over the valley. Pretty spesh.

Didn't leave Katoomba until mid-afternoon after checking out so was a bit of a mission to get to Port Macquarie before 9pm which was when our next hostels reception closed. We got there just after 9 but as it turned out, the guys there are really laid back about most things and were hanging around until gone 10. Ozzie Pozzie Backpackers is in a residential area, so it's pretty quiet. It's only a small hostel too with a little courtyard surrounded by dorms. There were hammocks in the courtyard and picnic tables outside the kitchen area. Both were full of smiley happy people getting drunk. These were normal people though...not kiddies! We were in a room with 2 girls, Siw (pronounced like Steve without the T, although we just left the T in) from Norway and Jeni from near Gibraltar, although she's Scottish really. We were comparing mp3s with Siw (as you do) and we got onto Scandinavian singers, what with her being from Norway and all that. Turns out that her best friend is a singer called Kate Havnevik who I really like...of course, her album was one that didn't make the final cut for my mp3 player so I didn't have the evidence to back up my claims of being a fan. We spent our days there generally hanging out with the girls. Went in search of Koalas at the nearby creek. Found one. Tick. Also, for some bonus points, saw a load of flying foxes and an owl. Had a walk along the breakwater which has miles of rocks that people have painted on. Really cool walk seeing as the weather was good. After a bit you feel that you can't stop and have to get to the end having read every one of them! Siw also held a bit of an impromptu juggling lesson as she worked in the circus for years. I actually got the hang of it pretty quickly, but soon the fruit we were using turned to mush and the rain started so I didn't get to fully realise my potential as a circus performer! The last night the 4 of us cooked a massive Thai curry which was a huge success. Credit here must go mainly to Gary who played a pivotal role in the whole thing. Right after we'd finished though, a storm started up. Turned into a night long monsoon type of thing. Was weird because it was still so warm. Was fun sitting outside under cover...until the cover collapsed that is. Definitely one of the best places we've stayed at and some of the coolest people. Siw was staying there for another 2 days and then heading up to Byron Bay where she was starting a 7 week long yoga teachers course, so we said we may meet up with her if we were still there. Jeni was heading up that way, as were a couple of Welsh girls we met (both called Helen, which made it easy to remember, or forget in Garys case, their names), so we crammed everyone and all their stuff into our car and set off. The Helens were only going to Coffs Harbour, the next town, so the cramped car ride was thankfully a short one.

After giving Jeni's ears a good battering with The Shape of Punk to Come (we needed some music that would keep us awake) we got to Byron Bay. She only had about $150 left so was after somewhere cheap for the night. Phoning places when you're about an hour away didn't seem like the best plan, and it proved not to be. She kept saying that she'd find some hippy house to crash in for free. Sounded like toss to me and she ended up shelling out for a pretty pricey hostel cos that's all that was left! See, there are flashes of wisdom from time to time. Dropped her off, exchanged numbers and arranged to meet up the next day.

We'd booked the Arts Factory quite a bit in advance as it had come highly recommended by my own personal travel guru, my sister. The guide books raved about it and it seemed to have everything there, cinema, restaurant, juice bar, swimming pool, lake, etc etc It was a pretty big place and felt a bit impersonal, but seemed a fun hostel to stay at for a few days. Got into our dorms and met Aideen. I'd barely set foot in the room when she was over with an outstretched hand introducing herself. Then we met her older sister, Val. They're both from Dublin and are a right laugh. We were starving so headed to the kitchen to cook up another one of our culinary masterpieces, but the kitchen was way hectic. Left it an hour and then went back to find that it was about to close...explains the hectic-ness. We persuaded the girl cleaning up to let us quickly rustle something up and eat before she locked it up. Spent the evening with a few drinks on the balcony with the girls talking nonsense, as usual. 2 highlights of the evening were a large rat that entertained us on the balcony. Aideen tried to calm her sister by telling her it was a large mouse. Then we had a possum come rooting through the bin bags. It's great when the wildlife comes to you while you're sat on a sofa enjoying a few beers. Saves having to go out and find it.

When the rain stopped the next day, we headed out to the beach. Met up with Jeni there and then it started to sling it down again. Made a dash for the nearest bar and saw the Irish girls on the way so dragged them into it with us. The rain properly slammed it down for the next hour or so while we enjoyed the slightly fancy bar we'd stumbled into. Can't beat a few afternoon beers in the rain. Gary and Jeni then headed off to some vegan place he'd read about (as would become a pattern, the place had closed down) while me and the girls got some booze and then ate at the restaurant back at the hostel. We all met up later to get drunk on beer and cheap wine on the balcony again. After swearing not to touch the dreaded goon again, it didn't take much before we were all at it again, taking turns to have it poured down our necks. Ah hey, it's all in good fun.

With a fuzzy head, we checked out in the morning (why do I always drink a load on the last night at a place!?!) but sat in the car park for ages, in the rain, deciding what we should do next. Booked our Fraser Island trip, formulated a plan of attack for the day and set off...in the wrong direction. An hour later, we were pretty much back where we started, but heading the right way. After a bit of a long, windy road and thoughts of "Are we sure it's this way?" we arrived in Nimbin, famed for it's liberal approach to the general use of marijuana. Had a quick walk around, got some lunch, that's it really. It's a quirky little place, but the dodgy dealers on the street put me off a bit. Caught a familiar smell coming from one of the coffee shops there and if it hadn't have been pissing it down, it might have been a cool place to chill out for a few hours. As it was, we were on a mission, so hit the road again. Our luck had run out with hostels, and all the ones we wanted to stay in were full so we ended up driving straight to Brisbane. Missed out turning off the road into Brisbane and, thanks to the fucking river, spent the next hour trying to get back across it. Left us both a bit pissed off.

Our hostel was called Somewhere to Stay. Wasn't to impressed with the brainpower that had been used on the naming of the place, but I let that slide as from the outside it looked pretty cool. A really old style house in a quiet residential area. Inside, it felt a bit more like a city centre hostel though. It was full and we'd only managed to book 2 beds in one of the budget dorms. Easy on the wallet, but not on the senses. There were 4 long term guys staying there and their stuff was all over the place. Thought the balcony might make up for it, but their shit was all over that too. All this and the constant rain and the getting lost meant morale was ebbing in our merry camp. When the rain slowed enough to go out, we walked through our neighbourhood (the West End) down to the South Bank. Both pretty cool areas, heavy on cafes and restaurants and theatres. Not the best weather to enjoy it all though, so we hit the supermarket, ate and slept. The last few nights on the pop had taken their toll. Got woken up in the middle of the night by 2 of the guys coming in late and deciding to sit on the balcony with the light on. Seems harmless enough except the light on the balcony lights up the room better than the one actually inside the room. Bastards.

Spent the next day downtown, in the rain, wandering round some pretty cool music shops. Not typically what backpacking is all about I know, but music shops are just fun to kill a few hours in while it's raining. Least, they are to us 2. It was Valentines Day, and Saturday so as evening came around, so did the hoards of couples out for romantic evenings. We went to watch Slumdog Millionaire at the nearest cinema. First time in ages I've watched a film where the cinema's been totally full. Cool film. Cool cinema. We made the evening as romantic as we could. Eating at separate restaurants. Got back to the hostel as everyone was gearing up to head into town. Gary flaked out on his bed while I watched the end of Happy Feet down in the TV room. There were quite a few tossers around the place so, as we were checking out the next day, had another early night. It's okay though, cos things were about to get good...

Sydney to Cairns in 2 Weeks: Part 1

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