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Published: August 11th 2007
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So...in the time that I last blogged the blogsite crashed and all of my entries got lost! There is a facility to 'try and find blog entries' as you may see, but I haven't had the chance to try that yet. (However, since writing the above 2 days ago - 22 of my blog entries have returned and only 10 are lost, which is definite progress!)
Luckily my legend of a Mum had printed them all so I have hard copies at least - from now on she'll be saving them on computer as well since clearly this thing isn't trustworthy!
Brisbane:
I arrived at dawn after 2 hours sleep and enjoyed a refreshing morning exploring the city.
Randomly I bumped into Laura and Jane at the hostel, two friends from the Fraser Island trip who had been working in Brisbane for the last month. More randomly they were staying the same room as Alex, the girl I had met on my first and only night there a month previously and had hoped to catch up with again.
My plans for an early night got thwarted when I went for a 'quick' drink with Jane and
the two guys in my room...I met an aussie guy who loved dancing as much as me, spent all night dancing with him, got drunk on 3 drinks (yes I am such a lightweight atm), for some reason competed in a podium dancing competition, which not only did I lose, but I managed to whack my head on one of the poles surrounding the podium! Personally I think I covered up this slight mishap rather well, but I did gain an instant large lump that remained painful the next day...I carried on dancing afterwards of course, the best way to face embarrassment is to swallow your pride and continue having fun I reckon! ha!
The next day I attended the 'paint your own boomerang aboriginal art workshop' that was included in my east coast package. I hadn't intended to stay but I enjoyed the painting so much, bearing in mind I haven't painted for years, that I stayed til close and came back after Noosa to finish it (well all except the varnishing...I had to leave!)
Noosa:
I returned up north to the beautiful town of Noosa - holiday destination of wealthy australians as well as
Camping companion!
This thing was massive! backpackers. I didn't feel I'd had the chance to see it properly last time in my rush to get to Melbourne, plus I still had a 3 days 2 night canoe tour to do.
Noosa was lovely - I did the coastal walk through the national park. The hostel I first chose, however, was unfortunate...I was still massively sleep deprived and it didn't provide for a good night's sleep.
The Everglades canoeing:
The Everglades national park is just north of Noosa and the creeks act as mirrors so as you canoe along and look down there's a whole forest and sky growing/existing below. It's really beautiful - and peaceful, the only noises are bird calls.
The trip was supposed to be: Day 1 - canoe to camp, Day 2 - Walk to sanddune, Day 3 canoe back to be picked up.
The canoeing was amazing, however, the trip was badly organised so we ended up at camp by lunchtime with absolutely nothing to do. None of us had brought books, things to occupy ourselves since we figured we'd be busy.
My group was nice - 7 fun and friendly Irish folk travelling together (who were on
Nimbin
A very good point that I agree with; though doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a total stoner either! a 2 day 1 night trip), three guys and one girl (my canoe partner).
Unfortunately - the other guys got bored and decided the first day that they'd leave the next morning...my partner and I were going to stay, however the night was so freezing cold and boring we decided to leave too, since we still got to finish the canoeing!
Just like Fraser Island - I developed a bad cold the very next day (I'm still pretty shattered and run down so it doesn't take much!) which has been a pain but it's fading now!
Surfers Paradise:
I only spent one night here, staying with Laura, Jane and (their friend) Sarah. Whilst the girls went out for a 'Dracula' evening (dinner and show) I was feeling too rough, so I wandered into Surfers for an evening explore and got an early night. Surfers is, as I was told, a grim complex of high rise hotels, neon lights, entertainment places and eateries, all along the very long, very beautiful gold coast beach. I actually really enjoyed my brief exploration getting to see the place in all it's 'glory' at night. I felt I had
Bush hut
A little piece of paradise seen what it had to offer and, since I was not well enough to full on party anyway if I stayed (since that's what people do there) I left with the girls the next morning for Byron Bay.
Byron Bay:
This place is a real backpacker hotspot - it was mentioned to me many times by people I met in NZ who'd just come from Oz...mainly, Cheeky Monkey's, the tacky nightclub where everyone dances on the tables, and Nimbins, the (now) commercialised hippy town just outside Byron where everyone goes to sample the locally produced hash cookies.
I like Byron - it's just right to chill for a few days and try and get rid of my cold. The first day here was Laura's birthday so we went out for a meal then to Cheeky Monkeys. CM is indeed tacky but I did enjoy dancing on the specially made dancefloor tables!
The next day, however, was a write off for me, the combination of having a cold, lack of sleep the night before and a few drinks completely wiped me out and I was in and out of bed all day...not fun!
Yesterday we did
'Jim's Alternative Tour' - the most recommended route to Nimbin. It was really fun - our guide Dougie had been a hippy in his youth and was is still living the lifestyle in his grandparent days...only less drugs now!
The tour combined music and commentary and took us to various interesting places along with Nimbin; one was the bush forest summer house of another crazy botanist hippy man who had moved to the area and planted many, many trees and plants, creating a wonderful botanical garden rich with wildlife...his summer house by a large pond was a little piece of paradise...he, only the other hand was friendly but stark raving bonkers. As Dougie put his (somewhat rehearsed line) 'I alway wonder, firstly, what is he on about?...and, what is he on?'
Nimbin:
Nimbin has a history as a town developing in the hippy era, where people seeking an alternative lifestyle came to live. The surrounding area has retained this culture, with many families living a more natural and craft orientated lifestyle, and Byron Bay Shire is politically green and actively defending itself from development.
Nimbin itself though is now highly commercialised and thrives
off the busloads of backpackers flocking to the place to check it out and buy the hash cookies and weed that every other person tries to sell to you! The settlement is the centre of pro-weed politics, however it did seem to have quite a few hash junkies just hanging about. Definitely not somewhere I'd like to live!
So - I have two days left in Byron before I head to Sydney, Melbourne and then Singapore!
Today I plan to try and get back to normal, ignore my cold and finally walk to the Cape Byron Lighthouse, which stands on the most easterly point of the east coast.
P.s. The sunshine is beautiful 😊
xxx
Photos to follow
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