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Published: September 30th 2008
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What'll it be?
Bruce and Sheila behind the bar at the XXXX brewery The first 'real' city that we had encountered; we found Brisbane to a pretty lively, cosmopolitan place and it roughly marked the halfway point for us and our epic road trip along the coast of Oz. We'd heard a lot of good things about the place and weren't disappointed.
On day 1 we explored the botanic gardens (which is actually just a big park) and around the river making time to swing by some of the malls and squeeze in some shopping. We checked out Fortitude Valley, the up and coming bar and cafe scene was meant to be good here and we were lucky enough to catch some live acts performing in the last day of an annual mini music festival that's held out on the streets. As if Australia didn't have enough beaches, it seems that most of the largeish cities seem to create their own man made versions around their esplanade area. As is the case with Brisbane on its Southbank, though it's pretty scenic and all for free, so like all good backpackers we paid this area a visit, but not before taking in the other of Southbank's main attractions- namely the galleries. We spent some
It's London Jim, but not as we know it...
Actually, it's Brisbane's Southbank, with it's very own micro London Eye time in the Gallery of Modern Art (featuring the best Michael Jackson video installation in the world, ever) which bore a remarkable resemblance to the Tate Modern on our very own Southbank . The area as a whole in fact, reeked of London's arty and crafty Southbank area with theatres, restaurants, galleries and even its own mini London Eye.
We also paid a visit to one of the national institutions just outside the city centre, the Castlemaine Perkins brewery. The tour was really informative and we learned about everything from the history of beer and XXXX, to the brewing and bottling process and marketing. It was pretty interesting and the best bit was that it included 4 'free' schooners of any beer which they had on tap in the swanky on-site bar. We swung by the gardens at Mount Coo-tha on our way out of town and visited their ornate Japanese garden. They also had a really cool Bonsai tree collection which we perused. The lookout from the top of Mount Coo-tha gave great views of the city.
We encountered Surfer's Paradise next, the shiny, blingin' jewel in Queensland's crown - representing the main party town for surfers
Botanical buddies
In the Japanese Garden at Mount Coo-tha Botanical Gdns and wannabe surfers. The skyline was full of high rises and the streets full of glammed up locals and holiday makers out for a beery day and night. We had a bit of a mooch around and headed down the coast to Miami Beach and Coolangatta where we seamlessly crossed the state line into New South Wales.
Next on the list was Byron Bay, renowned for its hippies and cool, alternative scene. This place was definitely a bit of us- very chilled out, and during our 3 day stay there the sun shone all day long. We visited the beach and even treated ourselves to one of the best nights out we've had in ages (the coolest Reggae band we've ever heard played at the busy Beach Hotel). While in Byron, we also trekked up to the Eastern most point of the Australian mainland where a lighthouse marks the spot, and also where we saw wild dolphins frolicking in the surf below.
On our next drive, we ventured inland a little heading towards Tenterfield and witnessed one of the strangest events ever. Driving up hill, the ground around us appeared to be smoking. However, as we looked closer
Bonza bonsai!
With some of the incredible trees in the Japanese Garden we realised that it was actually steam rather than smoke. What we first thought was snow on the tarmac turned out to be melting hail stones and upon reaching the brow of the hill we witnessed pandemonium below. People were shoveling and scraping away at the ice trying to clear the path for a large cattle truck which was causing tailbacks behind it. Further down the road most of the trees had been wiped out and there was debris strewn about. People were out of their cars with baffled looks on their faces taking pictures on their mobile phones - the whole experience was reminiscent of a scene from an M. Night. Shayamalan movie. The strangest thing was that the sun was shining and the sky was the shade of azure blue giving the place a serene feel, yet the destruction was plain to see. Plus it was totally inconsistent; on one side of the road it was perfect green fields, the other bore a resemblance to a Hollywood disaster movie set. And another 2-3kms on, it was all back to normal, you never would have known that there had just been a very localised, but very powerful storm just
Golden boy
Cruising Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast up the road. Very strange indeed!
We tackled the aptly named Bald Rock the next day- Australia's 2nd largest stone monolith after Uluru (basically one hell of a big rock but made of limestone rather than sandstone). It took us around an hour to scale it but we were rewarded with the most spectacular panoramic views once at the summit.
Moving on, we drove through the quirky town of Bellingin where we'd read about this great Didgeridoo maker at Heartland Didgeridoos. After 5 minutes of expert tuition and then trying my hand at a few (I was pretty good 'n all), I picked one out for the flat which we don't own back home.
Then came Port MacQuarie, which was uninteresting apart from the 1:1 working replica of Captain Cook's original ship 'The Endeavor' which had sailed in the night prior. we took a few snaps but swiftly motored on.
Next, we headed down the coast to Port Stephens and Stockton Beach where we indulged in a spot of sand boarding. Stockton is home to the largest sand dunes in the whole of Oz and perfect for hurtling down on a piece of plastic. The dunes
A right (and left) state
Point Danger and the Captain Cook monument marking the point where New South Wales and Queensland meet were pretty impressive and it was all good clean fun (well, apart from all the sand which finds its way into every nook and cranny).
Our last stop before the bright lights and big city of Sydney town was the Hunter Valley, around 160kms north. The oldest wine region in the country and supposedly the most beautiful, it was peppered with everything from the large international wineries, to the smaller boutique places that also specialised in cheese, olives and chocolate. The place was awe inspiring as was the food and wine which we happily necked on a full day's wine tasting tour. It was a really nice way to end NSW before hitting Sydney.
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