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Published: January 23rd 2007
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Quad Biker
The classic pose Bonjour and eyup from Brisbane. First thing I hear when I check into the hostel is Fake Tales of San Francisco by the Arctic Monkeys. All the way here and I hear 4 lads from down the road. Wonders never cease eh! We've had to bypass the Gold Coast as everywhere is booked up cos of the big day out concert. Heard it's a good night out so I'll definitely have to call by before I leave Oz. Anyway, here's what I've been upto the past few weeks.
From Sydney we headed up the coast to a place called Port Stephens and settled into backpacking hut in the woods. It's supposed to be Koala territory although they proved elusive whilst I was there. We did have a few possums knocking around though, especially when I was putting my culinery skills to the test on the BBQ. Every time I whipped a burger on, one of the little beggers would scramble down the tree and try to snaffle it. Nearby is Stockton Bight which is the largest moving sand dunes in the southern hemisphere which strech all the way to Newcastle, some 40km south. We ended up renting some quads bikes
to bomb around the dunes. At one stage I had to pull out my Indiana Jones impression when I accidently ramped the quad into a ditch. I had to jump off mid-air complete with double pike to land clear or it would have been curtains. Would have made a great 'You've been framed' moment though. One of the lads we went with took some photo's so if he gets his arse in gear and sends them on, I'll post them on here.
From Port Stephens we took a "short" 7.5 hour drive to Byron Bay which is hippy central. You can't walk 2 minutes without seeing a bloke with long dredd-locked hair with a surf board. It's a smallish place but the nightlife is good and the beach's are class. Only problem is you get the occasional bloke running along in his budgie smugglers which aint a pretty sight! On one of the days I decided to book myself onto the 'snorkeling with turtles tour'. After a short boat ride we reached the Julian Rocks Marine Reserve which they reckon is one of Australia's top 10 dive sites. After jumping in, I thought the first thing I'd see would
Lighthouse - Port Stephens
I can see mi house from here! be a few tiddlers swimming around but I caught sight of a massive shark. I nearly shat myself! I later found out it was a leopard shark who have very small teeth so it couldn't have been that hard. I planned giving it a swift 1,2 to the snout if things kicked off! Funny how that didn't appear in the leaflet though the crafty gets. The reef itself is full of allsorts of fish and rays, sort of like a mini barrier reef. About half way through I spotted a green turtle swimming along the bottom. I followed it for a while waiting for it to come up for air but it never did. I couldn't spot it's scuba gear so god knows how it held it's breath that long. Most nights out there we ended up at a place called Cheeky Monkeys which is a bit like treadells in town, apart from the crap music. It's got a load of tables for people to get up and knock out their best shapes. Can't remember if I pulled out the 'A' material but I dare say I did. It's a bit of a cheesy joint but to finish a night
Byron Bay
Belongil Beach 2 mins from the hostel off you don't mind losing a few sheets out of the old wallet.
I've now been in Brisbane for nearly a week. It's a decent enough place but not in same league as Sydney or Melbourne. The other day we went to watch Queensland Roar play Sydney FC in the final game of the season. Queensland had to win to book themselves in the playoffs. After a tense game, it ended up 1-1 which meant they finished 5th and didn't make it. It was a decent enough game but at times it was like watching Sunday league stuff. Half the players couldn't trap a bag of cement and Roar's striker played a shocker. Still, all good fun. Yesterday we drove through to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which has over 130 Koala's there amogst other wildlife. You could get your picture took holding one but for 15 sheets I didn't bother. I think that brass I saved went on a few tins of ale that night. We took along some meat to cook on the BBQ's there but they were about 20 years old. The fire we created was akin to Bonfire Night so at least everything was cooked
Cape Byron Lighthouse
Just beyond this is mainland Australia's most easterly point through.
We're heading to Noosa tomorrow then onto Fraser Island and the Whitsunday's so it's gonna be action packed this next week and half. Hopefully there should be some cracking pics for the next blog if I can fend off the dingos on Fraser.
Over and out
JP
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Roberto
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123
Looks shit, not a patch on my view this aft. Sleet on the windscreen stuck in traffic on the M1 with the car overheating. And no thats not a typo, the car was overheating!!!!!! bleeding smelt like a dead skunk. Anyway get some pictures up of the women you've pulled lad, let us all have a gander.