Mooloolaba, Byron Bay and Brisbane

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Walked through arrivals in Brisbane airport to see the lovely Beckie, after 30 hours of travel (including sleeping overnight in Kuala Lumpar airport) it was nice to see a friendly face, she had come to pick me up and was letting me stay at her house. She had bought a variety of meal options for me, including English pork sausage and mash, proper aussie steak, some chicken, avocado and halloumi and also cheese and wine. Legend! I opted for the cheese and wine and we had a catch up on her balcony, she warned me about Drop Bears, like Koalas that are vicious – more on this later. She said that she wouldn’t wake me the next day as this is the first time I have had a room to myself for 3 and a half months! I didn’t realise how much of a luxury that was! She had also given me 3 different sized fluffy towels and the pillows were amazing, it was like sleeping on a cloud! Was even able to brush my teeth with water from the tap! Little luxuries in life, so easy to take them for granted.

Next day I had a little sleep in then we headed for brunch, it was Anzac day (which I had never heard of) so some places were shut, we had a look around the shops on the sea front and I bought the most beautiful dress I have ever come across. It was automatically one of my most prized possessions! We went for a drive around the area, it really is a beautiful place especially as I am writing this I have seen more of Australia and I can think back to the beauty I was in, however coming straight from Ko Chang I didn’t appreciate the beach side location as much as I should have, but I recognised that and made sure I tried! We headed back to Beckies and packed for 2 nights in Byron Bay, wahoo!! It was a 3 hour drive, which is ‘just down the road’ for aussies, but in England it seems a long time. We arrived at night and checked into a cabin with a shared loo and outdoor kitchen/BBQ area. We went for a drive to get some alcohol from a bottle shop – as you cant but alcohol in supermarkets. That night we went out in Bryon – I wore my new dress – and we got steadily drunk. It was very busy as it was Anzac day, we hadny really eaten since lunch o we had one of the famous meat pies that Beckie had told us about in Vietnam and Cambodia, it was a lamb, mint and rosemary one, and was beautiful! We headed to another bar and it started to rain quite bad – it was turning into winter at this time of year – we got talking to two English girls and we discovered the club we were thinking about going to, Beckie’s favourite, had burnt down only a few months before! So that decided it, we were to go to Cheeky Monkeys, where you dance on the tables! It was a really great night! On the way home we were having laugh and a joke then I saw a guy passed out on a bench opposite cheeky monkeys. We got some great pictures, and even as I write this I am laughing! We decided we were going to help him so tried waking him, jesus it was hard work. Eventually we woke and he could barely speak, also his Tshirt was wet, which may have been sick or washing the tshirt after being sick, but it was all rather funny. He eventually started talking and we asked where he was staying and where his phone was ‘we’re not trying to rape/rob you, promise’ anyway we got him standing and even walking and luckily – just as were thinking we had taken too much on by helping him he saw one of his friends, who was obviously pulling some bird, so we parmed Gred off on his mate and – literally – ran for it! it was a funny night! Dropped into a kebab shop for a bottle of water and were home for 3.30am!

Next day we got up – I really struggled to get out of the top bunk bed – which Beckie kindly videoed in fits of giggles! We headed to have breakfast and discovered one of the best meals ever. Eggs Bennidict with avocado and feta cheese. Shit me it was phenomenal. I had a taste of Beckies and it was instant love. We vowed to come back the next day and have the same again. We had a casual walk along the beach looked around some more shops. We were tired and still slightly hungover so we went back to the room and chilled for hours, really quite funny as Beckie had downloaded an app I shall not name to save her embarrassment, but it was a major part of our weekend as we were in fits of giggles for most of the time. giggles – girly giggles – remember them? It was kind of like a girly weekend/week away, such fun! There was a huge lizard thing outside our cabin which was rather scary, especially as Beckie doesn’t like lizards. There was 3 of them knocking about, as well as Ibis birds which I was never seen before. This was when I realised that drop bears weren’t real, it is a story Aussies tell Pomms to scare us, I should have known as Beckie is such a terrible liar, but I only found out as I saw a message from her to her Brother saying ‘I can’t believe I’ve got Jess believing in drop bears!’ cow!

Beckie was determined to make me experience as many aussie things as possible; vegemite(disgusting), meat pie, decent coffee, aussie BBQ and aussie steak, wedges with sweet chilli and sour cream, I’m sure there’s more. So that afternoon we had a BBQ in the shared kitchen. We basically cooked steak – which was an inch and a half thick and had it in a large roll with avocado, halloumi, quince, BBQ sauce and salad. Oh jesus, it was amazing. Beckie was in her element cooking a BBQ, I think it is all Aussies happy place. The food was so good I went quiet for a long time just taking it in, for anyone who knows me, it takes a lot for me to go quiet. We had a couple of Bintang beers, went out for a couple more that evening and shared the infamous wedges, sweet chilli and sour cream, beaut! We had a quiet night as we weren’t really feeling it, and it would take a lot to top the night before.

Next morning we headed for the Eggs benny for breaky and then to a place which serves amazing coffee to help us up the hills on the walk up to the lighthouse. It was a lovely walk, long and quite a few stairs, however it felt good to exercise, amazingly something I miss from home! It was a beautiful day and we saw dolphins in the sea near the coast! we went on the free tour of the lighthouse and it turned very windy, beautiful views, despite the grey clouds looming in. I realised this was the first time I had felt cold in months due to natural causes i.e. so NOT when the aircon is on too high! Ha! So what did we do, we had an icecream! It started raining a bit and we walked the road way home and talked about life. Got back and packed our stuff up and headed back to Mooloolaba. We got changed and went out to a tapas bar, we booked a table but it was obvious that was unnecessary when we arrived, oh well it was a good night, although again I was rather cold.

Next morning I woke up and did some work on my laptop so Beckie left me to it for a while then cooked me some beautiful breakfast. We then went for a drive around the local houses that were prize homes for competitions/lottery. So I got to see what big posh aussie houses were like. There was one that looked like an old fashioned American house with a wraparound porch, and I counted the amount of chairs, I think it was 34 altogether. Crazy, cos you get all the furniture as well if you win. We were too late to see the giant pineapple, we had a coffee in Malaney while it rained some more. We headed back to Beckies got changed and went out for dinner, I wore jeans and a hoody, as it was nice to be in warm clothes, strange I know. It was our last night together so we went to an Italian and eat gourmet pizza and drink lovely wine, we had planned to go to Taps after (more on that later) but we decided to stay there and drink another bottle of wine. We were the last in there and the staff were waiting for us to go! Ha!

Next day I worked on my laptop some more as Beckie went out to sort some stuff out. We also packed, as I was leaving for Brisbane and Beckie was leaving for 2 weeks at work. I had been in contact with one of my oldest friends – Andy Hinton – who lives in Brisbane, he was due to meet me that day to have a day out of the city and give me a lift back to his. I said hi to Andy and his mate Greg, who was also from home that I knew, but haven’t really spoken to, and bye to Beckie. We headed for lunch on the beach front and then went for a walk all the way up the beach and back again having a general catch up. He has been sponsored to stay so who knows when I will see him next. We then sat on the sand and a crab decided to attack us, only a baby one but it was still after us! After a while we decided to head to Taps, the place me and Beckie were supposed to go the night before. Basically you get a magnetic token for $5 and you top it up then there are beer taps everywhere with lots of different types of beer, pale ales, ciders and a ginger beer. It was great! We spent about $80 dollars worth, and played Giant Jenga and Uno, it was great! We were there for about 3 hours, we then went back to beckies and I packed all my stuff properly and then we headed straight off to Brisbane. When we arrived we went to Maccys and then through a drive through bottle shop – YES a DRIVE through liquor store! How crazy is that? And they are everywhere! We went back to Andys house and met his housemate and her friend and the two beautiful Westie dogs. They were watching the final of MKR (My Kitchen Rules) which had taken Australia by storm. Andy left to see a friend, I stayed in his messy room in his messy bed Greg was on the sofa. I had a hostel booked for the next few nights nearby.

Next day I got up again without an alarm and finished my work off on my laptop. It was about 2pm so me and greg walked to my new hostel and checked in, went to see Andy at work for a bit then walked into the city centre and ate food from the market, I had a reuben bagel it was lovely! After having a look around the shops and enquiring about a Aussie sim card we sat and had a drink in the ‘english pub’ The Pig and Whistle, it was strange to talk to Greg properly, been through school together, lots of mutual friends and yet never spoken to him unless he was serving me drinks at the local bingo hall before it shut down, so it was nice to talk and also strange to talk about our home town. We had an expensive cider each and chatted. Walked back to my hostel and he went home, decided to stay in for the evening. explored the hostel, it was a big place with a large bar, a pool area, kitchen, lots of outdoor areas, rooftop terraces, even a cinema in it, not to mention the rooms too! I had a female only room, where I have normally booked mixed as then you can get talking to allsorts of people, as girls can be a bit cliquey.. however a girl in there was very friendly and offered me to go out with them that evening, however I wasn’t feeling it, but I love how you can talk to someone for 5 minutes and then make plans with them in this backpacker life. I am going to miss it. Having said that the hostel was a bit of party hostel so I had to sleep with my headphones in a few nights..

The next morning I headed into town again in search of sorting my phone screen out and buying the sim card I had found. Managed to get the screen ordered for the next day. I had a late lunch at a place called Grill’d which do healthy burgers, it was bloody lovely. I then went for a walk around and over the bridge towards south bank, I didn’t go all the way over as it was getting dark and may not have been sure of the way quickest way back, plus had to sort my phone sim out. Headed back to the hotel and met Maria from Chile, who is in Brisbane on an English course for the next few weeks. That evening I went to meet Greg at the bottleshop and headed back to his and Andys to start drinking early as Andy didn’t finish work till 11pm ish, so we watched Family Guy and American Dad. When Andy got back he got changed and we went out to the Caxton for a few and I tried a beer that is brewed in Byron Bay, then onto Lefties which was a really cool late bar/club with stuffed animal heads dotted around and really lavish and old time décor and were playing country music. Upstairs was a whisky bar too. After the whisky bar we got some food from a place which was just closing, that didn’t have much choice, so I had a savaloy sausage in a wrap with salad – a bit like a kebab right? Somewhere along the way I lost my key to get in so I had to wake Maria up, scared her quite a lot as I had to go round and whisper through the window at her! Ha!

Next day got up to take my phone into repair but the part wasn’t in, NOT happy, kicked off a bit, but nothing too bad. Headed back to Milton to have lunch with Andy and Greg for a $16.90 massive rump steak. Oh god it was amazing but I was so so full! Started raining and Andy gave me a lift home. Chilled out in the hostel for the afternoon. Think I watched a film that evening after a nap. Great day, steak, sleep, film! Might have to adopt this as a standard Friday occurrence back home!

Next morning I went into the city centre again, looking for birthday presents for people back home in case I could afford the postage… not much luck in the shops so decided to go over to south bank, which had lots of stalls for both food and homemade items. It was in aid of Buddha’s birthday and there were also events on, like talks, cooking courses, shows etc. There was a busker that was playing the guitar and the harmonica, then started to juggle bean bags (making music with the sound of them) whilst playing the harmonica. It was captivating. I then went and sat on the fake beach and sunbathed a bit, went to get some lunch, and seeing as everything is SO expensive in Oz I wanted a bargain. Decided on a chicken satay sandwich from the bakers Brumby’s which was VILE, the worst sandwich I have ever eaten. GUTTED. Headed back to the hostel and went to the bar with Maria for a drink or two that night. It was quite handy having a bar in the hostel to be honest. We then went to the Caxton for one and Andy came to say hi for a minute as it was a busy Saturday night.

Next morning met the two new roommates properly, Rachel and Danielle who were Scottish and just a few days into their trip. I went to the library to google stuff and write my blog. Spent 4 hours there, went to the Caxton again as there was a football game on, and Brisbane happened to be in the final against Sydney. Never sat through a whole football game before, particularly in a pub on my own. Maria came to see me at half time, it was a very good atmosphere and we won.. even though it looked bleek at one stage. There was nearly a fight right in front of me and I realised that is why I hate football, but I thought I had better watch it seeing as I was there.. be rude not to. Went back and got ready as I was due to meet Andy and his friends after work, got talking to the Scottish girls and they said they would come too. I walked to the bottle shop and bought some goon for the Scottish girls – basically a box of wine, which is infamous for being horrible apparently – and a bottle of red for me. Danielle came out for one or two drinks but went home as she wasn’t feeling it, again went to the Caxton to meet Andy and his friends. We then went to Lefties again, left there to try and get into Family however Andy was too drunk! Ha ha! So we went to a gay bar called Beats. Danced with Andy and he kept saying ‘I cant believe you’re here’ and told some randoms that I was a legend! Which is completely true! Ha ha!

Andy and Greg left about 20 minutes before us and we got lost on the way home, majorly lost and couldn’t get a taxi.. we were walking for a long time, about an hour in total. Rach made me get in a trolley and she pushed me in it, however lost control pretty quick and it fell down a kirb and nearly hit a BMW, not kidding I was only an inch away from scratching it! We found a maccys and saw some guys from Beats in there, so we must’ve gone in a big circle! They were lovely and put us in a taxi, next thing I am waking up in a taxi outside the hostel. We got in at 6.30am! Had to wake Danielle up to let us in as we couldn’t find a key between us! AGAIN!

Monday woke up late and headed into town with the scots, completely hungover, I sat and had a coffee while the girls sorted out a bank account, and I dropped my phone into the shop to be repaired. We had a beer in the hostel later, well I say ‘we’ I mean ‘I’ as it was just me as the others couldn’t hack it.

Next day I went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary it was amazing! Went and saw a show on koala and dingos, then you could go to the kangaroo and wallaby section where they are not in a cage as you can walk around where they live and feed them! After that I went to the platypus section as I remember being hypnotised by them last time I saw them in Melbourne. Then met a woman called Alyssa at the mummy and baby bit. We were both waiting there for the same picture for one of the babies to come out from behind the mothers. She was really nice and from USA and had left her high end job in New York to travel, legend. We ended spending a lot more time than we both thought it would only take a morning but we went to see the Roos again and got captivated by them again! Stunning creatures, also saw ones with Joeys in their pouches! We didn’t leave until 3.30pm. the bus dropped us in the city centre so I went in search of some food as I realised I hadn’t eaten all day. I had a kind of greek kebab wrap, from a food court in the Myer Mall, it was lovely! That evening I have no idea what I did, forgotten..



Next morning I went into the city with the scots and had lunch at the market and took them to south bank beach and gardens. It was a little bit sunny, but not much. On the bright side we saw a rugby team practising in the pool area. Yum. On the way back I bought sushi rolls. Beaut. I had a flight to Darwin booked for that afternoon.

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