Byron Bay - Brisbane - Noosa

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Leaving Byron Bay was quite hard but as I thought I have had much fun since then.

I went straight from Byron Bay to Brisbane and after spending a week on the beach I wasn't quite ready for the city! I walked down to Southbank which immediately changed my outlook of Brisbane. Its a really nice park area, on the side of the river. They have a pretty lagoon there which you can swim in and a beachette. Some cool water features and rock pools, its really nicely landscaped. It was nice to be in the city without the city feel. I sat and read my book and relaxed for a bit, so thats all I really saw of Brisbane.

The next day I headed to Noosa, very exciting as Lauren met me there. It was a very hot sunny day so we relaxed on the beach for the afternoon, before going for fish and chips on the mariner with her family. We stayed with Lauren's Auntie and Uncle, Lou and Tony and their children Marcus and Mia, really lovely people and an extremely cool house. They live just outside of Noosa in a place called Peregian Springs, extremely laid back. The next day was even warmer so we went on down to the beach again, had a stroll in the national park, to the lookout where you could see the coast line stretching for miles (the sea was an amazing blue colour), very lush national park, we didn't spot any Koalas though! In the afternoon we decided to try our hands (or more our feet) at paddle boarding, a cross between surfing (although there wasn't really any waves) and kayaking. We paddled around the bay and went swimming - no sharks, they have a net!! The water was really nice and warm, was great fun. That evening we had a Mexican night back at the house - very yummy!

Sunday, Tony and Lou took us out for the day. We went to see the Glass House Mountains (so named by Captain Cook, he has a left his mark everywhere!), awesome view of these extinct volcanoes - they don't look anything like glass houses though! We stopped for coffee in a town called Montville, a great little town, with lots of little quirky shops, it had a real sunday afternoon feel about it - scorching sun again! Just down the road from Montville, is the Kondallila national park. We went for a hike in the park, to a gorgeous rock pool (which I was very tempted to get into), great views of green all around and the beautiful Kondallila Falls. Great picnic afterwards too! We then headed to Coolum, which is the next door to peregian beach, lots of paddle surfers showing us how its done. All along the river at Noosa (our next stop) are gazebos with built in BBQs where you can have a few drinks and cook some dinner - would be great for parties! We sat and had some snacks and a couple of drinks - a great end to a great day!

Crikey! Monday, Lauren and I went to Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's Zoo), it was a great zoo. We got to laze about with and feed the kangaroos, stroke the Koalas - very very very cute, I want one! Feed the elephants - so cool, I want one too! We saw Snakes, Dingos, Tasmanian Devils, Tigers, Turtles, Parrots, Iguanas, Lizards, Komodo Dragons, Cows, Sheep, Pigs, Goats (slightly less exotic), alligators and of course we watched the Crocodile show. This is where they fed the crocodile in a risky Steve Irwin fashion - very cool to watch, they are awesome animals, from afar - I don't want one of these! The kangaroos where particularly cool, they were extremely friendly and relaxed, great to watch them hop about! Feeding the elephants was also one of the high points - although they leave a lot of slobber on your hand. It was well worth the visit.

That evening Lauren and I (mostly Lauren you wont be surprised to hear) cooked a delicious meal of Kangaroo steaks, potatos and salad. I know what you may be thinking, but don't knock it until you've tried it, it is actually one of the tastiest meats I have ever tried - very yummy!

I left Noosa this morning, saying goodbye was sad, I've had such a great time. I'm sure I will see Lauren again!

Am now in rainbow beach and it is pouring pouring down with rain, fingers crossed it clears up for tomorrow . . .

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