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Published: January 10th 2012
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Spent my last morning in Brisbane with Caroline at the lagoon before having a bbq with the rest of my dorm in the evening. Was the best bbq I've had since I've been here, so much fun. NYE went to Mooloolaba where it rained pretty much all day (it did stop for the evening luckily though). Have never seen so many coffee shops in one place, definitely spoiled for choice. In the evening I had drinks with 3 Brisbane girls staying there just for the night, giving me lots of advice of where to go on my way north (of course with my memory though I'd forgotten most of it the next day, should've written it down). Went down to the beach to watch the fireworks for midnight, have never seen so many people at the beach it was absolutely packed. Had to have my bag searched on the way in as security was pretty tight, no alcohol allowed. Found my little spot on the beach and watched the best fireworks display I've ever seen, was briliant. (Much better than the ones back at Darling Harbour). I think that's the 1
st time I've seen fireworks at the beach and there's definitely
something magical about it. Was weird though thinking it was 2012 here but home was still in 2011.
Next day I went on my free stand up paddle board session. Was going to be the only person going (everyone else hungover I guess and didn't want to get up so early) so persuaded a guy I met at breakfast to come to. (It's actually more like standing on a surfboard than a kayak.) The instructor got us to kneel first to get used to the board and then stand up, at which point I fell in (was great weather though so was really refreshing). Once up it was pretty easy and quite relaxing just plodding along. (We were on the river right next to the hostel rather than the sea, otherwise I'm sure it would've been a lot harder.) Spent the rest of the time at the beach or walking along the esplanade.
Had 1 day in Noosa before going canoeing so I went off exploring and found Laguna lookout in the national park. There was the most amazing views of the Noosa everglades and beach. The sun was shining and just glistened on the water,
was really pretty and could see for miles. Got picked up for Gagaju bushcamp for my canoe trip the next day where I was with a guy from Harrow and 2 girls from Hertfordshire. The camp was military style, with camouflaged tents and big dorm rooms with wooden bunks (it's how I imagine an army dorm would be). We stayed in the army dorms for the 1
st night then in tents for the next 2. 8 of us went out the first day downstream to a lake where we stopped for a picnic (and in my case a swim) and then on the way back we stopped for some fun down a little river where we found a rope swing. By the end of the day we were all pretty tired so chilled out in front of the big screen tv watching dvd's. The following day there was 12 of us and we went upstream where we stopped at a another lake and walked about 3kms across to the beach, where we saw a couple of wallabes by the road. The currents over here are really strong so all patrolled beaches have lifeguards, but this one wasn't. I saw a
little boy nearly get swept away in the rip. Was a scary thing. He was screaming for his mum but I could see him being swept farther out. A man nearby went running in after him and did eventually manage to get him out before struggling himself to get back in. It all happened so fast but another minute and the boy would've drowned. Lesson learnt, only swim where it's safe. The canoe trip was great fun but I had so many mosquito bites by the end that I was glad to leave and go back to civilization. My shoulders ached for a couple of days after that it was pretty tough work, especially as the 2 girls in my canoe weren't the strongest of paddlers. That's my exercise for the next few weeks done though.
Was dropped back in Noosa Saturday and booked my Fraser Island trip for Friday. So excited bout it can't wait. So glad I brought my driving licence, have never driven a 4x4 on the beach before so should be good fun.
Have spent the last couple of days at Rainbow beach. Apart from the black/golden sands though not
sure why it's called rainbow. Apparently it's quite far down the beach to walk before you see coloured sands (and most people I've spoken to say it's not that exciting anyway.) I was expecting it to look a bit like Allum Bay on the IOW. Oh well never mind. Today spent the morning at the beach with some people I met at breakfast so that was good, but I'm glad I'm not staying here longer there's not enough to do. Later I'm going with some people up to the sand dunes not too far away to watch the sunset, so that'll be a nice start to the evening.
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