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Published: July 16th 2012
I'm not sure which blog should come first...the drive to and from the dive, or the diving itself? Whatever, here is my little drive from Brisbane to South West Rock.
Most of you will have strictly no idea where is South West Rock, and prior to reading a blog from Elvina I had no idea either. The little town of maybe 6,000 people lay right in between Brisbane and Sydney, roughly 500km from each city. I had done that drive by back in 1999, but at the time I was not much of a diver.
I landed mid-morning in Bribane...picked up my rental car and drived the same day the 500km down. All this with speed limits never over 11km...slow drive... My first stop would be Byron Bay. The little seaside town hasn't changed much since 1996...same surfers, same hippies....kind of a very cool vibe. It seems the only thing that has really changed here are the property prices who have sky-rocketed over the years. I spend my time walking the place, little lunch break, and little stop by the lighthouse before getting back on the road for a 4 hours drive south. For your
info, Byron Bay is also the extreme Western point of Australia...with a beautiful lighthouse and scenery.
I made it to South West Rock by 6pm....it was already pitch black as the sunset happens just after 5pm...winter time! Next entry will be about the short...but wonderful stay I had in South West Rock.
On my way back, I made another small stop, for a night in Surfers Paradise. Surfers Paradise is actually looking a little like Miami, but with a lot less to offer. Ok, I have to admit, this is the middle of winter, not the greatest time to visit this place...
Back in 1999, I stay in a basic motel...than I came back few years after in 2006, stay in the pretty basic Conrad...and at the Palazzo Versace. Palazzo Versace was trying hard to be a cool place, but the only cool vibe was actually the suite...not the entire property!
This time, being on my own, I made it simple by staying at the Crown Plaza...nice balcony with a nice view....but zero cool factor here...nada! I'm not a big fan of the offering for the tourists here...it's
actually pretty tacky, and sadly, I didn't had my golf bag with me. Because on the golfing side, it's another story here....with plenty of great options around! So I spent my time relaxing for 24 hours in Surfers Paradise...sometimes, it's not that bad to do strictly nothing. The bed was comfortable, and I had a huge number of pictures to sort out from my last few dives...
So why did I stop in Surfers Paradise, as I knew what I was heading to....the answer is pretty simple and boring, it was on the way, and there is a huge choice of hotels, meaning cheap stay in clean rooms....
It was soon time for me to get on my flights back to Vietnam...and to Tiffany and Leslie! But before this, one last little stop in Brisbane for a dinner with Shane, aka the Travel Camel! Sadly, it was a solid rainy evening...so we didn't spent much time walking around South Park. Thanks a lot Shane for welcoming me finally to Brisbane....great evening!
So you guess it, next entry is back to an underwater one....with way colder waters than PNG....but what diving!!!
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
I still don't know why you drove 1000 km out of your way...
to stay at a dead surfer town in the middle of winter. Are the hotels that expensive in Brisbane? Glad that you connected with Shane again after the party in KL. We hope to see him in October somewhere in the South Pacific.