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Published: January 17th 2007
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When I arrived in Brisbane I initially stayed in Fortitude Valley aka "The Valley" in a hostel called Bunk. This area by far offered the best nightlife in Brisbane.
Brisbane marked the point in Australia where I would begin to travel alone. Gary was otherwise preoccupied (see his blog) and it was an excellent opportunity to have some space and meet people as a solo traveller.... socially a much more difficult proposition than when travelling in numbers.
On my first night in Brisbane I met up with a Dutch girl, Dutch and English lads and had an awesome night out. We went from bar to bar in search of the perfect ambience, which proved diverse. From a live jazz bar, to a punk style battle of the bands night then onto late bars to dance the night away.... I recommend you go to "The Press Club" if ever in The Valley, but be prepared to dance your butt off! ...(excuse the Americanism but its more polite).
I moved downtown on Christmas Eve to spend Christmas Day with Gary. Sadly my new hostel "Cloud 9" was rubbish and the staff took Christmas Day off. Fortunately Gary's hostel were doing a proper Christmas
dinner so we payed $10AUD and had an excellent all you could eat Roast Turkey dinner... the chef even dressed up as Santa! (Believe me chef was sweating in the Brisbane as the sun beat down and he served and endless line of hungry travellers...).
Spent the rest of Christmas Day (bearing in mind everything was shut) at "Street's Beach".... a man-made beach and waterpark on the South Bank of the River Brisbane.
BTW Street's is the Australian franchise of the ice cream co. we know and love in Britain as "Wall's".
Gary left Brisbane on Boxing Day..... we wouldn't meet up again until Cairns, the end of my East Coast travels. I spent Boxing Day mulling around Brisbane's shops but not buying anything and went to see the new Bond film "Casino Royale", which was surprisingly good.
So with a few nights under my belt as "Billy-no-mates" on the 27th of December I left Brisbane and went North to Noosa.
Noosa is most definitely a resort for rich Australians, though thanks to a couple of hostels a backpacker element manages to co-exist. I stayed at "The Koala Beach Resort" a basic hostel, which should be noted is neither
a resort, nor on the coast.
By day the Headland section of Noosa National Park offered stunning scenery and some excellent walks.
By night myself and roomy Mikkael from Sweden would consume large quantities of "Goon" before leaving the dorm! and heading to the hostel bar (something of a party place) to devour what scraps remained of good night out.... mornings after were at best hazy!
For a definition of Goon and rules to a popular Aussie drinking game please got to the following URL; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goon_of_Fortune
I blame Australian bars and bottle shops for the overpricing of decent alcoholic beverage for my dependence on this charlatan amongst wines.
I didn't go to Fraser Island or The Whitsundays.... and before any starts slating these exclusions, I had my reasons which I will not enter into on this blog. Needless to say from what I have heard since I hope to visit Fraser Island one day.... I need to come back for Western Australia in any case. For those craving more, please visit Gary's blog.
So Townsville was my destination for New Years Eve and it would take a mammoth 21 hour bus journey to get there! Frazzled from the
Christmas in Brisbane
And it really didn't feel like it! experience I dragged myself from the Greyhound bus that had incarcerated me for the best part of a day, phoned Globetrotters hostel to plead with them to come pick me up, checked in, and crashed in the dorm.
Later that afternoon when I woke up I realised New Years Eve was slipping away from me. The 3 American lads in my dorm were off to Magnetic Island for the evening leaving me and a German called Hans stuck in Townsville with no plans. After dinner for one at the nearby Irish Bar I headed back to the hostel just as the heavens opened for a terrential downpour that would go on for hours.
Other travellers in the hostel had earlier procurred alcohol for the evening, and here was I stranded with not a drop to drink with midnight fast approaching. I got talking to Hans who kindly gave me one of his beers and around 22:00 the rain eased allowing me to make a quick dash to the bottle shop. The rest of the evening progressed nicely, freshly lubricated by alcohol I got chatting to some more Germans and Darrel the hostel owner. At around 23:30 with it raining
Kangaroos, Brisbane
A benchmark in modern art! again we were kindly given a lift into town. Myself, 3 german lads and Darrel the hostel owner went to Flynns, an Irish bar where courtesy of our hostel we were entitled to $6AUD jugs of beer.... I couldn't believe my luck, a bar with a live band playing, no cover charge and a good deal on booze.... a great start to 2007! Later that night myself and the germans headed on to a bar called Mad Cow to dance the night a way... New Years Eve was no washout after all.
The next day in Townsville with the hangover from hell I decided to climb City Hill for vistas of the town and across the water, Magnetic Island. On the way to the walking track a drunken hobo threatened to mug me, but I pushed on to the "Goat Trail". In the heat of the day the hike almost killed me and annoyingly as I reached the summit I noticed a scenic drive up meaning lots of tourists at the top, none of whom could appreciate the achievement of a hike.
From Townsville I caught the ferry to Magnetic Island where I spent 3 nights at BASE Backpackers.
As hostels go this place was amazing and more like a resort, with a massive pool, bar and beer deck overlooking Nelly Bay. Dorms were 4-6 bed A-frame cabins, adding to the tropical resort feel.
The first night I caught up with the Americans from my dorm in Townsville and on the second night 5 English lads who were doing the Oz Experience moved into my dorm.... it was time to party... not easy given the hostel bar was a little quiet, especially on the third night, when closing at 22:30 we were forced to catch a bus to Magnums hostel in Geoffrey Bay in search of more entertainment.... drinks till Midnight aside we didn't find any.
For the first two days I did very little other than lounge by the pool, but on day three I decided to do the walk from Nelly Bay to Arcadia.... again in the heat of the day, the walking track itself was only 5kms, but I hadn't factored in a 2km walk to the start of the track and at least a 3km walk back from Alma Bay to the hostel after I finished. I was done in, but the views and nature
along the walk made it all worth while.
My last stop on the East Coast was Cairns. There is not a great deal to do and see in Cairns unless you are a rich tourist shopping. Running low on money I didn't shop or do any of the tours on offer. I stayed at Gilligans which despite being a hostel was more like a hotel, with resort style pool and waterfall and one of the best late bars in town. So I mostly chilled out, met up with Marcus (from the Kiwi-Exp) and Gary, and was dragged to the cinema by my roomy Christine for the chick flick from hell. Australia was over, it was time to leave.
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