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Published: April 15th 2010
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Yo! Our last blog ended with us leaving Sydney, and heading up the East Coast on the Greyhound to Newcastle. We stayed just two nights in 'Castle , had walks on the beach, watched a surf festival and walked up to the lighthouse. There wasn't much else to do there, but helped break up the journey and was the gateway to Port Stephens.
Port Stephens was possibly one the most beautiful places we have been so far; we stayed in cute bungalow cabins set in a rainforest resort - all for the same price as a 10 bed dorm in the City. We had a gorgeous resident possum living in our roof and all the wild animals really gave the place a sense of living amongst nature, it even and awesome dog called Bo. Outside the resort we explored the local sand dunes, walked to some remote beaches and tried body boarding in the sea. After 4 days of chilling out we unfortunately had to move on up the coast.
This involved a 12 hour coach, so we opted for the over-night option in order to save on a nights accommodation (the budget is getting pretty tight after a
year and a half travelling). Unfortunately Greyhound coaches are not as luxurious as they made out, so 12 very achy and sleepless hours later we arrived in the small, relaxed beach side town of Byron Bay.
We really loved the vibes of this place, lots of shops selling brightly coloured clothing, people cycling with their surfboard in hand, a lack of shoes on feet and not a fast food joint in town. We spent 5 days here, mostly on the beach doing our new found hobby; body boarding. The waves here were huge with a really strong undercurrent, and by now we could catch nearly every wave.
From Byron Bay we caught 'The Happy Coach' to Nimbin, with the best driver in the world (or at least in Byron), Fred. He went above and beyond the call of duty by personally escorting our forgotten weetbix back for us when we left it in the hostel. Nimbin is a very strange place, people seem to still believe that they are still in the 70's, and it's so laid back it made Byron Bay look like a busy city. We stayed 3 night in a lovely YHA up in the
hill and the Nimbin Rocks. We were however glad to return to civilization as literally nothing happens in Nimbin.
Leaving Byron Bay behind, we entered a new state (Queensland) and a new time zone (well technically an area that does not observe daylight saving). We arrived in Collangatta (Cooly to the locals) and loved it instantly. It's a small city right on the beach, great surf and with a city skyline silhouetted behind the sea. We again spent our time at the beach (notice a theme in Australia?), and Julia attempted to have a surf lesson. Unfortunately it was cancelled due to a huge swell, so we spent the day watching the good (but totally mad) surfers in the enormous waves. We tried to do the lesson the following day but it was not to be, so we moved on up the heart of the gold coast, Surfers Paradise.
We had been warned that it was a concrete jungle, but although it was busy, and definately a tacky tourist destination, we had a great time there. We bought month passes to Dreamworld theme park (as it was cheaper than a day pass), and had a great day riding
the 'Big 6' rollercoasters. The next day we returned, and also went to the water park next door, WhiteWaterWorld. Julia finally managed to have her surf lesson, and after 2 hours of instruction was riding the waves like a pro (well not quite...). She did manage to stand up a few times, and make it all the way to the beach.
We've really enjoyed this leg of the trip, and are now heading off to Brisbane for a few days of city living.
Keep you updated again soon.
Julia and Dan xxx
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