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Published: April 22nd 2007
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In the rainforest
Can you spot Al lurking behind the waterfall? After some complaints that our last blog was a month out of date, we have produced this next one pretty quickly I think you'll agree ;-) ... it's only a few weeks old now!
We left the bright lights of Sydney and we were off again on our journey up the coast. We'd like to say we were heading into the wilderness but in fact it was still pretty built up even long out of the city itself. However, alongside the relative civilization there was a beautiful coastline which held some great surf spots. A star that was definitely worth a mention, despite the fact that we didn't stay too long, was Crescent Head - we rode along some ace waves that day!
In amongst the surfing we also got ourselves on a dolphin tour at Nelson Bay, on the edge of Port Stephens. This area is known as the dolphin capital of the world, and yes, the wild dolphins in the bay did turn on the charm for us that day. We even got to see three of them riding between the two bows of the catamaran we were sailing on - it was right under our
The friendly dolphins
At Nelson Bay, Port Stephens. nose!
We then moved a little inland and visited the little town of Dorrigo that sits at 700 meters above sea level. The drive up there was really picturesque as we wound through the rainforest lined roads and looked over at the cloud covered mountain peaks. We delved a bit deeper into the rainforest, or should I say above it, with a treetop walk (yes another!). This one was only 21 meters above the ground - mere amateur stuff for Ursula these days! But the real life started when we went under the canopy - it was lurid green, had the pleasant smell of damp rotting timber and the sounds of birds flirting in the tree tops.
The complete antithesis of the rainforest, our next stop was the kitsch monstrosity: THE BIG BANANA! And we loved it! Well especially the frozen chocolate bananas, banana smoothies (with honey - yum!) and the toboggan rides. In case you're wondering what the point of a big banana is - it's the site of a banana plantation where they decided to build a massive plastic banana in order to attract tourists. This started a bit of a trend around the country; there
Showing off our boards
At Crescent Head. Top surf spot. are now several BIG things dotted around Oz, some of which we visited and caught on camera for your viewing pleasure ;-) - you will see more in our next blog too.
Life then slowed down a little as we entered Byron Bay. We spent a few days at Byron, and are glad we did. As well as a few A* surfs (and a couple of crap ones too!) we managed a few top notch ice creams and bottles of vino. Oh the effort of it! If that wasn't enough chillin', on our way out of town we visited Nimbin. This town a bit like an Auzzie version of Glastonbury, the main difference being that pot smoke was leaking out from all the cafes into the streets (in Glasto it all happens very respectably in peoples living rooms). Our rasta-spliff Wicked Camper fitted right in. The town was like a magnet for old hippies - most people there had been stoned since 1969. Our favourite was the lady with flowing white hair and a head band who repeatedly offered us 'real strong marajuana cookies' like a stuck record.
At our next stop we were in for another complete
Alorra Banana
Crazy kitch tourist attraction in Coffs Harbour. turn around of atmosphere - the glitzy Coolangatta and Surfers Paradise. It's basically a high rise sprawl (think Torremolinos/Benidorm) that seems to stretch right up to Brisbane. This is where the pro surfers hang out (gone is our dream that they are dedicated to deserted beaches and amazing scenery - all they really want is fame, beer, glitz and girls with little clothing!).
But blimey do those surfers go!?! We watched the point break at the end of the beach at Coolangatta near Point Danger - the surfers were awesome. They'd wait at the end of the point for the waves to crash up against the rocks then they would jump off into the water with their boards when the water was at the highest point. Then they'd queue up for the waves with the other surfers (only one girl there by the way!) and ride amazingly fast down the curling wave, twisting and turning in amongst the other surfers trying to paddle out. There were even a couple of kids in there literally about 10 years old (they call 'em Grommits) braving their way through the waves. Of course this inspired us to get ourselves in the water.
Tabbogan fun
Brrrrmmmmmmm brrrrrrrrrrrrm! Too scared and embarrassed at our lack of expertise to even attempt the point break, we moved along the bay to the main beach at Surfers Paradise. When we arrived we were told by a local guy on the beach that the waves were so small that they were barely surfable. He was obviously crazed by surfing that beach for ages coz we didn't last five minutes - we paddled about 10 meters out, soiled ourselves, and paddled back in again!
In order to get ourselves brave enough to enter the water we called upon the Cheyne Horan school of surfing (yet another fab wedding prezzie - thanks Amber, Peter, Naomi and Martin). We had a very strict drill-sergeant type instructor who taught us loads of great stuff about beach safety and rips and currents, then they took us 'out middle' (as opposed to 'out back' where the really big waves were breaking). We caught a few lush ones in waves that we would never have been brave enough to enter ourselves. And we even got a certificate to prove it (obviously to be framed in pride of place when we return home)!
Next stop was Noosa
The BIG PRAWN!
Grrrrrrrrrrrr! No fear of the big crustacean! for our last surf (sob sob - it was flat at the last regarded surf spot at 1770 further on up the coast). On our way into the water an old guy warned us that there was a shark out there - a 6 footer apparently. But being wise English tourists folk, threatened with no more surfing till New Zealand, we went in anyway. We were both a bit tentative, and Ursula cried for about the first hour, but after we realized that there were plenty of kids around that would surely make more attractive bait we got on with it and had a fab session. We didn't even see the shark (something that we were slightly disappointed about!).
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Simon
non-member comment
Duuuuuddddeeeeesssssssss!!!
Awesome action dudes, shame you have to leave the waves behind. Truely an inspiration for our trip to Woolacombe this weekend - hopefully we won't get mauled by sharks there. Looks like it has finally got a bit warmer too! Hope you are enjoying lots of Fush and Chups in NZ.