Day 31 - Goodbye Noosa, Hello Byron Bay

---

Day 31 - Goodbye Noosa, Hello Byron Bay

Well, it was a wild night last night! Not in the party way! The weather continued to beat on us throughout the night. The air inside the cabin tent is damp. Although I was weirdly comfortable through the night. I’m pleased that all my luggage is split into category organised plastic air tight bags. Therefore my luggage is all ok, but I have a large sarong type thing that I use as a multifunctional piece, it was dry, but because it had been hung in the cabin, it is now really damp!

I woke up naturally at 6:30, well before my alarm! The winds, and rain are still doing their best to deter us! I had plenty of spare time this morning as breakfast won’t n available until 8am. I finished my final packing, ch caked for any forgotten items, had a cup of tea, and sent a few texts.

At about 7:50 there was a break in the rain, so I made my decision to move out of my cabin tent whilst I could get across to the reception and breakfast area whilst it’s not raining. I am seeing a tiny area of blue sky in between the darker rain clouds, so I’m hopeful!

I met Temo at reception, so when the doors opened, we went straight in! As I didn’t eat dinner last night, I am so hungry this morning. Temo and I talked about having eggs, crispy bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, hash browns and toast…no, not today guys….. it’s fresh fruit salad with yoghurt and whole grain cereal, followed by toast, and an optional muffin with tea, or coffee. It is a nice breakfast, but when you fancy all of the above, it simply doesn’t meet my pallet needs today!

Everyone made breakfast and checkout in good time this morning. We are leaving on Bruce at 9am. It’s so quiet now that the group has halved in size!

It’s 9:35, we are well on our way. We are heading for Byron Bay with a few stop offs on the way. We bet soon are out of nature, and back onto Bruce Highway, which is the main highway that we travelled in from the start in Cairns.

We went past The Australian Zoo which was originally opened by Steve Irwin. There are currently court battles on at the moment, there is a family battle around having a zoo, or a conservation area, which is what it started out as. It is currently being ran as a very commercial, all singing and dancing, zoo, but Steve Irwin’s father, who is 51% owner, wants it to return to how his son first wanted it to be run. Sadly, he is currently very ill, so is fighting to the end!

Is 10:30, it’s still raining, but very much less than in Noosa. The sun is making a desperate attempt to get through. It has been decided that there is no point walking up to the Wild Horse lookout point, as it is wet, but also very overcast. So there will be no view today. We stopped the services for a 10 minute restroom, and snack stop instead!

The view would have been of Wild Horse Mountain is the smallest of the Glass House Mountains on the Sunshine Coast, QLD. James Cook named the Glass House Mountains when remembering his Yorkshire roots. He saw a similarity in the shape of the mountains to that of the huge brick furnaces that the glass was made in, near his home town.

It is now 11am, we have travelled about 110km….. and it’s still raining! We passed a few Aussie Army trucks on our way. I did comment, it’s maybe an age thing, but they all look a bit young!!! Ha ha

We hit Brisbane at 11:20, and currently, it not raining! We are only here for a stop, we are just passing through. Brisbane, capital of Queensland, is a large city on the Brisbane River. Looming over the city is Mt. Coot-tha, site of Brisbane Botanic Gardens.

At 12:35, we enter Surfer’s Paradise. With so many Yachts and mansions. It visually screams money! We cruised along the Esplanade full of cafes, bars And holiday high rises. The bus was parked up in a small side street so that we could have a wander.

We left the bus to have an hour and a half. We walked along Surfer’s Paradise, onto the beach, and around the cafes, bars and restaurants. Luckily for us, it wasn’t raining! It was warm and breezy. We had a short beach walk before stopping to eat lunch at a beach front restaurant. We opted for a taco stop. I chose the halloumi option. It was nice, but i don’t feel hungry! The order came with two tacos, I managed only one, but at least I’ve eaten! Temp helped me out with the second one. Literally, a minute after we left our table, an ibis, otherwise known as a bin chicken, jumped onto our table to clear up our left overs!

Angelina and I went for a sit down coffee. I feel I’ve ran around since getting here, just to keep up with the group, and see more, but I’d rather dawdle, and take more pleasure out of what I do see! So we slowed down the pace, allowing us to sit down, and enjoy the coffee! And that’s all it took, I was happy!

We retuned to the bus on time, at 2:40. We’re off on the road again, on to Byron Bay. We have about 85km to go.

At 3:15, we left Queensland, and entered New South Wales. At this point, our watches automatically jump an hour forward. We’ve all just lost an hour of our lives! So it’s now 4:20…. Yet, 5 minutes ago, it was 3:15! Crazy! The road has also changed its name, due to changing state! The name has changed from Bruce Highway, to Pacific Highway! We have 50km to go to get to Eco Beach Resort in Byron Bay.

When we arrived in Byron, Lyndsey drove us all around the area, showing us where everything that we may need is situated. Then we continued on to our accommodation. It’s called Eco Beach Resort, Byron Bay. It’s lovely on entry. It’s a self contained studio room with a little kitchen area, and a nice little outdoor space. I’d say balcony, but I’m on the ground floor!

Angelina text me, she doesn’t want to rush straight out to the beach, which I definitely don’t want to do either, so she came round to visit me. I put the kettle on a couple of times. We had two cups of tea whilst we discussed women’s equality changes over the years, in both Germany, and England. We do have some great chats!

At 7pm, we split ways in order to get ready for dinner. Hopefully we’ll meet up with the others for dinner. I’m sure we’ll find each through texts!

We set off… it’s a vibe period! The others from the group have let us know that they are at, ‘The Balcony’. After having a saunter around the shops, we went over to meet up with the others. Apparently, it has been decided that are eating there. I’m sure there will be something I will want to eat, but I’m not keen on sea food in general!

We all ordered, I’m having battered fish and chips. There was a real mix of orders around the table, steak, pasta, mackerel, and oysters. Everyone enjoyed what they had. Timo got a bottle of Moet, as a send off for Sarah as she leaves tomorrow. The group will be down to its final cut. There will be only 4 of us going on to the end of the tour in Sydney.

After the meal, we went on to The Duelling Pianos at The Northern Hotel. WOW….. what a great night we all had! The 2 pianists play and sing. A huge part of the entertainment is brought by audience participation. There was not one person in there that was not singing, dancing, and having a great time. It was such an incredible atmosphere. Then the cherry on our cake was that The Brazilians came to meet with us! Mateus had his graduation in Byron today, so after their meal they came to meet with us. They couldn’t stay long, but when we all got together, it was so good. So many genuine hugs and kisses all round. It’s amazing how, when you’re travelling in a small group, you very quickly become so close. It was such a good night for everyone.

Angelika and I left just after 12pm. Angelika had had quite a few wines. She stopped off at my place for a final chat, and drink, (lots of iced water) Just to round the night off. I do hope she gets up alright tomorrow, she’s got a 3 - 4 hours horse riding…. Good luck with that Angelika!! Ha ha

---

Comments

[Angela]

So far....
Fabulous as always...hang on in there..you are doing just great!

[Lesley2912]

Crazy weather!
It was tough, but it’s been better, overcast, warm, odd light rain, but we are moving south, so might improve x