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Published: September 21st 2015
The last week and a half has probably been one of our most busiest and enjoyable part of our whole time away. We've travelled roughly 300 miles in this time stopping off at some amazing places and meeting and making plenty of new friends. Although (going along with the theme of our trip), the weather could have been far better, it really has been an exciting last 10 days or so.
Tracking all the way back to the relaxing town of Byron Bay, we left in the morning after staying two nights and made the two hour or so journey to a place called Surfer's Paradise which is located along the Gold Coast in Queensland. As you can figure out with the name, Surfer's Paradise is meant to be a haven for people who like to surf. It has a reputation of owning beautiful beaches and great weather in the day before turning into a party place during the night. We had been warned by a few people that the nightlife is a bit on the rough side and quite Magaluf/Zante like but we still wanted to see the place for ourselves. We left the Pacific Highway to join the Gold Coast Highway and arrived in Surfer's Paradise at around lunchtime. Last December, when we were in Bangkok, we had made a friend with a girl (Arna) who was from the Gold Coast so contacted her to meet up so she could show us around. Yoni and I got to the beach before her and chilled out until she arrived. Again, although it was hot, it was so windy and not overly sunny so the beach was probably not the best place to be at the time. After Arna arrived and we had a catch up on the beach, she gave us a quick tour of the town in her car. Later that day, after not being able to find a nearby campsite for the campervan, we checked into a hostel. The hostel was fairly big and was filled with characters who aren't your normal young adult backpacker type. There was a middle age man who went around the whole place going up to guests playing his acoustic guitar (Jimmy), a scary looking old lady who just sat in the common area the whole time (nameless?) and another middle age man who lives there but often goes missing (Mitch). It was all a bit odd but we had no other options. That night, the hostel were taking people on a bar crawl and joining up with three other hostels to make a whole load of backpackers mixing together. The night itself started off slowly but eventually picked up and was good fun. It ended with a party in our room with a busker being picked up on the walk back from the last club to provide live music! Amazingly, there were two girls from one of the other hostels who both went to JFS and were from North West London. Although they were three or four years older than us, it was funny meeting two people from such similar backgrounds in Australia.
The next day, the plan had been to go to one of the massive waterparks located on the Gold Coast but the weather was cloudy and to be honest, we didn't feel exactly like going on rides after the previous night. We went to the beach but again, it was too windy and the lack of sun was annoying. For lunch we probably had the world's worst and most blandest fish and chips ever. We chilled in the hammocks in the hostel for the rest of the day before going to bed very early that night exhausted. The plan had been to only stay in Surfer's Paradise for only one night at first but after getting up after our early night, we decided to book an extra night and go to a waterpark or theme park that day. As again, the sun was hardly showing, we went to a theme park. There are two big theme parks on the Gold Coast with one being better than the other. Obviously we ended up going to the over priced more childish one. The rides we went on were actually impressive, but the whole day we only went on three rides. A bit of a disappointing day but we got back and decided we'd go out for our last night. We had really grown to like the hostel as it was very family orientated and everyone there seemed to really like us. There was another strange, but nice character who loved speaking to us we called George as he was obsessed with George Harrison! We went out with just another girl from Liverpool and the first bar we went to had a live band playing all classic dance/disco music. The three of us were the youngest by a long way but it was enjoyable. Even more so enjoyable watching Yoni dancing on his own on a dancefloor with everyone over forty!
In the morning, we had to leave Surfer's Paradise as the campervan needed to be returned by 3pm in Brisbane. We made it to Brisbane by 2.30pm before realising that the van needed a full clean before being returned. We ran (or drove) around like maniacs looking for a place to clean the campervan. We luckily found a cheap one and got the van back on time. It was quite sad saying goodbye to the campervan as it was so easy and enjoyable travelling around in it. There was no being at a coach station for silly o'clock. Instead, we could get up and go whenever we wanted and wherever we wanted. But everything comes to an end and by giving it back, a new chapter began with our travels. We were only staying in Brisbane for one night as we had booked our bus to a place five hours north called Noosa. Our hostel was massive in Brisbane and very sociable. We had a night out and it ended up being a very late one. Brisbane itself, seemed like a pretty cool city. It isn't too big but it had an edge about it which made it seem exciting. By now, we were far far away from Melbourne and the people in Queensland are far more like the stereotypical Australian we had been expected. We left Brisbane in the afternoon and arrived in Noosa by dinner time. Noosa is a very small town located on the beach but it is extremely beautiful. I think a tour guide told me it is the most expensive place to live in Queensland (and maybe Australia) and that didn't surprise us as the houses were massive and all very modern. We didn't do too much in Noosa that evening except get dinner and chill in the hostel. We went to bed at a reasonable time as we had to be up and ready for 10am to go on a three night camping tour in the bush.
When we sorted out what we were to be doing on our East Coast trip in the travel agents in Sydney, I was confused when she said we could have this bush camp for free. While waiting for the bus to pick us up to take us on the tour, we still knew nothing about what we were going to do in the bush. There were two Welsh guys also waiting for the bus who also had no idea what to expect and also got it for free. It did all seem a bit strange and got stranger when the bus driver and tour guide turned up wearing the shortest shorts ever and looking like he'd lived in the bush his whole life. He was strict and seemed a bit crazy. There was just the four of us on the tour and we were all thinking, what the hell have we got ourselves into. He was warning us about all the dangerous animals we'd be seeing and how we won't be having any signal or electricity for the whole time. In my mind, I was thinking it was just going to be us four guys with this mad man camping in the bush for three nights. After stopping off to buy our food and drink for the trip, we got to the campsite by 1pm. The Welsh lads were from Swansea and were luckily alright guys. After having a tour of the camp and being told how number two and number three of the world's most deadly snakes live in the area we'd be camping in, things did improve. Firstly, we found out more people would be joining our group and that there was electricity plus a big room with loads of films for us to watch on the TV. The guide also told us how on we'd be going kayaking for two of the three days.
The day we arrived, there was nothing for us to do. Yoni and I used the dart board for a bit, but apart from that, we watched five films then went to bed. It rained like mad the whole evening so there wasn't much we could really do. We had to be up at 7.30am in the morning as we were going kayaking at 8am. There were now ten of us in the group and everyone got on really well. The kayaking itself was alright at best. It was too early for most of us! The route was fairly long and on the way back, Yoni and I (we shared a boat) really had to battle through tiredness and the waves to get through it. The poor Welsh lads were awful at kayaking and both pretty much gave up. They were so far behind it was a bit embarrassing, especially as the other boats kept on waiting for them. At one time, Yoni and I were close to giving up and really weren't enjoying it but came up with a great technique to get us through. We sang lyrics of songs for ages to take our mind off the job and it really worked as we did really well to battle our way back and were able to enjoy it again. By the time we got back to camp, we'd worked out everyone on the trip had been given the trip for free. People were getting bored as there was nothing to do and no-one had overly taken to the kayaking. However, that night, we had one of the best nights we had in a while. There was also another group who were a day ahead of us in the camp who we hadn't really socialised much with yet. That all changed on our second night. The whole evening, we played drinking games and everyone got on so well. I think everyone really had a good night and it was without doubt the highlight of the bush camp. When we we woke up in the morning, everyone in our group had decided they wanted to leave a day early and not stay for the third night. Yoni and I had also been keen to do this but the sun was finally out and we thought we'd just chill for the whole day in the sun. We'd made good friends in our group though and were sad to see them all go. As we were now the only two in our group we decided not to do the kayaking in the day. Our third night, a new group joined but they were nowhere near as fun as our original group and the night was pretty average.
We left the bush camp at around 9.30am. Everyone (especially our group) really slagged it off but it wasn't too terrible. Maybe three nights was a bit long, but we enjoyed ourselves on it. We also did see two snakes which was exciting and numerous other small animals. After being dropped off back in Noosa, we had a long journey to our next stop, Hervey Bay. We got there by 3.30pm and checked into our new hostel. People stay in Hervey Bay mainly just because it's on the port where the ferry takes you to Fraser Island. Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island and is a world heritage site. It is also the only place in the world where rainforest grows on sand. We had to be up and ready by 6am so nothing much happened during our night in Hervey Bay. Three guys from Carlisle were in our group who had been in our group on the bush camp. We had got on really well with all three of them so were happy to see them in our group. The wake up was obviously horrible (5.30am!) and after watching a pointless safety video for an hour we were on our way to Fraser Island. As the island is sand only, the only way to get around is by 4x4 cars. Part of the excitement of the trip is that people in the group drive the cars rather than being driven around. Naturally, Yoni and I got in the same car (there were three cars in total) but when the guide came into ours to say that in one of the cars, no-one wants to drive so does someone want to drive it, Yoni volunteered and left the car I was in. So we drove to the port and then got on the ferry to board the boat. The journey across the water took about 35 minutes in total. In my car were me, the three Carlisle boys, another girl from England and two Swedish girls. Our car quickly became the 'party' car. We had the guide driving us around as no-one was that bothered about driving in our car. In Yoni's car were all the youngest people on the tour and the joke quickly became he was the dad to all of them. Once we got on the island, the guide started driving like a mad man and as it was Yoni's first time driving a big 4x4 in a forest and on the sand, he naturally couldn't keep up at first. That all changed quickly and Yoni got the hang of it and did a good job driving around the whole island. We visited and chilled at two beautiful lakes on our first day and instantly, everyone from all the cars got on really well. There were people from all over the world in our group and all different ages but everyone gelled so well. We had perfect weather on the first day too which really made a difference. That night, the drinking and partying started early and the night was one big long laugh. Our new favourite drinking game, 'Horse-Racing' (remember that card game dad?) was a huge success with everyone and the night was quality! We were woken up at 6.30am the next morning (evil!) and after a quick breakfast, we all got in our cars and were taken to another lake. Although the previous night was a lot of fun, it had poured all night like crazy and many people's tents were flooded. The second day, the bad weather continued which meant it probably wasn't as fun as the first day. There were no showers available to us on the island, so we visited another pretty lake to 'shower' in. All the lakes we got in were freezing cold by the way and when the sun isn't out, these lakes wouldn't be my first option to wash myself in! On the second day, we also visited a ship wreck which had been hit by the sea in 1935. By the afternoon, the weather was getting worse but the evening's drinking had already begun. Being in the back of these 4x4's, the music blaring loud and everyone enjoyable being thrown around in the back when the cars went over bumps (no roads on the island) was pretty entertaining and a lot of fun. We visited a few more small sites on the island and got back to camp around 5pm. We had dinner and the partying began again. We thought the first night was a great night but this night was even better. Everyone was laughing and getting on with each other the whole evening and it was probably one of, if not, the best night we've had since we've been away from home. There was a real feel good atmosphere in the group which was great. Again, the next morning, we were woken up at sometime before 8am and were off in the cars again visiting another (but different) lake. Finally, on this last day on the island, Yoni was relieved of his driving duties and got to join us in the crazy party car. We left the island at 3pm and everyone was shattered when we got back to mainland. Amazingly, everyone in the group was staying in the same hostel in Hervey Bay for one night. Again, we had one of the funniest nights we've had! We had become a real close group and Yoni and I have become really friendly with the three guys from Carlisle who are luckily on our next trip to Whit Sundays. They're proper Notherners and are a great laugh.
So, yesterday was the day we got back from Fraser Island. Today, as you can imagine has been a bit of a write off as everyone is completely broken and needs a days rest to recover from the madness! We are taking a twelve hour overnight bus tonight leaving at 9pm. So tomorrow morning, we will be arriving in a place called Airlie Beach which is the port where you board the boat for Whit Sundays for which we are doing on the 23rd for two nights. After that, we're off the Cairns for three nights where we will be going scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef which should be special. We have just over one week left in Australia before we leave for New Zealand!
That's all folks!
Sam
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Tony
non-member comment
blog,
another great blog to read