Category: Australia

Byron Bay

Checked out of the Surfers Paradise hostel in the morning, and caught the shuttle to the bus terminal.  Jenny was supposed to be on the same bus, but there was no sign of her.

I thought the bus to Byron Bay was an hour longer, but it turns out I’ve switched time zones again.  Byron Bay is the most easterly part of mainland Australia, and a nice quiet town compared to the touristy party town of Surfers Paradise (but there’s still tons of tourists here).  I walked around town for a while, and had intentions to check out the lighthouse, but when I reached a lookout area (Captain Cook’s Lookout, maybe?), I decided it was a tad far by foot (at least with an empty waterbottle), so I decided to walk along the beach instead, and headed back to Main Beach.   The hostel has free bikes for 3 hours, so I may go out tomorrow.

Went to see if Nicky was working, as she is supposed to be in Byron Bay.  Turns out she is on the night shift, so I walked around town for a bit, and got some lunch at the grocery store.  Headed to the hostel Nicky is working in, and said hello.  Chatted with her for about half an hour, then parted ways.  She said she might be at the hotel bar (which is a nice bar near the beach that plays live music), so I said I’d maybe see her there.

Headed back to the hostel for a nap, and to shower.  Had some dinner then headed over to the bar.   Watched some tennis (the Australian open is underway), but the live music was a DJ, which was a bit of a shame.  No sign of Nicky, so I left after an hour or so.  Read for a bit in the hostel, then hit the sack.  There’s yoga at 8am in the morning, so I may try that out.

Australia Day

Had the longest sleep of my vacation thus far.  Still got up relatively early, and headed into Chinatown to find some breakfast.  There was a small market setup, so I roamed around there for a bit as well.  Headed back to the hostel and had them arrange a place for me to stay at Surfers Paradise.

Caught a 2 hour bus to Surfers Paradise and waited around for the shuttle to take me to the hostel.  Checked in, then walked along the boardwalk to the city centre.  I’m short a couple of shirts since two of them seem to let UV rays through, leading to some burning, and the third seems to have acquired some sort of permastain on the arm – kinda like a bleach mark, but it’s red.  Anyhow, I went looking for some shirts, but didn’t have much luck.

Loads of people in the city centre – as Australia Day has sucked them all in.  Tons of people in Australian flag tattoos and attire.

Headed back to the hostel and talked to one of my roommates, Jenny from Vancouver Island.  She was heading to Byron Bay the next day, which was also my destination, and she said she thought her hostel had some room available, so she let me use her phone and book a room.  Booked my room for the next day and got roped into a ticket for an Australia Day pub crawl.

Headed back into town to get some groceries, this time I took off my flip flops and walked along the beach.  There was a female beach volleyball tournament underway, which I was, for some strange reason, compelled to watch.  Watched a set or two of some very fit girls playing volleyball, then went to the grocery store, which was now closed.

The pub crawl was as one would imagine.  There are two other Canadian’s in the room – Fiona and Mark, a couple from Mississauga.  Also met a Burlingtonite on the tour, Tom.  Witnessed a fair bit of debauchery, but no sign of the free pizza I was waiting for most of the night.  Didn’t get to bed until about 3:30, with a 10:20am bus to catch.

Nicole

Up early, I asked for a second night at the Bunk hostel, and then went in search of breakfast.  Found some yoghurt, so I picked that up, and ate it in one of the Chinatown plazas while reading my book.

Not a heck of a lot on the agenda for the morning, so I checked out a few shops near the hostel for a shoulder bag then headed back to the hostel to shower and get ready for my day.  Headed down to the Brisbane river to get onboard the ferry.  It runs all along the river, and is pretty economical.  I planned on taking it a few times during the day, but actually only ended up taking it the once.  Took a few pictures from the ferry, then headed to the Queen Street Mall to find a post office.  Mailed a dvd of photos home, went online, walked around aimlessly (stopping occasionally to sit and read), then headed over to Nicole’s work.  I was about half an hour early, so I read (and finished) my book, while I waited for her.

Nice to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar town.  I hadn’t really expected to get to spend too much  time with her, and figured I’d be lucky to be able to go out for a drink, or to grab some lunch, but lucked out because she had the day off.  We headed over to a jewellery store to meet one of her very good friends.  He’s going to be visiting Canada (and Lisa Dachuk) in a couple of weeks, and was a tad concerned about what footwear he’d need.

From there we headed to the GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) to check out the Andy Warhol exhibit.  Was a pretty nice exhibit, with a boatload of stuff – most of which I’d seen before, but some pieces that were obviously done during a dark period of his life, as they were a tad depressing.

We were both hit with an onset of intense hunger, and were going to head to the South Bank to get some food but decided to go to the Riverside Centre instead, to a place called Friday’s.  Nice patio, with a great view of the Story Bridge (they’re very big on their bridges here), we had lunch and a drink.  Nicole’s dad worked not too far away (but entirely up hill – Brisbane is also pretty hilly), so we headed over there to say hello.  Had another drink with Nicole’s dad and the people he works with.  He’s started a new company, so they had not been in the new office for a long time. We sat and talked for an hour or so, although I think I blacked out when they started discussing cricket.

Said my goodbyes to Nicole and her dad then headed back to the hostel where I traded my book in for a John Le Carre book.  Headed up to the room, and essentially lay about or slept for the next 10 hours or so.  I obviously needed the rest – but tomorrow is Australia Day so chances are it’ll be another crazy day.  I’m headed to Surfers Paradise at some point in the morning, and hope I can find somewhere to stay for the night.

Brisvegas

We headed out to dinner last night – there was some goldfish racing, which was not so entertaining – the guy who won was one of the guys we’d played volleyball with in Cape Tribulation. Small country… There was a wet t-shirt contest later, but I couldn’t be bothered to stay. I headed back to the hostel, did some laundry, and caught very little sleep before my airport shuttle picked me up at 4:10am.

Got into Brisbane at 8am, and headed into the city via train. Headed straight to a computer to get some accommodation info. Settled on a place, and walked down to drop off my bags. Headed back into the CBD and did some roaming around. Lots of shops. I was looking for the Louis Vuitton to see if Nicole, Lisa Dachuk’s friend was working. After a bit of work, I managed to find it, but she wasn’t working. I left a note, and then did a bunch more walking around.

Visited the Royal Botanical Gardens, which were nice, but not quite as nice as Sydney. Then walked along the shore, before heading back to the hostel to rejuvenate myself. Walked through Chinatown, which was rather underwhelming, then headed back to the CBD and walked over to the Cultural Centre. The library had free internet, which was handy. Did a bit of research there – doesn’t look like there’s a ton of accomodation south of Brisbane, in Byron Bay, but hopefully I can find something. Think I’ll head that way on Saturday, probably with a stop at Surfers Paradise. It’s Australia Day on the Saturday, so that might make things trickier – I’m not too sure. Seems Monday is a holiday for everyone, so I may as well be on a beach.

Walked along the south bank, past the lagoon (again I’m in a city with no beach, but the lagoon is pretty nice), then back to the hostel. Checked my email, and heard from Nicole, so I’m going to meet her tomorrow.

Got talking to some of my roommates in the hostel, and they were heading down to the bar for a drink. I was exhausted but decided to join them. Garth, and Kate from London, England. I thought they were a couple, but Kate was canoodling with another fella, so I’m not too sure.

No card readers on this computer, so I’ll have to get the pictures up at another time. I might pick up an external hard drive once I get back to Sydney, so I’ve got a few copies of the photos floating about. Don’t want to lose any of them.

Land Drunk

There’s supposed to be free internet at the hostel but I’m damned if I can get it working. Sorry for the delay in all these, but I’ve been busy, and my reliable internet connections have turned out not so reliable. Hopefully things will improve henceforth. I think hanging with the frenchmen and their general disregard to sticking to a schedule has taken its toll, but we part ways soon. Management would like to thank you for your patience.

Last day on the water was choppier than the day before, unfortunately. That said, I slept pretty good, and thankfully didn’t get hit with any seasickness.

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Went snorkelling again in the morning (better equipment overcame the poor conditions, and it was better than the first time out. Maybe experience helped too), then swam. Did some jumping off the dock. Saw a bunch of fish, jellyfish, etc. Some of the divers saw turtles, but not me.

Back on land now, and getting things sorted. Quite difficult when my brain still thinks it’s in the water, and the room is spinning. Lots of emails to answer, blogs to post, possibly pictures to upload. Plus laundry and booking a flight out of Cairns. I’ve got more pictures, but I probably won’t get a chance to upload them all until I get to Sydney again. Just talked to Gregor and it looks like we’re meeting up in Sydney on the 29th, so I have a fair bit of the east coast to see now! I’m off to Brisbane at an ungodly time in the morning.

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Rum Runner

Up at the crack of dawn to head down to the marina to catch our boat, the Rum Runner. Had to wait for the hostel to open up, and then a mad jaunt down to the esplanade.

Managed on board with a bit of time to spare, and settled into our bunks.

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Took about 3 hours to head to get to the reef, where we did some snorkelling. Not so great conditions. Still able to see a fair bit, but not without getting some salt water into the snorkel. After a bit of time we headed to another reef, and snorkeled there.

Spent the evening on the boat with a good group and crew. Crystal was our hostess/cook, and did an excellent job, then Karl, J.P and Lee. Group was divided among some Canadians (Vancouver), Rainy and Nicole; Mark from Alaska; David from Columbia; a bunch of English folks, Chloe, Katie, Simone, Natalie, Geoff and Wendy; plus two Swiss, Simon and Angela.

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Evening was spent with some guitar played by the Captain, and general socializing.

Mossman

Happy Birthday to Louvelle. It’s nice to be able to email her and not have to worry about the time difference factoring into the equation (although we are an hour off here in Cairns).

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I was the early bird, as usual, this morning. I read my book outside (it’s good!), then woke up the rest of the gang an hour before checkout. We had breakfast at the hostel (leftovers from the day before), then we drove to Mossman Gorge and had a swim in the refreshingly crocodile free river. On the way back to Cairns we took a detour to Kuranda from Cape Trib, and checked out the Barron Waterfall. Nothing much compared to Niagara, but not too bad.

We dropped the car off then headed to Asylum where I’ll bunk for the night. Definitely not as nice as Gilligan’s, but it’ll do. Headed into town to get some more sunscreen (I’m going through a boatload of the stuff) and some Gravol (or the like), but they only had the sunscreen, so hopefully I’m okay tomorrow. Sky was filled with fruit bats heading who knows where. We’re taking the Rum Runner out overnight to snorkel and dive (for Max and Jon). The frenchmen also rented an underwater camera, which might be cool. I’m hoping to book my way out of Cairns for Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Probably the latter.

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I was hoping to get these last few updates up Monday evening, but it isn’t looking too good as the hostel internet is terrible. I’ll try in the morning if I am able.

Cape Tribulation

Got up early and picked the girls up at their hostel, then the boys up at theirs. We drove north to Port Douglas, which is a small cottage town, with not much going on. There was a market, so we checked that out, and the girls both bought bikinis, but there wasn’t much for the guys to do.

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Next we made our way to the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation. Had to take a ferry over the Daintree River, which was quick and fairly uneventful. Sadly no crocodiles spotted in the water.

Our first stop was a Rainforest Walk. It was pretty informative, but at $25, a little steep in price. We managed to see a couple of birds, and a giant walking stick thingy, plus plenty of spiders. The rainforest is abuzz right now with cicadas calling for their mates, which can get a little deafening at times. There was also a bit of thunder, but we managed to avoid any rain.

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From there we checked out a few hostels, before deciding on PK’s Jungle Hostel. A tree had collapsed and taken out the bathrooms at the second place we checked out, but thankfully this place was unscathed. The girls had bought some food for the trip, so we checked in then walked through the rainforest, down to the beach and had a bit of a picnic. Sandwich meat, cheese, bread, spreads, vegetables, etc. Tasty, indeed. Managed to spot some lorrikeets while we were eating, but unfortunately my camera was back in the room.

After lunch we all hopped into the pool and played some volleyball with some of the other guests. We were all pretty terrible, but I think a fun time was had by all.

The hostel was licensed, which means we couldn’t drink our own alcohol on the property. Not a big deal for me, but the frenchmen needed their wine, so we headed back down to the beach, gathered some wood for a fire, and spent the rest of the night down there. As far as I could see we had the entire beach to ourselves. Other than the three hundred (I lost count) or so mosquito bites I had (they bite through clothing down here), it was definitely one of the better nights I’ve had thus far.

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Theresa and I headed back to the hostel at about 1am, with Barbara, Max, and Jon following an hour or two later and kindly waking us up by dragging their bunkbeds to the other side of the room to be closer to the girls.

Left Left Left

Woke up early craving some yoghurt, so I headed to the grocery store. Sadly the entire dairy section had gone kaput, so I settled on a croissant, and headed back to the hostel. En route I stopped at a book shop and traded my book in for a new one, “Gone Baby Gone” by Dennis Lehane.

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Headed to a travel agency to get an itinerary of sorts for the East coast portion of my time in Australia. I was hoping to do the Whitsundays, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. I’ll do a reef tour here in Cairns instead, then head south to Brisbane, before getting back to Sydney (most likely with a stop in Byron Bay, or elsewhere, if time permits).

Met up with Theresa, Barbara, Jon, and Max at their hostel. From there we headed to another travel agent, and booked our reef tour and a car for Sunday and Monday. Spent the rest of the day with Jon and Max, then picked up the rental at 6pm. Just Barbara and I are driving, but I got the first go behind the wheel. Wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be, driving on the left and all. The wipers and the blinkers are on the opposite ends here, and I still look to the right when reversing, but so far I’m still alive. My new mantra is “left left left”.

Headed to the Woolshed for dinner in the evening to meet up with Barbara and Theresa, then headed to the hostel, read a little, and went to bed early since my roommates (a Swedish girl is in the room now, but I’ve yet to see her) need to be up at 4am to catch their plane.

From Dreamtime to Gilligan’s

Got up with the intention of checking out of Dreamtime and making my way to Gilligan’s. I figured Jon and Max were here, with Theresa and Barbara arriving in the evening, plus reviews had been outstanding.

I dropped my bags off at the hostel, then headed out to see about getting my memory card working. Back at the internet cafe, I downloaded some recovery software and set it to work. It took well over an hour, but nearly everything seems to have been recovered, thankfully.

Checked my email while the recovery was underway, and found out that Jon and Max are now staying at another hostel. Theres is a little cheaper, but apparently dirty too. Where I am is about as luxury as you can get for a hostel – better than some $100+ hotels I’ve stayed in, but for the same price as a hostel. Not sure how they’re making money, but I’ve got a nice deck, there’s a huge pool, air conditioning (which Dreamtime didn’t have – hence the move), and a great location. Wet T-shirt contests on Sunday to boot. Apparently you can win $500, so wish me luck.

I was supposed to meet up with Jon and Max at noon (midday), but because my card was still being recovered, I couldn’t make it. I walked around Cairns (quite a small town, and 90% of the shops are tourist related), hoping to find them, to no avail.

I had my first meal since the plane – I’d completely lost my appetite after losing all my pictures, but, like the pictures, it was back with gusto. Grabbed a burger in the nice air conditioned restaurant (did I mention the humidity? It’s my way of getting around complaining about the heat – I’ll just complain about the humidity), and looked out the window, hoping to see Jon or Max walk by.

After dinner I checked into the aforementioned hostel, and grabbed some stuff to go swimming. Cairns has no beach, but there’s a man-made lagoon that will do in a pinch. All set, I started walking to the lagoon when I stumbled on Jon and Max (I mentioned Cairns was a small place, right?). They’d been researching diving/snorkelling trips and Cape Tribulation, which was what I’d have been doing if I wasn’t stuck in an Internet Cafe for so long. I was going to suggest renting a car and checking out the Cape on our own, but they mentioned it first. We popped into a few travel agencies and got some prices. Should be quite feasible, and a lot cheaper than doing it with a tour. We’re going to arrange things with Theresa and Barbara when they get to Cairns tonight.

Back at my hostel, my two roommates have returned from their trip to the reef. They are two German girls – Julia and Lina, but I haven’t talked to them too much as they rushed off to dinner shortly after I arrived. They seem friendly enough, though.

In the evening I headed to Asylum to meet up with Jon and Max and the two arrivals from Cairns. We’re going to rent a car on Sunday and head up to Cape Tribulation and the surrounding area for two days.