We were 5 amazingly nice Koreans, 2 Danish, 1 English and myself. On the following 3 days we traveled through hard, muddy rainforest road and along the east coast of the island - practically on the beach.
At day time we visited cool lakes and other attractions like the ship wrack (a one which got drifted to shore), Indian head lookout and the champagne pools (nature-made pools filled with ocean water).
At night time we camped in tents and unfortunately forced to go to sleep early since it started raining at 19:30 sharp every day! so after dinner and two beers we hit the sack.
OK so i drove a pink car! but hey, it's still a Land Cruiser... : )
the long beach
My Frasier island buddies
the champagne pools
When I was done hanging in Harvey bay, I took a bus back north to a place I had to skip since all the hostels were booked on Ester. The place is called "the town of 1770". You won't be really wrong if you call it "heaven" instead!
This small totally relaxed town doesn't even have a "main" street. Since this town is still not swarmed by tourists, it's not too commercialized like the rest of the east coast and prices are very reasonable.
I stayed in a hostel named "cool bananas", which is the best hostel I stayed at in Australia! large specious lounge with big screen TV (mostly playing episodes of Family guy or movies), comfortable rooms, excellent kitchen, outdoors dining tables, calm music in the background and amazing atmosphere! at first I booked only one night, when i got there i booked two more and eventually I ended up staying 7 nights! it was really that good! : )
The awesome bonus to all that was the amazing statistic of around 18 guys and 50 girls staying in the hostel. This figures were almost constant the whole time! : ) now that's what i call heaven : )
the outdoor dining tables
But the hostel is just the beginning. There are many cool things you can do there in fairly reasonable prices! I took a surfing lesson which was guided by a strange old dude. but by the end of the lesson I managed to stand on the board without crushing down shamefully : ) Surfing is AWESOME! I can't believe that's the first time i'm going it! the beach at the town of 1770 offered short waves - perfect for beginners. if any of you comes to Australia and plan to surf - there's no place better then this town!
my first surfing day (can you believe how long my right arm is?!)
my 3rd surfing day
The next "end of all roads" attraction was the "Scooterua" trip! for 39 AUD i got a small Harley Davidson like motor bike and rode in a guided group all around town. I'm telling you, going over 90km/h on this thing is such a thrill! : )
We got to see wild kangaroos, the wonderful view of the hills and the coast around and just before sunset we stoped for a cold beer. It's only in australia where you go on a motorbike trip and they take you for an alcohol stop on the way! :) after the sun set, and we ran out of beer, we headed back home (to the hostel that is...).
mom i'm getting a motor bike (- no you're not!) :)
the sunset - alcohol fuel break
The next day i went on the "walk on the wild side". A guided bush and coastal walk surrounding the town. While in the bush we saw wild iguanas, all kind of huge spiders and other only-seen-on-national-geographic-channel creatures. The coast looked really untouched and since it's not easily accessible, totally empty with people.
Now as I told you, since there were about 3 girls for every guy, it was pretty hard work for me to satisfy everyone. When things got out of hand I tried to run away and struggle. But they were too many! ; )
The white stuff is a skin mud (if you're a girl you probably know what it's for... sorry guys, covering myself with mud makes no sense to me)
That's Gust, the hostels dog. The origin of the name is the word disgusting! : )
This dog loves to have his butt scratched - and he's pretty clever. Every time you start petting his head he walks forward slowly and elegantly and the next thing you know your hand is on his buttocks! : ) I thought this dog can't walk more than 10 steps without a break, and was very impressed to see he joined us on this walk.
I spent the rest of the time at the town of 1770 hanging with the amazing people from my hostel on the beach, watching movies or surfing. This is definitely my favorite place in Australia.
My next stop down the coast was Noosa. A very pretty town with huge houses located by artificial lakes which is connected to the ocean and allow them to have private small boats right outside the house. What i'm trying to say is that if you have a lot of money - that's where you wanna' live...
Besides a gorgeous long golden beach they have a small wild national park where you can have relaxed recreational walks.
It would all be perfect if not for the bad hostel I stayed at. The kitchen was horrible and they had deposit on everything - even for bed sheets!! makes you feel like they don't trust you!
Anyway, I went on one of the national park walks. It was a beautiful coast rout which lasted 4 hours. Well, there was one freaky part though... one of the beaches along the track was full of naked old guys!!! They were walking all around, swimming and sun bathing - o my god!! don't expect photos of that! : )
On the next day I went to Australia zoo. That's the Steve Erwin (the famous guy who worked with crocodiles his whole like until he got killed by one) zoo, therefore specialized in crocodiles. This place features a kangaroo heaven - a big territory where kangaroos walk freely and you can pet and feed them, koala walk (the same idea) and lots of awesome animals like Tasmanian devil, Emus, lizards and more!
They have great shows with the crocodiles, elephants, tigers, chitas - stuff that I have never seen yet!
the kangaroo heaven
koalas are just adorable animals! they look exactly like a cute fur ball and don't do anything besides sitting and eating : )
the zoo is also packed with cool lizards which walk around freely
After Noosa I traveled to Brisbane. People say that although it's a big city, Brisbane is not too busy and offer peacful gardens besides "big city life". Therefor many of them say it's the best city to live in.
I had only 2 nights there and wanted to grab as much as I could on the 1 whole day. But unfortunately it was ANZAC day (a memorial for the world wars) and everything was closed. However, it was a quite a special day. They blocked some main streets and had an amazing parade including orchestras and people who took place in the wars.
the parade
girls i don't really know... : )
On the following day I went sight seeing and visited the QTC - Queensland university of technology. The city has very impressive old buildings but since i'm going to start studing soon, the university was more interesting for me... Right next to the botanical gardens they have these elegant and tidy small buildings which are divided faculties. The students walk around all relaxed and happy as if nothing bothers them and just sit in groups on the botanical garden grass or in one of the welcoming cafeterias... will I have such study conditions back home???
Sorry for sharing my frustrations like that : )
Brisbane treasury building
Next stop - Surfers Paradise. No, it's not just a nick name I gave this town - it's and official name in Australia! I stayed there for only 1 night and it was cloudy the whole time but while strolling this town I realized the beach justifies the name (beautiful with great waves) and the shopping center which made me feel sorry that i'm a backpacker on tight budget : )
The gate to heaven...
And now i'm in Byron bay. A touristic town famous for its alternative life stile and hippies. You can have all the touristic things you want: restaurants, bars, internet cafes etc. But the main attraction is the beach. With wonderful view and clear water it's a good place to be.
I'm staying in a great hostel and sharing a two bedroom "unit" with two guys and three crazy german girls : )
We went to see the light house hill, which is the most eastern point of Australia and offers spectacular panoramic view. Apart from that, since there are no waves at the moment, chilling on the beach is the only thing to do (that's why i'm here writing this too long post : ) )
The night life is great. There's this dance bar called Chunky Monkey where they play good music for people who dance mostly on the tables - great atmosphere : )
Byron bay
the light house
the light house walk
Byron bay beach
I'll be leaving to Sydney today - my last stop on this long and wonderful trip. Although I had tons of fun here, in Byron bay, i'm looking forward to go to a new place, especially one that gets me closer to being back to my sweet home : )
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