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G'day G'day, and how ya goin? (See Slim Dusty - G'day G'day) 3 Weeks of Activity to recount to you! I feel that, seen as though it is my last day in Australia, I should inform you of my adventures thus far. Picking up from where i left off in Airlie Beach on May 31st - after that messy, we proceeded to have another night out courtesy of some voucher's we'd managed to photocopy - free entry and drinks - never a bad thing on a budget (this is coming from the person who bout 3 McDonalds meals in 10 hours, then a huge ice cream and bag of goon).
Sunday 1st June, Pinch, Punch and all that. We left Airlie Beach on the Oz Experience bus with our new driver Guidooooooo.... yeah! (the Goonies know what i mean) - turned out to be an arse-bandit of epic proportion after stealing our money for a BBQ-the less the better. A long journey later and we arrived at Kroombit Cattle Station where we learned how to crack a whip (harder than it sounds). We were due to go on the mechanical bull but it broke just before our go so myself, Louise, Rob, Steve, Kim and JILL! (our group from the Whitsundays) went back to the room slightly dejected. The next morning we all went on a Goat muster - pretty much riding horses and rounding up all the goats on the estate into a paddock - sounds pretty droll but it was one of the best things i've done in Oz - my horse was called Snip:D After which, we took part in a goat rodeo where we had to catch the goat, flip it and pretend to brand it. Louise and I (The Kidnappers) won with a time of 24 seconds. Before leavin I decided it'd be funny to take the farmer up on his offer of being poked by a cattle prod - as you do. Again, the less said the better - there's a picture floating around somewhere.
Monday 2nd was just a pointless and exhausting day on the bus, eventually arriving in Rainbow Beach. The place must shut down at 7pm because absolutely nothing was open - no restaurants, cafes, shops - nothing!
Tuesday 3rd was the day we embarked upon our Fraser Island Adventure. Our group consisted of myself, Louise, Kim, Jill and Steve along with some others travelling the East Coast (their names aren't really of consequence). Anyway, we were on a self-driven tour of Fraser Island - the 'World's Largest Sand Island', so we packed all our luggage, camping supplies, food etc on the 4x4 and headed to Fraser. It's quite a surreal thing to see 20 or so massive 4x4's fully-laden with beer and the odd tent ploughing down a beach at 100km/h. Our first day involved a visit to Lake McKenzie which was beautiful despite the weather. The pictures show what it looked like better than any description i can offer. We went for a swim and had a few beers with lunch before heading back to the main beach where we drove past a massive shipwreck (quite picturesque in the sunset) and set up camp. That night was extremely messy! We played a fair few drinking games after our steak dinner and everyone was pretty hammered - thats the main activity on the East Coast bar surfing - drinking goon. Anyway, one of the guys in our 4x4 had a guitar so i had a little go and when i looked up, the whole campsite had congregated round our tents and everyone was singing. Had to get the classics out - Wonderwall, Time Of Your Life etc. After that died down, everyone spread out (you've probably seen the pictures of Louise and her adventures that night) across the campsite, the beach or went back to their tents. At the end of the night, Jill put Louise to bed and came back to start singing Glasgow Rangers songs. I made myself a crisp sandwich and then went to bed myself.
The morning of Wednesday 4th was surprisingly chirpy and un-hungover for the campsite (except for a girl in our 4x4 - absolute state) - i think it may have been because the weather was stunning. The only thing to mention about the morning was that we had eggy bread for breakfast and i brushed my teeth with beer - a fact of which i've become proud - not really sure why. We had a packed itinerary that day, starting with Eli Creek - effectively a small river which you can float down and arrive back at the beach. The second location that day was Indian Head, a beautiful beach overlooked by steep cliffs which drop vertically into the sea on the far side. We all walked up to the promontory and took a few photos, spotted some whales and soaked up the sun - pretty standard day. After this we drove down the beach to the Champagne Pools (you're not allowed to swim in the sea at the moment due to the Jellyfish), a raised area on the rocks that consists of pools that are continually replenished with sea water brought over by the waves. We relaxed there for a bit, had lunch back at the beach and then went back along the coast to find our campsite for the night. Had another night centred on drinking games, goon and sitting on the beach under the stars. Everyone was extremely drunk that night and despite not passing without incident for some of our group (Jill and Kim had a bit of trouble with a w*nker from our 4x4), it was a really fun night. This was also the night where the bite on me shoulder originated - see facebook pictures.
Thursday 5th, our last day on Fraser, started with a trip to Lake Wabbi - again, see the pictures as my description doesn't do it justice. Its quite a surreal place with the enormous sand dunes, surrounding forest and almost luminous green lake. The girls decided not to undertake the walk from the beach to the lake so it was just the guys who ended up going. We had some races down the dunes, swam round the lake and had a rolling race (i won HA!) and just generally had a great time. Following the walk back to the jeep and a drive down the beach, we left Fraser Island by the ferry, extremely happy with our experience there.
On Friday 6th, we headed from Rainbow Beach to Noosa, which luckily was only a short journey. We arrived in the morning and checked into one of the dirtiest, sub-standard yet also one of the most expensive hostels we've experienced. Spent most of the day in Noosa at one of the beaches, soaking up the sun which would probably be the last opportunity we'd have in Oz. In the evening, the girls (Jill, Kim and Louise) got glammed up and I the honorary gay friend for the night did my best and we all headed to the Sex And The City Movie - which is amazing by the way. We were all a little tipsy when we got back so Jill and Louise went out whilst Kim and I stayed behind. They returned an hour later and after changing beds a few times, we ended up going to sleep (I in Jill's bed, Jill in mine (and later Louise's and Louise in her own).
Saturday 7th was slightly more chilled for Louise and I. The girls had gone to the Australia Zoo whilst we had elected to stay in Noosa to save money. Ended up spending just as much as the girls and all we had to show for it was going to the cinema to see the new Indiana Jones movie (not good). That night, i went for a walk around Noosa, which is exceedingly beautiful at night with all its beach walkways lit up.
Sunday 8th - arrived in Brisbane and checked into our City centre hostel. Our group went to the South Bank with Jodie and Luke (a couple from further up the coast) and had a look around the markets before returning to the hostel. Everyone went out that evening as it was a Bank Holiday the next day so apparently the clubs were going to be packed. I elected to stay at the hostel as I didn't much feel like it. Ended up however, meeting Louise, Jill and Kim a few hours later because i was extremely bored. Went to a gay night with the girls (managed to attract the attentions of no less than 3 gentlemen that night - an impressive tally no?) and ended up having an amazing night, getting back to our hostel at 4:30am.
Didn't really do that much on Monday 9th - went on a ferry ride around the city (managed to do it for free - not sure how), perused the various souvenir shops and had the coldest shower ever! Went to Wagamamas that night for dinner as Kim was leaving us for Sydney the day after with Jill. I must admit, despite the cost, it was well worth it.
Met up again with Steve on the morning of Tuesday 10th for breakfast (apple and cinnamon pancakes - awesome stuff) and said goodbye to Jill and Kim who were to fly to Sydney. This was our last day as the Goonies (we adopted the name after the goon-related fun on Fraser and Whitsundays) so it was a little sad for all of us. We arrived at Byron Bay in the dark after leaving Brisbane at 1:30pm. Discovered that the smell issuing from my luggage was the bag of potatoes which had been there, putrifying for 4 weeks - bad times) That night, myself, Louise, Steve, Jodie and Luke played a few drinking games and headed to Cheeky Monkey's, the main backpacker bar in Byron. The penalty that Steve, Luke and I had incurred whilst playing Ring of Fire was to act gay all night. The pictures you see on Facebook are the fruits of our labour - apparently I was making some guy feel uncomfortable - testament to my acting skills or should i be worried? On a completely separate tangent - we bumped into a girl from college at our hostel - Sophie Ridge. I hate to use the cliche but 'small world'.
Louise left Byron for Surf Camp on Wedneday 11th, leaving Steve, Jodie, Luke and me behind. That day we went snorkelling and I had one of the best experiences of my life. We swam with huge sharks, green turtles, loggerhead turtles (enormous), rays and a vast array of other sealife on the coral reef. The highlights were swimming within a foot of a green turtle, literally close enough to touch and equally, watching two green turtles fighting over a jellyfish with a huge shoal of tropical fish, 2 bull rays and a shark looking on. That evening, we had a look around Byron, saw Crocodile Dundee's hat and got extremely drunk in our dorm. Steve wasn't allowed into Cheeky Monkeys on account of his drunkeness.
Thursday the 12th saw us travel to Surf Camp. The only thing worth mentioning of the journey is that i spotted 2 Koalas in the Eucalyptus forests on the drive down. That afternoon, we had our free surf lesson and you have probably all seen the evidence of that. Despite numerous, wipe-outs, i got the hang of it and it really is true what surfer's say,'Only a surfer knows the feeling'. I don't profess to be a surfer but it was one of the best things i've done on the trip. Had a massive BBQ for dinner as the surfing had worked up an appetite.
Friday 13th and our journey to Sydney! Woke at 5:45, absolutely exhausted but excited about the final leg of our journey. After abusing my breakfast privileges (naturally i was first up) and watching the sunrise on the beach, we headed to Sydney. That night, after meeting back up with Jill and Louise, Louise went to see Edward Scissorhands at the Opera house while the rest of us went out and took advantage of our free drink privileges at one of the bars. We met back up with Louise at the Opera House and proceeded to Side Bar (the bar attached to our hostel) where we drank, danced more and ended up in bed at 3am.
Saturday 14th started witha trip to McDonalds - nothing quite cures a hangover so well before making you feel horrifying about 10minutes later. Steve, Louise and I went for a tour of Sydney and Steve went for the Opera House tour whilst Louise and I stayed in the Opera Bar. That evening, after a trip to Wagamama's for Louise leaving meal, we met a travelling companion from New Zealand, Marie, at the Opera Bar for a few drinks before returning to Side Bar to finish the night off. This was Louise's last night so it had some added significance.
Sunday 15th - said goodbye to Louise in the morning and we all waved her off in the shuttle to the airport. However, Steve and I had a busy day ahead of us so we left literally straight after Louise. We visited the Sydney Aquarium and spent hours walking round Sydney as we knew the next day would be even busier so we wanted to fit as much in as possible.
Monday 16th was jam-packed! Steve, Luke, Jodie and I visited the Harbour Bridge Pylon for some views of the harbour before splitting up as Steve and I had tickets on a ferry around Sydney Harbour. We used those late in the afternoon before going to the Sydney tower for some truly stunning views of Sydney's skyline at night. That night, we all got gooned up and went to World Bar to enjoy the teapot cocktails, somehow ended up in an exceedingly slezy strip-club, which we promptly left and then back to the hostel at about 2:30.
Tuesday 17th - had Jill's little birthday celebration in the evening (the day isn't worth mentioning) and got a bit gooned up but generally it was a quiet day and a quieter night.
Wednesday 18th - Jodie, Luke and Steve left for their respective destination today so only Jill and I remained of the group we travelled with down the East Coast. Pretty much slept all day after paying an extortionate $100 for malaria tablets - frickin' mosquitoes! Went out for a few drinks with Jill and Rob (whom we last saw in Noosa) in the evening but otherwise, a slow day. The entries get shorter, the longer i spend in Sydney.
Thursday 19th - tour of the Opera House and an evening drink with Jill
Friday 20th - I managed to get briefly lost whilst food shopping before going to Bondi Beach in the afternoon. Despite only catching 2 waves, i have the pleasure of saying, ' I've surfed at Bondi Beach', although in reality, i got wiped out over and over and over at Bondi Beach - these waves scared the sh*t out of me. Had a goon party in the evening which kept Jill and I occupied for a few hours before heading to bed. I managed to lock myself out of my room at 3am so I had to go down to reception in my boxers and ask the burly security guard to let me back in - mortifying!.
Saturday 21st (almost done) - Had a look around Paddy's Market for some souvenirs but found it to be more like markets at home - by that i mean, crap. I managed however to sell my spare Opera House ticket to Rob who went with me in the evening to watch a classical concert - 'Emanuel Ax plays Mozart'. Another experience which, although the show could've been more to my taste, I can still say i've had. Drank lots of goon upon our return to the hostel and went out to an Irish pub, ' Scruffy Murphy's', with Jill, Rob and her friends from Melbourne - pretty sure i got back at around 3am.
Sunday 22nd - went to the Rocks Market which was a lot better than Paddy's. Bought a few souvenirs including my Opal pendant (which i've been looking for down the East Coast). Otherwise, not really much to mention.
And finally onto Monday 23rd, today, my last day in the Land Down Under. I've done absolutely nothing except sit here and write this. Tomorrow I head to Singapore, followed by Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. As you can probably appreciate, I'm looking forward to it so much, despite being by myself. I'll try and keep the blog updated so you don't have to sit here for so long next time (even though I keep saying that). Onwards to the land of noodles, ladyboys and finally some sun!!
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