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Friday 14th January 2011
Today was a nice relaxing day at the beach with Lucy and Jesper! Lucy and i went to Bottany Bay to watch him windsurfing!! It was really good fun..but this beach was sooo windy the sand felt like it was scarring our skin...forget sunbathing today lol.. nice relaxed night in tonight :-)
Saturday 15th January 2011
Lucy and I had a yummy lunch at Bondi Pizza consisting of chocolate swirls and warm chocolate sauce and ice cream...followed by a nice afternoon up the Sydney Centre Point Tower. The views up here were amazing and I would highly recommend this to anyone. We then had our party bus tonight..a way to celebrate leaving Sydney at the same time! This was great fun-it took us to 6 bars with free drinks, we danced the night away and met loads of great people, I would definitely recommend this too for a good night out!!
Sunday 16th January 2011
Lucy and I went in to town to grab some supplies for our first coach journey tomorrow morning to start our tour of the East Coast ahh!! woop woop. I got everything sorted today, bag all packed and enjoyed some vodkas with Marc and Hannah tonight to say goodbye and also thank them for everything they had done for me since my arrival in November :-)
Monday 17th January 2011
So...up early this morning! I got a taxi from the apartment at 5.30am to Kings Cross Train Station in Sydney to get on my bus at 6am! i watched Lucy say her goodbyes to Jesper ..and i felt a tear come to my eye..bless them! But they were soon to be re-united along the way ...We were on route to Arrawara to SPOT X surf club. We were playing games on the coach on the way there, getting to know some of our fellow travellers before we arrived. We stayed in our first hostel today! It was outdoor cabins holding 10 bunkbeds..bit of a shock to the system as we didnt know what to expect and if all hostels would be the same like this one!
Tuesday 18th January 2011
Today was an early start...for our first surf lesson!! This was so much fun, we started off laying on our boards infront of the instructor on the sand..he showed us what to do, got us to practice pulling ourselves up on the board and standing the right way...the only trouble was..we then had to actually try in the water. The sea was full of sea-weed up to our thighs...as much fun as it was..every time you got off/fell off the board..you had to fight with the sea-weed pulling you back and wrapping itself round your board...bloody good workout lol..never seen so much sea-weed in my life!
So..we were very proud of ourselves as we both managed to stand up on our boards!! Even have photographic proof!! This was when we got to know good old miss Holly Nunns a bit better!!!
We then coached to Byron Bay, driving through Grafton where we went over the famous 'Bent Bridge'! We arrived late this afternoon, preparing for our first night out in the well known club of Cheeky Monkeys. This club is brilliant-if you travel Oz Experience you get free drinks and a $5 meal, you also get a better chance of winning prizes like reef trips, cape tribulation tours and other stuff. The club has a great atmosphere-you def need the alcohol because just after 9pm people start dancing on the tables! Great night out.
Wednesday 19th January 2011
We went to the beach today, chilled out for a bit as the weather wasnt too amazing today..and yep-headed to Cheeky Monkeys again tonight.
Thursday 20th January 2011
Today Lucy and i had a tour booked to the weirdo druggy town of Nimbin! This was a great day out, we got a coach to the town and got free time to walk round the shops and see all the local people high on hash cookies...get offered them by 80year old women spinning round in their wheelchairs and throwing necklaces up onto branches on a tree. Lucy and I decided to grab a drink in a little coffee shop...also enjoying chocolate cake-which we then started getting paranoid had hash in it! We had to ask the 12yr old boy employed at the shop if he was drugging us haha. We went back later this afternoon and went to Cheekys again! (first time experiencing people getting it on in my hostel room-across the bunk from me....NOT a pleasant experience)-However we did all start singing 'I just had sex' at them so it made the experience a little easier even though i have permanent mental scarring-thanks guys.
Friday 21st January 2011
Today Lucy and I had dolphin kyaking booked! We got picked up and taken to the Sea where they gave us attractive little helmets and lifejackets-(mucho needed for me aha) and then we got in our Kyaks and then started our paddling out over huge splashing waves! We went out quite far so our little muscles were very achey...we were so lucky as sometimes you dont even get the chance to spot any dolphins...but we saw about 10!!! It was so amazing, they are so beautiful..even though I have swam with dolphins before..to see them in their own natural environment is just something else. I would def recommend this activity to anyone visiting Byron Bay. They then said for us to test our balance by standing up in the Kyak and holding our paddle...of course I was freaking out whilst Lucy tried standing up...I was shrieking and clenching both sides of the boat whilst Lucy was shoving her bum in my face..ahaha funny to look back on!! We started our journey back in to shore...the waves were huge on the way back in...delightfully capsizing us !! After these events we went to The Beach Road Hotel which is a lovely big bar usually with live bands for some drinks. Such a good bar-just what we needed, a nice chill out after a day of paddling.
Saturday 22nd January 2011
Today was our next bus from Byron Bay to Surfers Paradise. Holly decided today to finish her travels of the East Coast with myself and Lucy, and this is where the Great Dane..(Lucy's Boyfriend Jesper lol) re-united with her, whisking her away for two days :-) Holly and I just chilled out round the pool in the hostel called Surf'n'Sun -this was a good hostel, quite small, but was just right for the amount of time we stayed. On the way to the hostel I will always remember the dramas...haha, we hadnt planned where we were going to stay...so a guy that was working for a company called 'Plan B' -a promotional company for bar crawls-offered a helping hand. He said his manager had apartments and he would let us stay with him. Whilst getting talked into this we also purchased a ticket for the bar crawl they were hosting that night for 'Australias Big Weekend'
So his manager came to collect us all-and he was surprisingly very rude-he drove like a lunatic...and us 4 girls (Holly, Hope, Jo and myself) all looked at each other clearly thinking the same thing! We decided that we didnt even want to enter the apartments and we wanted to find our own hostel-so before we could say that we had changed our minds and thankyou anyway-he was reversing his van whilst we were trying to quickly drag our bags out! We hopped in the nearest taxi and stumbled across Surf'N'Sun backpackers-which was a lovely little hostel. We all got ready for the 'Big Night Out' which started nice and early at 6pm! Jo and Hope had decided to catch the bus back in the morning back to Byron Bay so they didnt stay out all night-whilst Holly and Myself met up with Jesper and proceeded to get very merry with our free drinks! We met some lovely locals and had such a good night :-)
Sunday 23rd January 2011
Holly and I had purchased tickets for Sea-World and Wet'N'Wild-and chilled out in the hostel today recovering from the night before. We didnt even manage any drinks tonight...juuust rest.
Monday 24th January 2011
Holly and I met back up with Lucy after Jesper had left, and we all got ready for a good day out at Sea World! I was in my element as I saw lots of penguins..! We did some retail therapy on the way back and had dinner out tonight.
Tuesday 25th January 2011
Today was the day of Wet'N'Wild! It was a lovely day for weather-we went on the rubber ring ride which scared the living daylights out of me..I always picture falling out of that thing!!! Then we went on the surf board roller coaster which was so so high! So much fun though muahaha. We enjoyed some pasta tonight while watching a movie at the hostel.
Wednesday 26th January 2011
We travelled to Noosa today-home of the Crocodile Hunter! We travelled via Brisbane-catching glimpses of all the devastation and damage of the floods that we had just by-passed. We chose to go straight through to Noosa as most of Brisbane had been dramatically affected. Today was also Australia Day so we stuck the Aussie flags on our faces and when we arrived at the Nomads hostel we celebrated in the Koala Bar which was part of the hostel with our new 'frieeends'-Ash and Will that were in our room. This hostel was nice, but the only thing was that the club that was attached to the hostel was also open to the public-which made us feel very uncomfortable with the locals coming in and harassing the backpackers. There was a live band on tonight which was good.
Thursday 27th January 2011
We headed to the beach today, it is a really reallyyyy small beach-so don't be surprised if you don't have room to stretch out on your towels lol-so small. This was the day that Australia stole my 5th pair of sunnies and my hairband...I was not impressed lol...getting taken out by waves hurts man-thanks girls for grabbing me and potentially saving my life!
Friday 28th January 2011
Australia Zoo!! This was our best day so far! It was so much fun- we got dropped off by the Nomads shuttle bus and then picked up by by a Zoo bus at the bus station which was a really easy system. We got on ready for the hour journey to the Zoo- watching a video on the life of Stevo which was really sad..you saw him growing up and heard his story about how it all started as a reptile zoo and about his love for animals and life...emotionallll- yes-i cried. We got there at 10.00am and saw elephants, otter shows, kangaroos in a big open sanctuary and we got to feed them, sit with them and stroke them which was so good. We also saw koalas and got the chance to hold one! We went to the 'Crocoseum' to watch the live show which Steve would usually perform-but now taken over by the Zoo Keepers or occaisionally his family would take the show. They made us stand up in the crowds and choose an animal of our choice to then imitate and if it was good enough we got on the big screen...of course we chose penguins and of course-got on the big screen! haha so funny. We got picked up and brought back to the bus station at 16.30pm and we watched another DVD on Steve Irwins life and his tributes. We learnt about his best friend -his dog, and his family. Yes. I cried. Again.
Saturday 29th January 2011
We travelled from Noosa to Rainbow beach today, we checked into 'Rainbow on Frazers' Hostel-this hostel was actually really nice-we were shocked at how secluded this place actually is! We got chatting to two girls in our room and just chilled at the hostel today.
Sunday 30th January 2011
Today was Fraser Island! We were up at 5.45 this morning to watch a briefing on the Island...how to stay safe/dig holes to pee in/not go into the sea/stay in groups because of dingos/keep the frickin flies away..oh and dont die in the 4x4. Lol, we got to the ferry in our 4x4s-we had been grouped up so Holly, Lucy and I were with two Danish guys a Chillian guy and the two Canadian girls that we had met earlier in our travels called Kate and Dianne. When we got off the ferry in our car the other end we drove to the campsite where we put up our own little tents!
We then drove to Lake Mckenzie which was beautiful! we had a nice sand bath in the unsalted lake before arriving back to camp to cook dinner. The flies were extremely annoying..they are huge sand flies that bite you as soon as they land on your skin...so imagine needing a wee..having to go in a group as its dark and there are also dingos...whilst these huge flies are biting your ass lol..not pleasant.
So the girls decided they wanted a cigarette...we all hopped in the back of the 4x4 and were chatting over a plastic cup of vino (if you can call it vino) ...we had decided to leave the rear doors of the car open...the girls were sat opposite me and then just started screaming- i instantly thought that something was behind me so i jumped on to them thinking that a killer spider was behind me on the window! ...They were screaming I was shrieking..the next minute I'm laying on the floor in the back of the car and they are shouting SHUT THE DOOR! So i turn round as Holly managed to get the word 'DINGO!' out finally...and ..yup..by the time I had turned round to close the door...the poor dog had run off scared s***less lol! This was so funny..and Lucy told me that she wanted me to close the door as Im 'The Animal Person'-hahaha, she's not wrong! But this was one of our famous funny statements of the trip :-) <3 you girls, miss you millions!!!
Monday 31st January 2011
We Met Dave and his friend today on their last day of their trip. We walked to Lake Wobby today which was overlooking stunning scenery, we walked along sand dunes to get there, and it was definitely worth the walk, as you approached you saw the steep slope down to the stunning lake with all of the gorgeous trees reflecting into its beauty!! Was amazing!
One thing I will not forget is the long drop toilets...toilets than cannot be flushed..but just collect everything at the bottom..swarming with flies and bugs and spiders in every corner of the room. Ha - wont be missed too much.
Overall- if you dont mind not having hot water to wash up in or to wash with for a few days, being bitten on the bum by mozzies and digging a hole to pee in...you will LOVE Fraser Island!
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