My friend Aron arrived about 10:20am in his camper van and we obviously had plenty of conversation on the way to his house. He lives in a place called Currumbin, on the south tip of the gold coast. It's probably only a 40 minute drive to where he lives but he took me to a few other places on the way, one place called Coolangata where there is a nice beach and plenty of surf, looking across the water you could see the high rise buildings of the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise. He had brought a few surf boards with him which suited me just fine, so we (well mainly he), looked for the best place to get wet. I didn't realise there was so much involved in the conditions for surfing, the wind direction, the types of waves etc. We got onto a beach anyway, had had a little surf - I was still only trying to catch the white water but the wind was quite strong and it took lots of energy just to paddle out as the sea was dragging us to the left along the beach. It was still fun and a great way to start my couple of days staying with Aron and Gemma (his girlfriend). We approached his house, although it's more like a giant tree house with four bedrooms, high ceilings and so much space. The drive way is about 400 meters long, so it's no wonder the postman doesn't always turn up! The house is situated quite high up overlooking what can only be described as a sub-tropical jungle, an amazing view and something you would not get bored of waking up to. Aron was happy to introduce me to a few resident spiders which were of the Huntsman variety, and can deliver quite a nasty bite - but, nothing to worry about he said because you can't die from it. I would be lying if I said that put my mind completely at rest; these spiders where bigger than your hand. Still, I was okay with them and felt like they must be quite friendly, mainly because they had given them names like Sheila.haha. I was the first person from England to come and visit, I had my own room with a nice bed, view, and free Wi-Fi! I had timed my visit very well because it was weekend and there were also some friends of theirs coming up for the weekend too. I met Steph and Kristen who were very nice, and very funny, and the five of us had a great night drinking lots of beer, and having a dip in the spar outside (another great feature). I was able to do 2 washes to which doesn't sound anything special, but having a backpack and wearing the same clothes, this was just awesome! The day after we all went to the beach to do some surfing. I was determined to improve my surfing skills or at least carry on from where I had left off in Bryon. It wasn't looking too good for me that day, until the end when I caught some powerful white water and got up on my board, in my head I was surfing despite not really turning! I was looking around to see if Aron had caught my "moment of glory", he didn't but a guy near me saw the huge smile on my face, and me looking around, he said, "I saw you mate, you were f****** surfing!" This was pretty much the highlight of my day. We all left the beach and got some fish and chips and had them on another beach a bit further up, called Palm Beach - possibly the best fish and chips ever. We had a quiet night that night and I just chilled in my room looking at my next destinations and how I would get there. Surprisingly the day after (Monday) we thought it would be nice to have a bit of a surf in the morning, Aron would be at work in the afternoon but he said he would drop me off in Surfers Paradise after we were done. Gemma, Aron and myself hit the same place we had been the day before, again it was tough to get onto anything good, you had to be exactly in the right place to catch anything. It was then that my moment of glory from the day before was about to be put to shame. A very powerful wave had just broke and I paddled like mad to hit the white water which pretty much instantly rocketed me along with it. I remember thinking, oh my god, I have never been this fast on a surf board - and I hadn't even stood up yet! At one point I thought I was going to come off the board but I held my own, went for it and got up on my board. I was able to turn a bit to the right hitting the unbroken part of the wave, forget the previous comment about "ooo look at me I'm surfing", this was surfing! I managed to pump the board a little bit to keep some momentum and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel slightly awesome, the whole thing probably lasted about 10 seconds. Now I know that doesn't sound like a lot but when you're learning to surf 10 seconds can be quite significant. Unfortunately Aron and Gemma didn't see it, which would have been nice, but still, it took a while to wipe the smile from my face. I pretty much knew I wasn't going to beat that in the time we had left, but I was more than happy to try for remaining 30 minutes we had. It was time to leave, so we dried off and got back in the van for one last trip together to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. I had booked an internal flight to a place called Mackay from Brisbane because I was heading toward Whitsundays, although a lot of local airports don't go to all the destinations you want them to, and you might need to wait longer than you anticipate to get the cheap flights. I was having to spend 3 nights on the gold coast, and in Surfers Paradise, which was maybe a day more than I wanted but couldn't really be helped. Not much can be said about Surfers Paradise, its built up with a nice long beach, and plenty of clubs and bars, for me it was very different from Byron being all chilled out and somewhere I could really of missed out. Still, it was somewhere different, quite nice, and apart from the lack of good surf conditions (despite it's name) I had a pleasant time there. There is plenty to do if you want it but it's not cheap so I chose to keep things to a minimum. It was actually yesterday that I kind of had my first reality check about how much I have spent and will still need to spend whilst I'm in Australia. I wouldn't quite call it a panic attack but it stressed me out for a few hours until I got my bank balance and worked out what money I had to play with. Probably a good thing to happen as it made me more aware of what I'm spending, and pushed me harder to look for cheaper alternatives with where I'm staying and what I eat.

I left The Gold Coast on the 31st March heading towards the Whitsundays from where I wanted to dive the barrier reef and visit the Whitsunday islands. I got a cheap flight to Mackay (pronounced Mak-eye) and arrived at the small airport - it was belting it down with rain. There was not much in the way of information either, no buses running from the airport so a taxi was the only option. As I queued for a taxi I got talking to a local who was also waiting, she proceeded to tell me how Mackay had suffered the worst weather in the last 6 months for a good number of years. I was keen to keep moving and try and get a bus from the city centre to Airlee beach (which is where you can do the Whitsunday islands from), however once I got in the taxi that I was now sharing with the local girl, the driver informed me that roads were closed due to the rain and no buses would be running. I knew from that point I would be spending the night in Mackay. I got dropped off in the middle of the small city, light fading and not a clue where I was going. Mackay is a mining and agricultural city with not much in the way of tourism, and these main industries had been affected by the poor weather. After a 20 minute walk in the rain and dark I found the cheapest accommodation I could find and booked one night, last room in the hostel (I think there are only 2 hostels in the whole place). I was wet, hungry and tired from the days travelling so I knew I wasn't going to be up to much that night. First impressions of this new destination were fairly grim, but this was mainly due to it being night time and the pouring rain. There were also lots of trees dotted around filled with birds making the loudest noise, I had heard similar bird calls when I stayed with Aron, but this was amplified to another level. I will explain later what makes these birds create such a racket. I got some fast food and kept the night cheap, I talked to a few other people who all confirmed the same thing about the weather saying it wasn't going to quit until June. It's worth mentioning that Whitsundays is less than 2 hours away from Mackay and that the weather was the same there and further up to the coast toward Cairns. The following day I went to the bus terminal and got some information about Whitsundays, however the buses still weren't going to run for the next couple. This meant I'd have to stay in Mackay, which, despite being a friendly place, there was not much to do, and it just poured with rain constantly with not even a glimpse of blue sky. I had to make a decision. I had come all this way from Brisbane with a view to going to Whitsundays, but the weather had made a huge impact on my plans. So in addition to this, even if I could get there the weather was still going to be awful. After a few pondering hours I decided to forfeit Whitsundays and my barrier reef dive. It was not easy to do, but I wasn't prepared to spend so much money on something I was really looking forward to, only for it to be totally spoilt by the weather. Poor visibility would be had on the diving, choppy seas going over to Whitsundays, I had to cut my losses and just promised myself I would be back in the middle of summer sometime to do the trips as they should be done. Having made this decision I was to head to Hervey Bay, which was south and in the direction from which I had came. The weather there was meant to be "better", the further south the clearer it would be. I booked a bus to take me there that evening, it was from a company called Greyhound which lots of travellers use for getting around. It would take about 12 hours, and I chose the 21:20 departure so I could try and get some sleep and save money on a nights accommodation; it's always best travelling at night for long trips for this reason. So, I had booked my bus, and I had about 8 hours to kill in Mackay before it left. To console myself at the recent turn of events, I decided to have a beer. I was sat on my own and there were 4 locals sitting on the next table. For some reason they didn't seem the kind of people you would just go over to and chat, or the kind that would offer conversation to a traveller passing through. So I kept myself to myself and just took my time drinking my Scooner. Scooner? Yes, that's a glass somewhere in between a pint glass and half a pint glass, the best you're going to get without paying a lot for an actual pint. After an hour or two had passed, I slowly got chatting to the four locals, and hour after that they had invited me to join them. It's strange how first impressions can be, and that mine on this occasion were pretty far off the mark. These were the people I was about to spend over 5 hours with having some drinks so it's worth mentioning who they were. There was the only girl Tracey, a bar maid who worked out in the bush in a local pub for all the miners. She was attractive although came across very thick skinned, she had a laugh like a two tonne generator starting up, still, once she got it going it was hard not to laugh with her. She was very funny and we got on really well, I think mainly because she found my dry sarcasm rather amusing. Then there was Kenny, an aboriginal by decent, who had spent a lot of time in the bush and had a lot of respect for the earth and animals. An interesting man, he was an artist but was also writing a book in tribute to Steve Irwin. The first one of its kind because he knew the family and previous efforts were not given the permission to print anything. It's called "The Day The Rivers Cry" and it should be out next year. He had some fascinating stories, and he addressed me as "brother" in nearly every sentence. It was him who told be about why the birds make the ear drum bursting noise - they are from the parrot family and they eat something off the trees that makes them quite drunk! His friend was called Gala, another aboriginal man, huge beard, always a smile, but who really didn't say a word the whole time I was there. The last guy on the table was called Taffy, he was a well built man but looked weathered, he also had a huge smile like he was competing in the world gurning championships. Taffy had been a bouncer for 15 years. He showed me where he had been shot, stabbed, and had a crowbar wrapped round his head. With him being there to tell the tale (maybe that's why he had a big smile; just happy to be alive) indicated that I probably shouldn't get on the wrong side of him. Equally though a very nice guy, telling me stories of the Italians owning all the night clubs on the Gold Coast in the late 80's. So the drinks kept coming and it was a great way to pass the time. I also thought that it would help me sleep later on when I got on the bus. Tracey was one of those girls you just don't mess with and as funny as she was, you got the impression she could look after herself. This was highlighted to a very high level when she said in passing how happy she was to get her driving licence back. I presumed it was drink driving related but I was wrong for the second time that day, it was dangerous driving. Two years earlier her ex-boyfriend had come round at some very early time in the morning, and after serious argument he had hit her very hard (Tracey needed stiches) and then he just drove off. Tracey got in her car and raced after him overtaking every vehicle in her path. After catching up with him a few miles down the road she then rammed him off the road into a lamp post sending him sprawling through the windscreen into the very same lamp post. He was obviously injured but it was not fatal. There was a court case in which he did not press charges (probably because of his guilty concience) She told the story in such a matter of fact fashion, where as I was trying to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. It was at this point I decided to do the polite thing, have a few more drinks then be on my way. Quite a diverse mix of people occupied the table that day but they were all really good friends and came across as nice, decent people. I had really enjoyed spending time with them, even if Tracey's cheese had well and truly slid off her cracker (though the ex-boyfriend deserved everything he got). It was around that moment I realised that my trip to Mackay was not a wasted journey, I had been taken a little out of my comfort zone and met some real Australian people, not the blonde haired surf dudes of the Gold Coast, or the city slickers of Sydney. I knew it would make a good entry in this here blog, and it was a day that I will not forget. Despite the recent change of plans still at the back of my mind I knew I was doing the right thing by moving on. As always, I looked forward to arriving at my next destination, Hervey Bay, maybe just not the 12 hour bus journey that would take me there…