Just turned twenty-five and realized I have so much to see. I Looked into an around the world ticket... hoping to leave in August 2007.
Noosa/ Brisbane and Byron Bay
AUSTRALIA | Friday, 7 December 2007 | Views [439]
<p> Still going! Noosa is a great small cute town. It's
comparable to Huntington. It was a short, but steep hike to my hostel
and after a ten hour bus ride! I had a lot of food left over from
camping so more weight to carry. As I was inching my way up the hill a
sweet older local asked if I needed help. I said 'no don't worry it's
heavy,' and she said 'Oh good. I have a bad back'. Uhmm hmm. I make it
to the top and the YHA is a big beautiful old french colonial style
house converted to a hostel. My room was tiny four bed share, but so
clean and nice. I spent some time making lunch and then headed to the
bar for my free drink. I met the other three from my room and two were
on an Oz Experience tour. They knew about Marc, a friend I travelled
w/in NZ. We gossiped a bit about him and shared stories and I called it
a night. Around 12:30 Annabelle woke me up to ask me if I was sure I
didn't want to head out. Uhmm yes... I was sure. Next day they were up
early to head off. I spent my day walking around the town and beach.
And I night I strolled by myself.. I think it was exactly what I needed
after an exhausting few days. The next day I did a nature walk in the
national park and spotted a few wild koalas.. It was so cool! I then
headed to Brisbane. On the Greyhound I had been running into this
threesome, but on the way to Brisbane it was only Ryan. His friends
headed down a day early and he was alone and scared. He asked if we
could find the same hostel to stay at in town in case he couldn't find
them. I said sure.</p><p>Brisbane: We headed to the closest
hostel and asked for availability. The lady assumed Ryan and I were
together so she made a fuss about not having a lot of beds together in
the dorms.. we tried to correct her, but she wasn't listening and we
were to polite. Finally she tracked us down a room and sent us off.
Ryan was on the phone right away to meet his friends.. I didn't feel
like tagging around so I roamed to the major streets and looked around.
Lots of shopping.. could be an okay city. The next day I had some time
to kill before the bus.. I checked out the art galleries, which were
awesome. Some of the coolest things and I really needed the dose. I've
been missing my Moca after darks and such! Then the botanical gardens
and some good eats and it was time to go. I headed to the book exchange
and picked up a book by an Aussie writer called Candy. I'm done with it
now.. it's all about heroin. Quite intense and Vulgar. I'm happy that I
have time to read now. I've been going though a book a every couple of
weeks or something like that! </p><p><br />Surfers
Paradise was a bust, Marco was in the army and it was schoolies week so
I decided to skip it and head to Byron Bay. Good choice! I love love
love Byron. I stayed at and alternative art commune turned hostel. It
was the last bed and I was lucky to pick it up. Showing up at a place
like this alone is definitely overwhelming. You have to be in the mood
to approach a group of settled in people w/cliques. I settled in to my
dorm, which was next to a double decker bus dorm and a tee pee dorm. Oh
lordy where am I? I wanted a nice cooked meal for me, but by the time I
was done booking my place for Thailand the restaurant was closed =( I
had no choice but to cook... again. I made my famous and easy red curry
stir fry and sat down to eat, alone. No Not in the mood. Can't do it. I
walked up to two boys chatting over pasta and drinks and asked if i
could join them.. and I didn't like eating alone. I was received with
open arms. Phew. They were teaching juggling workshops in the day and
told me to swing by. One of them was putting on a fire dancing show at
midnight and invited me out. I was lethargic after dinner and called it
an early night. In the morning I got an email from Lindsay saying to
meet her in town at 11 to go to Nimbin. Cool. Nimbin is the hippy
capital of the East Coast. The are all about Marijuana and eco power.
We signed up for a ride to the town and a tour of the solar power and
alternative energy plant and the candle factory. Lindsay wasn't into
trying any of the goodies there and I agreed. We had a yummy breakfast
of pancakes and roamed the interesting town. You couldn't help but feel
that it wasn't really a town, but a tourist trap. We were assured that
it had been around since the seventies and hasn't changed much...
besides the tours of course. We checked out some cool art and then the
famous town museum. I ran into three German boys (konstantine, Dominik
and Max)that were staying in the same room and we chatted a bit about
the town and their intentions. It was a mad house.. just collages glued
to the wall, car parts, and of course cookie dealers. I bought three
for kicks. I took half and an hour past and I was sure I was ripped
off. We learned a ton about alternative energy and headed home. I took
another half and fell asleep on the ride home. When we arrived I woke
up and I was stoned. I thought for sure that everyone on the bus knew,
but not even Lindsay did... until I mentioned wanting to eat cereal.
haha She wanted to walk me home, but I reassured her that I'd be okay
and set off. It felt like an hour passed before I made it back to the
arts factory, but it was only twenty minutes. I ate a bowl of cereal
and headed to the dorm.. the boys were sitting outside looking lost. I
went for a nap and they did too.. we all woke up about 9pm. I headed
out to cocomangas, a night club that we get into for free, with some of
the roomies and danced. One of the boys lost his wallet so we went on a
hunt, but no luck. The next morning I got an email from Matt (fiji) and
he was in Byron too! How lucky I was to run into to pals from the trip!
We decided to do a wk to the light house, which he promised me would be
a leisurely stroll. It wasn't. It was about 8ks. We did the paved way
there and the beach walk back, which entailed some rock climbing... in
a dress and ballet shoes. We had a great fun trying to time the water
so we wouldn't get hit by massive waves.. but we survived. We said our
so longs and went on our ways. I had to pack to head further south to
Sydney. I figured since I'd be on the bus for 12 hours I'd better have
another cookie. Dominik laughed and helped me w/my bags. At the station
I ran into Marion! WE jumped up and down like little kids having a
sleep over or something. Lili was there too. I wasn't on the roster,
but luckily he let me on the bus. Turns out I was supposed to board the
earlier one... oops. We had a looooong drive to Sydney, I slept most
the way. By the time we arrived it was cold and gloomy. We were all
dressed for sunny weather. ughh. I headed back to the Base hostel and
got a room for a few nights while I figured out how to meet up w/the
Irish gals from NZ.
Tags: On the Road
Add your comments
