East Coast is Da Bomb!

Jega bomb, after jega bomb, after jega bomb... No seriously we do tourist stuff too and we have the photos to prove it.

We started off leaving the house at 8 o'clock on a dark and driery Saturday night. Leaving the lads and 2 girls was a strange feeling. Our home for 6 months, Ashfield, was a fantastic experience. It holds memories for all of us and we'll laugh next time we meet up at all of the stories that we were a part of while living on the "ranch".

The last post was about Sydney so lets get down the long journey home for myself & the boys that will be part of it. We arrived in Byron Bay at 9.30 in the morning the next day and jumped straight into a bus for the Lodge Hostel just outside the town. We got straight back into town after familiarising ourselves with "backpackerism" and hostel life again. No more digital TV and 42' plasmas for Matt & me. Byron Bay is a small little town. It's easy to get around and good for the surf and the ideallic, picturesque views. It's a nice spot to start/finish your East Coast journey as it's so laid back. The weather has been pretty poor so far so we got pics and spent the evening having a few drinks.

The next day we took the bus to Nimbin. Nimbin, for those that don't know it, is a small town an hour and a half from Byron Bay where hippies settled and started to grow weed in the 70s. Today it still has those same hippies, just not as youthful, and they are still selling and smoking weed. It is not legal for them to do so as many people think. They persist however, with the police cracking down once a year. It's a surreal place, not like Amsterdam, you are free to smoke in their cafes but police monitor the whole situation. We enjoyed the day and headed off on the bus to have a BBQ before heading back to Byron.

The next day it was on to Surfers Paradise. What a crazy place! A mix between Vegas, Miami and a holiday resort in Spain. Some cool people around and some good surf. Matt & I took advantage and hit the waves for our first time. We loved it. Although the waves were small, the stormy weather meant rough sea but we both managed to get up and ride some waves. Love the pics, especially the one where Matt breaks surf etiquette & takes me out while I was on a 10 footer!

Next on the road was Brisbane. We only booked one night as we estimated that Brissy would be crap. It lived up to our expectation unfortunately. We spent the day at the gym and walking around the city. Nothing to even to take a photo of so there is none here either, sorry haha.

We are at the minute in Noosa. Love Noosa. If anyone wants to retire, come here! It is a beautiful place with lovely shops, beach, houses and people. The weather is bad here so all we did was have a mountain bike, see some helicopters and enjoyed a few schooners (Aussie beers, they don't drink pints). Next on the road is Hervey Bay and Fraiser Island. It's an understatement to say we can't wait for that.

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Fraser Island

Jonny has asked me to blog this week for him so I will do my best to explain a superb week which started with a five hour bus ride from Noosa to Hervey Bay. As explained by Jonny Noosa was a haven, picturesque spot and we were sorry we couldn't have stayed longer but unfortunately Fraser Island was calling!!! For those who don't know Fraser Island, it stretches over 123 kilometres along the southern coast of Queensland with an area of 184,000 hectares. It is the largest sand island in the world, dotted with off road tracks and beautiful fresh water lakes. We booked ourselves on a 3 day, 2 night self-driven camping trip with our very own 4x4 vehicle.

We arrived from Noosa in good time for our pre meeting where we were broken down into 2 groups of 10 and 11, it's fair to say we were happy with the group we got which consisted of an English and Irish couple, me, Jonny and Four girls from England Taiwan, Germany and Denmark. After watching the safety video and running through the huge list of do's and don'ts, as a group we went shopping for 3 days worth of food and amenities for the trip. This was a great way to get to know our new group mates and yes we also stocked up on a few alcoholic beverages.

Next day we were up nice and early to collect our vehicle, sign for our camping and cooking equipment and load our vehicle, ready to board the ferry over to the island. Jonny volunteered himself to drive the first leg and off we set expectations high and the mood humorous. As soon as we arrived on the Island we knew we were in a for a special few days and the endless paragraphs I could write would not do it justice. As they say a picture paints a thousand words so all I will conclude on was Fraser Island is that it is a must do experience on the East Coast with some amazing and exhilarating views. Nothing quite beats sitting round a camp fire by moon light sharing stories and jokes with a cold beer amongst great company. I hope you enjoy the pics as much as Jonny enjoyed posing for them!!

After Fraser Island it was back to Hervey bay for a night and as a group we said goodbye to Connor and Edel, the Irish couple, and the rest of the group descended on the local nightclub (Morocco's) for an excellent night out and no we didn't hit the Jega bombs (they had none!).

Next stop was 1770. 1770 was not part of the original plan but as we have enjoyed surfing so much we decided to stop for a couple of days to catch some waves. We headed there with two of the girls we had met on Fraser Island, Sarah and Anna, and we have also arranged to meet back up with Pete and Rebecca (the English couple) and May the Danish girl in Airlie beach to do the Whitsunday's Islands. 1770 was another unexpected haven and we stayed in what has to be the best hostel so far, called Cool Bananas, and we were all sorry not ot have had longer here to enjoy the tranquillity and beauty of the place. We got a mornings surfing in and a few of us then heading off to watch the sunset with a few beers in the late afternoon.

So we now find ourselves in Airlie Beach eagerly awaiting to meet back up with the others and do the Whitsunday's tour which is basically 3 days, 2 nights sailing on a Catamaran around the Great Barrier Reef, I know it's a hard old life but after 6 months of working in Sydney we certainly are enjoying ourselves and I personally don't think I could ask for anymore.

In conclusion, an excellent week again full of laughter, breathtaking scenery, lifelong memories and some fast tracked friendships made along the way. Hope you enjoy the blog and pics and tune back in next week for week 3's update which should be full of more pics and some stories from Whitsunday's.

Meech

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Blue Seas, Blue Skies & White Water

We started week 3 of the east coast trip with a Monday sailing for Whitsundays. Whitsundays is a collection of islands and barrier reef that you access from Airlie Beach. Airlie Beach, aptly named, has no actual beach but is the camp zero for all your sailing trips in and around Whitsundays. We left on an overcast Monday, hoping that we would get one day of sunshine for a few decent pics.

The plan of action for the Pride of Airlie boat that we traveled on was two nights on Mole Island, the first day sailing straight there and the second day sailing to see White Haven Beach and do some snorkeling before returning to the island. We had some fun on the boat and the first night getting to know the other 51 people on the boat. We were with the guys and gals from Fraser Island again, Pete, Rebecca, Anna & Sarah so there were some familiar faces already on board.

We partied from 7.30 the second day, enjoying the views and the ride on the boat. We got some sun bathing in on one of the nicest beaches in the world, some beverages on top deck and some diving and snorkeling. We even managed some golf when we got back to Mole Island! The third day involved getting back to the main land with some lunch and snorkeling along the way. The sea was remarkably rougher the third day, which made for some interesting events on the sea sickness/bit hungover side. We arrived back, hit the hay for an hour and all met up that night for a few drinks to laugh and joke about the last two nights and three days. A cool time, in a quality place, with some crazy people. We loved it!

Now that we had gotten Fraser Island and Whitsundays out of the way on our east coast exploration we turned our sights on some adventure in Mission Beach. Matt wanted to do the skydive (mine will be over snow in New Zealand) and we said we'd give white water rafting a go too. On the Saturday morning Matt got up, ready for his pick up at 7.30. He was nervous, he'll admit that himself, but he was significantly more calm that I'll be when I wake up the morning of my jump so I won't slag him off. I got up after he left and walked to Mission Beach to see if I could see him land. I arrived at the beach at 9 o' clock on the dot to see 10 tiny black spots on the blue sky jumping from an aircraft 14,000 feet above me. Sixty seconds of free fall and three minutes of parachuting later Matt swung overhead. He was buzzing when he hit the ground, a smile a mile wide on his face. The pictures don't do it justice. His DVD is quite literally amazing to watch but still not a patch on the real thing.

The next day was rafting time. 7.30 pickup again for myself, Matt & Pete this time. Rafting was quality! We were due to spend the day on the Tully River, a grade 4 river with both technical and high volume rapids. We got a stroke of luck when there were 3 empty spaces on the Xtreme rafting boats so it meant we would also be doing rock jumps, rock slides and plunge pools, and some swimming through rapids. It was an amazing day! We loved every second of it, a bit sore typing this the next day but definitely worth it.

Not a bad week so... Snorkeling on the Great Barrier reef, lounging on some of the best beaches in the world, partying to the wee hours on a boat, sky diving and some white water action thrown in. How was your week? Haha

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