Let the rivers run red with blood: Byron Bay

How would I describe the streets of Byron Bay?  It was a mish mash of coffee shops, hippy clothing from a previous age - owned by a generation of hippies ready to share their ideals of a anti-establishment life style by selling you tie and just sticks.  Be aware, this town is expensive. However, still take the time to come to this holiday destination for some r&r.

As you can see, I had a lot of fun playing in the sand....

 Someone left these behind in the sand and i couldn't help but have some fun !!!

Puff the magic dragon. I wish I could do this.

My first successful jumping photo - thank you for your patience Lou!

But I've got some bad news for you all about Byron bay - I think the anti-Christ lives there. Because the rivers heading into the sea look suspiciously like blood.  A bus driver later said it was from the eucalyptus forests on the hills but I'm not buying it. Nope, definitely the work of the devil, or the end of the world. After all its soon approaching 2012...

 Whilst in  Byron it was also time to surf and the three of us signed up for a lesson. The first day the waves were too 'crashy' for us mere beginners so another time was scheduled.  The next morning we were out on the waves and although i wasn't transformed as a pro by the end, at least I could stand up on the board.

With our time in Byron coming to an end, we left with heavy hearts but rather light pockets!

Brissy-vegas

Now as mentioned in my last post,  we were no longer in possession of our van.  'little princess' was dead and after two days of waiting around in Noosa, a tow truck turned up to take her to Brisbane. However, when it arrived the back wasn't vacant.  strapped to her back was our new vehicle, and this one was definitely an upgrade! First of all we no longer had the same attention as before. It turns out that men don't shout out rude comments to you so much when 'save a bird, eat a pussy' is no longer written on your van.  Second, it was a five-seater instead of a three, which meant we were squabbling over sitting in the back and stretching out. And thirdly, electric windows and a gi-norm us sun roof made life a lot more comfortable.

But we had our set backs. For one the handbrake was screwed and was a mission to get off, it was so bad we had to call the helpline to talk technique.  And then we had to deal with it being automatic.  Automatics freak me out. Now and then whilst driving, I'd reached for the gear stick and try to step on the clutch.  So driving to the Brisbane, affectionately called 'brissy-vegas' by some, was a learning curb.

In Brisbane we splashed out on a room, which was the size of a hobbits closet, and had a great few days in the city.
Day 1 - we got there, wandered around the city centre, then food, out to the centre. stayed in a bar and to my shame got drunk. like really, really drunk.  The kind of intoxication that's not funny or clever and means the next day is a write off.

Day 2 - trying to make my way through the day with the mother of all hangovers. This included a walk around Brisbane's art gallery and past the river.  In the evening we were out again at a decked out uber bar called cloud land.  Although a pretty late night it was also a sober one.

We then headed towards Surfers Paradise - which i felt was false advertising; the heavens opened and we didn't see one ray of sunshine.  So we had one night out on the town before heading to our next big stop, Byron Bay...

Trapped in Noosa

Our first stop within the Sunshine coast and it rained the whole time. And because of this, the off season streets became even more depressing and lonely.  We spent nights huddled up together and in the day looked around the surf shops, watched a rom-com called 'friends with benefits' at the cinema and had some deep conversations  about our lives and how we view the world.  

This is the only picture I took in these couple of days. Its a pelican.  I imagine his hobbies include fishing, flying and people watching.  His favourite feature is his beak and he has nightmares about salmon taking over the world.  Like I said, it rained a lot and I had time to think....

So after an exciting jammed packed few days of wet weather, we began to move towards Brisbane, but alas it wasn't our time to leave.  On a dual carriage way 10 minutes out of town, our beloved van couldn't hold out any more. The little princess's gear box died and it was game over. For one hour we waited for a tow truck, which took us to a shopping mall. This wasn't because our shopping addictions had taken hold of us again, but because this tow truck had only the task of getting us somewhere safe. We had to wait another hour or so for the take-me-to-a-garage-tow truck. The head mechanic had a mullet. I imagine he also had a yuwt hiding somewhere. At the garage was confirmed that little princess was dead, at least as far as we were concerned. She would not be taking us to Sydney.

Farewell little princess. You gave us some great times....

Fraser Island

 Warning: PICTURE OVERLOAD.  Fraser Island was another place where I took too many photos because its that f*@%ing beautiful. From Rainbow beach we did a self drive tour, which basically involves one lead car (with a tour guide) and then the rest of you following in your own 4 wheel drive. This is the only way to get around the Island.

Over three days we saw:

• Dingos - Dogs have been prohibited from the island to keep the breed pure.
•  Champagne pools - as the open sea is a no go area due to the shark population, this enclosed area was one of the few places to dunk yourself in the salt water.
•  a big and rusty shipwreck
•  sand dunes
• a couple of lakes
• endless beaches 

We did:

• Fresh and salt water swimming
• sat by the camp fire at night and listened to guitarist's jam
• walking
• drive on a hell of a lot of beach

Going to Fraser was one of  the best choices we made on our road trip.  If you go any where on the east coast, i'd recommend this palce!

We drove past this place way too many times in three days

its true, people don't pay attention to the signs....

Champagne pools

Dingo chilling on the beach

Lake next to the sandunes

Our Car

1770 and Scooter Roo

Don't I look cool and bad ass?  Scooter Roo was a happy surprise on our East coast tour.  When we heard about the chopper tours near 1770, we rightly got a little bit excited.  For a few hours we got to ride a chopper, and if you're not singing 'bad to the bone' by the end, there's obviously something wrong with you!
For the bargain price of $55 dollars we got;

• One scooter with attitude. all were decked out with an individual paint job. I chose mine for the panther on the side!
• a flame print leather jacket
• a fetching flame helmet
• fake tattoos to get you into character

This was the first time I'd ridden anything with two wheels and a motor. I had to drive around in a circle quite a few times to get it right.  Stopping was my downfall.  When everyone had mastered the basics, we took to the road.  riding around spotting kangaroos, seeing the town and trying not to crash was one of the funniest experiences I had on my East coast adventure.  At the end of our journey, we stopped off at the beach to watch the sun go down over the water (one of the few places you can do this on the East Coast) and ate hot chips.

Yes it was very uncool and you look stupid. But you bring a smile to every drivers face (except those in a hurry) and get to be in a motorcycle gang. At least for a few hours.

If paradise had a name...

The Whitsundays - Land of  a thousand islands

Since getting to Oz, this place has been right up there on the hype list.  It seems everyone who had visited it raved about its beauty. and guess what? it definitely lived up to it.

From Airlie beach we took a two night cruise around the islands.  maybe we could of gone on a longer trip, exploring more islands, but seeing the likes of white bay made the trip worth every penny.

Wow...Just Wow.

     Our home in the Whitsundays and the tender (dingy) for reaching the shore line.

                         * picture courtesy of the tall-one

And then there was the snorkeling we made me say the phrase "I need an underwater camera!!!!" more than once.

Then after a very quiet time in Airlie beach (off-season = empty streets at night), we left for our next destination: 1770 and the hell raising scooter-roo.

To Magnetic Island we go!!!!!

It sounds like the name of a cheesy comic book issue and I was half expecting to find a Tracey island setting. However, there were no rockets coming out of volcanoes or any characters called 'Dr Doom!!.'  Instead, we found a reserve just off Townsville with little beaches and walking trails.

From mission beach we drove to Townsville. As we were only here for one night I can't really comment on the city. However, there was some groovy sculptures over looking the water.

The next day we took the ferry to Magnetic Island, leaving the little princess alone in a car park.  Here we lazed on the beach for a while, had ice creams and watched the world go by.



 











 I got a little bit bored; there is only so much lazing in the sun you can do.  Lou and the tall one where pretty happy where they were, so I took to one of the coastal walks to a secluded beach.  Perhaps a steep walk was not a good idea in flip flops, but this is what I found.....

Hardly any people and boulders over looking the surf.