On the 18th of September I hopped on a bus headed North to Sydney overnight. Having left at 8:00 pm on the Thursday, I awoke at 8:00 am in Sydney's central station. Afte
r a quick train ride I arrived in King's Cross (Sydney's dirty district of night clubs, gentleman's clubs, and hostels and bars) to meet my two friends Alex and Rob. As it had been a long night for my two mates, only Alex was able to join me at Traveller's Autobarn where we drove off with what would be our home for the next two weeks. Needless to say that the first turn out of the parking lot onto the wrong side of the road was nerve racking. So Rob awoke to our glistening red Ford Falcon. It was certainly much bigger than what we had expected, and so with smiles we drove West to New South Wales's heralded Blue Mountains and their infamous Three Sisters. The view was incredible, but in truth it simply reminded us of the landscape back home. We spent the first night of our trip camping in the mountains.
r a quick train ride I arrived in King's Cross (Sydney's dirty district of night clubs, gentleman's clubs, and hostels and bars) to meet my two friends Alex and Rob. As it had been a long night for my two mates, only Alex was able to join me at Traveller's Autobarn where we drove off with what would be our home for the next two weeks. Needless to say that the first turn out of the parking lot onto the wrong side of the road was nerve racking. So Rob awoke to our glistening red Ford Falcon. It was certainly much bigger than what we had expected, and so with smiles we drove West to New South Wales's heralded Blue Mountains and their infamous Three Sisters. The view was incredible, but in truth it simply reminded us of the landscape back home. We spent the first night of our trip camping in the mountains.The next morning we drove back to Sydney - a distance that mimicks the drive to t
he townships - and met Phil, our fourth companion, at central station. We then proceeded on to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is notorious in this country as a surfer's paradise, offering an oasis from the fast pace of the big cities. We made it about half of the 800 kms to Byron, taking shelter in a small town called Crescent Head. We awoke to find that we had stumbled on one of Australia's best kept secrets, realizing that we were next to a gorgeous beach surrounded by a small number of houses. So we enjoyed the morning on the beach and then got back in the car in order that we meet our fifth and final member, Eric in Byron.
he townships - and met Phil, our fourth companion, at central station. We then proceeded on to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is notorious in this country as a surfer's paradise, offering an oasis from the fast pace of the big cities. We made it about half of the 800 kms to Byron, taking shelter in a small town called Crescent Head. We awoke to find that we had stumbled on one of Australia's best kept secrets, realizing that we were next to a gorgeous beach surrounded by a small number of houses. So we enjoyed the morning on the beach and then got back in the car in order that we meet our fifth and final member, Eric in Byron.
Having left Melbourne Thursday, we arrived finally in Byron on Sunday. Due to a lot of rain, and a fatigue brought on by a ton of driving we decided to splurge on a hostel for the night. We did however move on to a camp site for our second night. Was actually quite nice to come home from a city bar to your very own tent! The town was picturesque, small, and contrary to what we had been told not too busy...but then we were there on Sunday and Monday nights so what can you expect.
Our next stop was the Gold Coast and Brisbane, but as we the name "Surfer's Paradise" - yes this fair sized city is actually called that - appeared on the ma
p a stop was necessary. S
eemingly out of place with its small town neighbors, the city has been overly developed around the last surfing spot before the reef destroys the waves. Our two day, one night stay in Surfer's can be be broken down into the loss of a combined hundred dollars between the five of us at the casino, and two black eyes courtesy of several bouncers at a club near our hostel. As such we were more than ready to depart after only one night. I did however have a very nice jog along the beach in the morning, capped off with a healthy hash brown at "Maccers."
p a stop was necessary. S
eemingly out of place with its small town neighbors, the city has been overly developed around the last surfing spot before the reef destroys the waves. Our two day, one night stay in Surfer's can be be broken down into the loss of a combined hundred dollars between the five of us at the casino, and two black eyes courtesy of several bouncers at a club near our hostel. As such we were more than ready to depart after only one night. I did however have a very nice jog along the beach in the morning, capped off with a healthy hash brown at "Maccers."
Somehow thanks to our ability to get easily distracted, we turned the two our trip from Surfer's to Brisbane to a full day excursion in the car. Brisbane, our first inland stop was the last "large" city on our adventure. Nevertheless it didn't dissapoint in its views. Of course, we hadn't had enough of the beach yet, so we spent our afternoon at Brisbane's fake lagoon before heading off to Amy's apartment. It was incredible to see a familiar face again, and my four friends couldn't get enough of the comfort of an apartment. We hung out with Amy's friends on an apartment roof top before heading to a bar called Regatta, where Amy and I reminisced on our trips and Canada. The night was capped off by my climbing three floors to break into Amy's apartment as Eric had borrowed Amy's key and was a deeper sleeper than any of us had anticipated. The next morning we ventured through the University of Queensland and admired the beauty of the buildings briefly (ever briefly) regretting out decision to go to Melbourne over the heat.
We then once again piled into the car, calling shotgun at every step of the road and headed North ...always North lol...to Fraser Island (the world's largest sand island). We spent one night in Hervey Bay, a town clearly created simply for the tourism associated with the nearby is
land and then headed off to the island. A group of eleven of us including three other Canadians, three Britts, and the five of us shared a seemingly heavy duty four by four. To our dismay however the clutch gave out 200 metres after the ferry, and never seemed to stop tormenting us throughout our two three day stay on the island. It was indeed a new sight for a Canadian as the beach became a highway for four by fours whizzing in and out of the ocean at speeds of 60 km/h and greater. Highlights of the island included breaching whales and sharks, champagne pools (waves splashing over rocks creating the sensation of champagne), the inland lakes, a plane landing over our heads on the beach, the continual threat of dingoes, and probably the greatest highlight being the discovery that jumping on the sand in the wee hours of the morning leads to millions of plankton lighting up under your feet!
land and then headed off to the island. A group of eleven of us including three other Canadians, three Britts, and the five of us shared a seemingly heavy duty four by four. To our dismay however the clutch gave out 200 metres after the ferry, and never seemed to stop tormenting us throughout our two three day stay on the island. It was indeed a new sight for a Canadian as the beach became a highway for four by fours whizzing in and out of the ocean at speeds of 60 km/h and greater. Highlights of the island included breaching whales and sharks, champagne pools (waves splashing over rocks creating the sensation of champagne), the inland lakes, a plane landing over our heads on the beach, the continual threat of dingoes, and probably the greatest highlight being the discovery that jumping on the sand in the wee hours of the morning leads to millions of plankton lighting up under your feet!
Our next stop was the beautiful whitsundays. The drive proved to be a lot tougher than we had anticipated. We departed from Hervey Bay at 4:00 pm, drove through the night taking 2 to three hour shifts, finally arriving in Airlie Beach (the port town to the whitsunday islands) at 3:30 in the morning. We drove straight to the docks and found are boat, at which point we decided to lay down our sleeping bags on the grass only to be warned of a 500 dollar fine. Not wanting to spend money on a hostel for a night already over, we parked next to a park in a suburb and slept in the car. We awoke 2 and a half ours later to soar backs and excitement to get on our eighty foot maxi yacht.
The views as you can see were beyond beautiful. The images on our cameras can be easily mistaken for post cards. We sailed around the islands for two days and one night, stopping twice to snorkel. It is often said that the Great Barrier Reef is one of, if not the greatest spot to snorkel and dive. It certainly lived up to its description. We managed to touch a full sized turtle that could have easily measured five feet in diameter, and swim with Nemo and all of his friends. We arrived back at the port burned and tired, not quite ready for the long drive to Cairns.
We did however make it to Cairns after a failed attempt to camp at Mission Beach, a speeding ticket (for driving 12 km/h over the limit....they take their speeding seriously here) and several stops at "Maccers," gas stations, and subway. The scenery drifted from desert to rainforest, to coastal views of the reef...and of course the rare Kangaroo on the side of the road. It's quite comical actually as the deer crossing signs have been replaced by Kangaroos
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Cairns, being our last destination was very relaxing. Our only real tourist event was the day of scuba diving. The city was the first that didn't have a beach, and so they had a communal "lagoon" looking over the city in the center of town (depicted above right). We were quick to make our room home (above left...first 24 hours lol), and made sure to make use of every free meal given to us at Rhino Bar (above center). Beyond the scuba diving, my favourite experience in Cairns was without a doubt my visit to the Cairns Museum (if you can call it that). The museum was deserted, left only to a man in his early sixties who had long since retired from being an Immigration officer. Thank's to Harold's genes I quickly got into a lengthy conversation with the man, and somehow ended up on the topic of race:
- "There's a race problem in Australia" he eplained.
- "Yes I know, I didn't know how racist the country was until I arrived" I replied.
He looked at me with amaze and yelped, "NO! There are too many races in this country!" and then went on to lecture me about how young students know very little about the realities of life. Our Scuba experience was however the real highlight of Cairns. The two dives were a steal for 150 on a boat that was not even five months old. To be honest you saw the same stuff from snorkelling, but the novelty of being 10 meters below was well worth it. We managed to touch several sea creatures and enjoy the beauty of the reef from far below.
So to conclude:
The trip was quite an experience. I felt like we managed to see the East coast in quite a short time. It was marked by the term bogon, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and shotguns.
All Best from Oz,
Jordan
