Rainbow Beach, Fraser Island and Hervey Bay

Day 36: Noosa to Rainbow Beach

After an absolute panic that I'd lost my purse (was left in my trousers when I packed then) I spent the morning relaxing by the pool in the beautiful sunshine. It got too warm so I had to move into the shade! :o 

Sun!!!

Got the bus up to Rainbow Beach at lunchtime. Stopped at Matilda services where there was a giant robotic kangaroo that turned its head and ears and blinked. So random! One of the many strange sights you see on the road in Australia!

Giant kangaroo

Frasers on Rainbow (my hostel) was literally across the road from the bus stop  so was a pretty easy walk. They offer a bush walk and sand boarding so since it was sunny decided to go on it. Went sand boarding down the Carlos sand blow which was amazing. Got some good speed going down.

Sand boarding

We went to go and see the different colours of the sand (mainly yellow!) and to learn how to throw a bomarang but it was so windy we nearly lost them off the cliff. When we turned around through the sky was black. And then the hail and the rain and the thunder started. It was so heavy. I was soaked by the time we got under the cover of the trees! Haven't been that wet since the jungle trek in Chiang Mai (which feels like a life time ago).

Soaked from the rain! 

Got to see a double rainbow in rainbow beach though which is pretty cool. 

Rainbow

I was really lucky as one of the girls I got on really well with in Brisbane (in that super quick stopover) was on the walk so we had some dinner together and with a few of the other people on the walk and then played the bar games with the crazy Irish man who worked there. Couldn't understand half the stuff he was saying. No idea how people cope with him when English isn't there first language! Played bite the box which I was pretty rubbish at as I have no flexibility! Ended up having to call a tie and both the finalist picked up a 20cents coin from the floor with only their feet on the ground. It was mad! 

Day 37: Rainbow Beach

Woke up super early so rather than just lying in bed doing nothing I got up, went for a walk into town to buy myself some new briht pink shorts (the ones I own are so dirty!) and then headed to the beach for the morning. Did a bit of body boarding in the sea and just relaxed in the sunshine. I took my clothes down to the beach with me to keep me company! Or maybe i took them down to actually dry as the room was too cold to dry things in with the amazing air con :) 

Rainbow beach

It was getting pretty hot on the beach and my cheese sandwich was sweating in its bag so I headed back to a cafe for fish and chips for lunch. Met one of the guys from last night there so we went for a walk along the beach being really nerdy and discussing physics! He is starting in Manchester next year and was so keen to learn what I'd been doing. Met the two German guys from noosa on the way back so threw around an American football for a bit with them. It was so hard to throw! Couldn't get my head around it! 

Decided (as there were very few clouds) to brave a second bush walk to sand dunes and it payed off. After a bit more sand boarding (in which I flew straight off at a bump in the sand dune and tumbled most of the way down!) and actually throwing a bomarang we saw the most beautiful sunset! 

Jump shot!

Had a lovely bowl of noodles for dinner and played a little bit of pool then headed to bed early to get some sleep before Fraser Island. 

Day 38: Fraser Island

After getting very confused and queuing with the people waiting for the greyhound to Brisbane I made it on to the bus for Fraser Island. It was a short drive onto the  barge to go across From inskip point to Fraser Island (named after captain James Fraser who did here).

The roads were made of sand and were so bumpy in the 4x4 coaches (didn't get used to the bumpiness for the entire trip) we used to get across the Island. As we droe we wen past an area where a tornado had ripped through the forest just under a week before we arrived. There were all these huge trees that had been snapped in two! so gla we missed that!

Stopped for morning tea and one of the girls on the tour lives in Hampton, was in the year below me at esher, also had alyssa for maths and is doing accounting staring in September. So strange how much you can have in common. Another if the girls lives in Southbourne! Such a small world. 

 We pulled out onto a beach which was amazing to drive on along to Lake Mackenzie. 

We had a while a lake Mackenzie to swim there and enjoy with the people on the tour (after swapping buses from the day trip onto the cool dingo bus). The day trippers were only there 20 minutes and the hour we were there wasn't enough! We used the sand there to clean our teeth as its so pure. Left them squeaky clean. I wen for the little bit of sand on the finger approach. One of the guys went for the eat a handful approach!!!

We had to wait for the mechanics before we could leave lake Mackenzie as the cover of the door fell off and they had to screw it back into place before we could go anywhere! 

We drove to central station for lunch and we saw a Dingo there. They look just like medium sized orange dogs but are far more dangerous. We went for a rainforest walk after lunch and were told to hug the big tree near the end of the path as it was massive and you could fit 6 people linked arms around it! We all hugged completely the wrong tree! Once we got to the big tree we knew that was the one we were meant to be looking for. 

Tree huggers

We then drove for about an hour acros the island to the kingfisher bay resort. We were meant to be staying in eco lodges but half of us (including me) got upgraded to the hotel as they were over full! I was not conplaining about that... A king size bed and a single bed just for me!!! 

Hotel

We went down to the beach for another sunset and then got the shuttle bus to the Dingo bar for dinner. The only problem about staying in the hotel was that 'heart attack' hill stood between us and food! So glad they ran a shuttle bus! 

Sunset

We had a few drinks at the bar and then headed back to the hotel. Had such a long shower under the rain head shower in my room. It was amazing after using the showers in hostels for so long. 

Day 39: Fraser Island

After and early start (and with a few hungover people) we went out for a long drive across Fraser Island. The island isn't very wide (15km) but on sand tracks it takes about an hour to get across. We stopped at a look out point where we could see the scribbly gum tree and a sand dune. 

We then drove along the beach and were offered a flight in a small aircraft (only seated 8 including the pilot). Wasn't exactly going to turn down that opportunity was I to see the island from the air! 

Plane!!!

We flew across the island for about 15 minutes and so were able to see the whole Island from the sky and some lakes that you are only able to see from the air to appreciate them such as butterfly lake. 

Butterfly lake

We took off from a beach and then landed on another part of the beach. That was such am experience in itself! We landed next to the Maheno ship wreck. It was really cool as it was high tide so the waves were lapping around it.  

Maheno ship wreck

I had a jelly fish (not a stinger type) thrown at me and it slide down my top which meant I had jelly fish goo on my arm which was horrible! Got to love meeting a group of people where you don't have to be nice and make the usual backpacker conversation and can skip straight to mucking around with them like you've known them for more than 24hours!   

We went to Eli Creak next. Basically its a fresh water river that is formed from water leeching out of the island as the island is basically a giant sponge. Sostrange  knowing that all the fresh water on the island is rain water! The stuff in the creak is about 100 years old but super pure as its filtered by the island. We walked up the river a bit and then we able to float down the creak back to the sea. I have a lovely large bruise on my leg from not noticing a branch in the water until I was on top of it. 

Eli creak

We played a bit of frisbee in the estuary before our morning tea and cookies (such tasty cookies). Can't believe how much stuff we did before elevensies!

We then drove down 75mile beach to Indian head (named because captain cook saw Aborigie people standing there when he sailed past and no one has change the name since). Had some lunch (i threw most of mine in the sand because it obviously tastes better with added crunch!) and then It was an easy walk up and from the look out at the top we could see a manta ray and 2 turtles in the water below us. 

We then drove further down the beach to the champagne pools. It was so busy there! Bumped into the German guys from noosa and sat in the pool as the waves crashed in. There were these sponges the cling onto te side of the rocks which squirt water when you squeeze them. Made our own fountain show! 

We drove back across to the other side of Indian head and had to wait whilst the tires were pumped up so we played frisbee and then built a massive people pyramid. Took so many attempts as our first try was a little bit too ambitious! 

Pyramid

Multi coloured sand at the pinnacles 

As we drove off down the beach the bus got stuck on a dune and so we had to push it back and forth until Katie (our drive an guide) could get enough grip to get over the soft sand. I helped a lot by being the official photographer! Far easier than pushing...

Push!!!!

Once we got back we had a quick dinner in the dingo bar and then sat in the jacuzzi from 8 until 10 when they kicked u out with a few ciders. I was so wrinkly when we left but it was such a treat to sit in the hot tub under the stars! 

Day 40: Fraser Island

Had another warly start to drive to one of the lakes were we went SUP boarding (stand up Paddle boarding). I surprisingly had pretty good balance and so was able to go out into the lake alright! Think the surf lessons helped! We were playing frisbee in the lake as well (so nice having people to grow around with) and my attemped layout through the air jumping off the SUP board to catch it completely failed and ende up with me belly flipping onto the water. 

SUP boarding

We had lunch at the Eurong beach resort and then drove to Lake Wabby and sand blow. It took about 45 minutes to walk through the sandy forest track to get to the sand blow but it was then a pretty quick run down hill to dive into the lake. The bottom of the lake was like stroking a monsters back! It was all furry from the grass! The lake used to be a creak like Eli but the wid had caused the sand blow to come in and block the path so there we fish swimming in the lake with us. They seemed to like nibbling at my feet. It was like being at one of those fish spas, only free! Tickled so much.

Lake Wabby

Had an ice cream on the way back to catch the ferry across to Hervey Bay. I got to sit in the front as we went across the island which was really cool being able to see the path ahead as we bumped along. 

Once we were back in Hervey Bay we were all dropped at our hostel and the girls at the bus station and we were going to meet on the main parade for  dinner. The bus station was about a 10 minute taxi drive away from our hostels rather than the 10 minute walk that we thought so we caught a taxi to have a final 'meal' (MacDonalds and then the floor of the bus station) with the people getting night bus that evening. So sad saying bye but hopefully I'll be seeing one of the girls in queenstown in NZ :)

I was walked back to my hostel and had to say good bye to the guys. Such a sad fact of travelling, meeting all these lovely people and then having to leave them. 

I just can't believe how much stuff I did on the island in 3 days and there was still when I left so much more I wanted to see!

Day 41: Hervey Bay

Was up early again (even when i have nothing to get up for I'm awake at 7!) so after breakfast and a quick chat to Will I was very domestic and washed nearly all (I mean all bar the dress I was wearing and the shorts I forgot were loose in my bag) my clothes and tumble dried them. Everything smells like clean laundry power rather than travel wash and then hung up over the end of a bunk bed to dry. 

2 of the boys from the tour drove over to pick me up from the hostel after I'd checked out and then we went to the Hislop Vic Shark Show. It was crazy in there. It was a tiny little room but all the walls were covered in newspaper reports from shark attacks, photos of sharks and photos of shark attack victims. And there was a freezer at -20C containing two sharks that were about 20 years old! They were huge and pretty terrifying even dead! 

My jaws impression. 

We went for coffee and finally found somewhere with wifi so I could upload a few of the pictures from my camera to fb using Alex's laptop so I have them saved somewhere and then had to say goodbye to the final 2 from the group! They should be getting to Cairns around the same time as me so I'll see them there. 

Final Fraser crew! 

Spent the rest of the day on the beach. It took me 3 hours to catch up all the blog and diary that I hadn't written for 4 days! So much stuff had happened that I hast had time to get down onto paper (or onto this blog!). Went for a little walk along the beach and had a nice long chat with grandad before heading back to the hostel. Need to have dinner and then it's time for a 12 hour bus ride to Airlie Beach! 

Hervey Bay 

Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays.

Day 42: Airlie Beach 

So I bumped into one of the German guys from Noosa on the bus which was pretty awesome. And about 20 minutes later his friend emailed me to say to watch out for him as he was going my way! He had Australia (the film) on his iPad so it seemed like an appropriate film to watch (even if half way though it felt like the film had a natural end and then they added a second half to it). 

Bus buddies

Managed to get a little bit of sleep on the bus. Kept napping but luckily I don't need to check out until 11am tomorrow from the hostel so maybe my body will let me sleep past 7 to catch up on what I missed. The colours at sunrise at 5am was pretty stunning though (no glasses so I couldn't see it properly). 

Once I got to the hostel and had left my bag in storage until the room was ready I went for lunch with 2 girls from the bus. Had the tallest fish burger! So tasty! 

Yum!

We then wandered down to check in onto our Whitsunday boats. Unfortunately they weren't on the same one as me. We spent the afternoon swimming in the lagoon and sunbathing. I had a great nap and it took they girls 5 minutes (and a big debate they told me later about whether it is okay or not to poke someone awake when you've known them for only a few hours) to wake me up! 

Lagoon

Came back to the hostel to pack my hand luggage for the boat and a Canadian girl was in my room who's also on my boat :) took her down to check in as I knew where it was and then met up with the German guy and his friend (also on my boat).

Had dinner at the down under bar connected to the hostel. Very yummy nachos! Spent the night with such a mix of people but it was a really cool night: the German and his friend, the Canadian girl, the two girls from the bus, their friends from Fraser, their roommate and my French friend from Fraser Island. Really enjoying meeting all these different people from all over the world. 

Day 43: Whitsundays

Lied in bed until 9 for the first time since I've been away. So good :) the Canadian girl, Sam and I wandered around the lagoon and relaxed there for the morning before we had lunch in a cafe next to the marina.

We got on the boat and the heavens opened! We all got to wear super sexy bright yellow waterproofs whilst the rain passed over. 

Fisherman jackets

We got into our sexy stinger suits and went for a snorkel. Didn't see a turtle but I saw some fish and some coral. 

We got back to the boat and the rain had stopped. :) we had a delicious meal on the boat, watched sunset and then sat chatting for ages before bed. 

Sunset on the boat

Sam and I were sharing the 'double bed' in the very front of the boat. It was triangular so our feet and bags were all cosy all night. 

Day 44: Whitsundays

It was so warm in the cabin so I kept waking up so uncomfortable a d sweaty and I couldn't even sit up as the bunk above was pretty much touching my head when I laid down! And I could really wiggle my way out the bed without treading on something. 

Woke up at 530 with all the banging upstairs and coukdnt be bothered to try and sleep anymore and so by 630 I'd eaten breakfast and was sunbathing on the boat :) 

We got to the beautiful Whitehaven beach at 7am before all the other boats arrived so we got to look at it from the view point completely undisturbed and have the beach to ourselves for 30 minutes :) 

Whitsundays 

No photo I put up will do this beach justice. 

  

We got back to the boat and 'helped' putting up the sails. Turns out I'm not that strong and really struggled pulling the rope to hoist the sails. With the sails we were able to pick up lots of speed! 

"I'm on a boat and I'm going fast and"

We sailed to a sand island where we went snorkling. Some people saw turtles but I didn't :( we ate nachos on the beach and had a glass of goon! Pretty relaxed afternoon. I even made friends with a injured seagull! He enjoyed the nachos too.... And my bird noises to scare away the angry looking one! 

Back on the boat we sailed to a sheltered area where we would spend the night. Had a great evening chatting and dancing on the boat. Lots of us couldn't face another warm night below deck so we took our swag bags onto deck to sleep! Bit of an issue when it started to rain and we had to scramble under the tarpaulin but it was a much nicer nights sleep :) 

Day 45: Whitsunday and Airlie Beach

Another super early morning wake up on the deck. We had some breakfast and then went for a snorkel. It was going to be my favourite snorkel spot until I became friends with a jelly fish. I did my best Dory impression and stupidly hugged my squishy (please watch finding memo again if you're confused). It stung my hand first and in my attempt to swim away I kicked it with my foot! 

The safety dinging drove over and took my back to the boat. Luckily it wasnt one of the serious ones (and thanks to te stinger suit it only touched me twice) and so after pouring vinegar over it I was left with just a few red bobbles on my hands and feet and a slight stinging sensation. 

Once everyone was back on boat we hoists the sails and sailed off (with alot of speed) back to the marina. We were at 90 degrees the whole way back! None I is wanted to get off the boat so after we decided ou plan to mutiny wouldn't work as none of us could sail we had to get off the boat. The weather greeted us in the same way as when we left the marina so we all hide out in a cafe for brunch. Had spaghetti on toast (if only there was eggy bread) so I was very happy. 

Bad quality photo of broomstick - Our lovely boat!

Checked back into the hostel and had a really relaxed afternoon napping and doing some washing. 

Properly cooked dinner for the first time since I'd been in Australia but the hob broke so the pasta I thought was cooking was still hard when I went to serve it! Had to then wait ages for the water it was in to reboil on another hob and cook! Teaches me to try and cook properly! 

Spag Bol without the spag! 

Met up with a lot of people from the boat and one of the crew for our after party. It was such a good night out considering I wa shattered and originally wanted to go to bed at 9! Survived all the way to 1! Played 'trying to get the ping pong ball into the bucket' which the American and Canadian girls were obviously amazing at since beer pong is basically a national sport out there and then flip cup! Played boys verses girls and I'm happy to report that the final score was 3-2 to the girls. When the boys won we were always on our last person to and when we won we were miles ahead! 

After party

Headed to a club for a little bit that was clearly a massive fan of air con as I had goose bumps when I walked in the door before going back to bed. 

Australia Zoo and Noosa

Day 33: Australia Zoo

Headed back to the bus station after the flying visit to Brisbane to head to Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's Zoo). What I didn't realise is that the 15th November is Steve Irwin day and there were lots of extra activities and events planned for the day. And they wanted everyone in Khaki to show their support for continuing wildlife conservation. Luckily I had my khaki shorts on!

Australia Zoo on Steve Irwin Day

It was a pretty good day out. Saw the famous crocodile show with the Irwin family feeding the crocodiles - the youngest child is 9 and had a (baby) croc take food out of his hands. Also saw the tiger show, the birds flying around the main arena, Kangaroos, lots of other wildlife (lots of crocs) and I stroked a Koala in the walk through enclosure. 

Stroking a koala

Had a real problem getting to the hostel in Noosa. First the greyhound was an hour and a half (nearly) late and then the hostel wouldn't pick up the phone. I was so annoyed by this point that I called a taxi and was ranting and raving to the driver. Felt so bad when I got there as there was an ambulance outside!

This hostel (Flashpackers) is amazing; free tea, free breakfast and free Internet! Also a free BBQ when I got there so I had 2 sausages and then joined in the party games as it was someone's birthday. Musical chairs definitely gets more competitive when you're older! Also got given free chocolate cake! How amazing.

Best thing in the world when you're missing home :)

Spent the evening playing cards with a couple I met (Nick and Nic!) and then Wii Mario kart. Never thought that Jack and James playing it would help me! Some of the races I did really well at as I already knew the map but the ones I never saw the boys play was terrible!!

Day 34: Noosa

Started the morning with my free breakfast and more tea and then headed down to the Eumundi market. It was a posh market so I just bought a bracelet, had Will's Christmas present ordered (they're posting it to the UK for free!) and then had some amazing warm scones with jam and cream!! 

Ended up getting the bus back for free as the driver said we'd be so late back to the bus stop and we were! Had to run down the street to flag down the shuttle bus like a crazy lady. 

After lunch I managed to book most of rest of my trip up the East coast. Reserved the hostels and a lot of the tours and in the process got my credit card blocked! 

Hanging chair by the Pool

Spent the afternoon (after the storm past) doing the coastal walk along through the national park. Amazing scenery and I saw  2 wild koalas napping in the trees! It was a pretty windy walk and so I got a full body exfoliation from the sand! 

Beach part of the coastal walk

Also saw loads of massive jelly fish that must have been washed up in the storm. 

Jelly fish! 

Didn't have to do the walk alone which was nice. There were some Germans people on the bus doing it also. They guys were great and spoke English the whole time but one of the girls only spoke in German (her English was perfect when she was chatting to me in the room last night) and then decided to climb down a cliff with the wind pushing towards the sea to get a good photo. How stupid! And on the whole language thing... I know I need to learn a language (Spanish course here I come when I'm home) but when you're meeting Swiss, French, German, Italian and all other languages you're never going to be able to speak them all so you speak your common language. An she told me last night she ha come to Australia to learn English! [rant over]

When I got back I had dinner with the couple I met yesterday. No instant noodles for me!! Spag Bol instead! Amazing! 

Spent the evening chilling out on the corner sofa catching up my diary and with the blog whilst watching a film. A lovely relaxed evening. :)

Day 35: Noosa (Everglades)

Today I went Kayaking through the Noosa Everglades. Went out on a self guided tour for 6 hours :) I had a map and instructions from the lady as where to go and a Swiss couple who were able to kayak far faster than me in a double kayak. 

Kayak/canoe. Not sure which one it was!

The route took me through 3 different scenerys; the open lake, the heart of the Everglades (think the boat scene in the Notebook with not quite as many birds but lots of flowers) and then through te narrow river channels. Part of it is called the 'mirror river' and I could completely understand why! When there were no ripples the second image was perfect. 

Stopped for lunch at the furthest point called Harry's hut. Had caught up with the couple and so the three of us wobbled all over the place as we tried to figure out how to get out of the kayak and onto the jetty. Eventually we managed it and we tied our kayaks up whilst we ate. 

The return journey was lovely until it came to crossing the lake. A storm was brewing and so it was really windy, there was thunder and lightning in the distance and my arms and back were aching. Turns out I paddled a 22km round trip! It was pretty scary and when you're on such a big lake the other side never feels any closer! 

Bought chocolate on the way home which made me feel better and a warm shower. Spent the whole evening on the sofa watching movies.. I chose a girly one so the boys picked Armageddon for the next one. To shattered from paddling to do anything else but drink tea and watch TV!

All the B's: Byron Bay and Brisbane

Day 29: Byron Bay

So the overnight bus wasn't actually that bad! I woke up and got out the bus at the 2am stop and at the 7am stop but other than that I slept across the two seats in the fetal position! Felt surprisingly refreshed when I got to Byron.

Tried to book something to do in the afternoon but all the kayaking and snorkelling tours weren't running as there was a massive storm last night and the winds were still high which was a shame. Ended up wandering aimlessly around into town and 2 of the girls I met on the bus recognised me an said hi. Took me so long to realise who they were, was wandering in my own little world.  

Ended up spent the day hanging with them. It made what would have been a dull boring day much better. We had an amazing lunch at Barger, got our hair braided with the coloured cotton (haven't had that done since I was really little), chilled out on the really windy beach and then had a hot chocolate with mashmellows to warm up. I did exactly what I would have done alone but it's far nicer having people to chat too. 

Got back to the arts factory and really wasnt a fan of it (don't worry my opinion changed). Just seemed pretty loud, I had no clue how to break into any of the groups of people and none of my room mates were there so I couldn't start there. 

Ended up going back out with the girls and to a bar called Cheeky Monkeys. I was far too tired and a bit homesick to be there and pretty much everyone seemed to be on a mission to get with someone. Not fun although I did meet a guy from Warwick who I have mutual friends with which I guess just shows how much of a small world it is! 

Day 30: Bryon Bay - surf lesson 1

So the weather for my first ever surf lesson wasnt exactly ideal! It was chucking it down and so by the time we'd been for a run and done all the stretches and explanation on the beach we were already soaked through. Thank goodness for the wetsuit keeping us warm. 

Surfing was pretty intimidating to begin with, being knocked about by all the waves and I kept loosing the board so having to drag it back to me with the me strap. One of the instructor taught me how to get pass the waves with board still in hand and they helped me stand up. Took most of the lesson (and quiet a few attempts with the instructor holding my board swimming behind me kicking) but I stood up and surfed waves in :) Totally a surfer dude in the making. 

Had the longest warmest shower since I've been here then met up with 2 of the people from my lesson also on the surf and stay camp. We went into town and chilled out in a Turkish cafe whilst the last of the rain past. We all started wandering down the beach but the Swedish girl didn't want to walk as far as us so the Canadian guy and I walked all the way to the viewing point at the corner of the bay. 

Such great views of the bay and the island in the middle kept appearing to change position which was pretty wierd. It would have been really picturesque expect the whole shore line was littered with hundreds of dead seabirds! Meant the walk involved dodging them the whole time. 

Looking towards 'The Pass' in Byron bay

Byron Bay

Had an ice cream on the way home as a treat and we met back up with the Swedish girl and went for a Bush walk that the Arts Factory organise. We didn't actually leave the main area but he showed us all the different uses for the plants, how to find water, how to light a fire, how to throw a spear and we got to eat some flowers. Pretty interesting hour and we were given a free beer for our troubles!! 

Bush walk

Managed to end up spending the whole day with the canadian guy without actually finding out his name (got too awkward to ask!). Eventually found out his name as we went for dinner in the brewery (yay proper food not anything instant) when he admitted he didn't know mine! 

Had a chilled out night sitting on the floor in the common room of the arts factory listening to live music in the talent show. 

Slept in a teepee which was really cool! Not a creaky bunk bed in sight and it was like camping in a bell tent with guides but more comfortable. 

Forgot to get a picture so stole this from their website 

Day 31: Bryon Bay - surf lesson 2

Much nicer day for surfing as the sun was out! Started the lesson feeling pretty frustrated as I couldn't get up but once I stopped rushing and the instructor helped me up the first time I started catching my own waves and riding them in! I really wanted to do a third lesson but the whole of tomorrow was booked out :( 

The 3 of us hired bikes from the hostel and then went for a cycle around town to the lighthouse. Who would have thought I would willingly go cycling. I looked pretty cool with my basket and flame helmet and once I figure out the pedals (had to put so much force to get them to turn around) we were off! 

It only had one gear, pushing backwards on the pedal was the back break and the break on the handle bar did the front breaks. 

Cycled all around the head land (we took a lot of wrong turnings!) up and down lots of hills (all the wrong turnings did not help this) all the way to the lighthouse. It's meant to be beautiful for sunset but only being able to rent out the bikes until 6 and with no car to get us back up we had to make do with it during the day. 

Lighthouse

Walked along the paths around the lighthouse (with burning legs from all the uphill pedalling) to the most Easterly point on mainland Australia. 

Cycled back and then Sean and I headed to a pretty much deserted beach to chill out. It was so windy and after lying down my ears, eyebrows and hair was full of sand (and I didn't even manage to remove it all in the shower there was so much!) 

Less dead birds at this beach! 

Met up with the people in charge of Mojo surf school for dinner in the brewery. Had the best veg and ham pizza ever! With lots of sweet chilli sauce to dip the crusts in! Entered the trivia quiz at the hostel and we did alright. Only 3 points off the winning score and my knowledge of the risk board helped us confirm what someone had guesse the previous name of Thailand to be! 

Hid out in the common room whilst the storm past and when we made it back to the brewery when it was dry (across the car park) the live music there had just finished. 

Had a really interesting chat about how the Canadian political system works compared to the British. This is what I'm really enjoying about travelling-learning about different cultures and systems from people! 

Went into town to Woodys to party. Didn't manage to win the custom designed surf board they were giving away :( although I'm not sure how I would have got that home......

Day 32: Brisbane 

Had an amazing banana and chocolate pancake for breakfast before getting on the bus to Brisbane. Obviously the moment I crossed the state boarder (tr moment is not an exaggeration) the heavens opened up! The clocks went back an hour as well so had an extra hour on the bus I wasn't expecting. 

Got to Brisbane, checked into the Base hostel okay (although annoyingly I didn't book the one opposite the transit centre!) and did a bit of food shopping. There is a free river ferry that's meant to be for commuters around the CBD of Brisbane that I ended up using as a way to see the city. 

It started out a lovely day

but it went from that to this 

to this 

and then finally this

My luck with the weather strikes again! 

Headed back to the hostel to cook dinner and shower and although its 7pm (which is 8pm for me!) I'm in bed in my pjs to chill out for the evening. Getting up super early to go to the Zoo so it's aloud.  And I have been having super early starts and being super active for a very long time now! 

Turns out this dorm is far more friendly than Sydney so sitting chatting to people relaxing :)