1770

The town of 1770 is the place where Captain Cook first landed on Australian soil.  There’s not much there, but the hostel that we stayed at was a good place to kick back and recover from Fraser Island.

Me and the boys from my Fraser group were all heading in the same direction, so we jumped on the greyhound coach and headed up together.

A little bit a history.  The main highlight of 1770 was the Scooter-roo tour.  Miniature Choppers, that you head out on a guided tour of the local towns and sights on.

Some of them have got sweet paint jobs:

And there was a massive group of us so it was crazy racing them and taking over all the local roads.  For the first half hour we took it pretty slow, but after that the tour guide (who was a complete petrol head anyway) let us that wanted to open them up completely.  For their size they can still go some, pushing 90kph.

It was a good chance to see some Wallabies, we got pretty close:

Other than that the 2 days in 1770 were real chilled, we saw a crazy thunder storm… flashes of lightning atleast every 10 seconds for a good hour.  Later we jumped on an overnight coach to Airlie Beach.

1770 photos click here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57211123@N00/sets/72157614649400002/

Fraser Island (Day 3)

The last day and we didn’t have to cover so much on the itinerary.  What we did have is the best and most stunning lake so far.  Lake McKenzie, the big hitter, the big tourist spot.  We were there early enough to see it with hardly anyone else there.  As we walked down the track the colour was amazing, it doesn’t look possible that this is a lake and not a tropical sea.  It’s perfect.

The sand here is pure silca, that means it’s perfect as well.  Every grain is pristine.

We had nothing to do all money but lay in this lake, i could have stayed in there for ever.  It was so sweatingly hot outside of the water, and so refreshing and comfortable in it.

With a lot of hours and not much to keep us entertained except for trying to catch fish (which is impossible by the way!  6 grown men and we couldn’t block off one little fish), we figured with a lot of us we could throw each other quite high.

It all ended in tears when Akira ruptured his ear drum.

One of the girls had an underwater camera and they attempted to take a serious picture:

Stealth moonies!  Wait till you get that one developed!

When we finally dragged ourselves away from the lake we tackled the worst part of the trip, packing up and getting back on the ferry:

There was a mad struggle as groups fought between groups for missing spoons, tents and spare wheels.  Nobody wanted to lose there bond money.

As we rode back into town, i had a big grin on my face thinking about how good the trip had been!  And how i’d almost always managed to get shotgun.

I couldn’t have asked for a better group, every one of them an alcy.  But always up for a good time.  Some parts of the trip were hard work, packing and unpacking the 4×4 all the time, setting up the camps, but everyone did their equal part… which is so unusual in 11 people.

The Koala trip to Fraser Island has got it all, most importantly -4×4 ing.  But the stunning beaches, the lakes, the wildlife, camping with a group of kids, the whole road trip vibe.

On the way back we agreed that the Rise Against lyrics pretty much summed it up:

‘I’ve got some friends, some that I hardly know
But we’ve had some times I wouldn’t trade for the world’

OK it didn’t suceed Tubing, but it got mighty close!

All the photos from Fraser Island are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57211123@N00/sets/72157614573868921/

Fraser Island (Day 2)

The next morning we had been told we had to be up by 4:30am.  Half four in the morning!  What a ridiculous time.  You can only drive on the beaches when the tide is out, apparently the latest we’d be able to drive on the beach was 2pm.  Meaning that if we wanted to fit everything on the itinerary in we had to be up by 4:30, packed up and driving by 5:00, and on the beach by 6:00.

Somehow all four groups managed to do it, and we were up in time to see the sun breaking over the mountains:

Because i don’t get hangovers, i’d volunteered to drive.  I was still clearly over the limit, but i think so was everyone in camp.  We were on an island, so it was OK.

Even at 5am, driving was so much fun!  After an hour of driving through the forests we made it to the beach, i think everyone was glad that we’d got up so early.  It was amazing pulling out onto the sand and seeing the sun rising over the sea:

We hit the road again and spent the early part of the morning driving the beach from the bottom of the island to the top.

I was having the time of my life, blasting along the beach, trying to keep us stable as we lurched around in other people’s tracks.  Charging through the water whenever there were out streams.  I wasn’t letting anyone else drive for anything.

Luckily, nobody really wanted.  Everyone was still so drunk from last night, the boys had decided they may as well carry on drinking.  At 6am they were all smashed and spilling the goon sack all round the back:

Vinnie had a whole night out in four hours.  He went from being merry and talkative, to completely wasted, screaming and shouting for no reason, then passed out, and awake and hungover.  All by 9am.

So as i said, glad to be driving.

We made it to ‘Indian Head’ the most northern part of the island.

From there we trekked up to the top of the cliffs for a stunning view of the beach in both directions.  We’d been told that this was a good spot to see dolphins and sharks.

No dolphins, but we got a shark, and then a stingray:

Back on the road:

We headed back down south to reach the shipwreck:

The Maheno was beached in 1935, and has been slowly decaying ever since.

Another danger that needs to be avoided when driving on Fraser Island is Planes landing on the beach:

Is it a beach?  Is it a road?… Is it a runway?  I don’t think anyone knows.  All i know is that when i see a plane, i’m giving it right of way!

Eli Creek was out next destination.

You can walk all the way up it into the forest and then float right back down.  It was fun enough to do twice!  Such fresh water though, the itinerary said we could drink it, so i drank it.  Better than Evian, better than Volvic.  I just made sure i was upstream from everyone else, obvious reasons.

The tour buses started turning up, we laughed at them.  Where’s the fun in sitting on a bus all day?

We stayed at the creek for a while, the reps that said we had to be up at 4:30 to drive up and down the island in time really didn’t anticipate how fast we’d be driving.  It felt like lat afternoon but it was only 11am.  Longest day ever!  Someone had a volleyball and some people raided the vans for lunch.

Later we made our way to the campsite.  Unlike the first night, there was nothing here.  Just a section of sand behind the beach.  (i know that sentence sounds weird, but the whole island is sand, maybe the whole island is beach)

I was still looking for an excuse to do some more driving, so when some people weren’t sure that we were at the right campsite (because there was literally nothing there) i volunteered to scout the tracks running alongside the beach for any signs of a better camp.  Clearly there was no other campsite, i never expected to find one, but i did nearly get the 4×4 beached a few times!  Again, so much entertainment!  When i’m rich i’m buying a 4×4 and a beach and some sandy tracks.

Once we’d set up camp, we all decided to head to lake Wabby.  There was a choice between an hour walk or a 3/4 hour drive (different directions), of course i rallied it all the way there.  Once we’d parked there was still a half hour walk back to the lake.

Lake Wabby is slowly disappearing and in about a decade the sand dune will completely swallow it.

Best make the most of it now then!:

Back at the camp we barbequed the rest of the meat, and Akira rustled up some spag bol!  Some people had an early night, the rest of us made an effort of finishing the goon.  As it got dark a couple of Dingo’s started lurking around, i didn’t get a photo of one myself… but here’s a prize Fraser Dingo right here:

Some people were reet scared, they just looked like normal dogs to me.  Apparently they’ve been known of Fraser Island to (in rare occasions) attack people, or eat babies.  I would’ve given them the rest of the pasta so they didn’t have to get so desperate, but that’s illegal and you can get bare fines!

As the party died out, a few of us decided to take a few brews down to the beach and sit by the sea for a while.  We fell asleep talking drunkenly about the stars and the universe and stuff.  About 3am we got woken up by a Dingo howling at us.  It was standing literally 3 metres away from us, staring at us and howling.  Maybe it was his patch of beach?  Either way, we figured we better move back to the tents.

Fraser Island

The next morning we were taught the one and only way that everything fits into the 4×4’s:

All of food, drink, bags and camping equipment was stored like a jigsaw puzzle above everyone’s heads.  Making the cars nice and top heavy!  Easy to roll.

I paid deep attention as we were told how to put them in and out of 4 wheel drive:

Then we hit the road, this is our group:

We had the radio blaring, it wasn’t raining… everyone was loving it.  We caught the ferry across:

The waters around Fraser Island and shark infested, but i didn’t see any.

Once of the ferry the ‘roads’ immediately turned to mud and ruts.  We were hammering it from the start, the 4 jeeps racing along the tracks, overtaking everyone, everything, that we came across as we tried to stay in convoy.

Vinnie was driving first off:

We’d had some pretty heavy rain over the previous few days, which added to the fun of 4x4ing down these tracks:

It wasn’t long before disaster began to strike.  The lid bounced off of one of the eskys, raining ice water over everyone in the back:

Not long after we hit a more major problem.  A root sticking about a foot and a half out of the ground, at about 30mph.  There was a big bang as one of the back wheels slammed into it, not just a puncture, but a destroyed rim.

Less than an hour onto the island and we were already taking the spare wheel off the back.  Changing a wheel on a 4×4 half way up steep hill (on sand) is pretty hard.  When the jack you’re given isn’t even big enough to raise it off the floor, it’s even harder.  We basically dug the wheel out:

We finally got back on the road, as did the line of jeeps we’d held up behind us.  A few minutes later we noticed the sound of air being squelched out of a tyre each time the wheel went round.  The other back tyre had a slow puncture as well!  We drove to somewhere more suitable to change it, then robbed a spares from one of the other Koala 4×4’s.  A few hours in and we were already down to 2 spares between 4 cars, to last us 3 days!

I think we all learned a valuable lesson though, about speed.  I guess we discovered that these vehicles aren’t completely invincible.

We parked up and went to a creek.  The water’s so clear you can’t even see it, just the river bed below:

We took the typical group photo:

And i pretended i was Tarzan:

After a short walk through the rainforest we returned to the 4x4s.  The next stop on the itinerary was Lake Boomanjin.  It was overcast when we got there:

But then the sun broke through, making the lake ever more stunning:

I could have stayed in that lake for ages.  It was so hot in the sun, and so refreshing in the water.

I was like how you imagine a sea off of a perfect beach in the pacific, but no waves, and no salt water.  Because there’s no mud but just sand at the bottom, the water’s crystal clear.  Swimming under water with my eyes open was amazing, trying to sneak up on fish or see how deep i could go.

The last stop on the first day was the campsite, right next to Lake Boomajin.  On the way there we had to stop to move a turtle out of the road:

Because so many people camp next to lake Birrabeen it’s now full of Beer, which has turned it this amazing colour:

Ignore that, it was stupid.  It’s actually full of tea tree oil, but probably some beer as well:

I realised you never swim in coloured water.  You drink a lot of coloured liquids, but when do you ever swim in them!?  I made the most of my one and only chance.  Swimming around with my eyes open i felt like i was on Mars.

By the time we got back to camp the girls had set most of it up:

So we got on with the Barbeque:

I was having such a well good time.  It was like being at Silverstone, without my mates from back home but with 40 others that made do, and instead of selling programmes all day I got to rally a 4×4 and see some of the best landscapes of my life.

Drinking games commenced:

And at about 11pm we ended up back in the lake, lying on our backs watching for shooting stars.

The end of the first day, i couldn’t work out whether Fraser Island was going to beat Tubing, as the best part of my trip!

Noosa to Hervey Bay

It wasn’t long before i was in a good mood again.  The receptionist at Koala’s in Noosa was awesome, got on with her really well.  She knew i was going to Hervey Bay and didn’t have any transport booked yet.  So when she booked two other guys onto the Fraser Island trip and found out they were driving up there, she asked them if they could give me a lift.  Jackpot.  Not only that, but they turned out to be safe as houses, two of the top people i’ve met so far.

Akira’s from Sydney and Toby’s from Germany, the next day we hit the road to Hervey Bay… the base town for the Fraser Island trip.

When i first got to Australia i thought about buying an old car or van and then selling it on once i got to Cairns.  In the end i decided against the gamble, for the length of time i was gonna be traveling up it wasn’t worth it.  I’d have to put it for sale as soon as i’d bought it, to make sure i sold it in time for my flight.  But i wish i had now, it’s so much more fun driving up Australia in a car.  Even if we did go round in circles for ages trying to find our way out of Noosa.

After stopping and feasting at Subway, we made it to the hostel that we booked our trip through.  As we pulled into the car park we admired the monster we were gonna be driving for the next few days. I was excited!

We then had our introductory meeting where they explained everything we needed to know for our trip.

Fraser Island is the biggest sand island in the world.  There’s not much mud on it, just sand.  It has more sand than the Sahara Desert.  It has rainforests, beautiful streams, and arguably the most stunning fresh water lakes on the planet.

We were signed up for a 3 day, 2 night driving and camping tour.  Self guided, meaning once we get onto the island we can do what ever the hell we want.  11 people to each vehicle, 4 vehicles.  Probably no one over the age of 25.  No guides, nobody that really knew what the hell we were doing, lots of alcohol.

As soon as we sat down in the meeting and were put into our group, i think everyone could tell it was gonna be a good crowd.  We all seemed up for the same kind of thing and got on well from the start.  In the meeting the organizers gave us information on the dangers of swimming in the sea, the dangers of dingos, information on the island, a rough itinerary, a list of shopping we needed to buy, maps, ferry passes, camping passes… but most importantly, they gave us information of the 4×4’s themselves.  How to drive them, how to navigate different areas on the island, how to dig them out of the sand when they get stuck.  That’s all i was interested in.  I couldn’t wait for the chance to drive these things, ours was a Toyota V8 Landcruiser.   Inside would be Eleven people, all there bags, 4 tents, sleeping bags, food, a whole kitchen, and a months worth of booze.  And we’d get the chance to drive it over some of the best terrain God has ever sculpted.  3 days!

That night me Toby and Akira got to know the rest of our group better:

Got attacked by a Possum:

Then had a pretty early night, 6am start!

1st Bad Day

In Noosa i think i had my first day that i didn’t fully enjoy.  But being 3months in… i don’t think that’s bad going.

I just started getting fed up with having to make new friends all the time.  Making the effort with people that are idiots, but i know if i don’t socialise i’ll be having a pretty lonely time.  There was nothing wrong with my roommates, but they had nothing that appealed to me.  Back home i wouldn’t even bother with people like this.  I started thinking they were pathetic, nice people, but pathetic.  So that was one part of it.

The second part was that for a hostel of 200 people, they had 4 gas rings in the Kitchen.  I hadn’t eaten much all day, all i wanted was my stir fry.  There was a que of 11 people waiting in this steaming hot room for 4 pathetic gas rings.  I felt no desire to talk to any of them.  They all looked like geeks.

After waiting unpatienlty for about 20 minutes, i decided to forfeit my place  and come back when it wasn’t so busy.  An hour and a half later, not only was there still a que, but the same bloody Slovenian was still on the same bloody gas ring!  Cooking Schnitzels!  I don’t know how long it takes to cook a Schnitzel, but when 11 people are waiting, it doesn’t take that long!

Then and there i realised that if traveling has taught me one thing, it is that i hate:

• Israelis
• Germans
• Russians
• Slovenians
• all he Frogs
• Americans
• and some of the Canadians.

The were some Israelis that i keep bumping into all the way up the coast.  The most miserable group of people i’ve ever met, every time i’d seen them… miserable!  Someone had stolen my washing up bowl, and when i asked this Israeli bloke if he’d seen it he gave me a propa rude response!  I nearly threw my spoon at him, i wasn’t even accusing him of anything, just asking if he’d seen it.  Twat.

About 9:30 i finally got my stir fry.  Then all i wanted was to go out for a few drinks.  Staying in Koala’s i thought this would be easy enough.  But for the ‘best night club’ in Noosa Monday was another dead night, and they closed midnight.  I must have come to this place on the 2 worst nights of the week.  One terrible day!

Noosa

Noosa is full of rich people, it’s not surprising, the place is beautiful.  There’s still a couple of hostels for the backpackers doing everything on the cheap.  I stayed in Koala’s which, apparently, doubles up as the best night club in town.

When i got to Noosa i hired a bike and went exploring:

There’s a ‘look out point’ that i rode up to… the climb nearly killed me.

But it was worth it for the ride back down through the country park… i nearly killed an old lady!

This is where the rich people live:

Down by water it was full of kids jumping off of jetties, Speed Boats, people messing about on Jet Ski’s, old men faceplanting while trying to Kite Surf.

That night i went for some jugs in the hostel bar/club with my dorm mates.  It was alright but because it was a Sunday the place was pretty dead and closed early.

Santa made an appearance though, supposedly when he’s not making toys he’s here every night!

The next morning we all walked through the National Park to find a more secluded beach to go body boarding.

On the way back we passed some class motors!:

When i got back i found this little chap in our room:

He must have found something good to eat, because he kept coming back!  That night we had to leave the door open because it was too hot.  He was in and out all night.  Funny at first, but after chasing him out for the 4th time, then finding him jumping over your pillow again is beyond a joke.

Photos of Noosa:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57211123@N00/sets/72157613971323994/

Mooloolaba

Who the hell decided the names for places in Australia!?  There almost as ridiculous as the uniforms!

I couldn’t quite believe that they’d actually named some place ‘Surfers Paradise’.  The official name, ‘Surfers Paradise’.  But ‘Mooloolaba’… someones just messing around.  The next town up the road is ‘Maroochydore’, i can’t even pronounce half of this!

Anyway, it rained a lot:

which kind of put a downer on things.  There was a group of us, me, a German girl, a Norwegian Girl and a German bloke that hung about together.  We went to a club one night, possibly the worst club i’ve ever been to… and that’s including Leos.  We got soaked walking there, when we got inside the Air Conditioning was set for if there were about a 200 people inside, there was maybe 30 so the place was freezing!!  Every bloke inside was a body builder in a tight t-shirt.  The music made me want vomit.  R&B all night, but not even good R&B… the worst music i’ve heard in a long time.  We left early.

The next night we went to the cinema instead.  Saw Slumdog Millionaire, thought it was a wicked film.  Top stuff.

Still raining me and the 2 Germans went out body boarding anyway.  I think we were 3 out of about 5 people in the whole sea.  I’m pretty sure we were on the news that night, there was a news clip about how bad the weather was in Mooloolaba and there was a clip for about 2 seconds, showing 3 body boarders in the sea.  I claimed it.  Despite the weather though, it was the best body boarding i’ve done since i’ve been out here.  Colossal waves.  Scary mother waves.

To cheer everyone up the hostel owner put on a free Barbeque one night, which was nice.

I met a load of Kiwi’s, not all of them knew each other but they were all Kiwi’s.  I got abused in Ring of Fire for being the only Pom.

But they had a back pack full of balloons, so they made it up to me.

Photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57211123@N00/sets/72157613924516745/

Byron Bay

Byron Bay has got to be one of the best towns on earth.  It’s one of the best places i’ve been so far.  I only had a few days here, but it’s somewhere i could stay for so much longer.  It’s where people dream of being able to live.

I’m not sure what it is, it’s just got good vibes.  It’s laid back but not boring, and the beaches and cliffs are stunning.

Backpackers drink Goon in Australia.  Cheap disgusting wine in a box/bag.  Here’s the wikipedia definition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_wine

Binge drinking may (or may not) be wrong, but when you’re on a budget and offered 4 litres for £4.50… Binge On!

This is how each night begun in Byron:

The crazy Swede to the right wasn’t always there.

The YHA we stayed in had the best hammocks in the land.  Spinning hammocks.  It was like being on the waltzers:

Which mixed perfectly with Goon.

I spent most of the time in Byron chillin with Gareth (in the black shirt), either on the Beach or on the Goon.  I swear i didn’t even know that Swede snuck up on us this time:

Cheeky buggar!

The beach, like most places in Australia, was amazing:

The days in Byron just disappeared, i did loads of body boarding.  When the waves were too small we’d throw plastic footballs at the girls in the swimming pool.

Loads of people had ‘wicked campers’ in Byron.  It’s a company that you can hire camper vans from, and they’ve all got a custom paint job.  I think i’ll get one when my brother gets out here and we can share the cost:

I also did a day trip to Nimbin, a famous hippy town a couple of hours away.  We got picked up early morning, the bus pumps out some classic tunes and the driver/tour guide was scarily insane.  In Nimbin they’ve got some museums preaching about saving the plant, a lot of bums, and some novelty merchandise:

You then get taken to a waterfall that you can leap off of, and have a slap up Aussie Barbeque!

Photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57211123@N00/sets/72157613970897670/

Surfers to Byron

The next morning i woke up in the Bonfield Gaff.  Thanks for the hospitality!

I went for a swim in the Bonfield Pool, and chatted with Carly’s Dad… who’s a legend!

Carly nursed her hang-over like a little girl, which i suppose she is, and then we all hit the road to Byron Bay.  It’s only a little down the road south, but you cross the border to New South Wales… so there’s an hours time difference.  If i lived here and was running late getting stuff done, i’d just head to Byron.  Cash in the extra hour.

No nonsense pose:

The whole of the Gold Coast and Byron Bay is stunning:

Later Sam and Carly were to head back home, i stayed in Byron to soak it up for a while.  Thanks for the ride tho.  These 2 are a good pair: