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and then
December 13th until December 18th
We've been to Sydney, Adelaide, The Great Ocean Road to Melbourne, other areas of interest and great natural beauty and now Byron Bay. Lel is here for another 10 days or so then he flys to South Africa for a Safari.
SYDNEY was nice. Stayed in a crap hostel in Kings Cross called The Original Backpackers. They didn't like you drinking booze and the social area closed at 10pm. Met two girls we met in Thailand there, Amanda and Kelly, who invited us to their hostel which had a roof terrace with a view of Sydney Opera house and the Harbour Bridge. Weather wasn't particularly good. Kings Cross is very seedy with lots of scag heads fighting and mugging and people selling dope on the street. Strip joints pay heavies to encourage people in off the street. Nice parks and long beaches made Sydney feel very inviting. Played frisbee a few times on Manly beach and Bondi. Both times it rained which spoilt the image I had of Australia. There were torrential floods up in Byron Bay and Brisbane so we decided to delay our journey up the east coast and explore the south east area of Oz.
23 hours after getting on the coach in Sydney we arrived in ADELAIDE. The highlight was seeing a band called Music Vs Physics who are a cross between Portishead and Cup of Tea Records artists. The lead singer is very cute. Had one of the nicest veggie burgers at Vego and Lovin' It.
Nath
We leave on a tour of The Grampians (up in the mountains) and The Great Ocean Road. Their were only three of us plus a Yank so partying was pretty limited but lots of lovely scenery, kangaroos and koalas - nice. Lel sleeps on bus photo. We arrive in Melbourne and within a matter of hours our wealth of knowledge is winning us beer in the pub quiz - how you underestimate us. Well, Melbourne's a pretty nice place, full of nice little bars, independent shops, parks, trams and a river. We saw Music VS Physics again which was hip and a hop and it didn't stop for Nath who parties hard with his sweetheart (sort of).
After Melbourne we head off on another tour back to Sydney. After a bit of a crap days drivin' the vibe seems a bit dull but after a few drinks everyone is in their swimmin gear and jumping in the spa to get excessively drunk under the stars - Superb. Up at six the next day to climb mainland Australia's biggest mountain with a hangover. We get a helping hand off the chairlift but seriously misjudge the weather on mountains and freeze. Not to be outdone in our stupidity the Scots are wearing shorts. We then head onto Canberra for a BBQ and more excessive drinkin'. Only good thing about Canberra is the Aboriginal emabassy which is a shed with loads of anti establishment grafiti - respec. We then hit the Blue Mountains which is bootiful. There's also more excessive drinkin.
As we arrive back in Sydney, the elite drinkers of the tour check in to the sorted hostel in Sydney. The vibe is wicked between everyone and when some girls we met in Malaysia and Rich and Jess all move in a good week was spent drinkin, chattin, playing frisbee and pulling Germans if your name is Nathan. Oh yeah and the ballet darlings.
So now this brings us up to date at the hippy trippy Byron Bay. Full of hippies, surfers and backpackers. We have seen dolphins, bodyboarded the waves, watched the sun come up over the pacific and go down over a waterful while in a natural spa. One should also mention the weirdness of Nimbin where you can go and be quite openly naughty with the hippies if thats your thang..
Lel
I pulled an English girl when I was in Sydney for the first time too.
Nath
After Byron Bay went up to Hervey Bay for a Fraser Island 3 day trip. They give you the transport and camping gear and you and your group sort out the food and booze. Had a wicked time driving a 4x4 around the sand island although the dirt tracks they call roads were a bit rough. The drivers seat was definately the best. The stars were amazing, saw some Dingo's (one made off with some bread rolls while we were eating dinner one night) and swam in some beautiful lakes and streams and the Champagne Pools (which didn't have any booze in). Lel left for South Africa Thursday 19th April after a nights drinking to celebrate his birthday. He blames me for missing his bus the next morning because I bought him some dangerous drinks. Since then I've been to Airlie Beach looking for work at backpacker hostels and when I didn't find anything I did a 3 day sailing cruise on the Otella around the Whitsundays Islands. Fantastic islands and beaches although I was a bit sea sick the first day. Couldn't believe how amazing the food was on the boat, even though the cooking area was tiny, (and so was my bed) the chef managed to prepare a veritable feast. Met some wicked people at Koalas Backpackers and watched alot of TV to cut down on spending.
From Airlie I went to Magnetic Island further up the East coast. The centre of a volcano erupted 100's of millions of years ago, before Australia existed, it's wildlife and landscape are like no other. After checking with all the backpackers for work and finding no paid work I started working for Tropicana Tours. Although the work is hard (I have to clean and prep the jeep every morning), and I have to start at 7.30, I get to use the internet for free and all the food and board is included, a better deal than the hostels were offering. So I'll be here for a while, not spending any money, then head up to Mission Beach and Cairns. The pace has slowed down considerably since I've been travelling on my own and working for the first time since January was a bit of a shock to the system. At least the weather is still hot. Magnetic Island enjoys an average of 320 days of good weather per year. Oh yes! The only down side is I'm getting munched by mosies. Nath
