Flying solo

This week has been a very mixed bag, which I guess is good when you are travelling, and the challenges of travelling alone have become more obvious to me. This is by no means a bad thing, it is important for me to get used to going solo and i was prepared that the beginning of the trip was going to test me. 

One day which I was challenged was the day after my last blog post in Surfers Paradise. I woke up without really knowing anyone in my room and went downstairs in the hostel for some breakfast and to attempt to plan Thailand, which I have decided will be the next part of my trip. I spent the rest of the day looking around town and sunbathing in the hostel. It was challenging because it was a day that I really realised I was alone but I must admit it was quite nice to be able to relax and not have to worry about anyone else.

On the 7th I caught an early coach to Brisbane and after having some toasted banana bread (my favourite australian dish). I headed to my hostel which was located in the centre of the city. Well actually, it was more like a ghost town when I arrived, much like the cities in New Zealand, it seemed to be too big for amount of people who were there. I decided to visit the town and went for a walk around the main shopping area where i stopped to watch some live music for a while. I then crossed to the Southbank, which could have easily been the Southbank in London, with its large grey concrete theatre building and giant ferris wheel. Here, I had a look around the museum, which featured an especially interesting exhibition about aboriginal history and culture.

That evening Ali arrived from Byron Bay and, after a loud aussie voice echoed through the halls of the hostel on the rusty old tanoys offering free drinks for woman, we decided to visit the bar under the hostel, the aptly named Down Under bar. We ordered our gin and tonics and sat admiring the incredible aray of dance moves being performed on the dance floor, getting stranger and stranger as the night went on. It really was phenomenal. After a couple more drinks we decided to hit the hay as we had a nig day ahead of us.

This 'big day' was Australia Zoo day! We had decided to get the 11am train but when we went to buy our tickets the trian line employee behind the plastic window told us that we were travelling a bit late to see the zoo and that we would have missed all the good feedings etc by the time we there. This of course was devastating to hear, but we had no choice but to go because we couldn't go any other day. We got on the slowest train I have ever experienced but seemed to make it to the zoo way before the ticket man said we would. Once inside we were relieved to find there were loads of things to see. First of all was the koala introduction, which was a zookeeper telling us fact about koalas and then a chance to stroke of the older koalas, which was extremely exciting for me and Ali who had fallen in love with the animals already. 

Next up was the crocodile feeding, where a man risked his life to give this 7 metre croc a snack. Whilst doing so he was sharing important information about how not to get eaten by a crocodile in Northern Australia, which really brought home how wild and dangerous this country can be. I also was amazed to find out that crocodiles can live for a year without eating and have not really evolved for 64million years!

 We then decided to go and feed the kangaroos who were in an open enclosure which you could walk through. These kangas were so used to having humans around that they were all lying around but I did manage to catch a couple of them bouncing around. As well as all of this we also had time to see snakes, giraffes, rhinos, tigers, dingos, Tasmanian devils and turtles. I challenge you to go to a zoo and not become a child again, it was all so exciting! 

The next day started ff much less exciting with a trip to the pharmacy to buy some earplugs after a boy in my dorm room had kept me awake during the night with his snoring. I caught the afternoon coach to Noosa and was picked up by a minibus which took me to my hostel. The hostel was fully booked so I ended up sharing a double room with a German girl named Anna. So many travellers here and either German, English or Swedish! I met two other German girls while I was making dinner and spoke to them for a couple of hours about our trips etc. I told them that I was a bit worried about the bush camp I had booked myself onto the next day because I had been reading the reviews and it looked pretty bad. I decided that I would still go and see for myself and went to bed thinking about all the terrible things that the bush camp could hold.

The next morning I was picked up from Noosa coach station by a very friendly, enthusiastic Australian called Alan, the man who ran the bush camp. I soon found out that my whole minibus was full of British people including Ashleigh, Abby, Alex, Joe, James, Scott, another James, Zoey and Josh and from one German girl called Sophie, which was reassuring and we got on straight away. After visiting a supermarket and off licence we drove to the camp away from the beach and into the woods. The camp was basic but functional with a fully working kitchen, TV room with hundreds of films, dorms, a games room and a fire with giant logs around it to sit on. 

We played beach ball, which I was awful at and then it started to rain heavily for about 10 minutes. After making dinner (I bbq-ed some salmon that I had bought in a panic at the supermarket and for which I got rightly taunted about around the fire) we decided to have some drinks. We sat round the fire for a while with the other people who had arrived before us and stayed up pretty late talking and drinking even though we all knew, in the back of our minds, that we would have to wake up early to go on our canoe trip at 8:30am the next day.

The next morning was a bit of a struggle but I managed to get out of the bunk bed, have my breakfast, make a a sandwich and make it to the canoes on time along with the rest of my bleary eyed group. I was in a canoe with a German called Mark and an Italian called Andrea and, mostly due to them I must admit, we made a pretty efficient rowing team. It took us 1 1/2 hours to get to the rope swing that Alan had directed us to. We canoed through the Noosa Everglades which is pure Australian nature, dry nearly bare trees and plant life I did not recognise and strange birds and widelife making up the soundtrack of our trip. At the rope swing I was dying to get into the water so I swam in the river with most of the group. Some people decided to brave the dangerous looking rope swing but just floating in the river was enough for me. After lunch some of us decided to go and explore the surrounding area a bit more and so went for a walk through the landscape which was so different to any landscape I have been in before, dry cracked earth, long grass and dead-looking trees, which actually turned out to look quite beautiful (my camera had no battery for the trip so unfortunately I have no photos to go with my description). 

Our journey back from the rope swing was less fun as we were rowing against the tide amd the wind. It seemed to take much longer than the way there but in reality it took only half and hour longer. I showered in the surprisingly bice showers and watched a couple of films in the TV room before dinner and a bit more drinking. We met the new group of people who had arrived that day which was nice because every one seemed to be there to have a good time and really friendly. Another late night ensued and the surrounding woods were so loud with the bird calls and whi knows what other animals that it was difficult to sleep so the next morning I did not feel rested at all. I talked to a few of the girls also staying there while I ate breakfast and then watched a movie before it was time to get the minibus back to Noosa. I felt absolutely shattered so when I returned to my hostel and I fell straight into bed for a nap. I woke up to make a really disappointing dinner and spoke with a few people in my room but then slept again for the first full nights sleep I had had in ages.

In the morning I travelled to the beach and met up with Ali again as we are doing pretty much the same route and nearly the same time. We walked along the coast admiring the skilled surfers and the gorgeous landscape then looped back through the woodland. 

Jj

At one point we nearly jumped out of our skin when a huge water dragon rustled a bush next to us as ran up a tree. We arrived back and had some fish and chips in a restuarant on the beach, which has to be one of my favourite beaches so far. There was so many surfers everywhere and at one point a group of 12 year old came and made me feel very inadequate when they showed off their surfing skills. 

In the afternoon I said goodbye to Ali (although I would be seeing her the next day) and caught my coach to Rainbow Beach. On the coach I met up with Mark and Andrea again by chance and it was nice to have someone I knew for the journey. 

I arrived in the evening to my hostel, which seems really nice. Once again unpacking my bag and preparing myself for whats to come which is my 3 day trip to Fraser Island, riding along in a 4X4 and seeing what the island has to offer! All the people I have spoken to about this trip have said it is a definite highlight so I am really looking forward to it! 

Even though this week has highlighted some of the challenges of going it alone and I really enjoying my time in Aus and have so much more to look forward to! I mean, I am in paradise, so can hardly complain!

Thanks for reading x

Flashpacking?

This morning there was an article on facebook about how backpacking has changed from hippies with no money to young people 'flashpacking' (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2934455/How-budget-travel-evolved-hippies-original-backpackers-flashpacking.html) 'RUBBISH!' I shouted as I pushed myself backwards from the shiny iMac computer and retreated to the open plan, snow white kitchen to make myself an nespresso coffee. Ok, truth be told, I have been forsaking the simple, modest hostel life for the past week enjoying luxury while I can. 

The luxury accommodation I am talking about is a far cry from Kings Cross Hostel, the place I was staying when I last wrote a blog post. Not that this hostel didn't have its positives. After I wrote that post we went to a bar called Goldfish on the main road in Kings Cross. It was not good and so we decided to move to our usual bar, The World Bar, where we met up with some of Georgies friends. That night I can honestly say I danced the most I have ever danced. At one point, people around us stopped dancing, watched us and started cheering us on. After we left, Catherine checked her pedometer and it showed that we had done 8,000+ steps in the short time we were there! 

On the 26th the country celebrated Australia day marking the anniversary of the first ships landing in Sydney from Portsmouth carrying the prisoners who were to be the first European settlers. I had been told that Sydney was the place to be on Australia day so I had readied myself for the occasion by going to the local supermatket with Catherine and Georgie and purchasing temporary Australia Day tattoos and a metre high inflatable kangaroo which we named Dave. That morning, however, we woke up to find that it was raining, really raining, with no sign of blue skies to be seen. Despite the weather we were not going to waste Australia Day so we got a bus into the centre of the city. There was live music, street events and market stalls all set up for the event, but the rain made everything look soggy and sad. We made our way to a pub in The Rocks, the oldest part of the city, and had fish and chips. The pub also had a rooftop bar so we decided to share a jug of cider and hope the rain would clear up. It didn't. We went back to the hostel to find people celebrating there and joined them for a while until we decided to admit defeat and get some sleep. 

The next day was also wet and gave us the chance to realise how tired we were. We retired downstairs in the hostel to a dark basement fitted with huge sofas and bean bags and a large TV screen. This was a room were time stood still, it could be any time outside and you wouldn't know. Georgie, Catherine and I made a batch of cookies for the hostel, well mostly for us but when we couldn't fit any more in our mouths we eventually shared them out. Georgie's university friend Ali arrived at the Hostel that afternoon fresh off the flight from the UK, but surprisingly awake and friendly. That evening we thought it would be fitting to spend our last night at The World Bar with people from the hostel, another night full of dancing ensued and ended with pizza then bed. 

The 28th was my last day in Kings Cross before I moved on with Georgie and Catherine to Lennox Head near Byron Bay. Our check out was at 10am but we hung around the hostel all day which was nice as we had got to know a number of the other travellers staying there. We went out for dinner with some of the girls who were staying in our room then said goodbye to the hostel and the people we'd met there. We got a taxi to a budget hotel near the airport and after watching some rubbish TV went to sleep for a couple of hours before we had to wake up again for our flight.

We woke up to the view of Krispy Kreme, Mcdonalds and KFC outside our bedroom window. We caught the shuttle bus to the airport and had a uneventful passage through the airport. The flight itself only took an hour and seemed to be over as soon as we had got comfortable in our seats and completed a couple of levels of Crossy Road, an insanely addictive game Catherine had downloaded onto her ipad especially for the journey. We arrived at the tiny airport in Ballina and met Ken, the man, friend with Georgies dad who was kindly lending his home to us. He drove us to Lennox Head and gave us a quick tour of the small seaside town, which had coffee shops, restaurants, bars, surf shops and a small supermarket, everything you could need. We then drove the short distance to his house which was up on the hill overlooking the bay. I stepped inside and was instantly drawn to the windows that made up the far wall of the main living space. The view was incredible! 

The whole house was incredible, clean, stylish, open plan. I had to restrain myself from running around and jumping up and down with excitement. Upstairs was made up of a large living space with a giant white leather sofa, TV, iMac, dining table and a beautiful, very organised kitchen. The garage was also upstairs which had surfboards, body boards, snorkels, bikes and a car, all of which Ken said we were free to use whenever we'd like. Downstairs there was another small sofa area, with a collection of wine, which we were also free to drink. Ken's room was spacious with a HUGE en suite fitted with a stand alone bath tub and a giant shower, and down the corridor was a  laundry room, drying closet, bathroom and two double rooms which we would be using. The beds were so comfortable with fresh white fluffy duvets and dreamy pillows, and AIR-CONDITIONING! 

We went for a walk down the beach then I had a shower, which was heavenly after the rubbish showers at the hostel and a quick nap to freshen up. When we woke up we met Kens friends who were joining us for dinner. We had fresh prawns for starters and oven cooked snapper for main with apple pie, ice cream and raspberries to follow. During the meal Ken brought out some sparkling chilled Shiraz, which sounds so wrong but was soo delicious, probably the nicest wine I have ever had, and god knows how much it cost. We said goodbye to Kens friends and Ken who was going away on business for 6 weeks early the next morning and then slept very well in our new home.

The next couple of days were spent enjoying what Lennox Head has to offer. On the first day we walked 5 minutes to the deserted 7-mile beach and spent the day sunbathing (as much as three pale girls from England can) and body boarding. The beach is beautiful but absolutely covered in beached jellyfish, not poisonous ones we had been assured by Ken but they scared us a little bit anyway. 

The following day we visited Lake Ainsworth, which was the other side of town to us and right next to the beach which is strange for a fresh water lake. This wasn't the only reason it was strange though, the water in the lake is a deep brown colour, just like coca-cola due to the tea trees that grow around the edge of the water. That day it was very hot and me and Catherine cycled along the beach to the lake.

By the time we reached the lake I was so sweaty that I got straight in the water and could practically see the steam come off me. Georgie joined us and we spent the day lying in the shade (much needed after a day in the sun the day before) and swimming in the lake. 

The next day we decided to venture out and visit Byron Bay which is the main backpacking area nearby. It was another sweltering day and there was a monthly market on that day. We wandered sround the stalls, which were mainly selling jewellery or clothing from india, local produce and delicious food. Unfortunately the heat meant that staying outside in the still-aired marketplace was almost impossible so we went and found a shaded cafe and had lunch. We then walked through the past shops trying to sell the surfer lifestyle until we got to the beach. I could not resist the sea so I waded through the warm, crystal clear water until I was neck deep. I soon found out why surfers like this beach. Every so often the waves would become huge. At one point I found myself tumbling underwater for what seemed like an eternity after a particularly massive wave. 

We caught the bus home and watched the Australian Open mens final, Andy Murray vs. Novak

Djokovic (bad luck Murray) and then Georgie and I watched 12 Years A Slave, an outstanding film.

The 2nd of February was a rainy day in Lennox Head and sonwe decided to watch the Superbowl and introduce Georgie to Game Of Thrones. We walked into the town to get some ingredients and made an incredible spag bol for dinner, splashing some of the red wine Ken had left us into the mix.

The following day we had decided to use walking along the coastline to a place called Boulder Beach. The walk took us on a path along the beach, clifftops and finally on the pebble beach (just like home). The wind was relentless at the top of the cliff and being able to see the beach from that angle was really impressive. Due to the wind, the sea was really hitting against the land in a spectualar fashion, sending sprays of salt water flying in every direction. 

We walked back into town and bought some salad for lunch then watched some more Game Of Thrones (Georgie was already hooked at this point) and then Django Unchained, a slightly different cinematic approach to slavery that the film the previous day.

For my last day with the girls we travelled in the car to a town called Nimbin, picking up Ali and her friend Jo on the way. The town was inland and in the middle of nowhere. Famed for its relaxed policies and hippy way of life, the town definitely liced up to expectations however, I was surprised with how quiet it was as lots of backpackers I have spoken to knew about it. We bumped into a couple of people who had been staying at Kings Cross which was strange. I have a feeling that might happen more as I travel up the coast, as it's a popular route for travellers to take. After snooping around all the shops and seeing enough insense sticks to last me a lifetime we visited the candle factory and bought Ken a beautiful hand made candle as a thank you present and head back to lennox head in the car. 

 

Ali and Jo got the bus back to Byron Bay, where they were staying and Catherine, Georgie and I got ready to go out for our farewell dinner in Lennox Head. We chose to go to a BYOB pizza restaurant and brought two bottles of white wine with us (courtesy of Ken of course). The pizza I had was out of this world! Half had giant juicy garlic king prawns and the other half was a deluxe vegetarian pizza with goats cheese and macadamia nuts. DELICIOUS. We bought a tub of ice cream to take home with us from the restaurant and ate it with a bit more wine while we reminised about the two weeks we'd known eachother (what a bunch of girls!)  we then watched another episode of GoT, which was even more fun after a bit of wine, before hitting the hay. 

This morning I got up early to take advantage of the great shower for the last time and had my last coffee from the nespresso machine. Georgie and Catherine were kind enough to give me a lift to Byron Bay for my coach at 8:55am. They are lucky enough to have slightly more time than me to travel up the coast and a more flexible schedule so they are staying in Lennox for a couple more days, unfortunately for me. As we stood, waiting for the coach a guy our age came up and asked georgie if she recognised him, he turned out to be the ex boyfriend of Georgies good friend, what are the chances! The coach arrived and I said goodbye to the girls. I have had an incredible and hilarious last couple of weeks thanks to them and can't believe how well we got on (probably because we are all as crazy as eachother) and it was really sad to say goodbye to them, but I suppose I will have to get used to making friends and them leaving them as this is my reality for the next 10 months! If Georgie or Catherine are reading this, we pinky promised to go to Ireland in 2016, now it is written down on the worldwide web so it will have to happen (neigh)! 

The coach journey to my next stop, Surfers Paradise, went quickly and it was pretty imoressive seeing the skyscrapers appear in the distance, right next to the beach.  I quickly found my hostel, Backpackers In Paradise, which is a nice hostel with a lot of outdoor space including a swimming pool and a courtyard overlooked by the hostel dorms. I put my stuff in the extremely stuffy room (no more aircon for me) then decided to visit the famous beach. I attempted to sunbathe but it was so windy that the sand blew over the beach and onto my skin which was surprisingly painful so I gave up and had a look around the town. There isn't much here apart from shops and bars but it is nice to be in a backpacker place again and hopefully meet some more travellers.

 Tonight I might have a drink with some people from the hostel, but making that first move and introducing yourself, especially when a hostel seems quite established, like this one does, is always a bit nerve-wracking. 

So back to backpacking it is then. I have said goodbye to luxury, which I was incredibly lucky to get in the first place, and am preparing myself for the familiar feeling of sweating while I sleep, being woken up by music and having to share a kitchen and bathroom with lots and lots of people. It's still bloody exciting though! 

Thanks for reading x