Back to Civilisation – The East Coast of Oz: Sarah and James’ Travel Blog « Sarah & James' Travel Blog

Hello Again,

In the end, we were quite pleased to be getting out of the Red Centre (well I was), or should I say away from the mice, and across to the East Coast.

After our flight over pretty much nothing but bare dessert from Alice Springs, we arrived in Brisbane. This was actually the third time I had been to Brisbane and I must say this time it was quite different from the other times as it was no staying in nice hotels or going out for nice meals as mummy and daddy were no longer paying. So, it was a couple nights in a hostel and cheese for dinner.

We stayed in the YHA in Brisbane after a scary moment of turning up at the place we had booked and being told that our credit card could not be charged so therefore they gave the room to someone else!!! Apparently "all hostels do this"??? Hmmmm we've been travelling a while now and have never heard of this!!! But we walked up the road to the YHA which was actually pretty awesome in the end. It had a roof top pool and an great view over Brisbane from the kitchen/eating area and actually we had some pretty decent weather. So we decided to make the most of it and book ourselves onto the Brisbane City Lights tour. 

We were on a 20 seater bus and only 6 of us on the tour but it was actually quite good. Again, like Coober Pedy we had a very quirky tour guide who was pretty passionate about his city. We went up Mt Coot-tha which had some stunning views over the city and also did a cruise along the Brisbane River.

After a very short visit we decided to head up north to a place called Noosa. I had been here before with my parents and as I remember it was stunning and a great place to stay so I wanted James to see it. We hopped on the greyhound bus which was actually quite a refreshing change from all the driving we had done but about an hour out of Brisbane the clouds came in and it started to pour down and actually that set the tone for our stay in Noosa which was quite different from the beautiful sunshine we had when I was there last. 

However, our stay was made all the better with our accommodation called Noosa Flashpackers!  Yep, as the name describes amazing! for just $60 a night we had a really nice room even with bed side lights! (yeah!! we never get those), and the showers were proper rain showers and it was very clean AND they gave away free breakfast, free wifi, free sizzling sausages on fridays and free surfboard/body board hire AND a free shuttle bus to take you into town.

James and I made the most of the body board hire and decided to head down to Main Beach in Noosa Heads and try and catch a wave or 2 and the sun had come out. I started off pretty well where I literally felt like I was flying and I would turn round and see James bobbing round in the water not having much luck. Then my luck changed and I could not really seem to do it and the weather had turned a bit and it had started to rain. Also, the waves were actually quite dangerous and the force of them was flipping me over and then the sand scraped all down my back. Yes there was blood Ouch!!!! A good scar now.

Our hostel helped us with booking a day trip to Fraser Island which I did with my parents all those years ago. It was a very early start as we got up and 5:30am to head out on a 20 seater 4 x 4 Warrior! (That's what the tour company called it. It really was powerful). The weather started off promising, until on our route there the driver of the Warrior radioed in to the entrance of Fraser Island and there was a big black cloud over the island and just as we were driving onto the barge a rainbow appeared over a beach called Rainbow Beach. Despite the weather we still had lovely morning tea on the beach once we got there and James was loving the cruising along the beach which is basically the main roads around the island.

After tea we turned off from the lovely flat smooth beach onto EXTREMELY bumpy surface. Basically you can't go anywhere near the island unless you have a warrior or equivalent. Our next stop was Lake Mackenzie which I remember very well. From what I remember all those years ago Lake Mackenizie was very cold and I think there is video footage of Alastair, Caroline and myself running in and then very quickly running back out. he he!!! Well as I knew this I stood on the sidelines and watched James run in. The cold didn't seem to bother him as he gleefully swam all around. I think I was being a whimp and also the weather was looking quite threatening.

After the swim we had a lovely gourmet lunch sitting under a canopy which the tour guides had set up whilst it lashed it down all around us. We were quite happy though with our free beer and yummy steak.

After a short walk through the rainforest which was swarming with leeches from all the rain, it was time to head back. It was touch and go on the way back to get back along the beach because of the forced tide they were having from all the bad weather. The last stretch of the beach before getting back on the barge to get out of the lsland was swarming with driftwood and the tide was really high which meant our warrior driver had to nail it for a section of it then try and squeeze in among the driftwood whilst he waited for the waves to go back down again and then he would nail it again. Quite fun, but a bit scary.

When we returned back to our hostel I was extremely pleased that on the big flat screen tv in the communal living room the build up to the wedding was on. So I grabbed prime spot at 5:30pm (8:30am UK time) and did not move until 10pm. It was fab. There was a few Brits around us and the atmosphere was great, ESPECIALLY the huge gasp from all the girls when William struggled to get the ring on Kate's finger. James did well, the only male on the sofas and pretending he wasn't interest by reading his book but secretly watched the whole thing.

The following morning we had arranged to meet Michael and Teifi a couple we met on the Milford Track who live in Brisbane. They picked us up from Flashpackers and we headed to The Emundi markets which was fab for tasting the local food. We then piled back in to their 4 x 4 and headed down the coast towards Maroochydore where we stopped for fish and chips along the way.  We then headed up into the mountains where there were great lookouts over the glass house mountains. We also did a wee rainforest walk where we saw really cute little Wallaby's that had come out in search of food. Another Australian wildlife to tick off the list. Now where are those Koalas?

After a long day sightseeing we headed to Michael and Teifi's house just on the outskirts of Brisbane and they lived up to the Australian tradition and cooked up an awesome BBQ. The following morning it was back on the road again to head south towards Byron Bay. Michael and Teifi are outdoor pros and had a really well e quipped  4 x 4, it even had a fridge in the boot. we headed into the Border Ranges national park which is great fun for a off road vehicle and as the name describes was the border between Queensland and NSW. There were some fantastic lookouts along the way with breathtaking views.

We stayed over in a pretty cabin in the middle of the rainforest just outside Byron Bay. The following morning we headed into Byron Bay for some breakfast before Michael and Teifi had to do the long drive back to Brisbane. James and I were so grateful to be dropped off in Byron  Bay and even better that we got to do a scenic route. Thank you so much Michael and Teifi.

So James and I explored Byron Bay a bit and checked out the beach as the weather was really nice. We had booked the greyhound bus the next day down to Port Macquarie which we were basically just using to break up the journey towards Sydney but actually it was really nice. We spent just one day there and hired some extremely dodgy bikes (mine had no brakes, James' had no gears) and cycled out to the Koala Hospital. James has kept saying all through Australia "I really want to see a Koala" so as it was free to go to the Koala Hospital we jumped at the chance. On the entrance to the hospital there was a list of all the patients and what was wrong with them, most of them had a disease or recovering from bush fires. But as we walked around it really was like a real life game of "where's Wally" as the Koala's were tucked up in the trees quite camouflaged. Most of them were asleep but were still very very cute!!

That evening we joined in Pancake evening in the hostel and the hostel had put on a Star Wars drinking marathon where they were going to sit and watch all 6 episodes of Star Wars in a row and there were some intriguing drinking rules to go with it. I think James would have loved to take part but as we had booked a 5am bus the next morning it was never going to  happen.

So 4am our alarm went off and we walked about a mile through Port Macquarie to catch the greyhound to Newcastle hoping to meet up with some other people we met on the Milford Track. Anne and Lindsay live just outside Newcastle in the Hunter Valley the wine region so we were very pleased to be going there.

As James is the wine connoisseur he's going to tell you all about it.

We are coming to the end of our time in Australia with just Sydney to explore.

Just 82 days until we are home. Arghhh!!!!

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