Noosa and beyond

So I'm going to be in Noosa Heads for almost a week it looks like. Noosa Heads is a collection of small towns that are basically holiday/weekend communities. So it's alot of beachs and rainforests.

The reason that I'm staying here for as long as I am though is for the next big part of my trip. On friday I'm going to be leaving Noosa and heading to Harvey Bay where I will be spending the night then leaving first thing the next morning for Frazer Island, where I will be spending 3 days 3 nights camping on the island and cruizing around on 4x4 in the sand. I'll be getting back from Frazer around 5pm and catching the bus at 8:30pm to take me up to Ailese Beach to get on a racing Yauht first thing the next morning, to go sailing around the Whitsunday Islands for 3 days 2 nights. The boat I'm going to be on from what I hear has actually won a number of races before it was retired, so I think I'm going to be in for quite the adventure.

In the mean time I'm going to just hang around Noosa, probably head over to Steve Irwin's Zoo, and maybe try my hand at surfing again.

Noosa

I'm leaving Brisbane in the morning and heading 2.5 hours up the coast to Noosa, going to be staying at the Koala Backpackers there. I'm not really too sure what is actually in Noosa but it seems to be a stop that alot of backpackers are making so I figured I would check it out. Probably only going to spend a couple nights there and then move along up the coast a little farther.

Brisbane

I just arrived in Brisbane after spending 4 nights in Surfers Paradise (aka. wannabe Orlando Florida). Went to Dreamworld while there and rode all the rides, Spent far too much time drinking, though every hostle should have a bar as the reception desk. Surfers is way too commercialized though, its all about attracting the big spending holidayers so it was good to get out of there, the entire city is basically nothing but amusement parks, hotels, casinos, and massive condo complexes.

So I'm in Brisbane for the next 2 nights for sure, probably going to stay a couple more than that though still not sure about my plans. Then I'll be back on the road heading north along the coast on the backpackers pillgrimage to Cairns for some diving on the Great Barrier Reef.

Up the East Coast

Since my last post I traveled up the coast to Newcastle where I stayed for 3 nights. Newcastle is basically a big industrial town with not a lot to do in it. The one good thing about the stay there however was that the hostel I stayed at offered free surfing lessons so I went out and learned how to surf. The actual surfing in the easy part (well I can get up and go a ways at least), the hard part is trying to paddle out through the big surf, though the day I was out the surf was maybe only 6-8 feet high at max where it was breaking.

After leaving Newcastle I took the train/bus up to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is basically the Australian version on Daytona Beach and it just so happens to be spring break here for Australians so there is a ton of partying going on in Byron, Besides party there isn't much to do in Byron however, its basically just a beach community. So after having spent 2 days here I am leaving for Surfers Paradise tonight on the bus. Going to be spending 4 days there. From what I hear Surfers Paradise is a big resort community with lots of amusement parks and that sort of thing so we are planning on spending 4 nights there then probably heading up to Brisbane.

East Coast

Today I bought a rail pass for the East Coast, I'm leaving for Newcastle tomorrow where I will be staying for the next 3-4 days, it is just 2 hours up the coast from Sydney. After which I will probably make a couple more small hops and stop over for a few days at a time on the way up to Brisbane.

The hostel I'm staying at in Newcastle is supposedly a kind of a hippy surfer hang out so maybe I'll see if i can get a lesson or two.

First week in Sydney

Since I arrived in Sydney I have been doing a ton of exploring. I've been to the Aquarium, the Animal wildlife centre, the Powerhouse museum, the National Gallery, the Royal Botanic Guardens, the Opera House, China Town, and a hand full of other locations.

The Guardens were amazing, it was like being in the middle of a well groomed rainforest.

Today I'm going to catch the ferry across to the far side of the harbour and go around through Manly.

In Sydney

So I arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning, around 6am. Took about 2 hours to make it through Customs/Immigration and agriculture quarantine. My first day here I spent walking around the city.

Day 2 was my orientation with IEP/SWAP which took about 3 hours. Then spent the rest of the day wondering around the city with a couple other IEP participants from the US.

Today I think we are going to see if we can catch a train across the city and go check out the Opera house and take the ferry across the harbour.

I'm going to be staying in Sydney for the next week or so. After that I think I'm going to be going to "Surf Camp" for 4-5 days in a town south of Sydney.

I picked up a cell phone so if you need to get ahold of me for something my number is 0432 841 563.