Noosa Heads

First thing on my agenda after settling into the hostel was cooling off at the beach. The beach here is a bit crowded, and dirty, but the water was still warm and jumping over the waves was fun. The next day I spent couple hours walking around the National Park there and chilling on one of the beaches. I've lost most of my tan and I want to get it back. I also spent quite a bit of time shopping around for trips to Fraser Island and Whitsunday. There are so many options to choose from, it was a bit of a nightmare at first. After collecting my thoughts and deciding what's important to me - group size, boat type, cost, etc., I finally narrowed it down. I booked into 3 day/2 night self-drive (in a group) with Dingoes on Fraser, and 3 day/2 night sailing on the maxi Apollo III in the Whitsundays. I booked the tour with Peter Pan's, and they even gave me free e-mail just for looking, and of course more free e-mail after booking with them.

Free Again!

Heading up to Noosa from the zoo, Rich felt it necessary to check out all of the beaches on the way and took the coastal road. He had more time than I did, so I can understand why he may want to do that. He knew tho, that I only had six weeks and wanted to cover lots of ground in that time. It's his car and I can't make him go at my pace, but I just thought it was a bit of a waste of time trying to see EVERYTHING. I was armed with a guide book, so I had a pretty good idea of where the interesting places to see were. What's the point in going by beaches if they are just like every other one and you weren't going to swim in it?? I had seen many many beaches in my life, and many many just on my trip in OZ so far. Surely he has too. Anyhow, then he goes on to say that he isn't comfortable taking his 4WD onto the much raved Fraser Island. What's the point in having a 4WD if you're not going to use it for what it was meant to do?!? Anyhow, at this point, I was ready to travel on my own again. I'd miss out some small stops between point A and point B without a car, but it was a price I was willing to pay. I was also willing to dish out a few extra dollars each night for some better company in hostels. I've realized today that I can get a long with most everyone - but only for a short period of time. I think there are many more people out there that would drive me crazy if I had to spend an extended amont of time with them. If anyone else says that they can get along with anybody, I call bullshit. Try travellng with them. Rich is not a bad guy by all means and I'm not here to slash him. He was quite nice at first and we compromised well in many ways. I think he had started sensing my dissatisfaction in some of the situations, though, and began to pursue his objectives without regard for my needs or wants. Anyhow, once in Noosa, I declared my intentions and was dropped off at the Koala Beach Resort. I thought he was cool at first with it, but then he kind of left without a word - no byes, no good luck, no enjoy your trip. Hmmm.... Anyhow, I was glad to be on my own again, to be able to do what I want with my kind of crowd.

Australia Zoo

After leaving Brisbane, we went to the Australian Zoo - home of the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. I got to pet a koala and feed kangaroos. Unfortunately Steve wasn't there for the croc demo, but it was still good. I enjoyed seeing all of the native animals of Australia.

Gold Coast to Brisbane

After passing Tweeds Head which is the state line between Queensland and New South Wales, we drove through Surfur's Paradise and up to Brisbane. Neither Rich nor I were really into exploring the city, but I had wanted to stay in or near it so that we could actually do something with the time we had left that night. I wanted to check e-mail, make phone calls, do ANYTHING - but sit in a fucking tent the whole night in the middle of fucking nowhere. Rich is a bit older and has not been in the backpacking scene, and didn't seem too keen on staying at any hostels. At least in a hostel, there'd be a lounge or a bar where we could meet and talk to other people. In the last four days, the only other contact I've had with other people were Rich's friends. I was starting to feel a bit lonely. We camped again in the middle of nowhere, which would not be so bad if it was time to go to bed already, but we pulled into camp at like 1700! I passed the time doing some washing and paying a ridiculous price for e-mail in the camp site.

Sunrise Hike up Mt. Warning

I couldn't convince Rich to get up at 0300 to hike up Mt.Warning to catch the sunrise at the peak. But we did get up at 0400. We were at the trailhead by 0500 and were on our way up. About 30 min into the hike tho, Rich decided he wasn't fit enough to keep going, so I went up on my own, torch in hand, through the dark forest. At about 0600, I could see the red sun rising above misty hills in the distance through the trees. Fortunately, I soon came to couple of clearings where I got a fantastic view and some photos. Near the top, there was some really steep rock climbing with chain holds. By then tho, some people were starting to come down so if I had slipped and fallen, I probably would have been rescued. At the top were more great views of the surrounding. Mt.Warning is actually the tallest mountain on the East coast, and it's smack in the middle of a volcano crater which spans that whole area. The whole hike up & down took me 3 hours.

Springbrook NP

After Byron Bay, we made our way up to Springbrook NP. There was a Natural Bridge where a waterfall broke through so you can see the falls from inside a cave. We also went on a short, 4km, walk around Purlingbrook falls. The Best of View lookout wasn't much of a lookout tho, because by then, the mist came in. We camped in Murwillumbah for the night.

Coffs Harbor

Our first night's stop was Coffs Harbor. On the way, we saw Port Macquerie, Nelson Bay, and Nambucca Heads. It was a full day's drive there and we didn't get to the camp site until late. It's hot as hell in Australia right now, so camping is not all that comfortable, but for an average of $10 per night, I'm not complaining. Before heading out the next day, we spent a bit of time on Digger's Beach. It's absolutely beautiful - clear and warm water, and no stingers or crowd. There's even supposed to be a nudist beach around the corner, but I didn't bother looking. It's probably bunch of old people anyways. The next evening we were invited to dinner at Rich's friend's house in Mullumbimby. Great nachos - thanks, Andrew & Liz. The following morning we checked out the lighthouse in Byron Bay.