Travelling / Backpacking / Flashpacking the World!

Just spent the day hanging around the hostel and watching films etc! In the evening we had a walk to a spot where you can get a good view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera house, which being night time were nicely lit up.

Some facts about Australia for ya from an Australian magazine that the Lonely Planet books don't tell you!

1) In Australia you are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than a poisonous spider.

2) There are more known serial killers in Adelaide than anywhere else in the world. (Do you think it could be because the people so bored).

3) On average 30,000 people go missing from Australia every year, only half of which are ever seen again.

4) In Australia you are more likely to be a victim of an assault or sex attack than in any other developed nation in the world. Crime rates are constantly rising and every year more and more abductions, rapes, and murders are going unsolved as police search for witnesses without success. A dose of reality for anyone that thinks that Australia is safer than the States or Eastern Europe.

If you took any notice about what the travel books say about the dangers of travelling countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam it would be enough to put you off travelling them. Now what I find funny is that according to the Lonely Planet London, which I have read. The only danger mentioned about travelling is when travelling of a night time on a train to Bromley, and it advises to take a taxi instead. WHAT, Are you sure, Bromley. What about the really nice areas of North London, Brixton, Deptford, and Wembly. Crazy.

Goodbye to Kate and Debbie who are flying to New Zealand today, and then Rachel and me got 2 trains and a ferry over to Manley, another of Sydney's seaside resorts. What can I say, very nice, very clean, but like the rest of Sydney and any major city, what is there to do other than walking around and spending money? Museums and art galleries, No thanks! We spent most of the day on the beach and whilst I was there I was thinking. The beaches in Australia are nice but do you know that on all the beaches I have seen in Australia, I have still yet to see one with a palm tree on it.

You see palm trees but they are no where near the beaches. Whilst going up the West coast I said that I thought Shell beach was one of the nicest beaches I have been on, but when I really think about it and compare it to the beaches in Thailand it’s not even in the same league, the shells and perfectly calm shallow water just made it different. Also in Thailand not only are all the beaches safe to swim in, Rips, killer shark and jelly fish free. But on nearly every beach and especially anywhere near rocks you are just surrounded by beautiful coloured tropical fish. Paradise. 99% of Australia's beaches are nice but from what I have seen they are just sand and sea, they’re empty. I guess I should stop comparing everything I see in Australia to the other countries I have seen and just enjoy it, but it’s hard, maybe because I was expecting so much more.

A huge 10 dollar steak and mash for late lunch and then we got a ferry back to the city centre for a walk around before making our way back to the hostel. I’m off out for the evening round to Niamha's for dinner which was cooked by her fella, Steve. Whilst talking about Bondi beach Steve said that no one has ever died swimming between the flags, but outside the flags 1 or 2 people drown every week, it’s just one of those things that's so common people no longer hear about it. Whilst chatting I also mentioned that I was talking to a girl in the hostel the other day that has been in Australia ( Sydney) for 8 months and has not yet seen a kangaroo, Niamha has been here 6 months and she hasn't either. Like Niamha said, once you’re in Sydney and working it is so easy to get stuck here, my mate John from boxing has been here over a year now and has yet to leave Sydney. I guess to me that sounds crazy, an entirely different experience to what I have had but that's what travelling is all about, different experiences and different memories. If we all done and see the same it would just be boring.

Met Daisy, a friend of Rachel's that has joined us in the hostel, and then get this. Whilst sitting in the tv room eating breakfast, the talk show Trisha came on. Guess who was on it, only a girl that I was seeing a couple of months before coming away. What are the chances of that, being on the other side of the world and seeing her on television, weird! Another day of doing nothing in the hostel! I was meant to be meeting up with my mate John tonight but for some reason I can’t get hold of him.

Another nothing day! The weather in Sydney is nice, but not that nice that I want to be sitting on a beach all day. In the evening about 20 of us from the hostel went out up the road to a club, dirty Australian beer and I spent most the night chatting to a cute blonde girl, Caroline from Liverpool.

I haven't drunk too much since I’ve been in Australia but every time I have, even if it’s just the odd pint, every time the day after my stomach feels like it’s doing kart wheels. I think Australian beer is disgusting and dirty. The only good beers here are the imported Stella, my favourite, and Guinness, which both work out to be about 4 pound a pint. Definitely worth paying the extra though, and from now on when I’m drinking it’s them or nothing. It was a pretty pants night really, chatting to some other English people in the hostel and they all agree that the nightlife here is nothing compared to home, I’m not sure why it should be any different, but it certainly seems as if it is.

If I’m honest I could count the nights out I’ve had in Australia on my hand, the only really good one was in Adelaide after the Borossa Valley. I thought that's what Sydney would be all about, going out every night, drinking, pulling birds, and from what I’ve seen it’s so not like that, everyone is on budgets, counting their pennies and drinking the cheapest dirtiest stuff going, and when you walk past the bars and that most of them aren't even half full. Not a great start for a good night out, counting pennies, xxx that, you don't come travelling to save money, but I just cant be bothered with it. I’m here to travel not get wasted every day, I can do that at home or in Spain or Greece with my best mates.

I just don't see the point in going out drinking dirty cheap wine and beer which everyone drinks and complains about, and making small talk with people I don't know, it’s crap, and I’m fed up with it. I love meeting new people and chatting birds up but over here I just feel like I can’t be bothered, it’s the same old thing over and over again and I’ve just got no enthusiasm for it. Maybe it’s because I’m just so bored with the place, I don't know, or maybe I’m just getting old ha ha. Anyway, at lunch time I met Diletta and Alice, 2 of the Italian girls that I met in Adelaide, at Bondi beach for a drink.

Should be meeting up with them again some time before I leave! Back at the hostel out in the court yard with some others and it sounds like everyone here is bored of Sydney. All asking the same question, if you’re not working what is there to do? There is only so many times you can look at the Harbour Bridge and Opera house, and the beaches aren't exactly ideal for a swim. Another boring night in the hostel! Goodnight.

Another nothing day, feel like Im getting lazy. When I arrived in Sydney the plan was to have lots of mad nights out, and then in the first week of July travel up the East Coast with Niamha and some of her friends which are coming over. I cant stay in Sydney that long though, im going out of my mind with boredom, its so not what I expected, Im just wasting time. Iv now decided to leave earlier and head up the coast with Rachel, and then see if I can meet up with Niamha somewhere along the way.

Unfortunately though Rachel has got an interview to work a ski season on the 11th and so we are not going to leave until the day after. Got chatting to another couple of English girls in the hostel and so they are joining us tonight to a bar/club in the city. O'dear, I got asked ID, sort it out mate as if I ever need to carry ID, there's doing your job and there's being stupid, are you honestly telling me that you think I look 17. The answer was No and he let us in. Looking back I wish he hadn't, no Stella, no Guinness, and no sign of any atmosphere what so ever. Another great night out in Sydney. I managed a pint of Heineken which I hate, and then had a pint of some sort of Australian beer, it was that bad I didn't even finish it, what's the point. See ya later girls and I got a bus back to the hostel.

The hostel we are in has put its prices up today, a bit cheeky really considering we have been there over a week, it’s not that good a hostel and so we packed up and left. Checked into another hostel up the road, and what a state, it stinks, it’s filthy, and don't get me started on the state of the kitchen, I wouldn't let a dog in there. Definitely the worst place I have seen so far on my travels, hands down worse than anywhere I stayed in Asia. I’ll stay pretty much anywhere but this place is rotten, its the sort of place you walk out of ill, and so we got our money back and decided to move out of Kings Cross altogether, and into the city. A bite to eat and then I got a ferry over to Manley to meet John, a year away and he looks well different. Had a few pints of Stella on Manley Wharf along with his girl friend and some of her hot Australian mates, and then we went to a Thai restaurant, I think you can guess what I had, beautiful.

After spending over a year in Sydney if anyone can recommend a place to go for a good night out, its John. But he can't, we all have our locals or places we often end up at home for a night out, but over here he hasn't found anywhere that good that you would go back to. The night life just isn't the same, and going by the beer here I would say that amongst my generation of people the drug culture is a lot stronger than the drinking culture. I think in general the bars here are mainly full of travellers and tourists, I think Australians would rather have a big house party and drink and get high together rather than go a out for the night. Drugs are ridiculously expensive here but at the end of the day so is the beer, I know what I would rather do, them days are over though.

Whilst waiting at the wharf for a ferry back to the city, Helen, Chris, Tim, and Alex from Vietnam phoned me from Melbourne, a bit of a surprise really, I didn't manage to catch up with them whilst I was in Melbourne, Im gutted. Basically at the moment Iv got about 8 weeks left in Australia. Depending on what happens up the East Coast, which realistically isn't going to take anymore than about 4 weeks, it should leave me with plenty of time to get a flight back to Melbourne to catch up with them, it would be a shame not too. At the end of the day I’ve got no reason to go back to Sydney other than to waste time before flying to New Zealand. I want too, and it would be good to catch up, I can’t make any promises though.

7am and Rachel and me are on the Greyhound coach, a good day to be leaving Sydney, its pouring down. Our first stop was at the city of Newcastle 167km north of Sydney, we are not staying here we just thought we would stop and have a look for a couple of hours. With our bags in the lockers at the train station it was off to check the place out. Not much of a town/city whatever you want to call it, nice but its pretty small, not much to do here and although the weather is a lot better here than in Sydney its still not what you would call beach weather. A walk around the tiny town, both the museum and the old police station are both closed for refurbishment and so with that we decided to go on the famous Newcastle Tram, which is basically a 45 minute guided tour of Newcastle's historic sites, sounds boring but it was a lot better than i thought it would be.

A walk up the 40m high Queens Wharf Tower for a 360 degree view over the city and then it was just a case of hanging around for an hour or so before getting on the next coach. Whilst walking towards the public toilets in a park we were walking through, some guy with a bottle of beer in his hand started shouting abuse at us and asking us what the xxxx we were doing. Obviously we ignored him, and then as i walked in to use the toilet i caught sight of him in the corner of my eye walking over. Obviously i thought better of having a slash, im not get the old boy out with the possibility of some geezer smacking me from behind, and so i walked straight back out again to see him bowling over towards me giving it. Arm out in front of me to stop him getting to close and im now focused on the bottle, if he moves it im gonna lay into him. I asked him what his problem is, he paused for a moment and then for some unknown reason completely backed down, He said No problem mate, No problem, and walked into the toilet, Weirdo. Maybe he was expecting me to shy down and fancied his chances, who knows. Onto the 4pm coach and off up to where we are staying for the night, Port Macquarie. Iv got a feeling that traveling the East Coast is going to be easy, every time we get off the coach there is hostel pick up busses waiting to pick people up. We're in a hostel called Ozzie Possie backpackers and its the nicest hostel that iv been in in a long time. Spent the rest of the night chilling out and watching videos.

The first hostel iv stayed in where we can borrow mountain bikes and boogie boards for the day. With that it was onto the oldest, dodgiest mountain bike i have ever ridden, no gears and only one brake which is useless, and we were off for a day of exploring. And its law in New South Wales to wear a crash helmet at all times, i hate them but i guess its better to look like a tit for a couple of hours then get knocked off and land on my head. Found a narrow path along the river bank which we followed, and then after crossing a couple of roads we ended up in a really nice park area where we followed a man made wooden path through a large swamp area. Listen to the flying foxes's, there's hundreds of them, and getting close you can really start to smell them as well.

Back onto the roads and this place is a really nice country town/suburb kind of place, its really nice, lots of parks and open space, nice houses, quite roads, the Hastings River, and not forgetting the 7 different local beaches. A BLT sandwich and chips on Flynns beach for lunch which is beautiful and then we visited the Koala Hospital up the road. Run mainly by local volunteers and funded purely by donations its a hospital and 24 hour emergency rescue service set up for the care of ill or injured koalas. The main causes of Koala injuries and illness are, bush fires, dog attacks, road accidents, and the sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia which untreated can cause blindness and eventually death. We were guided around the outdoor koala enclosures by a humorous local volunteer who was very informative about koala's and the way they live. A few of the koala's here are for some reason or another permanent residents, but the majority of the koala's when back to full health are returned to there territory area where they were found. All in all a very enjoyable day.

Boogie boards today. A relaxing morning and then boards in hand it was off for the 20 minute walk towards the Town beach. Walking along the Hastings River, river mouth wall, along the way was interesting/different. The whole length of the wall is made up by large rocks which have each been individually painted on by locals and visitors etc. A few of the rocks were just simply signed with peoples names etc but the majority of them were really well done, some really good art work. Not only was it quite unusual but the fact that it is so well done made the walk to the beach take a lot longer.

Well, Town beach is absolutely packed with surfers and boogie boarders all wearing wet suites and riding the waves as if they have been doing it for years, wicked to watch. With the beach being so packed and not much fancying the possible prospect of getting a surf board in the side of the head, i thought it would be nice to follow the coastal footpath around to Fynns beach which we visited yesterday. In all fairness it was a bit further away than i thought but it was a nice walk along the coastline passing Oxley beach and Rocky beach on the way. After her near death experience on Bondi ha ha, not only is Rachel unsure about the waves but she is also bending my ear about the walk, and so she turned back leaving me to continue alone, its a nice walk and its not like im going to be here again to be able to do it. Straight into the sea and how refreshing is that? definitely worth the walk. Iv got more chance of catching a cold than i have of catching a wave but it was good fun trying. Onto the beach for a drip dry and siesta in the sun and then it was time to start heading back. Back at the hostel and Rachel is all exited because on her way back she see some dolphins, Ahhh. Another night spent watching videos.

Packed up and ready to leave for our next stop on the 2.30pm coach this afternoon, and we are off to kill time in the local 50m long outdoor swimming pool. Not only is swimming in a pool a lot harder than swimming in the sea, but im also not used to swimming 50m lengths, the other end looks so far away, all the pools i know at home are only 25m long. A casual 20 lengths, 1000m and its time to get going. Rachel's a good swimmer, she done 26 lengths, good on her.

A quick well needed lunch back at the hostel and then its on the coach for the couple of hour journey up to Coffs Harbour. Its a shame to be leaving Port Macquarie, i actually think that it could be one of the nicest towns that i have been to so far in Australia. Off the coach at Coffs Harbour and into a hostel pick up van. We're at Aussitel Backpackers, another really nice hostel. Iv got to say that since leaving Sydney and the other main Cities the quality of the hostels has jumped through the roof, so much nicer and better value for money. And not only that the way things have gone so far the East Coast coast is looking pretty Damn good.

Rachel booked and paid for her 4 day PADI Open Water scuba diving course when we arrived yesterday which she is starting here today, which leaves me on my own to entertain myself for the next 4 days.

Pretty much just had a lazy day today, had a stroll into town for a look around and some food shopping, nice town, looks like another very nice place. Spent the rest of the day in the hostel chatting to random people and lost in a book called A Cold Kill, by Stephen Leather, which a couple from Liverpool passed onto me back at the last hostel.

Half an hours boat journey away from here is the World Heritage area of the Solitary Islands Marine Park, which is apparently Australias 3rd best dive site after the Great Barrier Reef and the Ningaloo reef in WA. Time for me to start doing some diving then, and so iv booked to go out on Friday. Not only will it be the 1st 2 dives that i have done since completing my Open Water course in Thailand but it will also be a good warm up for when i get to the Great Barrier Reef.

The plan this morning was to hire a kayak from the hostel and kayak up the Coffs Creek, unfortunately though they only 2 person kayaks, no one else here seems to be up for it, and i cant talk the bloke into letting me take one out on my own. Just ended up having a walk down towards the beach and along the break water wall which joins the mainland from the harbour across to Muttonbird Island. A very nice walk passing all the toys of the rich moored up in the harbour/marina, and then along the paved walkway up and over Muttonbird Island looking down over the harbour, jetty, and coastline. Very scenic. The island is protected as it is home to over 100 breeding pairs of Muttonbirds and Wedge-tailed shearwaters which breed there during the summer months.

At the far end of the island there is a wooden platform/viewing area looking out over the sea, and a small patch of grass ideal for soaking up the sun. As usual i ventured further, down onto the rocks to just above where the waves were splashing up, and then shirt off had a little siesta in the sun. It doesn't get much more relaxing than this, nice views, roasting sun, and all i can hear is the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. When i eventually found the will to move on i thought i would have a stroll over too and along the wooden jetty opposite, but xxxx that, its way to hot to be walking around sweating it up, and so i headed back to the hostel and chilled out with my book by the side of the pool for the rest of the day. Rachel came back from her diving course all exited, she's been in a pool all day practicing her underwater skills and tomorrow she's off out to sea for her first 2 boat dives.

Borrowed a bike from the hostel, this ones got front suspension, 2 breaks, and gears, not sure about having to wear the old crash helmet though, its got to be over 30 degrees today. With this place being so nice, picturesque, and on the coast, there is quite a few walking paths that can be followed.

Started off with a quick ride up and down the jetty and then i found out the hard way why they are called walking paths as opposed to cycling paths. I lost count of the amount of steps i had to carry the bike down, and then the nice, un-spoilt empty beaches i had to carry the bike across, all part of the fun though a, and what a nice place this is. Heading back towards the hostel and i decided to stick to the roads, there is some seriously nice houses in Australia, i wouldn't want to live here though, but then with that said, unless things start changing, do i really want to be living in England in 10 years time.

Spent what was left of the day by the pool again with my book, what's going on, i think i have read more books since i have been traveling than i have since i left school, and this ones wicked, i don't like putting it down. Rachel came back from her diving and unfortunately it wasn't a good day for her, she just could'nt do it, she got down to about 5 metres and then for whatever reason started to panic, after that she just couldn't do it. Not to worry, there's always tomorrow, and if she still cant do it then at least she can say she tried it. Six dollar BBQ tonight at the hostel followed by a couple of videos, and then i just had to finish the old book, its quality, another book finished in just 4 days.

Early start, and off to the dive shop to get all kitted out. A stroll down to the harbour where whilst waiting for the dive boat to arrive we stood watching a fishing boat unloading, weighing, and cutting up last nights catch, Sharks. Terrible really, seeing beautiful creatures like them that have taken years to grow to that size being fished to near extinction, and for what? The value of there fins which were being cut off so that people in Asia can make shark fin soup. Shark fin soup is big money in Japan and other countries in Asia but as far as im concerned Australia should know better.

Anyway, turns out that my dive group is on the same boat as Rachel and her training group, and it was off to the Solitary Islands Marine Park. This is going to sound like im having another little moan but hey, just saying what iv noticed, and if im honest i was quite surprised, especially being in Australia and all. When you get on a boat in Thailand its not really that surprising that the toilets on board flush straight out into the sea, its a third world country. But i was a little disgusted to learn that the boats in Australia do exactly the same, not what i was expecting at all. And not only is it just human waste that is flushed out, but also toilet cleaning fluid, bleach and whatever else we use to in the modern world to maintain toilet hygiene. In that sense Australia is worse than a third world country, Shocking really, especially considering they know what damage its causing to our delicate underwater world, and they just don't seem to care.

Anyway lets talk about the diving. Into the water for the first dive and iv got to say it was pretty good, after 5 months without doing any diving though i was probably concentrating more on the equipment, buoyancy control, and hand signals which i have forgotten ha ha. A good 20 metres of visibility, a couple of turtles, a 2 metre long brown shark laying on the bottom (bottom feeder), and not forgetting all the other fish, clown fish included. Back on the boat for an hours break between dives and there appears to be a few pale faces and people throwing up over the side, Rachel being one of them. Not too sure why because its not exactly choppy but either way the fish are making a meal of it, Beautiful. A cruise around to the other side of the island to another dive site and it was into the water for the second dive. Two people from my dive group and Rachel are feeling too ill to dive and so are staying on the boat, backwards logic really because its got to be better to be in the water than sat on a rocking boat, even if they just got in and held onto the back. The second dive was a lot better than the first and we see a couple of giant cuttlefish, another turtle, and about half a dozen more brown sharks, Wicked. All in all though a very enjoyable day. Iv got to say though that it does wind me up when i tell people that i done my Open Water course in Thailand, and they sort of shrug there shoulders and say ah well that's Thailand, as if doing it in Australia is so much better.

It makes no difference what so ever, PADI is PADI, SSI is SSI, they are all governed and monitored. If anything i would say that from what i have seen today on the dive boat, and of Rachel's course, what i done in Thailand was superior. But then hey, i would say that. Some examples, The first thing i had to do before putting on any equipment was prove that i could swim. Today Rachel's group done there first and only 200m swim test after they had completed there dives and returned to the harbour, that kind of defeats the object don't you think. Also BCD jackets should have a safety strap on them which goes around the neck of the air cylinder so that should for some reason the main strap come undone, your air cylinder stays attached to you and doesn't shoot up to the surface pulling your regulator out of your mouth. Whilst putting my equipment together today i noticed that my BCD never had one, when i asked about it i was told not to worry about it because its not a safety strap its a handle for picking the BCD up, Yeah right. The secondary air source is supposed to be secured to the BCD via a little rubber pull and release clip. We were told today to put the secondary air source under one of our BCD straps, which means that should your dive buddy run out of air, instead of just being able to pull it from and stick it in his mouth, he/she has then got to start undoing your BCD straps to get to it. It might only take a few extra seconds but when your under water with no air and possibly panicking, seconds count.

According to Rachel's group though that's right, because that's what they have been taught, its so not right, not the way i know it to be anyway. It was just the above and a few other little things that i noticed today which just made me think is that the way PADI operates or more than likely  it was just a sloppy dive school, which im quite sure could be found anywhere, Even Australia.

Got the coach up to Byron Bay and we are in a hostel called the Backpackers Inn which virtually backs out onto the beach. Byron Bay seems pretty cool, a proper little backpacker hangout and when you sea the beach you'l understand why the hostel is full of long termers and surf dudes.

Byron Bay is basically just one main street full of tour operators, internet cafes, beach wear shops, banks, fast food joints, and a few bars, which ends at one end with a car park and over 30km of beautiful sand beach. Just a chill out day today. There was a wicked live band at the hostel this evening and tomorrow we are meeting up with Jilly (one of the English girls Hans and i met in Adelaide) and her fella, who are traveling up the East Coast in a camper van

Early start today, met Jilly and her fella Mickey, and then we had a nice walk along the beach around to Cape Byron, one point of which is the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. Walked up the steps to the newly painted immaculate 1901 lighthouse at the top, admiring the awesome views of Byron Bay's coastline along the way. On the way back down we followed a walking route down through a section of rainforest where we see a wild bush turkey, and me being in front spotted 2 snakes. A black one which slivered away and a brown snake about 3ft long which jilly told me off for poking ha ha, the brown snake is one of the deadliest snakes in Australia, hard to imagine really, its head was tiny.

Back to there camper van and we then set off towards a place called Nimbin. Passing through Bangalow village on the way a few of the roads were closed and we noticed a lot of Go Kart type things, and so we parked up for a quick look. Turns out its the under 13s Bangalow Billy Cart Derby. A quick look and a bite to eat and its back in the van towards Nimbin, this side of Australia is so green. Check Nimbin out, a mini Amsterdam in Australia, a proper little hippie place. Being Sunday there is a small market on and quite a few nice looking food stalls for when you get the munchies.

The Aquarius festival of 1973 transformed the town of Nimbin into a base for Australia's "Back to the land" counterculture movement. Weed is far from legal in Australia however here, it is just accepted. Quite a unique little place with lots of little shops selling just about anything that a hardcore smoker might need, and the Nimbin museum is pretty cool (very different) but seemed more like a drug shop than anything else. Walking down the main street is quite funny, all you can here is people trying to sell weed cookies "cookies, cookies, get your weed cookies". And there's people sitting on the edge of the pavement with huge bags of weed and digital scales ready to weigh up whatever amount people might want, and all this with a police station at the end of the street, no one cares, least not the old bill, and you can smoke it in a couple of bars here too.

After a good walk around we then drove to the Protesters Falls in the Nightcap National Park, passing the sacred Aboriginal site of the Nimbin rocks on the way. What a mission the falls is to get too, after eventually parking up it was then a 800m walk through the rainforest to get to it. The rock pool at the bottom of the falls is one of the very few places left which is home to at the moment the rarest frog in Australia, estimated only between 500-1000 left. Don't ask me what type of frog it is, i didn't exactly get my pen out and write it on the back of my hand ha ha. Well its dark now and time to start heading back to the hostel. My first ever Subway roll for dinner (backpackers love em) and then over to the bottle shop. Whilst drinking back at the hostel we got chatting to a couple of American birds, and then a couple of Canadian guys, before all heading out to a bar. Shame really but we only ended up having a couple drinks (Strong bow cider in my case) im done with Australian beer, and then we called it a night, the bars are empty. Apparently this is 1 of only 3 months of the year when Byron Bay isn't absolutely packed. Never mind.

Another chill out day spent between the beach and the hostel. Off to our next destination this evening, got the 8.40pm coach up to Surfers Paradise, which means that we are now out of New South Wales and into Queensland and the Gold Coast.

First impressions of Surfers Paradise, a hell of a lot different to what i was expecting that's for sure. I was expecting another little place like Byron Bay, instead its big and a lot more like Gran Canaria, concrete city. Huge hotel and apartment blocks everywhere. Were actually staying in a hotel which has also got backpacker accommodation, hostel prices for our own room with un-suit, wicked.

Up bright and early and from our balcony i spotted the hotels outdoor swimming pool and hot tub, beautiful, i was down there in under 2 minutes. Had a wonder around Surfers Paradise amongst the high rise blocks, with the main attraction being the beach there's just lots of the usual shops, restaurants and snack bars, very touristy.

Other than the beach there's not too much to do here really, there's a few theme parks that we could visit, Dream world, Sea world, etc etc, but we're not going to. Instead we just spent the whole day sunning it up on the beach, if they build any more tower block over looking the beach you wont be coming here to get a tan, you'l be going on the beach to get in the shade. In the evening we got on the coach for the 2 hour journey up to Brisbane, checked into a hostel, and spent the evening in front of the TV, for some reason i feel knackered.

Up bright and early and whilst looking for somewhere to buy some brekki i had quite a good wander around the city. It all looks very nice, but like iv said before, one Australian city just looks like another, nice modern glass fronted office blocks, botanic gardens, a nice river, nice looking bridges, museums etc etc.

Same old same old, im sure its all very lovely but walking around and spending time in cities is not why i came to Australia. Back to the hostel to get changed and it was off to the gym up the road for a good well needed workout. Spent the rest of the day just chilling out.

As a place Noosa is scattered about a bit, its divided into 3 main areas each separated by creeks and lakes fed from the Noosa River. Our hostel is in the area known as Noosaville, a 20 second walk away from the river. Jumped on one of the regular hostel courtesy buses into Noosa Heads, which is the main shopping and eating area, located along the Hastings Road. Very nice, very quiet, and very relaxed. With virtually all the shops etc being in the same street it doesn't take too long to look around.

Back to the hostel for lunch then back on the bus and a short walk to Noosa's main beach located in Noosa Junction. Another one of the East Coasts very very nice beaches, where i sat and finished another book, it wasn't at all good but once i had started it i had to finish it. Although at the moment Rachel and I are here together, we decided this morning that its time we parted company. Its for the best and if im honest (without sounding nasty) I cant wait to be back on my own again.

When your with people every day its nice to have a bit of alone (Vinny) time now and then. In the time we have traveled together we have hardly met anyone, personally i kind of feel like iv shut myself down, mainly i guess because being with someone iv no real reason to put myself out and talk to people. And i don't like it, that's what i love. Also, that could be one of the reasons why i think its so much harder to meet people in Australia than in Asia, because quite a lot of the people traveling the East Coast are young ( 18-21 years old, taking a year out before or after Uni etc, and are just traveling up the East coast having a piss up) a large amount of which have left home in pairs and so don't need to be sociable, they just stay and do everything together. Rachel's a wicked girl and we have done a lot together, but over the last week or so, for whatever reasons, we just haven't been getting on as well as we did. Not only does everyone think we're a couple (which again makes it harder to meet people) but we have also started bickering all the time. Personally, to me it means nothing, its nothing personal its just a bit of friendly (sometimes cheeky) banter. Im quite sure that if i was with one of my mates from home we would bicker and argue, its what happens when your with someone 24/7 day in day out.

With Rachel and me though i guess not knowing each other that well has made it seem worse than it is, not knowing each others meaning, stupid little things are being taken the wrong way, we're snapping at each other, and it just seems like we're bringing each other down. Its no good, its just time to go our own separate ways. We are both heading in the same direction so we are bound to bump in to each other somewhere along the way, and hopefully when we do things will be different. No hard feelings, like i said she's a quality girl and i wish her the best of luck with her travels. Be good, stay safe, and keep living the dream.

By 9am i was and up ready, and on one of the hostel kayaks exploring the Noosa river. What a place, its beautiful. Lots of beautiful houses that back on to the river, the majority of which have got there own personal little jetty attached. Most the houses here have got little fishing boats, jet skis, or just simply kayaks outside, what a life style. Walk out your back door onto your own private jetty where you can sun bath, swim, get your fishing rod out, have a BBQ, or just simply sit with a couple of beers and watch the sun go down. Further down the river away from the houses and the palm tree gardens the river opens out and splits around little mangrove islands.

As well as the usual pelicans there is also lots of other different types of birds that i haven't seen before, sitting on the banks, amongst the mangroves, or dive bombing for fish. And its so peaceful, proper at home with nature, clear water, fish and sting rays around me, its just a shame i haven't got the old camera with me. After i don't know how long i eventually stuck the nose of the kayak on a sand bank and had a little rest, im knackered. Only on the way back did i realize just how far along the river i had actually gone, and the tide has gone out so to avoid bottoming out iv got to try and stick to the deep water channel. What a workout, i can feel the old arms and sides aching already. Back to the hostel to fill the old water bottle up and iv been out on the river for 4 hours. Well i cant not get a few pictures of some of the houses, so i grabbed my camera and headed straight back to the Kayak. My arms are proper tired so i just had a relaxing cruise past some of the houses to take a few pics and then headed back to the hostel for a well needed late lunch, 5 hours iv been on that kayak, worth every minute. Wicked. Just spent the rest of the day in town, on the internet, or just chilling out. Il be aching tomorrow.

Well the main tourist thing to do from Noosa is to visit the Steve Irwin Australia Zoo which is about an hour away on one of the free Steve Irwin courtesy buses. I think its fair to say that after 5 months, and traveling Western Australia, iv seen enough Australian wildlife, i certainly don't need to go to a Zoo to see it. It costs 40 dollars to get into the zoo, for the same amount of money i can have a 2 hour surfing lesson with the Merrick Davis (2 times Australian champion and World Pro Am champion) surf school. And lets be honest, i CAN'T leave Australia and say that i haven't surfed. With the best surf here at the moment being in the morning, that's what im doing.

Got picked up from the hostel and met a German guy Mike, who is also doing it with me. Wicked there's only the 2 of us this morning so it will be like a private lesson. On to the beach with 9ft long boards, the bigger the surf board the more buoyant and easier it is to control. A quick chat about the waves and the way they break etc and then with the surf boards on the sand, we were shown the technique for paddling and steering the board whilst laying down and moving to whets known as a push up position. Into the water to try it, to start with the instructor was pushing our boards to give us the speed to catch the wave, and then it was just a case of riding the wave, staying on the board, and practice steering it from side to side. With that sorted it was onto the next stage, paddling and getting used to catching the waves ourselves, Cool, that's the easy bit. Back to the sand and with the boards on the floor we then learnt the technique for getting from the push up position to a standing position. Back in the sea and off we go, after the inevitable stacking it a few times i then managed to ride a wave all the way to the shore, Awesome. Lots more goes, lots more falls, and a few more rides to the shore, why have i not done this sooner, its xxxxxxx quality. The hardest bit is paddling and building up enough speed to get on and ride the wave, after that its just a case of keep trying. And lets not forget getting the surf board back out to sea passed the point of where the waves are breaking, not only is it hard work it can also be painful. No wonder all the surfers you see have got good bodies, its good exercise that's for sure. After nearly 2 hours in the sea unfortunately the lesson was over.

So glad i done it, it was so good, so much better than going to the zoo. Back to the hostel for a quick lunch and then with one of the hostel 7ft surf boards it was back down to the beach to meet Mike for some more surfing. When talking about surf boards 2ft makes a big difference, im struggling to stay on it laying down let alone stand up. The tides going out and the waves are a lot bigger than they were this morning. Managed to catch and ride a couple of waves to the shore whilst laying down, but most of the time was spent with the surf board nose diving down and me flying through the air and getting rolled around in the waves, its actually quite dangerous, especially in the shallow water with the force of the wave pushing you under, you could seriously damage yourself especially if you hit the floor head first.

My wrist is killing me from where i landed on it this morning, but that's an old injury that keeps popping back now and then, other than that apart from a bit of sand burn on the old back its all good. Not as successful as this morning but then the waves are different and the board is 2ft shorter, good fun though. For a German Mike is quality, not only does he hate Germans ha ha, but when he meets them he refuses to speak to them in German, not all of them like it but then he doesn't like talking to them anyway so he doesn't really care, quality. Back to the hostel for dinner and then into town in the evening for some internet action, spent the rest of the night at the hostel chatting to a Scottish fella and a couple of English birds. Oh and i forgot to mention how sore my nipples are, during the surfing lesson i had a wet suit on, second time round it was skin on Board. They were actually bleeding when i got out of the sea and the fact that they are now constantly rubbing on my T-shirt is not helping.

On the first coach this morning and up to Rainbow Beach from where i am doing a 3 day, 2 night self drive 4x4 tour of Fraser Island. The only real reason to come to Rainbow Beach is quite literally for the tours accross to Fraser Island, other than that its just a tiny little town with a couple of hostels, a dozen or so shops, and a meadioca beach. Whilst checking into the hostel i got chatting to and English lad Matt, and then later on at the 4pm tour briefing i met 2 Canadian lads, Karl and Cyle (crazy names for brothers ha) who were in the same dorm as me back in Melbourne, all 3 of which are in my tour group.

The briefing was just a case of meeting the others in the group, 9 in total, including a couple of French fella's, a German bird, and an Irish couple, i hope the lads are friendly because all in all its a very cock heavy group. We then had to watch a couple of videos, one about how to minimise our presense on the island, and the second about driving on sand. As a group we all then put money into a kitty and walked to the supermarket to buy food and alcohole for the trip. Back to the hostel for dinner and then i spent the night in the hostel bar playing pool with the others in the group, should be a good trip, everyone seems pretty sweet. Not too sure about the Irish couple though, there certainly not making much of an effort to get involved with the group, i don't even think anyones caught there names, as soon as we got back from shopping they just disapeared, we havent seen them all night.

FRASER ISLAND - Formed by south east winds and wave patterns sweeping sand north, then stabalised by vegetation, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world, at over 120km long and 30km wide at the widest pont. No dirt, no clay and apart from a few rocky outcrops its all sand. The islands unique ecosystem including a rain forest growing on sand is able to support an incredibly diverse array of vegetation making Fraser Island home to an abundance of wildlife including Australia's purest population of wild Dingo's which roam freely. Fraser Islands 75 mile beach, which is also used as the islands runway, is totally unswimmable due to it being a breeding ground for Tiger sharks and deadly stinggers. In that case its just as well the island is home to over 200 pristine fresh water lakes and creeks.

An early start, and then with the 4x4 jeep outside the hostel ready and waiting for us it was then just a case of unloading the equipment, camping gear etc, and making sure that not only was everything there, it was all in good working order. We then packed the food and more importantly the beer into the cool boxes, and then secured them along with the other equipment and our bags onto the roof rack. We then had to drive around the corner to the jeep hire company where we got a run down on the do's and dont's, a talk through the different 4x4 gear selections, and a basic itinerary of where to head and the best highlights to see including a map of the island, campsites to stay on, and beach access/tide times.

The 3 drivers of the group, me being one of them also had to sign some paperwork and leave our credit card details etc. Well that took longer than expected, we've lost half the day already. We then drove to Hook Point where not only did we get to drive on our first bit of sand, we also got on the barge for the 10 minute journey accross to Fraser Island. Off the barge at the other side and then because of the small section of beach around the bottom southern tip of the island being too dodgy to drive on, we were told to take the inland track instead. 11km later and it was on to the beach, where as soon we pulled onto the sand we got stuck, not guilty Matts driving ha ha. Moved a bit of sand from around the wheels, and then with all of us pushing we got out and down onto the harder sand nearer the sea. Basically today we are heading to the northern tip of the island, and then over the next couple of days working our way back down.

Driving along the beach is cool, the only thing is that we have to keep slowing down to cross creek washouts running down into the sea, most of them are tiny but there was a few unexpected big splashes along the way. And how easy are these jeeps to roll, because of there height and shape there one of the most unstable vehcles on the road, and you can really feel it. Our first stop along the way was for lunch at Eli creek, a crystal clear knee deep fresh water creek which runs down into the sea, not only is the water ice cold but its also claen and perfectly safe to drink. After walking up the creek we then drove further up the beach to the Maheno shipwreck. Over 60 years old and used by the Australians for target practise during the 2nd world war its fair to say that its seen better days. Quite impressive to see though and whilst there we got chatting to an Australian guy who told us that when he was here 5 years ago you could see much more of it, a whole lower deck, since then though loads of sand has been washed up against it, i quess eventually it will end up totally buried. We then continued along the beach to India Head which is as far north as we can go.

Driving along the beach is awesome, it is liturally 75 miles of untouched, unspoilt, continuous beach. From the beach we then walked up to India Head which is basically a rocky lookout area/cliff, over 100ft above the sea. The views out to sea and of the beaches around us are just awesome, its so nice. The sea looks so blue but then looking down at it it looks so clear, what a day, perfect weather, and this is just awesome. In the distance we spotted a couple of whales and then below us we watched as a turtle surfaced for air before disapearing down into the waves. From India Head we then drove south back down the beach to Dundubara, and the camp site where we are staying for the night. A nice BBQ and lots of beer around our camp fire. With it being cold and us having the best campfire on the site people from other tour groups kept coming over to warm up before going to bed. No noise allowed on the campsite after 9pm otherwise the rangers fine ya, so with most people in bed and everyone else gone from around our fire, karl, Cyle, Matt and myself sat around the fire drinking until gone 2am.