The means: A hop on hop off bus ticket, a golden plastic card backed up with a luxurious bank account and, as one intelligent guy once said, underwear ( In my case, ten of them).
The mission: Go through about 3000km of beaches and other natural attractions, fake ones too, hostels, pubs (sometimes the same thing) and drunk travelers.
15-16 May - Coffs Harbour
A nice town I liked for its nice coastal scenery. My highlight was walking up to mutton bird hill, a nesting spot for the mutton birds! They weren't there when I was but the view was excellent. Other than that there is a nice mangrove walk and pretty big botanical gardens.
The YHA hostel over there was one of the best, with very friendly staff and rides to a local hotel for cheap dinner and backpackers' gathering.
17-20 May - Byron Bay
Hippie Byron Bay is definitely that. But other than that it has a nice beach, a lovely national park with the most easterly point in Australia and a relaxed atmosphere. Off the beach you can see Julian Rocks, my first diving spot along the cost. I went for one dive with Sundive and saw many Wobegong sharks, one Leopard shark and a turtle. The sea conditions were pretty rough as the sun decided to disappear just when I needed it (this element will repeat quite a few times in the story). Nevertheless, the visibility under the water was excellent, one of the best I ever had. It was also the first time I went into the water commando style, rolling backwards.
I stayed first at Arts Factory Lodge, a famous hostel. It was quite unique but a bit too expensive for the facilities it provided. I moved after a few days to Cape Byron YHA which was very good.
21-22 May - Surfers Paradise
A paradise? Maybe, I'm not sure for who. The main activity around here is clubs or pubs "crawling". The bad weather decided to join in on my arrival day. From stories I have heard, I'm not the only one to whom it happened. I believe it might be more than a coincidence.
The main reason I arrived to Surfers Paradise was Dream World, a rides theme park. So the next the day, with excellent weather, I went there for some roller coasters fun. I was disappointed to know that the park closes at five. In contrast, the Six Flag parks in USA close at midnight. On the other hand, I went in the middle of the week and there was not that much to do. So I did the big five thrill rides about seven times each, except for the roller coaster, which was quite lame. The ushers on the big five insist that you strip off your belongings and anything that is not attached to you. Fortunately there are reusable lockers for the whole day. The ride that maintained its excitement level throughout repeated rides was the Claw
The free fall won second place.
23-25 May - Brisbane
Brisbane is a nice spot, but not a lot of places of interest to me. The main area of interest is the South bank of the river. There are quite a few museums for modern art and the like. There is a nice park, some nice take away dining and an artificial beach with real bodies.
I took a bus to mountain Coot-Tha, which has a view over the city.
From there I walked down a trail that leads to a now dried waterfall, because of recent years' draught. Next stop was the planetarium on the way down. I have watched a movie about our galaxy and Brisbane's night sky. The movie was shown around three. Being in a very very dark room at this time of the day meant that I had a good nap too.
I went to the city hall, visited the mayor's office and wondered around. You can go up to the clock tower of the city hall, which is a famous(?) symbol of Brisbane. Sadly, the only view from up there is of the skyscrapers surrounding it. The botanic gardens are a nice spot to have a quiet afternoon.
In Brisbane I met Stacy, whom I met in a hostel in Hobart, Tasmania. She is studying at Brisbane, but originates from Taiwan.
My hostel was a nice one, if a bit expensive. One day before my departure, the cleaners "cleaned" a bit more than they were supposed to. I found some of my personal belongings at their room, one thrown out at the corridor and that's about it. The manager had them look for the stuff but it wasn't found. The story hasn't ended yet. The annoying part is not hearing an apology from him (or anyone else in that matter, though one of the cleaner might have said something...).
26-27 May - Noosa
Noosa was a stop I didn't plan but came out quite well. There are actually a few "Noosa"s around, Noosa head, Noosa hill and more. The place has a mellow atmosphere to it, even though it is quite commercialised and oriented more towards those with deep pockets. Next to the beach is a national park with several walking tracks and koalas, if you can spot them. The marking of the tracks was the best I ever seen. I stayed at the Halse Lodge YHA, which is a historical building (but with modern facilities...).
A trip I did not know about and therefore missed was going through a place called the everglades for a few days with a kayak.
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