Nice Noosa and Bohemian Byron

After leaving Fraser Island, we collected a hire car and made our way to Noosa.  For me, this was going to be just a place to stop overnight on the way to Byron Bay. I'd never really heard of the place nor knew anything about it.  

What a surprise it was.  Noosa is right on the east coast with great weather, lovely beaches, fantastic restaurants, chic bars, top hotels and stunning houses.  We arrived mid afternoon, too late to sunbathe really, so grabbed a coffee and embarked on a little wander around, booking a fab restaurant for the evening in the process.  Cazzie was in her element as there are so many quirky little shops here, all selling clothing and trinkets you really can't find in the main cities.  We stumbled into a wonderful art gallery by Peter Lik.....and instantly realised that I've been in one of these places before...in Vegas!  Google him....his photography is amazing....with a price tag to match.  

Everything here is very cool, even the police...

The next morning, we decided to work on our tan before jumping back in the car and head to Byron. We wished we had one more night here as we both loved the place.

Byron is about 3 hours south of Noosa, and we were due to meet an Ozzie friend we met in Whistler 4 years ago.  We'd set a time of 6.30pm.  A couple of other friends, Ollie and Anna, lived a few kms and a 10 minute detour from our route according to Google map, we arranged to pop into see them to break up the journey.

2 things.  1) There is a 1 hour time difference between Noosa (in Queensland) and Byron (in New South Wales).  2) 10 mins detour on Google maps equalls a 1 hour detour in rush hour and roadworks.  This meant that we were 2 1/2 hours late meeting Tommy in Byron and only spent 20 mins with Ollie and Anna.  We did drive through Southport though...

We arrived in Byron, threw our bags into the apartments and met Tommy for a much needed beer and pizza.

We planned 3 nights here right in the middle of our honeymoon to relax, sunbathe and drink and Byron ticked all 3 boxes.  There are loads of really cool restaurants, but not the chic expensive ones like Noosa, but tiny, almost run down ones, that serve the most amazing food.   We ate in a mexican and thai place that you wouldn't look twice at as they looked so scruffy, but people were queueing out the door to get a table, with most just back from the beach in wet shorts or their surfboard propped up outside.   

And, as you would expect, there are several bars, all with a live band or solo artist playing funky hippy tunes hoping to be the next Jack Johnson.  And, not forgetting the street musicians, which were on every street corner or alley way.  

Saturday in Byron was a lot of fun.  The 3 of us headed to the beach in the morning, where I was informed that the surf was wicked.  After a few hours of sunning and getting battered by the waves, it was beer o'clock, so we found a bar that overlooked the beach for a few scooners.

After a quick shower and that mexican I mentioned, where we drank margaritas as if they were going out of fashion, it was time to hit the pub.  Top night had by all.  And no one, including Tommy, was sick.

Sunday was hangover day, and after trying to get rid of it in the sea, Tommy left us and we headed upto the lighthouse and the most easterly point on Australia's mainland.

Again Byron is a must visit place.  It's so easy to see the attraction and why so many backpackers spend time here.  It's easy to get bar / waiting on work, hostels are cheap, the weather is incredible and there is so much to do.  

Love

Stuoobs

xxx

Captain Fraser's Island

For those of you who don't know, Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world.  It's a world heritage site and one of Australia's finest tourist spots. You are not allowed to take anything off the island.  

It's actually named after Captain Fraser, an Englishman who was resposible for transporting cargo by ship from England to the new settlers and convicts in Australia.  I won't bore you with the full story, but Captain Fraser and his wife ended up marooned on this island and living amongst the native Aborigines. Google it.....it's quite interesting.

The island was formed by sand building up over 1000s of years, with more and more sand being deposited from each high tide. Grain by grain, the island got larger and larger. Trees and plants started to grow there, establishing roots which held the sand together.  Eventualy, these tree and plants would get covered over by more sand deposited either by high winds or high tide.  These trees would then slowly breakdown, providing nutrients in the sand for more trees and plants to grow. 

As the island is all sand, it acts like a giant sponge when it rains.  And, like a when you wet a sponge and put it down, the water flows out of it, creating 100s of fresh water creeks, all flowing into the sea.  This water is clear, pure and completely drinkable.  

During our organised tour, we were offered the chance to see the island from above in a little plane....

Really glad we did this as we got to see how dense the forest here is, but also where all the creeks and sand blows are.

There is a shipwreck here called the Maheno....not Captian Fraser's, but a ship that owas origially used as a luxury cruise liner in the early 1900's, before being asked to be a medical ship during WW1.  After the war, the ship was bought by a Japanese company, and towed back to Japan for repairs.  During the towing, the rope that connected the 2 ships was ripped by a cyclone, resulting in this ship crashing into Fraser Island. 

The place is full of wildlife too, including fruit bats, snakes, spiders and the Fraser Island Dingo.

Overall a really fab, diverse island.  Full of beauty and danger.  If you swim on one side of the island, you will either get eaten by shark or pulled under by the huge currents, but the other side of the island are clear, clam waters.  

We could have stayed longer and swam in more of the fresh water lakes or driven a 4X4 on the really bumpy sandy roads, but 2 nights was almost perfect.

Love

Stuoobs

Cruising Around The Whitsundays

This was the part of the trip that I was looking forward to the most. The postcard picture perfect Whitsundays.

Arrived in Airlie Beach on Thursday 9th Jan mid afternoon and decided to spend the rest of the day by the pool. The weather was glorious and our hotel was right on the ocean.

Airlie Beach is a backpackers paradise. Full of bars, cheap eateries and hostels. It is a really buzzing little town with a constant turnover of people. It's a base for exploring the 74 islands that are here. We decided to frequent a couple of these bars on Thursday night and, after a meal and a little pub crawl, ended up in Paddy Shenanigans where a one man acoustic session was taking place. The bar was lively and full of young party goers, and we blended in perfectly ;). As soon as the acoustic session was over, a band started in the other corner. All in all a pretty good place. After several VodCrans and a couple of Jagerbombs, it was time to leave them all to it.
The plan for the friday was to get up with a hangover, have some breakfast and sunbathe all day by the pool. 2 out of 3 were ticked off as there was an almightly storm over head.

So, Saturday was the 2 night Whitsundays Cruise. Turned up at the Marina with a crate of VB and a couple of pairs of trunks. The boat consisted of 18 guests and 3 crew members. Left the Marina at about 12pm and headed off into the Islands.

The trip consisted of a couple of scuba dives, some snorkelling, some paddle boarding and a walk to Whitehaven Beach. If you have not heard, this beach is 99.95% silica sand. Not like the sand you get on normal beaches, but softest, whitest sand you have ever felt. The beach is a National Park and you need a license to be able to remove sand from here. Only 1 of these have ever been granted, and that's held by NASA. They collect 1 bucketful every year to use in their telescopes. It's so soft you can even give your jewellery a polish

The cruise was a brilliant 2 days. Everyone on board got on really well and there was a great mix of people ranging from backpackers to honeymooners to parents who were visiting their kids that are working in Oz. Each night the Captain found a secluded, calm spot on the ocean, lit the BBQ everynight and took turns to put our iPods on. And, when it got dark, the lights came on at the back of the boat which attracted marine life such as little crayfish, turtles and dolphins. We were so well looked after by the crew, who took care of everything. And, even though we are up very early to begin our day, you could never tire of having breakfast with views like this....

If you ever find youself in Oz, this is a must do trip.

It would have been great to go out for a few beers afterward with our newly found chums, but we were due to catch a plane at 4pm.
Photos on Facebook,
Love
Stuoobs
xxx

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