Kerry does the world...
30th Jul 2012 - 29th Jul 2012 Rainbow Beach, Brisbane and beyond... It's now Sunday 29th July, I arrived in Rainbow Beach on Tuesday 24th so it's been a few days and like usual I've forgotten to write down what I've done. So I'll try to remember it but knowing my memory I reckon this could be pretty patchy haha! So, I arrived at Rainbow Beach. The hostel was literally across the road from the hostel so perfect location!! I was in a room with various people including a cute Irish couple who've been travelling/working for nearly 2 years, NICE! Late afternoon we were taken on a walk to Carlos Sandblow to watch the sunset, sand board and throw a boomerang… this was after walking up some of the most steep banks ever, not the easiest in flip flops eeekk, which we were advised would be fine, they really weren't ha! The sunset was gorgeous, the sand boarding was fun but I managed to be the only person to fall off the board and consequently ended up with a mouthful of sand, what a treat!! Anyway, we headed back to the hostel… most people I'd met were going on the 2 night, 3 day trip to Fraser Island, I opted for the 1 day trip instead so everyone was having a pretty chilled out night, which was good seeing as the bar closed at 10pm. Rubbish!! So I was up early the next day for my day trip. Our tour guide was the most un-pc person you'll meet, perfect for the tour and hilarious considering most of his jokes went straight over people's heads, though not mine - funny as! My Dad would have loved him, I reckon my Mum would have slapped him haha! We drove through the rainforest in a huge truck which could only be described as a bin lorry… but my GOD it was bumpy. Our tour guide was dancing around in his chair like he was riding a bull ha - nutter! We went to Lake MacKenzie, which is a clearwater lake, bloody freezing mind but I got in and had a little swim. We then went onto see a shipwreck on the beach, Maheno I think it was called (that's probably wrong though), then saw some dingos, which are basically dogs but more vicious than you might think… I'm just watching the news and they've mauled a 'drunk' German today. I love how they described him as drunk, even though he was mauled whilst he slept, though in all fairness he was sleeping in the bush rather than his tent. Perhaps he was actually sleeping on his towel!?! LOL! We then went to Eli Creek which is a river flowing into the sea. I decided to walk down the river/stream, whatever you want to call it, in my shorts (knickers on), however it seems I TOTALLY misjudged the depth of the water and got soaked up to the waist, much to the amusement of a girl I was with who had the right idea and put on her swimming cozzy. I also had to hold my bag above my head as getting my worldly belongings wet would have been a sod… including my passport. DOH!! Fortunately all was well and due to my giant like qualities I managed to keep my belongings dry! We went to see some coloured sand, exciting stuff I know, and then headed back. I spent the evening chatting to my roomies, 7 boys and me - not sure if that's normal but it seems to keep happening… then went to bed fairly early seeing as the 'games' in the hostel were utterly boring so I opted out after 'killer pool'… named that because it was so boring I nearly died haha! I then headed off to Noosa which was BEAUTIFUL!!! What an amazing place. I spent the day doing the coastal walk with a very odd 45 year old man, Fergal, from Victoria (near Melbourne) who was in Noosa to buy a farm (and generally be a bit of a weirdo) and a lovely French lad called Ivan. Fergal was an oddball but he was a great tour guide for the walk, until he started lecturing me like he was my Dad, at which point he got told to pipe down and leave me to it. The walk was unbelievable though and we saw a few whales which was cool. Noosa beach is very cute, lovely place!! I spent the evening hanging out with a few people at the hostel and then headed into Noosa for a few drinks with some other hostel workers. It wasn't particularly pumping but still a good night, I can definitely see why people like it there and hope to go back at some point. I spent the next day sunbathing and then left at 3pm ish for Brisbane. I got to Brisbane at 6pm, lugged my increasingly heavy bag to my hostel, got food, checked out the main shopping street (and only managed to buy 1 item of necessary clothing, a coat/poncho type of thing… or perhaps it looks more like a blanket hmm) and then crashed at the hostel. My Irish roommate was stressing that he wasn't going to have enough money for his 1 month trip… £5000, errmmm I think you might just be ok Wayne haha). I got up early the next day and explored the city in the sun. I walked along the river, down South Bank and even went to the Gallery of Modern Art, yes, very cultural I know… though in all honesty I just don't get art, some of it looked like a kid had done it, perhaps I was missing the point somewhat! Anyway, I then headed to meet a friend from home, Lisa who I know from Randstad Care in Liverpool, she lives in Cashmere (1/2 hour on the train outside of Brisbane) with her husband Paul. We had lunch, had a natter & Lisa invited me to spend the next few days with them so I grabbed my stuff and headed to the train station, leaving behind possibly the squeakiest bed in the world with the smallest gap to sleep, not even enough room to sit up ha!! Lisa's house is cute and absolutely massive, though we went round Paul's sisters that night to watch the Olympics opening ceremony and their house is even bigger, with a pool, nice!! The opening ceremony was pretty confusing to say the least and generally pretty unentertaining… though I spent most of the night eating my own body weight in food and laughing at the Aussie's inability to say normal words such as 'maroon' and struggle to understand us saying 'scan' - bizarre but hilarious. The next day we headed to Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's zoo) where I fed an elephant, stroked a koala and fed/stroked a kangaroo… I was pretty amazed that you can do this but I've since been informed that it's totally normal and the cute Aussie has asked if I want to feed wild kangaroos down his neck of the woods. Mmmm… maybe not, especially if they bite haha - though if they bite him then that's fine ;) So… we saw the croc show then headed to the Wildlife Hospital where they have koalas with their legs in plaster etc however we could only see one cuddling a teddy bear, cutttteee!!! We then headed to Mooloolaba, a really pretty beach town and had yet another ice cream. My waist has officially left the building haha! That evening Lisa and Paul fed me the biggest steak I've ever seen, cooked on the BBQ of course and we chilled out. I'm now back on the Greyhound on my way to Surfers Paradise where I've heard it is party central YAY!! So my plan is to laze on the beach and get partying tonight, though it is Monday night so I'm not sure how much partying will be going on but knowing backpackers I'm sure it'll be good! I'll update again in a few days, perhaps after my skydive which is booked for Wednesday in Byron Bay. I head there tomorrow. Then Sydney by the weekend woo hoooo!! xxxxxxx
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