NEWS # 065
Hi everyone!
Mon the 30th and I leave Noosa early and head for Brisbane. I drive to the
wharf at Maroochydore and find Underwater World, the largest oceanarium in
the Southern Hemisphere. It costs about seven pounds and houses a huge
selection of fish. However, two minutes into my visit, the power goes off,
plunging the whole place into total darkness. I escape for lunch and return
an hour later to continue my visit. I walk through an arch-shaped tunnel as
loads of rays and sharks swim above me. After another hour, I continue my
journey.
I head straight into Brisbane City Centre, only coming to a stop when I
arrive at Globetrekkers, my hostel for the night, located in New Farm. The
roads are extremely well signposted and I have no trouble finding the
place. It's only four pounds a night to park my car in the compound at the
back and use all the facilities, a bargain. I meet up with Crystal, a girl
I'd met previously in Mission Beach and we catch up over a few beers.
I spend Tuesday exploring Brisbane on foot and visit the Botanical Gardens. I
walk through the South Bank Parklands and there is a beach style outdoor
swimming pool, complete with sand and sunbathers! Eventually, I head back to
the hostel, via Chinatown, the setting for several Jackie Chan movies.
Wednesday and I'm on the move south again. I aim to get to the twin town of
Coolangatta/Tweed Heads, on the Queensland/New South Wales border. I follow
the road through Surfers Paradise, a monstrosity made up of tower block
apartments, and stop at Nev surfboards in Sunshine Beach, before moving on to
Burleigh, Kirra, Greenmount, Snapper and Duranbah. These are some of the
most famous places in Australian surfing, though the swell has other ideas
and it's one to two foot slop!
I am not tempted to go in and decide to
continue south, to Byron Bay, before stopping for the night. I decide to
stay at the Arts Factory Backpackers Lodge but have no ideas as to where it
is. As luck would have it, the hostal bus passes me, just as I arrive in
Byron. I follow it and soon arrive at the Backpackers.
My plan is to stay in Byron for a couple of days and then head south. As it
transpires, I stay for nearly three weeks! It's that sort of place and is
like no other hostel I've ever been to. For a start, it's huge and has the
capacity to sleep five hundred people! That said, you wouldn't know it from
living here. The hostel is arranged around a central courtyard which
encloses a swimming pool.
There are about two hundred beds in conventional dorms/doubles and then
teepees, a canvas pentagon, an island with several permanent canvas lodges
and even a converted double decker bus. There is also a large campsite and
some van parking. Because the place is so well laid out, it never feels too
busy, except in the kitchen, at dinner time! When I arrive, the hostel is
packed and I get one of the last beds but they can only offer me one night's
accommodation. Unconcerned, I chill out for the evening.
Seeya,
Halesy