14. Mooloolaba (Sunshine Coast), Australia

Helloooo....Sunshine Coast time!!

DAY ONE

We caught the bus at 10.15am (just!) and we due to arrive at Sunshine Coast (Mooloolaba) at 11.45am. Due to traffic we only got there about 12.30pm. Upon arrival we realised the hostel was absolutely literally over the road from the bus station. 

 

We got to reception to check in and saw that it was closed 12-1!! And it was half past 12! Oh well, we hung around in the lobby waiting for it to open. There was a ping pong table, a pool table and a tv area so we were happy enough. 

It got to 1pm and so we checked in! We got to our room and were really pleased with it :) our next few places are private rooms so abit of a rest from dorms. We won't complain but it is true you meet a lot of new friends in dorms which is a huge bonus. The meeting-people-potential is high. Obviously you don't have that privacy to just relax and not worry about talking level. But obviously dorms are cheaper.

Yes we were flicking and found bargain hunt.

 

We found out they had free bike hire, bodyboard and surf board hire so was really excited to try surfing!! But the weather was awful. Due to the cyclone lingering along the east coast it was really cloudy. Not living up to SUNSHINE coast!

We thought, 'Why should the weather stop us?!', so we decided to hire some bikes! They were similar to Byron Bay's bikes but a lot more rickety so weren't as comfortable! We called them Orangalina (me - due to it being orange of course!) and Nat called hers Johnson. 

 

We headed off, again with helmets, towards the beach front and the esplanade! The receptionist wasn't really pushy about wearing helmets but again good job we were sensible, literally 50 meters down the road there was a police station and JUST as we passed a policewoman was getting out of her vehicle! $150 fine right there if hadn't worn then!

 

We got to the beach and it was lovely!! Minus the weather if course! We sat at a lookout, partly for shelter from the rain, and let our bikes and our legs dry out! The lookout was called 'The Loo With A View'. Brilliant name!! Also I was shocked due to plenty of surfers still surfing regardless of the weather. But thinking about it, the waves were quite good so that brings them all out!!

 

 

We also found the lifeguard boat and grabbed a photo! And grabbed a couple of small shells for souvenirs, not sure they'll fit in the bag though!! :(

 

 

 On the way we had seen a 'Coles', a major supermarket here so decided to head there! Again, we ACCIDENTALLY bought some chocolate and toiletries!

 

We then got sick of the rain and went back to the hostel. Before we did though we nipped into a convenience shop and saw these massive pepper or capsicums as Australians call them. They were gigantic!!

We grabbed a shower and then, due to our hostel being silly (again!) and not having FREE wifi, we headed out on a search for free wifi!! We seriously don't agree with having to pay Australia! I love this country but that's one thing that gets us! :S haha!

We headed towards some big hotels and on the corner we found a wifi hotspot, free! Thank you unnamed restaurant! But the catch was, the restaurant was above a shop so we were next to a smelly bin and a carpark! Oh the things you do for wifi!
 

 

We then headed towards the esplanade and hit the jackpot. A restaurant providing free wifi, with a outdoor seating area so meant it had good coverage (seriously wifi searching talk now haha!!). In payment for the wifi, we show a picture of Bellissimo Bar & Restaurant. Thank you very much hehe!

 

After some jobs were done and emails sent we went back to the hostel. It's great, our hostel was very safe due to after 9.30pm the gates going across at the entrance so had to use room key to get in. Very good :)

We then enjoyed a comedy gala which was on tv and then went to Z Land!!

DAY TWO

Due to the program only finishing at 1am we slept in until 10am! The weather was very muggy again, not as much rain but still very cloudy! :( Sunshine Coast still hasn't arrived yet!

 There wasn't a toaster in the kitchen area so enjoyed a lovely breakfast of bread and jam!

It was nice though due to having a balcony where you can eat! Obviously it was cloudy but tomorrow (when it was sunny) it was a great place to sit and eat your meal!

I really wanted to surf but it's just not the weather for it. It's also really rough so quite big waves and for me, someone who hasn't even surfed before, it wasn't a good decision to go in!! Especially when the flags weren't out so no swimming, meaning no lifeguard!!

 

We walked towards the beach, went to our favourite restaurant for free wifi! We've got tours coming up so have to email company's so got that done. Then headed for an adventure!  On the way we went into a souvenir shop when I bought some secret souvenirs for certain people!! :D NO, NO PICTURES!! haha!

We also spotted a novelty toy which was amazing! We were so tempted to buy it but thought it wasn't probably the best use of our money ($30!). Was so funny, it copied everything you said and said it back to you in a high pitch time. Was hilarious listening to an Australian kangaroo repeat the Yorkshire accent!!

We then walked north up the coast towards Alexandria Headlands and on the way had abit of a gym session!

 

When getting to Alexandria Headlands we spotted a nice lookout spot. Due to the big waves there were loads of surfers out, including a paddle boarder too!

 

We also ran into some really cute dogs having an absolute whale of a time! Bless then, so cute!

AND we then saw the biggest lens we've ever seen in our lives! He was taking pictures of the surfers so with that equipment must be quite good at it!!

 

Half way down the beach, we settled at the side of a skatepark, so random and watched some cute little kids on their scooter and some skateboarders. One of which had no shoes on, and just whilst watching got a grazed knee, cut toe, sprained wrist and pulled shoulder. And he still never gave up!! Hardcore!! 

 

After getting abit bored of people falling over we headed back to where we were sitting before, at the bottom of the beach.

We watched the surfers again and also saw this surf code!

  

I then grabbed a shower and had noodles again! Remember 20 cents a meal!

Due to leaving tomorrow we then packed our bags and I sewed my Byron Bay badge onto my bag!

Headed for free Internet again at our favourite restaurant and the went to bed!!

It was very windy!!

 

DAY THREE

Can you believe the morning we leave, the clouds clear, the sun comes out and the heat rises! It was a gorgeous morning and so typical of our luck. We got up and had breakfast in the lobby. We had packed already so checked out and put our bags in luggage storage until we get the bus at 11.45am.

We then went to actually look around the place with the sun out and blue skies! Went to the beach and changed the sun status haha!

 

We saw a statue commemorating Steve Urwin which we thought was lovely!

 

 Then we asked at an information desk for some maps of the area for souvenirs and also other places. He was so helpful. A little too helpful as he told us about places we aren't going to but he was so lovely and SO informative!! Thank you Peter!!

 

We then grabbed some lunch! We splashed out on a lovely sandwich (me chicken, nat egg - she'll enjoy eating that on the bus later haha!) and I got some white chocolate cookies and nat got a blueberry muffin! The lady was so lovely, chatty and so sweet bless her! And made a hell of a sandwich for us both :)

 

We then got our bags and caught the bus!! On to Hervey Bay and for the 3 day Fraser Island tour! Can't wait!! Thankfully the cyclone has gone so hopefully no more cloud and rain!! Sun sun sun please :)

 

:D See you there!!
 

Rach xx

12. Byron Bay, Australia

So we were now on our way to Byron Bay...hey that rhymes!!

DAY ONE

The bus was at 8.20am so we were up at 7.20 so we had enough time to have our breakfast, check out and then walk the mammoth journey to the bus station...about 5 seconds away! The station being next door!! So handy :)

I loved our little dorm at Islanders (Surfers Paradise) because it was like a little apartment and had it's own little balcony! Also there were really nice people in our dorm! :)

We got the bus and the journey wasn't too long, in regards to Australia standards. Only 3 hours!! And it had wifi!! I really like all the explanation marks in this blog, sorry about that!

We only had a short walk to our hostel where we checked in and got straight out there :) you can hire bodyboards and bikes for free at the hostel we are at and so I grabbed a bodyboard and tried it out. We then went to the beach, which was amazing, such a lovely beach! I went straight in the sea with my new friend and tried it out!

 

 

 

Nat however went for a little wander up the beach. Here are a few pictures of her adventures. She found a lovely spot overlooking the beach and had some good photo opportunities! 

 

I came out of the refreshing water and had a nice little sunbathe! Nat came back after ages and said she's walked the whole length of the beach! We then saw this really sad looking seagull! But it had a bad injury, obviously it's foot had gotten caught, poor thing!

 

We then came back to the hostel and had lunch, however the kitchen was being cleaned 2-3 so we had time to spare. We took our chance and used the free wifi in the lobby to do the blog, and facebook :)
 

It's funny because everyone collects on the sofas and eyes are all on their iPhones and computers, no one talks, they just focus on the Internet! 

We then asked about going to the lighthouse! It's iconic of Byron Bay and we really wanted to head up there! He said the sunset was an hour away and it took an hour to get there, it was going to be tight. We managed to catch a hell of a sunset about half way up! It was beautiful shining over the coast, absolutely speechless we were just staring out!

                            

 

 

 

We then got to the top after a bit of a walk, and it was fantastic! The view was amazing of Byron Bay and the lighthouse was brill to see close up! 

 

We then went to the Most Easterly Point of Australian Mainland! 

 

Got a few piccies, but by this point we couldn't mess about due to it getting very dark! Also due to there being a snake about!

 

We headed back in the dark, it was scary at times but got back fine :S We then headed to Woolworth's for some food! ...accidentally bought chocolate of course! 

We had noodles for tea, because only wanted a small bite to eat so that was enough! We then had a lovely skype session with the family which was so lovely!!! <3

Then off to bed as having a cycle early tomorrow! Loving Byron Bay!

DAY TWO
 

We got up nice and early and got the keys to the bikes. Someone in the dorm had said we needed to get there nice and early due to them going quick! We got number 8 and 25 and we decided to call them Leon (mine) and Boris (Nat's).

We then got our breakfast, but it was funny! At the hostel they have a load of fridges in the kitchen, we had put our cheese and jam in there and then two hours later it had vanished! Buggers!

After a massive search in all of the fridge sections, Nat spotted our bag, good job! We decided to have a rather strange breakfast, toast with jam and cheese. Separate of course ha!

 

We then checked out and grabbed our bags. Due to getting the bus at 5pm we put our bags in the luggage storage so saved us lugging them about! We grabbed helmets also, in Australia it's illegal not to wear one and is a $150 on the spot fine so we grabbed one!! We looked very attractive!

 

The bikes were amazing, they looked so retro with such wide handlebars and classic body! Leon and Boris were hot bikes! 

We then got on our way, we had decided to head back up to the lighthouse to see it in the daytime and have a fun ride down the hill back to where we are staying! We couldn't wait! It was quite a hill!

It didn't take long to get up there and we got such lovely pics of the view on the way up! 

 

We got up there and the view from the top was even better! The lighthouse looked lovely in the day. It was quite busy compared to last night but it was more of a sensible time to be there haha :)

 

 

We noticed straight away there was a cafe which had absolutely gorgeous looking food in it. We booked our lunch for a little bit later :)

We went into the lighthouse gift shop and I got a another badge for my backpack which was exciting!

We then headed back to the most easterly point of Australia again and grabbed a photo, this time without a flash :)

 

We then had a fantastic little tour of going up to the top of the lighthouse which was fab! It's run by volunteers and we had a lovely lady who told us all about its history and showed up around! The views on the way up were spectacular, such a clear day and even the volunteers were saying it was a PERFECT day!

 

We then got to the top which was...just wow! 

 

 

After the tour we said our thank you's in the book. It was now lunchtime. And oh my word, it was 'stunning' (as Nat called it!). We spotted a chicken/pesto/spinach (not a fan normally but was yummy)/feta cheese/red peppers) and also a steak/bacon/cheese Byron bay gourmet pie! We wanted both so we shared them both. 

 

We then headed off down the hill, the fun bit! And it was SOOOO fun at that! Here's a selection of photos of me going down and loving it!

 

We then turned off and went to a beach called 'The Pass' which was really nice. We spotted a lookout and so grabbed a few photos!

 

 

We also spotted a lizard!
 

 

After this we went for a little dip in the sea, we didn't have our bikinis so just had to put our feet in. But it was 2 hours before the bus was going so didn't really have time to swim!

 

We then cycled back the rest of the journey (actually more like sat and let gravity take us down) and sadly had to give Leon and Boris back :'(

BUT not before we had a little cycle around the town, due to them being such nice bikes to ride, so smooth and light! Then spotted a car park across the street where we had abit of fun!!

 

We then gave the bikes back and grabbed our bags. We nipped into a cool little shop where I bought a bracelet and Nat got a nice little fridge magnet. And that shop was the cheapest we'd being in since arriving is Australia! Here is some boomerangs the shop sold too!!

 

Then we caught the bus, got there on time and was on our way back to Brisbane!!

On this trip I've absolutely loved everyday, we are experiencing new amazing things every second, and loving every minute! Today was one of them days that when you think of it, it just makes you smile! Absolutely pinch myself when I think of what we're doing and am so glad to be able to have the opportunity. We've worked hard and earned our own money to be able to do it and it's also down to our family and friends understanding how much we wanted to do this and are so brilliant about it. We love you all!! Here's to new memories being made everyday with one of my best friends, my sister! <3

P.s bit cheesy but so true :)

Rach xx