Easter in Byron and Tweed Heads

     Well we spent Easter weekend in Byron Bay and Tweed Heads, Byron being a backpacker mecca! This was however a big mistake. We drove into Byron expecting crowds as it is such a sought after destination. However we were unprepared for the 30,000 people that were to arrive in Byron for the East Coast Blues and Roots festival. Finding no accommodation, we set up our 12 pound tent in the only campsite that had room, and sat back and waited. On the first night we were still unprepared for what was to come, thinking that the festival was just a small thing. However upon our return from the beach next day (the surf was small, but a hell of a lot of fun) we saw the dozen or so tents had swelled to a hundred odd. However if we were expecting Reading style camping we were disappointed, the festival is much more of a hippy fest including acoustic guitars and lots of strange smelling cigarettes. As we were there over Easter Weekend we were expecting a blowout  of huge proportions in the pub.  Once again we were sorely disappointed.  The Australians do not know how to party properly, as all the bars on Good Friday, turned away hundreds of people, and hundreds of dollars of business to shut up at 10pm! That’s right 10 in the evening on a popular night during the height of their season. At no other point in Byron’s season will 30,000 people descend on the town. It just doesn’t make any sense to us, it really doesn’t.

As the weather was pretty poor in Byron we decided to catch a film, 300 to be exact. While waiting for it to come on, guess who walked in? Yep that’s right, ‘Stalker’ Tom.  Of all the showings (4 that day) he came to this one, which only had 40 or so people in it. Simply incredible. Anyway Byron is a must for anybody’s Australian itinerary, with epic beaches, a nightlife that is kicking (according to most people, and outside of Easter) and a really laid-back vibe that isn’t manufactured. Go there!

After spending two disastrous nights in Byron in our tent, (it leaked and two poles broke so it ended up looking like the Somme) we decided it was time to buy a new one. However being Easter Weekend we thought we would have to make do we a makeweight tent, not much better then the one previously. However upon arrival in Tweed Heads we went into the first camping shop and almost bought a decent 40 pound 4 man tent. However upon adventuring round the chaotic inside of the camping warehouse we discovered a more expensive, but infinitely better tent. So now we are camping in a double layered (our first had one layer), giant, 10 man tent. We can stand up in it, and spread our crap everywhere so from now on we will be mainly camping in our mansion. Tweed Heads itself suffered from the same curse as Byron, namely a chronic work shy attitude over Easter so every night saw us back in the tent drinking our own beers at 9pm. At Tweeds they have decent surf and decent snorkeling, so it’s definitely worth checking out for a day or two.

Now we are in Brisbane where we are meeting up with Ed, Sam and Adam for some laughs, so expect some interesting posts coming along the pipeline. For those of you knowledgeable about Australian geography, no we haven’t bypassed Surfers, after Brisbane we will be heading back south, to fill in the gaps down along the Gold Coast.

All my love

Jack xxx

Coffs Harbour

After Jack’s mammoth drive to Armidale the day previous, we decided that our first day in Coffs should be a relaxed affair.  We decided to head down to the beach as it was a glorious day and lovely and hot.  However, our car (Zoe) had different ideas.  As soon as we entered the car park for the beach, the car’s steering went heavy and there was one of those expensive sounding grinding noises coming from under the bonnet.  We turned her off and lifted the bonnet not knowing what we’d find…..luckily it was just a split power steering hose.  So we abandoned our beach idea and headed off to a Mitsubishi dealer in order to find spare parts.  However, it was a Saturday and in their infinite wisdom, Mitsubishi had decided that it was a good idea to close at 12:00 on Saturday  (I mean to say, it’s not as if anyone needs spare parts on a weekend, is it?).  Depressed, we decided to head down to Supercheap Auto and Repco (like Halfords back home, but without the incompetence).  The nice chaps down at Supercheap let us borrow their tools for free and those lovely people down at Repco gave us some free replacement hose!  Full marks to Supercheap and Repco!  By now the day was over, we were covered in oil and the sun had gone in, so we decided to retire to our Motel Formule 1 then head out for a few beers.  Motel Formule 1 had all the atmosphere and character of a hospital, but to its credit, it was nice and cheap and the rooms were immaculate.

The second day in Coffs was overcast and pretty cold (well, by Aussie standards) so it was decided that we’d head down to the Horse Races at the local track.  Admission was just $10 (4 pounds) and for that you get a whole day’s entertainment and 8 races in which to lose your money.  It was at the races that we met ‘Stalker Tom’.  ‘Stalker Tom’ is a man whom we met in Melbourne….and then again in Phillip Island….then in Manly….and then here as well!  We didn’t actually plan to meet him at any of these places and we’re pretty sure he’s some sort of stalker who’s secretly following us around.  Anyhow, we decided which horses to bet on according to which ones had the funniest names (always a sound way of doing things)  and I struck lucky, winning $35 on the first race, which effectively paid for my betting for the rest of the day.  Jack wasn’t so fortunate, but we still had an awesome day out for less than 25 quid (including beer).

So, we came to our final day in Coffs before we were due to move on.  It was lovely and sunny once again, so we decided to head down to the beach once more (hopefully we’d make it further than the parking lot this time).  As soon as we came onto the beach a dog came up to us with a stick in its mouth. Being the nice sort of people we are, we threw it for him.  Big mistake.  The dog kept bringing it back to us and lying right by us looking sorry for itself until we threw it for him again.  We spoke to some locals as there was no owner in sight, and apparently ‘Beach Dog’ (as we creatively dubbed him) escapes every single day, comes down to the beach with his stick and gets people to play with him.  When those people get tired of throwing the stick, he simply moves along the beach to the next group of people, and the cycle continues.  Smart dog if you ask me. 

Anyhow, by now it was getting cooler and Dave’s bus back from Armidale had just arrived, so we headed back to the motel to get freshened up before going out.  We headed out for a healthy Kebab (it had lettuce in it, so that counts as healthy) and then headed down to the Plantation Hotel.  We stayed there for about 30 minutes, realised it was full of people who took the quiz night far too seriously, then headed off to the Coast Hotel to finish off the night (which is really nice by the way and cost $4 million to renovate) .  Here we met ‘Stalker Tom’ once again and had a few beers with him and his mate.  Tom leaves Oz in 3/4 weeks, but we’re pretty sure we’ll see him around now we’re camping in Byron Bay…

Surf, Nobbies and Mountains

       Sorry for the delay in posting, not sure what came over us. Well we have left Sydney and headed Northwards, to where we are currently now, which is a place called Coffs Harbour. Upon leaving Collaroy we didn’t immediately go North but headed back towards Sydney in order to head West up into the famous Blue Mountains. After the drive, Mark probably wishes we haven’t. Confusing road layouts (an ever present plague wherever you go in Australia) coupled with traffic lights that turned instantly red whenever we approached conspired to make a 2 hour journey closer to four, in intense heat. Also when we finally escaped the clutches of the terrifying suburban road system, one of our tyres blew. Spectacularly. Shredded rubber everywhere. So we had a twenty minute delay while I changed that (burning my hand several times on the scorchingly hot wheel nuts). So we finally arrived weary and fed up of our car to the town of Katoomba or the Capital of the Blue Mountains. Whereupon we found that almost everywhere accommodation wise was taken. So we ended up in an average standard Motel which cost a lot. However that didn’t dampen our spirits one jot. What did however was the mist, rain and freezing cold. For our entire stay in the Blue Mountains (only two nights) it was miserably cold, so much so that once we had seen everything the next day, we went to a cafe and drank hot chocolates in front of a fire! Very pleasant but not very Australian. However while in the mountains, we saw the world famous Three Sisters from two different points, also took a trip on the very enjoyable Scenic railway which holds the world record for the steepest railway in the world and also journeyed along the rainforest boardwalk in the valley of the mountains. All in all a very nice time was had by all, although it was a shame about the weather because in the sun the mountains do turn blue as the sun shines through the vapour given off by the Eucalyptus trees.

      After the mountains we continued our journey North, heading to Newcastle, about 150km North of Sydney. Here we stayed for three nights which is longer then we were going to stay, but the car needed a new tyre so we thought we would service it while we were there (it was 8,000km past its next due service). Newcastle is a strange place, as first impressions are you have driven into the town out of Children of Men. Its very industrial and parts are very run down. However when you see past the peeling shop fronts and boarded up windows, you can see that Newcastle is actually very nice. The restaurants are very good value, the bars of a high standard, and the beaches top quality. A storm had been brewing in the Tasman sea which meant the surf was huge and mental over the three days we were there. It was the most perfect swell I have ever seen and peaking at six foot. While I did paddle out into the monsters, at Newcastle beach, my standard of surfing was such that I couldn’t get any of the waves they were just too big. As the lifeguard also happily told me while berating me for not having any common sense by going out in the first place. So after being admonished thoroughly we went round the corner to Nobbies Beach where it was smaller (a mere five foot) and we could actually swim (at Newcastle the currents and shifting sandbanks meant there was no swimming). At Nobbies the swimming was great diving under monsters and trying to body surf them. If one of these grabbed a hold of you it tossed you around like a rag doll. While not scary it did make you appreciate the awesome power of the sea. Here I did go out bodyboarding (or boogie boarding, depending on what you call it) and caught some rippers, definitely the best waves of my life, clean, left-handers breaking regularly, it was in fact heaven. After visiting a small nightclub on the last night (student night apparently, though don’t let them fool you, there are no students) the next day we headed North again, roughly 200km to Port Macquarie.

        We didn’t stay here long as Dave wanted to get to Armidale the next day to visit a family friend from which Coffs Harbour would be closer. In Port Macquarie, we just chilled on the beach, played a game of cricket and had a few bevvies in the evening. Very civilised in my opinion. So the next day we headed about 250km North to Coffs Harbour. Upon arriving we were told that there was no public transport to Armidale on a Friday. The next bus there was Sunday (that well known travelling day) and to get a train you had to go via Sydney or Brisbane (both 500km South and North respectively). So being the gallant person I am, I offered to drive him. Thinking it was 130-150km away we embarked happily. However it was 190km away, and much driving later (and many angry outbursts at caravans) we arrived in Armidale. Thankfully it wasn’t as bad as we first thought it was as the first impression was of run down bungalows. However they soon gave way to a pleasant little town nestled in England like hills. However it is no where near the coast, and why anyone would spend a gap year teaching in a school there is beyond me. Surely there are schools by the coast? Ah well. So after driving a total of 650 km and racking up seven hours of driving time yesterday I returned to Coffs at 7:00pm a flopped onto the bed exhausted. Still went out for a couple of beers in the evening. It is a gap year after all……

Jack xxxx     

Chilling in Collaroy

       We we left the seediness and excitement of Kings Cross behind and headed out to Collaroy where we stayed for a week. Collaroy is one of the Northern beaches, a lot more laid back then Manly but only 15 minutes north of it. Definitely worth checking out, has two very good bars (during the week $9 meals at the Surf Rock Hotel) and it is possible to get into the city by public transport. The beach here is really close to the YHA and it is good. While Manly is probably a better beach, Collaroy is devoid of the crowds. The week we spent in Collaroy was very cheap and very relaxed. Most of the time was spent on the beach. However during our stay in the YHA (which has everything, bbq, pool, two tvs, kitchen and pool tables) we were rudely awoken at 5am and 7am on two consecutive nights by the fire alarm going off. What was worse was the fact that both times it was the same bloody idiot, however we neve found out what room he was in unfortunately…….

     It was while we were at Manly that Dave caught the surf bug. Now all he can think of doing (of course along with me) is of grabbing the body board and heading out into the surf. Last few days the surf was excellent, however it was during one of these sessions (yesterday in fact) that I got stung by a bluebottle Jellyfish. This was one of the most alarming experiences of my life. Not surprising, as the lifeguards had warned this would happen, but it felt like an electric wasp sting. About 8 inches of electric wasp sting. It ruined a very good final surf session and for the next hour or two my arm went from tingling absolute pain, to numbness, to absolutely nothing! See pictures for my sting! Bluebottles are little blue (surprise!) jellyfish about the size of a watch face, which have 2-3 inch tendrils that sting instantly on touch. However the one that stung me had to have about 8 inches of tendrils. Still it didn’t ruin what was a very successful day.

      During the week we also went and had a delicious meal with Mr Patrick Gallagher, the gentlemen who generously sponsored us the three thousand pounds. We had an absolutely wonderful evening, and he and his wife made us feel very welcome. It was on the way back from our delicious meal, that we took the night ferry from Circular Quay to Manly, which makes a brilliant view even better! 

     In Collaroy, right next door to the YHA is a cafe called Sessionz. Here they do brilliant, cheap breakfasts, in a wonderful surf cafe surrounding with two of the best people working there. There was Loki the owner who always had a smile and time to ask how you were doing, and Dawn one of the friendliest and nicest girls I’ve ever met. We had a good time with her down at Manly as well. (We managed to hang with her for a couple of hours between her three jobs and acting classes, she is a literal workaholic!) I could easily have lived at the Sessionz cafe as it had the perfect feel for a cafe, and basically summed up the laid back lifestyle of Collaroy. This beach suburb is a perfect base for anyone who wants to chill, surf and soak up a city atmosphere on a chilled out beach! It would have been great to stay there longer (as most of the clientele of the YHA seem to do, some live there for months) but the rest of the journey was calling. So now we are currently in the Blue Mountains in a town called Katooma where we will take in the wondrous scenery of the mountains before heading to Newcastle and then onwards and upwards!

Editorial: The Gap Year

     Having been away from blighty for two and a half months, I think it is time to reflect on our gap year and gap years in general. For us the gap year has been about relaxation, seeing the world, and living in a foreign country. It has been a privilege to travel the world, I know that, many people can’t afford the time or costs associated with travel and I realise how lucky I was to be able to live the dream. For it is a dream, being able to travel Australia the way we are, seeing it at our leisure, hitting spots other people won’t see, in other words experiencing the other Australia, the one obscured by the tourist hot-spots. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved the tourist hot-spots, some of our great memories come from the beaches of Sydney, the nightlife of Melbourne and the quietness of Canberra. However it is the splendid isolation and tranquility of Jervis Bay, the surf and penguins of Philip Island and the small town beauty of Eden and Batemans that will stay on in my memory for longer.

        I am excited about going to university, but what better way to heighten the university experience ( and make you more appealing to the girls) then take a gap year. Step out of the humdrum of life for a little while and breathe in the world. It has so much to offer in ways of sights, tastes and experiences that given the opportunity, the gap year is the way. The timeframe between school and university is once in a lifetime, it is a time warp where there is no detrimental effect to your life later down the road by taking a year to yourself. If you take a year off travelling later in life the consequences of doing so can be costly. Therefore the school-university gap year was the only option for me. 

     It really is the life, beaches untouched by human interference, azure water of twenty degree plus in warmth, friendly people always willing to give advice, beautiful forests and mountains, and wonderful cities with their hectic nightlife. Everything is available to you, you just have to take it and savour it. That’s what I’m trying to do…..

The Cross

Well, we’re just about to leave for a week at Collaroy Beach on the outskirts of Sydney, but before we do I thought I’d update you on how we spent this last week in the city centre.   We arrived at Eva’s Backpackers in ’The Cross’ (Sydney’s Red Light District) exhausted after a long drive.  We checked in and asked whether the hostel had a car park.  It didn’t, although we were informed that we could park in one of the multi-story car parks “for around $25 a day”.  Being the cheap, tight-fisted sort of people that we are, paying this much a day for parking was out of the question.  So, Jack and I left Dave with the bags at the hostel and set about trying to find some free parking.  This turned out to be much harder than expected (not helped by the fact that we had no map and no idea where we were going).  Some two hours later we returned to the hostel having parked about 45 minutes away in the middle of nowhere on a residential street……but at least it was free!

We decided that it was time for a trip into the city centre to see the famous sights such as the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.  It’s well worth taking one of the public transport ferries around the harbour, as they’re really cheap and you get a lovely view of all the attractions from the water.   Most of the sites that are worth going to visit are in the Circular Quay area, including The Bridge, Opera House and the immaculately maintained Botanical Gardens, where you can just spent a few hours relaxing and listening to the thousands of bats that hang in the trees above your head.  Later that evening, we headed back to our hostel along ‘Strip Club Alley’, where all of the strip clubs invite you in for a free drink and “to take a look”.  They didn’t seem to get the hint that we really didn’t want to go in, althought it was particularly amusing to see a group of scared looking Japanese teenagers be dragged into one of the seedier venues by an especially enthusiastic ’salesman’.  

The next day, we had been invited to a BBQ by a George, a girl who Jack knew and who’s Dad is an old boy of the school.  Delighted at the prospect of free food, we set off to Pennant Hills on the outskirts.  The BBQ was awesome and we got to meet loads of lovely people, including George’s brother Alex, with whom we played Xbox long into the night, before all collapsing exhaused on the lounge floor at 3am….good times.

By now we were all pretty tired, so we decided that it was high time for a beach day (we hadn’t been in the ocean for days and we were starting to get withdrawal symptoms).  This is the beautiful thing about Australia – even in their biggest city, you’re still only 30 minutes away by ferry from some fantastic beaches.  So we met up with George once again and spent the entire day lazing around on the beach doing absolutely nothing in 30 degree heats getting suntanned (it’s a damn hard life being on a Gap Year you know).  We also purchased another bodyboard here, as the previous one had snapped last week on a particularly large wave.  I’m still convinced that we’re entitled to a refund, despite the fact that we binned the board, lost the receipt, are 1000 miles from where we purchased it, and the company who made it have gone out of business.

Exhausted from all that sunbathing and BBQing, we decided that we should have a more relaxed day, and since the movie ‘Hot Fuzz’ had just been released, we decided to go and see that at the cinema.  It was awesome and had pretty much everything you could want from a movie; guns, senseless violence, comedy, gore, car chases, etc.  On the off chance you haven’t already seen it back in the UK, then we highly recommend it.

So we came to the final day of our week in the city and decided to go up the AMP Tower, where you can get a brilliant view of the whole city.  It costs $24 dollars and that included a ticket to ‘Oztrek’, a simulator ride at the top of the tower that showcases all that Australia has to offer.  It’s definitely worth doing and a good way to spend a couple of hours.  In the evening, we decided that it was important we visited the ‘Lowenbrau Keller’, the most authentic Bavarian Beer Hall in Sydney apparently.  Lowenbrau did not dissappoint – beer was served in litre tankards that required two hands to hold steady, there was an Oompha band playing and all of the waiters/waitresses were in traditional German dress…oh, and the beer and food were fantastic as well.  If you’re ever in Sydney, then it’s well worth a visit (it’s in the fashionable ‘Rocks’ area just off Circular Quay).  Not cheap, but it’s definitely worth it. 

So we’ve just collected the car from the middle of nowhere (we thought it may well have been stolen/clamped/towed away/covered in parking tickets but thankfully it was untouched) and are about to leave for a week on the beach at Collaroy – more updates soon!

-Mark-

hole in one

Jervis bay was part of our effort to kill a few days before we got to sydney and we had heard it was “quite pretty” from a couple who had been camping next to us in Eden. Not knowing what, if anything to expect (as usual, the oztripping team goes in under the radar without any preconcepsions). we arrived at a toll booth where a national park employee with lavish surfer hair told us that it was $10 to get a 48 hour pass to the wonders beyond. Not realising that it was soley camping pre-arriving we turned the car round and went in search of a motel/hostel to stow our stuff and then go and give surfer man our ten dollars.
eventually found a place that was in our price range (not many triple rooms available in the Jervis Bay area, that come under a hundred dollars.), which was located in Huskinson or “husky” as the locals call it ; a town situated about 10 minutes drive up the coast from the national park itself.
On the advice of our motel owner we set out newly armed with a map of the Bay. So once we got into the park there was only one place that we were heading, and this was the “hole in the wall”. A catchy name, not as i incisted to the guys as deriving from the butch cassidy film, but rather due to an outcropping rock formation just off the beach which used to have an erotion caused hole in it. Now after more time this has developed into a fully fledged break in the wall.
- On the other hand i like to think that Butch and Sundance probably would have made it there and named it such if it weren’t for those damn Bolivian army rifles.
Aside from its namesake, this was the most beautiful beach we’ve been to. Only a short walk from the road down a dirt track your eyes are meeted by the grass and dirt beneath your feet swiftly and abruptly turning to sand. Sand which stretches white and gold for miles, as the coastline of the bay snakes and curves indescriminatly out of sight. The green of the sub-tropical trees which run right alongside, make it about as picturesque as they come. You can keep your commercial – can’t see the sand for sunbathers – beaches, for the next 2 days we had this place pretty much to ourselves. The snorkelling was particularly fantastic and much exitement expressed through stupid mouth’s-filled- with snorkel noises ensued whenever one of us spotted something particularly worthy of the others attension.
special mention goes to the humungous ray, which Jack and Mark saw but which i, despite hearing the burbling noises, coulod not get to in time. Seeing about 20 dolphins swimming further out to sea was also fantastic, and in childish mindset we all started swimming as fast as we could in the hope that they would gift us with coming inland. Alas they were just passing through but it was still awesome to see them jumping out of the water, even if i didn’t get within 50 yards of one.
Closer into the rocks, the smaller fish were everywhere and again Jack was on the receiving end of the best sight of the 2 days in the water. A huge school of mackeral which decided to swim all around Jack as he gazed in wonderous disbelief. – the bastard!!!
Aside from the hole in the wall, we experienced the main pub in Husky, which served us 2 good meals over 2 good nights. Although the second one was not as it advertised “beef curry” but rather rice with beef casserole, but for $9 and a beer i wasn’t storming the kitchen.
The only other thing to say about Jervis Bay, apart form it being one of the best places we’ve been to. Is that under no circumstance should you go running at 8 in the morning without a drink in your hand. It gets very hot very quickly even at the tail end of their summer, believe me.

thats your all for now, as we move on to Sydney and the delights that should be found in KIngs Cross (the red light district of the city). Now don’t take that too literally family and anyone else reading this, the oztripping team is made up of stern moral fibre. I mean after all we’re from Berkhamsted Collegiate School…..

thanks for reading
dave x