Surfers & Byron

Surfers Paradise

Many people told me to skip Surfers Paradise, but I was also encouraged to see what the fuss was all about. So I just booked one night and see it for myself. I wasn’t interested in all the amusement parks nearby so I chose to walk along the beach. On that day, the beach was covered by ocean foam as though some sea creature had been taking a dirty bubble bath. Along with Carolin, a German girl staying at the same hostel as I, we walked along taking pictures and skipping about to avoid being attacked by the froth pushed towards us by the waves. And after seeing a few of these small transparent pods of blue and purple, were realised they were blue bottle jellyfish when we found one with its tentacles.

We had started our walk from the bus stop in town and eventually realised that it would be as long to walk back to meet the shuttle to the hostel then to walk north to the hostel itself. So on we kept and ended up covering quite a few kilometres that day.

We observed not only the strange froth, but also all the tall buildings in Surfers, and those under construction with nifty elevators on the side for the workers. Guess everyone wants their condo near the ocean, or perhaps the amusement parks? I also noticed that the buses here are still part of the Brisbane transit system out in zone 14. (I think the furthest I’d been until then was zone 4.)

What was even cooler was that the city was setting up for the V8 car race. So we crossed the racetrack to be and saw all the banners and the bleachers that were to welcome many people.

And that evening, I joined up with those from the hostels who were going out on the town (with all that walking I hadn’t seen much of the city core). We went to the beer garden filled with backpackers, and cheap drinks! I’m glad to report that I had no hangover and fun was had by all in our group.  One minor thing though, we had to go back to the hostel when we got there at first as they had a strict ID passport only policy, even for those who really don’t look 18…

So didn’t see any Surfers in Surfers Paradise, and I confirm, one day is sufficient.


A video of the suds

Byron Bay

Byron Bay was my first stop in New South Wales. As they are located further south, and recently switched to daylight saving time, we had to move our watches forward. I’m guessing that my Eastern Time Zone readers have already switched so I’m still 14 hours ahead.

I walked into my room and met Laurence, my first Québecoise until now (other than my friends from home Fred & François). We bonded immediately and hung out that afternoon and evening. She’s been in Byron for three months and works part time at the local backpacker bar. (I would define a backpacker bar as a place where not only do backpackers go to, as oppose to locals, but it also often involved cheap food or drinks and sexy or funny games to win prizes, such as wet t-shirt contest or playing the didgeridoo on a vacuum cleaner. )

Anyhow, that first night, as Laurence wasn’t working, we headed to the Beach House, another bar with live music where the locals actually go. We were invited to play pool with some Melbourne lads and a Swiss German who could speak French. We were to hang out with them again over the next couple of days, and I have new friends to see when I get to Melbourne!

Byron is a lovely small coastal town, and it had yet to hit the peak summer madness. It’s the kind of place where it’s easy to say hi to anyone, (though having a couple of drinks might help). I met at least another 4 French Canadians that evening. I guess this is where they’ve all been hiding. We bar hopped a bit and did eventually visit the local Backpacker bar. Seriously, with this kind of nightlife, I know all the current hit songs and have already gone out clubbing more often than I have cumulated in my pre-Australia years!

As our hostel was a bit of ways out, Laurence was glad to have someone to walk with. The next day we headed back to town and met up with Jae, one of our Melbourne buddies. The day was gorgeous, though windy, and it finally felt like spring again after all those weeks of rain. We headed to the lighthouse, which ended up being a bit further than expected, but we were distracted by the kite surfers and regular surfers so that lengthened the walk. It was a great hike and I was quite glad that we’d taken the time to do it. That evening was similar to the night before and good times were had. Byron was also taken over by a few sports team, and I made a new Sydney connection with a rookie footy player who was wearing a Montreal t-shirt.

Day 3 was wet and rainy so I spent the afternoon reading and watching Kick-ass which I hadn’t seen yet. I still had plans to go out to beach house rain or shine as Pugsley Buzzard was playing. I had seen this great blues pianist at the Brisbane Jazz Club just the week before. I also ended up meeting up with Dimitri from Belgium whom I’d met in Brissie at a couchsurfing meeting. He was woofing near-by and brought a couple of friends along. So we got to see some great blues and I personally danced tons on my own.

Plus, Dimitri was driving south the next day, so I got a ride with him to Coffs Harbour as I figured it would be more fun than the greyhound and it was!

Jae & Laurence

Jae & I at the most easterly point

Surfers doing a lesson below