Brisvegas and beyond...

Yep, that’s really what the locals refer to it as. So far I have no idea why.

I was lucky enough to be picked up by my friend Caitlin at the airport in Brisbane- for those of you that don’t remember I met Caitlyn in Cuzco, Peru where we worked at Loki together; she had kindly agreed to let me stay at her house for a week or so to enable me to explore so of the East coast and of course catch up with her! Caitlin lives in a lovely suburb of Brisbane called West End which is walking distance from the city (a fact I found out when I paid $4 for the bus!) It was very nice to be staying in a house for once, having the luxury of being able to leave your towel in the bathroom and it still being there the next day is now enough to amaze me!

As Caitlin has a busy Medical school workload and schedule to keep up with we had agreed I would entertain myself. Wednesday was spent exploring the city centre, visiting art gallerys, public museums, a farmers market and walking the river and through the cultural centre. There’s absolutely no doubt that Brisbane is my favourite Ozzy city to date- metropolitan and sophisticated, but small enough to get round by Shanks pony. Actually it reminds me of Liverpool, and I love it. The weather is also more welcoming here… not Melbourne’s constant rain, nor Perth eternal baking sunshine; the temperature’s lovely and everywhere is so green. It does tend to err on the humid side but it really is beautiful.

The next day I took Caitlin’s car for a drive so I could see the Gold Coast. I was keen to make it to Byron Bay, as it’s considered the ‘must see’ of the East Coast, but I found plenty else to distract me on the way there and back. First stop of the trip was at Surfers Paradise, a stretch of beach backed with skyscrapers famous world over for its iconic surf. Apparently the design was modelled on Miami in the USA, but I infinitely preferred surfers. That said, if you really want a skyscraper adjacent beach Rio would still be my pick! I just went for a walk at Surfers, admiring the gorgeous waves and chatting to the lifeguards who are trained to rescue people using surfboards… very cool!

Next I was away to a Koala sanctuary, which was free to see all the run- of -the -mill wildlife, and an expensive $55 to cuddle a Koala. Deciding I’d rather save my money for petrol so I could see more of the coast, and definitely not wanting to pay the extra $25 for the photograph of the blessed event anyway, I stuck with the birds and lizards (Kathryn...what kind of lizard is this? It runs like a velociraptor, tis awesome) I could see for free and was on my way.

The final stop of day one was Byron Bay itself, and boy was it worth it. Despite everywhere I’ve been in the last year, Byron has to be one of the most beautiful stretches of golden sand defined coastline I’ve ever seen. I arrived mid afternoon and was soon climbing to the top of the iconic lighthouse to see the view. Followed by a swim in the sea, and a relaxing jog along the beach. I would have liked to surf there but I thought it erred on the side of irresponsible to go out alone when I’ve really only had one lesson.

My evening was spent with a group of Swedish travellers, who amused me greatly with an hour long conversation about the benefits of Ikea. Nothing like embracing the stereotype there chaps. Apparently the meatballs they serve there where worthy of the 4 hour round trip the next day to the nearest Ikea outlet, ‘tastes like home’!

In the end I fell asleep on the beach, which I’m assured is an essential travelling Ozzy experience… so I’ll check that one off my list...

The next day I walked back up to the lighthouse to enjoy the view again before moving onto the next coastal town of Ballina. I was expecting to be able to swim again here, but there was no sign of beach culture so I headed inland to a tiny village called Bangalow. So far my Australian Lonely Planet hasn’t steered me wrong. Bangalow turned out to be a fabulous return to the ‘Book of Lies’ status, as when I got there I found about as little to see as a visitor to Long Bennington might find,but without any period houses or fun little pubs. I was out of there and headed for a tiny town called Nimbin.

Nimbin has shot to fame in recent years as the ‘Pot Capital’ of Australia. An identity they have embraced with a ferocity that borders on the insane. Never-the-less I spent an enjoyable few hours wondering around the brightly coloured town. I enjoyed the museum there immensely as I have never before been to a museum that is without exhibit or coherence. Basically all the drug addicts in the town seem to have been given a small space in the museum to deface as they please, and the result is entertaining to say the least. Especially brilliant was the fact that the inside of the museum is all about living freely and money being the corrupting force of the world, and the outside of the establishment boasts a prim little sign complaining about people not paying enough to enjoy the museum, ‘this facility can’t sustain itself people!’. Classic.

My final stop was to the National Park that runs between NSW and QLD, I enjoyed several hours hiking and driving around the beautiful waterfalls, and mountain views. Sadly , despite seeing a million signs saying to watch out for them, I STILL haven’t seen a wild kangaroo. But I’m sure I will at some point… or are they fictional… who knows …

And then I was back in Brizzy for a red- wine fuelled night with Caitlin and he friends, and a weekend of preparation before I’m off to help with the flood project next week…