Brisbane and Noosa

So once we had finally left Surfer’s Paradise, and thoroughly enjoyed the final of our theme parks – Warner Bros MovieWorld, it was time to begin the drive to Brisbane. As you can imagine I couldn’t wait to see somewhere else other than our crappy hostel and the people lining the streets telling you to go on one of their shit night out “deals”… not that I’m bitter about how ours went.

We decided to stop on the way to Brisbane after a long bendy road which turned into thick rainforest as the altitude grew. It was an acitivity called Treetop Challenge for $50 each. It was a little crowded as it was a Saturday but we had a great time doing ziplines and making Nathan as scared as possible.

But anyway, we reached Brisbane early on the Saturday evening and checked in at Bunk Backpackers Hostel, which had been the most recommended online and we were sure not to make the same mistake we had in Surfers. The hostel was instantly better with a large kitchen, free breakfasts and lots of people to chat to. The best part was the bar and club they had right between the dorms and the kitchen called ‘Birdies’. So once we had unpacked and had dinner it was straight to the bar. We immediately got a group of people together – two Australians, an American, and English girl and guy and yet another German girl. We began searching for somewhere to go out and immediately found some live music around the corner. A small band with very young members that drew a huge crowd! The female lead singer/keyboard player was great at getting everyone going – I only wish I knew what they were called! The bar was tiny, with a cringy dark dancefloor upstairs we stayed on for all of 2 minutes. But the outdoor area was awesome! A long garden with large umbrellas that connected to the other bars, meaning there was a huge crowd. We eventually ended up back at Birdies, simply because it was open so late. I had a great night meeting people and dancing till 5 in the morning.

In the morning it was time to explore Brisbane a bit more. I must say it is a really nice city, most similar to Sydney, with a great river running through it. In fact, it is comparable to London. Large tower blocks of office workers that all need places for their coffee and lunch breaks – meaning there are places to eat everywhere. There are also free ferry rides so that was a good way to get around the city on a budget.

I recommend Kangaroo Point and the Brisbane museum for good free days out. The Point is where you can see the large cliffs that line the river and the museum was great to learn a bit about the Australian wildlife and nature, as well as some interesting dinosaur exhibits. It did get a bit annoying how big the city was however, as the hostel was quite out of the city centre meaning long walks everytime we went out. We also saw, in our opinion our favourite busking act yet, a very talented guitarist called Matt who was full of advice to continue your dream and don’t believe people who tell you you can’t make a living off of busking, as he has been round the world. Such intricate finger picking and using the guitar he drew a massive crowd, which everyone knew he deserved.

We then met a couple of German girls who had just arrived in Australia from Asia and were about to go to Noosa the same time as us, so we have had company the last couple of days in Noosa, which is a nice change!

On the drive to Noosa we felt we could not miss out on Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo. A little pricey but a really great day being able to stroke kangaroos and koalas and see a show of some daredevils enticing crocs to bite them.

My favourite part of it was the history of the Crocodile Catcher, where you can sit and watch some of his documentaries, see great galleries of his photos with family members and magazine articles. I mean, that’s what I wanted, a bit of a tribute to the man who cared for so many of the animals in the zoo and the enthusiasm he goes about it with.

Me and Nathan enjoyed doing our best Steve Irwin impressions as went around. “Crikey mate! This one’s a whopper! Watch me grab him with my bare hands!!”

We clocked in to Noosa in the evening to a really great hostel called Flashpackers – free wifi, a free cinema room that is always full, pizza night, sausage night and en suites! It’s been a great stay here! We did a couple of beach days and the coastal walk, as well as the main beach shops and a lovely meal with the girls in Noosa Ville. The beaches are the best we’ve seen and not too crowded. We tried out surfing again with some success, but still want to be able to ride the waves a little better and not spend most of the time feeling close to drowning.

We finally went to a beach party! Having tried to go to a cheap bar we ended up following a crowd who had told us there was a huge party at Noosa Main Beach. It was beautiful: the night sky was so clear you could see clouds of spacey gasses and every constellation up there. We lay on the edge of the fire circle for a bit staring at it. Then I went to the middle of the circle to sing some songs with one of the English girls I had met in Brisbane. Highlight of the night was a cliche we were all afraid of buying into… Wonderwall. Of course. Of course it had to be Wonderwall. The guitarist dude was pretty smashed – some guy from Montreal with a great loud voice and snapshots of lyrics on his phone. He kept telling us he’d do it eventually. When he did, every person there sang along. Everyone was beaming after that – such a nice moment. Me and Mary decided we’d get going after that in order to avoid ruining it. It took a good 45 minutes for me to walk back though. Noosa is bigger than you think. And our hostel is past the big Noosa National Park, which was kinda creepy at night, with great bats all around you. Like rabbits with wings they are that big!

It’s getting close to the East Coast tour to be at and end as I’ve asked the guys to drop me off in Cardwell on their way to Cairnes, where my sister has kindly put me on the list for work in a banana farm. So we’ve only got a few days more stops to make before we get there. Next stop is two nights booked in Rainbow Beach! – the gateway to Frazer Island, which we will have to save for later in the year as we have no money.

Ciao for now!