Brisbane

Arrived in Brisbane early and got picked up by Glen’s cousin Steph, who drove us over to Glen’s uncle’s place where we were staying for the next few days. Neil (Glen’s uncle) lives in a suburb called Birkdale with his wife Hamida and two kids Lucy (14), Angus (11) and Archie the dashound… all so nice!

Bribie Island

We went with Steph and her boyfriend, Mitchell, and friend Katrina down to the Gold Coast for the night to go see Steph’s brother (Glen’s other cousin) Kyle who was visiting from New Zealand for the weekend. We planned on staying the night at a motel but plans fell through and we ended up hanging out with Kyle and his friends at their apartment then driving back to Brisbane to Katrina’s (about an hour away). Gold Coast looked pretty cool from what I could see at night haha… a pretty big party town it seems like with lots of clubs and bars and young people.

Glen and his new best friend Bailey...

We went to Bribie Island the next day with everyone, over an hour away and is attached to the mainland by a bridge so you don’t have to take a ferry over or anything. The beach there was really nice and the ocean was so warm! Ended the day by going to this place that serves $2 steaks on Sundays hahaha it was awesome!

The next day, we were able to borrow Neil’s car and we drove up to the Australia Zoo with our friends from the Netherlands, Stephanie and Sanne. The zoo was awesome!! We were able to feed kangaroos and elephants, and pet koalas for free! Lots of crocs… naturally… since it’s Steve Irwin’s zoo, and lots of pics and souvenirs of Steve everywhere. They had a bunch of different shows you could see too, but we only caught the crocodile/bird show which was really cool. The day after we went to the zoo it was Steve Irwin Day, apparently you got in for a discount price is you wore khaki and the special guest that day was Kate Gosselin… ugh haha glad we weren’t there for that! If you paid an extra $2 at the zoo, you had access to the zoo hospital located across the parking lot. It was so sad! There was a little joey with a cast on his leg because a dog attacked him and they were operating on a koala that got hit by a car. Wah! But it was good to see what they were doing for the animals J Overall, it was an awesome day and I’d highly recommend going to the Australia Zoo if you come down this way!

We just got back from a two-night stay on Coochiemudlo Island, which is only a seven minute ferry ride from the mainland. It was really nice and relaxing, just spending time on the beach and by the pool. We walked around the island too, it should only take less than an hour but we must have taken a wrong turn and ended up in the bush and saw some big spiders and snakes… blaahhhh I was glad to get out of there!

We just picked up our new ride… a “spaceship” aka a tricked out minivan that has a bed in the back, fridge, all the cooking stuff you need, locked storage space and a DVD player! It’s so cool! Were on our way now up to Noosa for lunch then to Hervey Bay to meet up with our group for our trip over to Fraser Island. We stay tonight at a hostel with everyone, then tomorrow get up early and take the ferry over to Fraser and get our 4x4 vehicle and drive all over the island with a group of about 25 people! Were on the island for two nights, then to the hostel for one more night then were off again up to the Whitsundays.

Byron Bay

Woke up extra early on Monday to make it back up to Sydney in time to drop our campervan off on the Tuesday. Not a whole lot of action on the drive up, we ended up sleeping at this nice, free little camping area off the side of the highway.

The next morning, we jetted up to drop off our awesome campervan (sad) and picked up another rental car. To take a break from driving, we parked at a beach in Cronulla (near Sydney) and went for a swim in their rock pool before a huge storm came in with thunder, lightning and the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen! Took refuge in a fish and chip shop haha… then continued our drive up towards Byron Bay, sleeping on the side of the road at a truck rest stop.

We finally got to Byron Bay on Wednesday and checked into the Main Beach Hostel, which was literally 2 minutes from the beach. BB is a pretty cool town, lots of good shops and tons of young people who come and live here for the lifestyle I suppose. It felt a little bit like a surfy version of Whistler… especially the people there (young, broke and drunk). I think it used to be a lot quieter, sort of like a secret spot where surfers and hippies hung out, but now it’s extra touristy and so busy… but I liked it. Relaxed a bit and met two girls from the Netherlands (Stephanie and Sanne) and hung out with them that night and the next night for beers. Went to the beach the next day and got sooo burnt all up the back of my legs, butt and back. FAIL. It’s hard to do anything, even sitting hurts. Ugh. Surprisingly Glen only got a little bit burnt fml.

Drove up to the lighthouse in Byron this morning, we were going to walk it but I slept in a bit whoops… now were on the road to our next destination… Brisbane! Were staying at Glen’s uncles house for a few days, and heading up to the Australia Zoo (the Steve Irwin one) early next week, then were jam packed until the end of our trip! We go to Coochiemudlo Island for a couple days, then a trip over to Fraser Island with a group, sailing the Whitsundays then driving up to Cairns and flying back to Sydney then home from there!