Cool Bananas!

Since leaving Melbourne I've been feeling a bit sad and lonely. It's hard being back on my own again, having to make an effort to talk to strangers and sleeping in shared dorms. I am certainly looking forward to meeting up with Nerys, Brady and Mark in Darwin. Also my friend Trent is in Cairns and I might see Conrad and Carmi along the way as well. Brady and Mark were in Byron while I was there so that was nice. I spent 5 days in rainy but fun Byron Bay. As I mentioned in my previous post, there were many different types of accommodation that you could choose from at The Arts Factory Lodge. I stayed in the lakeside cottage, which as you can see was very beautiful and my room mates were very nice. We had our own bathroom and kitchen which was also a treat since often when you stay in big hostels you have to battle 20 other backpackers at dinnertime in order to get an oven or pot to cook with!


This is the lake that the cottage was looking over...


There was also a pool which unfortunately was too cold (and rainy) to swim in :(

You could also sleep in a bus...

Or a teepee, which was apparently still quite cold at night and with all the rain while I was there I'm glad I chose the cottage.

I arrived on Sunday and on Monday night there was an open mic/talent show and Brady got up and sang a few songs (after downing some liquid courage:p) Yay Brady!

The next day we went on a bushwalk with this dude named Cokatoo Paul. He was nuts in the best of ways. He taught us about how to survive in the wild (which apparently he has done many a time) and we got to eat flowers and watch him throw a spear. He swore every second word, talked about sex non-stop and said everything was "cool bananas". Such a character.

The most Easterly point in Australia is located in Byron Bay. This is what it looks like. Neat eh?

And this is the view from the most Easterly point in Australia. Pretty eh?

Can you spot all the surfers waiting to catch a wave?

After walking to the lookout we decided to get the biggest burger in Byron. They didn't lie...

While I was in Byron I took a day tour with Jim's Alternative Tours to a small hippy town called Nimbin where pot is sold openly on the streets and the police seem to turn a blind eye most of the time. The tour was amazing because Jim had a really good sound system on the bus and he co-ordinated the whole drive with songs that coincided with where we were at the time. He told us tons of funny stories about people who had done drugs in Nimbin only to fully trip out on the way home in the bus and make the ride very interesting. While in Nimbin we visited the Hemp Museum...

After Nimbin Jim took us to visit his very interesting hippy friend who lives on a huge property with tons of plants and trees that he has planted in the 30 years that he has lived there. He smokes pot everyday. His outfit was quite interesting. I'm pretty sure they are mismatched ladies pajamas. He fed us some yummy fruits that grow on his property.

This is the "art piece" that is mainly made up of junk that was in his front yard. Remind you of anything Ashley and Sam?

He also had a collection of figurines that he had arranged into sexual positions. Let this be a lesson to you kids. This is what happens to you if you smoke pot everyday...

After Jim drove the bus to the top of a very windy and steep hill and played a trippy song on full blast that lasted the same amount of time it took him to drive down the hill to the second. Thankfully right after that Bob Marley's "Every little thing is gonna be alright" came on and we relaxed a little. Next stop was this beautiful waterfall. Followed by a stop at the local store to get much needed munchies and then back home.

There was tons of wildlife running around the Arts Factory including this little Possum that I found on the cottage porch one night when I got home...


These Bush Turkeys. They were everywhere. There are so many crazy sounding birds in Australia. Birds that sound like Monkeys, birds that sound like dying babies, birds that make the loudest sound despite only being as big as a budgie.

And this slightly intimidating Lizard just outside the cottage.

I am now in Surfers Paradise for 2 nights and then I go to Noosa Heads for another 2. Surfers, although very pretty and aptly named as you can see by the waves, is far too backpackerish for me. It's full of 18 year olds who come here just to get waisted and make out with blonde bimbos. If I had known I would have only booked one night. The hostel I am staying at is lovely and thankfully my room mates are very friendly but we went out to this club last night and they played the worst dance music and for the first time in a while I felt very old. I am looking forward to getting to Cairns where I will get to see Trent again and it's very warm (about 30 degrees). Although it's not too bad here. I'm wearing my flip flops again:)

P.S. As much as a HATE McDonalds...I'm very grateful for their free WiFi which has allowed me to update this blog without having to pay $1.00 every 15 minutes.

P.P.S. I hope all my Toronto peeps are having a great summer. I miss you "heaps" (I'm so Australian!) and I am very sad that I am missing patio pints and dance nights and bicycle rides. I think about you guys every single day and can't wait to see you again. You better all be right where I left you when I get back. Seriously. Don't move. I'll be back before you know it! My heart bleeds for you!!!

Kisses times a million.