East Coast Wanderings: Byron Bay & Brisbane

Thursday 10 March 2016


Byron Bay was the first place I got to without knowing anyone, which made me nervous, but it turned out to be my favourite place in Australia. And I was only there for three days!

I arrived mid morning after a long over night bus and was pleasantly surprised to be met with a free shuttle bus to my hostel (a novelty believe me!). The hostel in Byron was honestly one of my favourites of the whole of travelling - it had a great vibe, great people and there was a surf school as part of the hostel!



When I got there I met a couple of Canadian girls at the surf desk, we clicked straight away, and spent the day together! We hung out on the beach which was literally out the back gate of the hostel and went boogie boarding (free from the hostel!) before heading to the magical land of Aldi to get necessities like toothpaste and pasta sauce. 

That evening we went to Cheeky Monkey's (what a place!) for the paint party and got in a complete mess and ended the night with a $5 Dominos. 


Next day I had a surf session in the morning which was proper cool, learnt some stuff and then chilled over lunch. Also got a cool new rashie from Ripcurl. That afternoon the Canadians and I did the hike out to the Byron Bay Lighthouse and the most easterly point of Australia. It took us four hours because we're lazy slow walkers but I can honestly say that it was my happiest moment of travelling - hanging out on a beach for sunset, completely at peace with the world. 

My last day in Byron was spent surfing, chilling out, looking in every nicknack shop I could find and watching the UFC in Sticky Wickets and I was absolutely gutted to leave. Even though I barely had any time there I loved Byron Bay, it was definitely one of my favourite places and I miss it so much!

That evening I got to Brisbane to stay with a couple of friends from Florida who I met in New Zealand and we chilled and ate pizza.


My first day in Brisbane we actually went back to Surfers Paradise (cos I couldn't stay there) and chilled out on the beach, even though it got a bit cloudy all three of us got burnt! There was also a film crew on the beach who were randomly filming people so we took it in turns to fall asleep so we didn''t get caught out! We then got tacos and ice cream and mojito slushies! I'm actually okay with the fact that I couldn't stay in Surfers, it was a bit weird and not much happening - or maybe I just didn't see it! 


The next day my friends had to go to Uni lectures so I hung around the city on my own and did some shopping as it was raining for most of the morning. Meant I couldn't do the hike up to the lookout which I was kinda annoyed about. I then spent the afternoon hanging out on Southbank and watched a film on my phone in the sun. The thing about Brisbane is that it is definitely not a tourist city, I'd love to live and study there, but for such a short period of time there's not really a lot to do in the CBD.
That evening I met up with another friend (this time a native Aussy!) who I met in New Zealand for dinner and we went for an Indian - AUSTRALIANS CAN'T DO CURRIES! It tasted nothing like I've ever had and I was majorly disappointed. But when I got back to the house everyone was watching The OC and now I'm really in to that!

Before I got on my bus the next morning myself and one of the girls went to the Farmers Market to get food for lunch - cheese and bacon swirl and a massive chocolate muffin! ❤︎ 

And then I was on my way to Hervey Bay to get the boat across to Fraser Island!


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