They are the very simplest things..."
... said Ernest Hemingway (the quote is a little longer but this is the thrust of the message). Having only travelled previously for about 7 weeks in South America with P, this trip is obviously much longer and, having plenty of time to consider and learn, is sometimes quite insightful. I'm not attempting some deep and meaningful message here but he was right that it can often take a long time to learn something new (or get reacquainted with something) and, I guess, I'm lucky to be able to afford the time here. I've learnt lots of things so far, like don't spray aerosol mozzie spray when you're standing next to your gas burner, cooking supper! But the 'very simplest things' take time to reacquaint with, like the sun rising and setting; occurrences that go by almost unnoticed at home, especially in a city, and yet so profoundly significant and very special when you do have the time to be there watching.
Right, that's enough of all that. I went to Surfers Paradise. Gosh!
This part of the trip continues to be in absolute contrast with the one up the west coast. I'm glad I had New Zealand in-between to ease the passage back in to civilisation! This is good fun too; just different. It's busy with multilane freeways, service stations not roadhouses, big towns, cars, people and traffic wardens. I can imagine your average WA Aussie laughing at the concept of traffic wardens. (although in Surfers Paradise they are rather attractive and in Gold bikinis). In WA I would drive for hundreds of kilometres to a 'town' on the map, only to find a roadhouse and nothing else. Here I expect to find small places only to find huge conurbations!
I left Dennis last week with the warnings of every Aussie I've met in the last fortnight ringing in my ears... "Don't bother with Coffs Harbour; give it a miss; just keep going; only stop if you've got a drug problem and need supplies!" I drove in and drove straight out. Shame. Those of you that saw it years ago, did so at its height. So I carried on a little way and stayed the night in Ballina which was a nice little town on the coast.
From there it was through Lennox Head towards the legendary Byron Bay. I got there around lunchtime on Sunday and got stuck in a traffic jam for about 40 minutes. Grid lock... In Byron Bay! My fault for arriving on a sunny, late-summer, weekend when every Aussie and his dog was there to enjoy the surf. So I backtracked to Lennox Heads for the night and then reapplied myself to BB the next day.
The famous BB lighthouse...
I saw a podiatrist there, next to the tennis club, called "Foot Fault"! Brilliant.
(I didn't SEE the podiatrist. I just saw the building.)
Amongst the tourists and fit locals who incorporate the steep climb to the lighthouse into their jogging route was a woman practicing some kind of yoga and was basically slapping herself pretty hard everywhere other than her face. That would look pretty unusual in East Bergholt or London but in Byron Bay... It just seemed perfectly normal!
Meandering up the coast further I visited Brunswick Heads...
... Nice spot but cloudy for goodness sake.
Then The Pocket, banana plantations, tea plantations (!) and then a couple of days at the very lovely Hastings Point.
A small place, really friendly with lots of fishing done, sitting on the rocks watching surfers and I even got to sit on the river bank watching an Osprey fishing very close to me. Fantastic! And there were loads of birds on the beach...
Then... Surfers Paradise. Why, I don't know but I was expecting a small place but, as the capital of the Gold Coast, arriving was rather like arriving to the Perth skyline as you can see in the photo up top. Incredible. It is described as the Las Vegas of Oz. I was expecting Benidorm. I think it's fair to say that it's both and more. Actually not a bad place but far too hectic for my current mindset. A Mecca for holiday fun with plenty of 'icons'...
I only spent a day there and then headed north. I completely bypassed Brisbane (which I will double back to see next week) with the sole intention of having a relaxed "holiday" in Noosa Heads. I think I've just got a bit of culture/travel overload and need to do nothing for a while. I think I'm also getting preoccupied with coming back to the UK and all that entails.
So I've wrestled with my financial conscious and booked into a nice little hotel for 5 days.
Great little balcony from where I'm tapping away now and I like Noosa. A lot!
Very smart, chic and stylish and yet so incredibly laid back that the whole place is practically horizontal. The guide book warned that, "if you're overwhelmed by Main Beach with its population of supermodels, head to Sunshine beach". I was happy to be 'overwhelmed' today so will see Sunshine Beach tomorrow! Of course it has its more run-down areas too...
Its very, very good to be here. Just relaxing and doing little more than nothing. 32 ish by day and 22 ish by night. On the topic of weather, I've been lucky to have sunshine pretty much all the time since arriving back in Australia. Extreme rain and flooding affecting large chunks of NSW is happening right now and is only a few hundred kilometres south from here. They have had a rotten summer and evacuations are making the news today but I've managed to miss all of that.
It's good to be in an hotel room for a few nights. I had to haggle hard to get a reduction that felt agreeable and I think the lady at reception felt sorry for me in my disheveled, 2 weeks in a camper van, state!
Why is it called the Sunshine Coast, I wondered early this morning?
Finally. 3 nights ago I was lying on the bed in the van at about 8pm (it's dark by then) reading. I noticed a movement and was confronted by a Huntsman spider above my head, on the roof, which is really not that far above me! I don't think I can claim a true phobia but I definitely dislike spiders a lot! I'm tempted to say it was as big as my hand but, in truth, it was probably as big as my palm. Holy moly. It took every ounce of self control to stay calm and slither out from underneath it, very slowly, in order to make a plan for capture. 1. Thank goodness I'd looked them up only a day or two before when I saw the last one and, at least, knew that it was not deadly just by looking at me. 2. They are famed for their speed and I just didn't want it shooting off into a corner somewhere I couldn't see it... There'd be no way I could then sleep in the van that night.
I finally got to the tiny space that is in the rear of the van, but is not bed, and slowly held up a plastic beaker to capture the intruder. It wasn't big enough! A cereal bowl did the trick and eventually I evicted the hairy fella (about 10 metres away to ensure he didn't beat me back into the van!)
yikes...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Noosa Heads
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