Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Brisbane!

Byron Bay

So, last time I updated this I was booking an extra night at the Arts Factory in Byron Bay. That extra night turned into 3 extra nights as Byron Bay is now my favourite place ever! Spent quite a few nights at Cheeky Monkeys having cheap drinks and cheap food! They held various competitions and giveaways each night. Unfortunately I didn’t win anything, but they did hold an auction for some trips, and I got a $65 surf lesson for $35! Which I was pretty pleased with cos I was planning on doing another surf lesson anyway!

That was Thursday night. So the next day I went into town and booked my lesson for Saturday morning, then in the evening me and Shweta went to the beach because we’d heard that it’s a cool place to hang out cos lots of hippies go there! It was pretty good, someone playing guitar and random street performer people! We stayed and watched the sunset, which was so beautiful. Took about a million photos!

The next day I was up at 7am ready for my 5^th surf lesson! Had a great morning surfing, though I didn’t really improve, as the waves were really different to Spot X. Because the waves were breaking really close to shore, once I was actually stood up on the board, I had to jump off as I was hitting the sand! Oh well, still had a fun morning!

Sunday I didn’t do much really. Byron Bay is the best place to do nothing, especially at the Arts Factory, it’s so chilled out. Definitely going to go back there at some point! I think in the summer I’m going to have a few days in Spot X and another week or so in Byron. Packed my bags on Sunday evening ready to get the 7:45am bus on Monday morning to Surfers Paradise.

Surfers Paradise

I arrived in Surfers Paradise at 9:30am on Monday 23rd so it was quite a short journey. First impressions weren’t that great - lots of skyscrapers and not much character. Turns out my first impressions were right. It was ok there, the weather was good and the nightlife was ok. But if you’re not into lying on the beach all day and getting drunk every night, then there’s not a huge amount to do there. I prefer places that have a bit more about them, like Byron Bay!!

There are loads of theme parks in the Gold Coast area, but they were all overpriced and I didn’t really come to Australia to go to theme parks.. and because my funds are running pretty low, I didn’t want to waste money, I’ve been to Alton Towers at home, so I doubt these places are going to be that different!

So I had 3 nights at Surfers Paradise spending most of my time reading and sitting on the beach. Which was nice apart from the fact that the skyscrapers kept blocking the sun so it wasn’t that warm! Did manage to get through a good portion of my book though!

The best thing about Surfers Paradise was definitely the hostel. I stayed at a place called Sleeping Inn which was quite a small hostel and very social. The rooms were like a little apartment, with every 3 dorms having their own kitchen, living area with a TV, and a bathroom. So it was actually quite nice having a sofa to sit on! On Tuesday night they had an “all you can eat” pizza night for $6 - and it really was all you can eat! They kept bringing out pizzas until we were all absolutely stuffed! I had 9 slices! What a pig! Wanted to get my moneys worth though J

Then on Wednesday night we went on the backpackers big night out! We paid $30 for entry to 4 bars (which normally cost about $10 each to get in) and a free drink in each bar! So that was good!

The next day I left Surfers Paradise and got on the bus to Brisbane!

Brisbane

The fun has now ended and the search for work has begun! Turns out its really hard to get a job here as a backpacker. Because I have to put on my CV that I’m on a working holiday visa, companies know that I can only work for them for a maximum of 6 months, so don’t want to hire you. I’ve applied for every job going including shop work (yes, I applied to a shoe shop!...), restaurants, bars, call centres and even door to door sales. I had 2 interviews today, one for a restaurant that opens next week, and one for a door to door sales job. I’m tempted to look for farm work instead, because at least then the work will be counting towards getting my 2^nd year visa!

So yeah, I’ve been in Brisbane for 4 nights now, staying at Base Central. Met up with Ellie (from Spot X) on Thursday afternoon, and we went over to the Southbank, which was just as nice as it was 2 years ago. We had a walk around and took some photos. 

On Friday I job hunted most of the day, then in the evening went out to look round some night markets with Helena, a girl from my dorm. I could have spent so much money there, they had some really pretty jewellery! Maybe if I get a job I’ll treat myself to something!

On Saturday Shweta arrived in Brisbane, which was good. In the evening we went down to the hostel bar as it was ladies night. So between 9 and 10pm they had free champagne and free cocktails for all the girls! And to top it off they played a Blink 182 song!

Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got to report for now. Doubt my updates will be as regular or as interesting once I enter the world of work in Oz!

Hope everyone back home is OK, missing you all lots! xxx

Spot X and Byron Bay!

Didn’t do much in my last few days in Sydney, only notable things are that I did my RSA course which means I can work in a bar if I want to, I went to the Randwick Races - but didn’t win anything, but we did win free ‘buckets’ (a bucket full of alcohol) in the pub quiz at the hostel!

Spot X

So at 6am on Friday 13^th I got the bus to Spot X surf camp! I’m travelling on the Oz Experience bus. There was a choice between that and the Greyhound, but I went with Oz Ex as it caters specifically for backpackers and is more social!

1 night and 1 surf lesson was included as part of the bus price but I booked an extra 2 nights and 2 lessons as I’d enjoyed surfing so much in Sydney.

When we got there I was a bit nervous about the accommodation, outdoor cabins and outdoor toilets, which were full of spiders webs! Didn’t see any deadly ones though! The actual camp was amazing though, it was right by the beach, and there was a campfire at night so there was a really good atmosphere, it was really chilled out! And the food was AMAZING! Now my money is starting to run out and I’m living on pasta and noodles, the Spot X food was a real treat! I even had a roast dinner followed by apple crumble on the Sunday evening!

My favourite thing about surf camp though, was obviously the surfing! Having managed to stand up on the board in Sydney I was pleased that I managed to stand up straight away in my first lesson at Spot X. By my final lesson on Monday morning I was on a slightly shorter board (beginners have the biggest board as its easier to balance) and learning to do turns! So I’m pretty pleased with that. 

Not sure how much more I’ll improve though as the next step is attempting to ride the huge waves, which I know will involve a lot of falling off and being battered, so I’m slightly nervous about that!

It was quite sad to be leaving Spot X, I could have easily stayed there another few weeks but decided to move on to Byron Bay! I may go back to Spot X in the summer.

Byron Bay

I’m now in Byron Bay, and after a lovely sunny first day, it’s now raining! I was hoping I’d got rid of the bad weather when I left Sydney, obviously not.

I got here at about 7pm Monday evening and checked into the Arts Factory hostel, which is really cool. It has a pool and Jacuzzi, a bar, free didgereedoo lessons (which I’m yet to take part in) a bushtucker walk and just has a general chilled out hippy atmosphere! You get a choice of staying in a normal dorm, a teepee or a converted bus! I chose a dorm as it gets really cold at night here.

After getting settled at the hostel, me, Rosie and Ellie (2 girls I met at Spot X) headed to Cheeky Monkeys, the local backpacker bar, where they do $5 meals, which include a free drink!  I had fish and chips, which was pretty good for $5! Had a couple of drinks then had an early night as I’d been up early for my last surf lesson at surf camp.

The next day the weather was gorgeous, clear blue sky, sunny and warm! So we decided to do the scenic walk up to the lighthouse and the most easterly point of Australia! It was a 2 hour round trip but well worth it as the views were amazing! Treated myself to an ice cream by the lighthouse :)

In the evening we had a $2 meal at the hostel as it was cheap Tuesday! Then we headed to Cheeky Monkeys again! I had quite a few glasses of $3 house wine (needless to say it wasn’t the best!) but it was a fun night!

Didn’t do much yesterday as it was raining so just stayed at the hostel and ventured into town to use some free internet at one of the backpacker places I had a voucher for. Then in the evening we went to the hostel bar for a while but had another early night!

Today’s been another rainy day so just went into town for a while and bought myself 2 bracelets, and an iron on patch for my rucksack (I’m collecting them from each place I go to). Me and Rachel (a girl from OzIntro) met up with people she’d met on the Oz Ex bus and went for a drink. Also used some free internet again and downloaded the professional surf photos I bought from surf camp, so they’re now on facebook and there are a couple above ^^

So now I’m just back at the hostel writing this offline, the internet is so expensive everywhere, and the computers don’t seem very reliable at the places where it’s free!

I booked an extra night in Byron as I was originally supposed to be leaving tomorrow morning. I hoping tomorrow might be better weather as I really want to go on a dolphin kayak tour!