PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

I could not believe I was back in good old Perth, Western Australia when we finally landed on the 24th in the evening. The weather was brilliant (as expected) and I could not wait to check into our hostel and explore Perth again. This was my fourth time in Perth and every time I arrive, I feel like I am coming home. To me, Perth is the most beautiful place to live. There are so many beautiful suburbs, shops, parks and so much to do and see. 

Our excitement went down the cellar when we checked into our backpackers and found out that this place was everything but clean and comfortable. I stayed in backpackers most of the time when I travelled around Australia in 1998 but I never came across anything like this. 

I don’t mind if a backpackers is simple with no luxury at all but I do mind when I open the cupboards and the first thing I see are cockroaches en mass climbing in and out of cereals and other food that was stored there. 

I couldn’t even count them – there were so many of them! And did I mention our bedroom at all? 

Not that it is worth mentioning but I have to say that the room had a large window which was locked and could not be opened at all. As we were on the basement, it would have not been the best idea anyway but there was no air conditioning in the room and with almost 50 degrees Celsius it was impossible to breath, let alone sleep in this room. 

Looking back, I don’t know how we managed to survive this ordeal.

Unfortunately, accommodation was pretty much nonexistent during that week because it was in the middle of the summer holidays and because of Australia Day which is the most important Day for Australians and therefore a big celebration. People from all over Western Australia come to Perth to celebrate.

Nevertheless, we did enjoy our stay in Perth as the weather was fantastic and we never stood still. 

A friend of mine lives in Perth and so does my great uncle so I arranged a visit with them. My friend showed us his business and then he took us for a lovely ride in the late afternoon to the beautiful Swan Valley, definitely worth a visit. The beautiful vineyards left us stunned and the villages in between vineyards were lovely too.

My friend also took us to suburbs where the rich and wealthy live and the houses we saw were phenomenal. There are golf courses everywhere and when people leave the golf courses, Kangaroos take over and you can spot them all over the courses, relaxing on the lovely green.

Australia Day is a public holiday and is on the 26 January. Everybody was dressed up and there were thousands of Aussie flags, huts, flip flops and people’s faces had the Australian flag painted on. 

The atmosphere was amazing and the weather was incredible! It was 42 degrees Celsius and at 11.00pm at night it was still 34 degrees! Pubs were all crowded and must have made a fortune that day. 

A concert with an Aboriginal band was among the performers as well as dancing and kids entertainment. 

I was looking forward to spend Australia Day in Perth as they always have loads of entertainment and a very special firework display. (I have now experienced Australia Day three times in Perth and it gets better ever time!!!) So if you happen to be in Australia on 26 January, make sure you book your accommodation in advance and stay in a bigger city where you can experience the great atmosphere and watch the fireworks. I don't know what they are like in other cities but the ones in Perth are outstanding! If you go to South Perth early enough, you might find a place next to the river from where you can watch the firework display and have the best view of Perth skyline (see picture above).

The next day we went to my favourite beach, the Cottosloe Beach. We took the train from Perth city which took us to Cottosloe in 25 minutes.

My friend picked us up later in the afternoon and we went to his mothers place for dinner. B. is a good cook and completely spoiled us. Luckily B. offered us to spend the night at her place after hearing our horror story about the cockroaches in the hostel.

Fremantle was on our list of things to do and see so we decided to visit Fremantle the next day. 

Locals would play the didgeridoo (see picture) while tourists would stop and listen to this very skillful entertainment.

I absolutely love Fremantle! The town centre is gorgeous with lovely restaurants, cafes and pubs along the main street. At the end of the street is the Fremantle market, where you can buy everything you need to cook a lovely meal. 

Shopping in Perth is so relaxing and good fun. The shops are lovely and, very important - they were air conditioned so we spent a lot of time in shops cooling down.

The next few days we relaxed, went to the beach and got organised for our trip to the south west of Australia. We hired a car for 3 weeks and the plan was to go to the south west, return to Perth for a night and then head north.

I took John to a famous pub called the Brass Monkey in Northbridge on the night before we headed south. Northbridge is the entertainment area where you can find all kinds of restaurants, pubs, clubs, bars and games halls (pool, billiard etc.). That’s where most people go out on the weekend.

In my next post about Australia, I will take you to the beautiful south west to places like Margaret River, Esperance, Denmark, Augusta and many more. 

Western Australia truly is a magic place if not the most amazing one in my opinion. Australia as a country is so versatile – you have beaches, more beautiful than you can imagine, rain forests, deserts, cities and mountains (although not many). Flora and fauna could not be more beautiful and the amount of wildlife you can see is enormous.

So read on and be inspired! And please feel free to comment on my posts. I would really like to hear what you think about my stories.

--> More pictures of Perth and Fremantle 

  

CAIRNS & CAPE TRIBULATION

In my previous post about my Australia travel I finished the report with John's Birthday bash in Airlie Beach. I also mentioned that we skipped Magnetic Island as the weather was not good at all and we decided to go further north. First of all, we stopped over in Cairns where we met our two lovely German friends again.

We met Alex and Jens in the afternoon at the visitor centre in down town Cairns to discuss opportunities for snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef, sometime in the next few days. We came to the conclusion that the best place would be off the north coast of Cairns, an area called Cape Tribulation.

It is supposed to be less crowded and less spoiled then off the coast of Cairns. That's what we believed so we went to book a one day boat trip with RUMRUNNER. (I have tried to link you to the Rumrunner website but it looks like they have gone bust as their website is not accessible).

Alex and Jens offered us to drive up to Cape Tribulation with them in their car which we happily accepted as another bus trip would have cost us a small fortune. We arranged with the backpackers to store our big backpacks and just take small ones for those 3 days, until we come back.

The next day A and J picked us up we headed north. On the way to the Daintree National park we stopped in Port Douglas for lunch and groceries shopping.

We also spent some time at the Mossmann Gorge which is a very beautiful place to visit. It was very hot and humid and the mosquitoes attacked us as soon as we stepped out of the car. During the wet season they seem to be particularly aggressive.

On the way to our camp ground John and I went for a one hour boat ride on the Daintree River, the home of hundreds of crocodiles. We spotted 3 crocs and a big Python snake, rolled up on a tree branch. Nice one!

In a discussion about Australias wildlife, Alex mentioned how nice it would be to see a Cassowary (big birds, similar to Emus) but the chances are small as there are only 65 of them left. But guess what - two Cassowaries, the father and a chick crossed the road, just a few minutes after my friend had mentioned them! We were so lucky to see them at all!!!

Later on we checked in at the camp ground and cooked dinner together with Alex and Jens. I love barbecue's and Australia's camp grounds all have BBQ facilities. Bliss!

The next morning we were picked up from our camp site by a shuttle bus who took us to the beach where we went on our boat, the RUMRUNNER for our snorkel trip. We sailed out to the McKay reef and got briefed about the reef, Marine life etc. John was getting ready for snorkelling and I decided to go scuba diving.

This was the first time in 4 years I went scuba diving again. It was a bit scary after such a long time but I was desperate to dive the Great Barrier Reef (finally). I had a great time! The corals were fantastic but the diversity of fish was not that impressive. John was not very impressed with the marine life either. I guess the reef is not as active as it used to be. A lot of corals were dead, unfortunately.

We were suppose to sail to another reef after lunch but the weather was not ideal and the wind picked up so we had to stay where we were to avoid strong currents in the water.

Our trip ended around 5pm and we were dropped off at the camp site. The weather totally changed and it rained like crazy during the whole 2 nights we were there.

It was almost impossible to walk around in this rain and therefore we had to cancel our plans to do a night walk in the rain forest. Originally, we have planned to stay 3 nights but it rained constantly so we changed our plan and returned to Cairns a day earlier. The best time to visit Cape Tribulation is from June to October.

The last 3 days John and I spent in Cairns. We were not doing much, just relaxed, checked our e-mails and got organised to fly to Perth on the 24th of January. The flight to Perth had been booked in advance so we had to hang out in Cairns until our departure. I was not utterly impressed with Cairns. It is a good place from where you can do trips to the Great Barrier Reef but other than that it was just another party town, very commercial.

The hostel was very nice and the kitchen was surprisingly clean, which is an unusual case as the majority of backpackers we stayed at the East Coast would have never passed the health, safety and hygiene regulations in Scotland.

My next posts about travelling Australia will cover our 4 weeks in Western Australia, my absolute favourite place in the world. I love Perth and the whole of Western Australia is simply the most amazing place on earth.  So watch this space!

--> More photos of Cairns & Cape Tribulation

TRAVEL INFO AUSTRALIA

Today I found a good website that gives travellers to Australia tips and information about

• Flights
• Australian visa
• Insurance
• Jobs in Australia
• Hotels
• Travel

and much more. 

Have a look at the Pure Australia website and let me know if you found their website useful.

AIRLIE BEACH – WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS

WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS

Finally we arrived in Airlie Beach and wandered around the town and checked out different shops, internet cafe's etc. Still tired from our long bus journey, we did not do much but relaxing and getting our stuff organised for the next day. We booked a 3 day sailing trip to the Whitsundays from 15-17 January so we had to get things organised, pack a small bag with our personal belongings as well as our own drinks as the boat was a BYO (bring your own), not licensed to serve alcohol.

On Monday the 15^th January, we had to meet up with all other guests and a crew member of the Alexander Stewart sailing boat at the jetty in Airlie Beach. Soon after we took off and relaxed on deck of this lovely boat. 


After a few hours of sailing we stopped at the world famous Whitehaven Beach where we went off the boat and spend a few hours on the island,  enjoying the hot weather and a lovely swim in the sea.

Unfortunately we had to wear a stinger suit as the sea was full of a common jelly fish, simply called ‘stingers’ who could make you very ill if you got stung.
In the late afternoon, we sailed to a place called the Nora inlet where we anchored for the night. Dinner was very nice and the wine tasted fantastic. We then chatted away with other guests, listened to music and had a good time.

The following two days were very relaxing and we enjoyed the sailing much, although the sails were not up most of the time, instead, the boat was running by engine (not enough wind). We stopped at different places such as Maureens Cove, Montaray Bay and Luncheon Bay.Common in this area is the friendly and very curious Parrot Fish. You can almost touch them – they come very close and look you straight in the eyes. That was really funny because all off a sudden they appeared in front of my face while I was snorkelling.

We moored up at Stonehaven Bay where we used torches to watch sharks feed off of floating squid right next to our boat. We even saw a huge sea snake which the captain said was the deadliest in the world.

On our last day we stopped on different spots for snorkelling and headed back to Airlie Beach in the late afternoon.

I loved the Alexander Stewart sailing boat. It was a beautiful wooden boat with lots of charm and atmosphere.

The cabins were cosy and the boat had a touch of adventure. Simply loved it!

AIRLIE BEACH

As it was John's birthday on the 17th, I arranged a surprise dinner at a nice Seafood restaurant called 'The Shipwrecked'. John did not know anything about my plans only that we were going out for dinner. He also did not know that I have arranged with some other people, who we met along the way from Sydney to Airlie Beach, to join us for dinner. Two Danish guys we met in Agnes Water and a German couple we met on the sailing boat were joining us. After dinner we went to a well known bar where we met up with the other guys from the boat and the crew members. It was a nice evening with loads of beer and wine.

The next morning John and I bumped into our German friends on our way to a cafe for breakfast. We decided to meet up in Townsville later on that day to see if we can do another tour together. As the weather was not that great we decided to skip our plans for Magnetic Island and meet in Cairns instead to look for snorkelling trips at the Great Barrier Reef.

--> Photos of Airlie Beach and Whitsunday Islands 

AGNES WATER - LADY MUSGRAVE ISLAND

AGNES WATER / TOWN OF 1770

John and I had enough of ‘sandy’ barbecues for a while and decided to go out for dinner in Hervey Bay. The next day we were able to spend a couple of hours on the beach in Hervey Bay before catching the bus to our next destination, Agnes Water. Again, we tried to avoid an overnight journey on the bus and Agnes Water seemed to be a nice place to visit. I also read about ‘Lady Musgrave Island’ and thought it would be worth a trip there to snorkel in lovely waters.

Our backpacker was very cute and small and the staff was very nice. We also met a lovely couple from the Italian part of Switzerland. They were on the same bus as John and I and we were chatting away with them at the hostel.

The next morning we got picked up and taken to the ‘Town of 1770’ from where the boat left for Lady Musgrave Island. Again, the weather was spectacular with no clouds in sight.

Snorkelling was very nice and one of the crew members took us to the ‘Lady Musgrave Island’ where we had a little tour around the island and where we learned about the birds that live there. We also spotted sharks while walking along the beach of this amazing island. An absolute 'must see' destination, worth spending a few days there.

Information about Lady Musgrave Island

Lady Musgrave Island is just a short boat trip and a 5 hour drive from Brisbane and is one of the Gems of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. It is the southernmost island of the Bunker Group, situated off the Capricorn coast. The island is a 14ha coral cay with a 1192ha surrounding reef. In 1938 half the Island was declared a national park with the remainder following in 1967. A central pisonia forest is a feature of the island's vegetation which in turn plays host to a great variety of bird life. 

Permanent and frequent visitors to the Island include bridled terns, black-naped tern, black noddies, oyster catchers and wedge-tailed shearwaters.

On January 13, we hired bicycles to ride to ‘Town of 1770’ as we have not seen the place properly and as Agnes Water is a very small Town, public transport does not exist. It is also a great opportunity to get some exercise and to discover other beautiful places nearby.

The day came where we could not avoid an overnight bus ride as there was only one bus running from Agnes Waters to Airlie Beach. A shuttle bus picked us up about an hour prior the departure time of the Greyhound bus, to be taken 30 kilometres out of town to a point where the Greyhound bus would pick us up.

At 20.20h the Greyhound arrived and all travellers hopped on the bus. It was a very short ride on this bus as only 10 minutes later, the bus had to stop as the engine was on fire and thick black smoke came out of the engine department. What a shock it was for all of us to learn that we had to wait 3 hours for another bus to come to pick us up.

Stuck in the middle of nowhere and eaten alive by mosquitoes, we counted every minute until the replacement bus arrived and we continued our 10 hour bus drive to Airlie Beach. It wouldn't have been so bad if there were any restaurants or pubs nearby but there was simply nothing but the bus stop, a farm house, the road and us.

Luckily, the bus was not as busy as usually and John and I were lucky to get two seats each on the bus. This allowed us to stretch our legs a bit which was pure luxury, considering the long and boring drive ahead of us (it was night and we could not see anything which I thought was a pity). That's where I wished I had a car.

--> Photos of Lady Musgrave Island and Town of 1770

NOOSA - HERVEY BAY - FRASER ISLAND

NOOSA

After just 3 days in Brisbane, we headed off to Noosa, just a couple of hours outside Brisbane. Noosa Heads is a posh place and very popular for Aussies to spend their holidays there. Noosa’s National Park has amazing beaches and offers activities such as bush walks and if you are lucky, you can even see Koalas in the trees. John and I were lucky indeed when we spotted two Koalas just at the beginning of the National Park. Later on we came across a big Iguana whose Head was inside a termite mouth, searching for food. We made some noise to get the Iguana’s attention and after several knocks on the tree the animal had a good look around and a delighted John took plenty of photographs of it.




Just off the shore of Noosa beach, we spotted dolphins performing and showing off. What an amazing experience. You will be able to see a lot of wild life in Noosa if you spend some time in the nature.

Noosa has several beaches and one of them, the Alexandria Beach was a very special one. It was further away from the main beach and only accessible by a one hour walk through the National Park. John nearly had a heart attack when he realized that most of the people there were actually naked. 


This particular beach was inofficially called 'Noosa’s nudist beach' what we did not know at that time.

We stayed at the Koala’s Backpackers as (again) this was the only place that had availability for accommodation. Poor us – we ended up staying in a double room which was inside a 6 bed dorm, full of 20 year old surfers who kept us awake, once again, almost all night long, after coming back to their dorms from a party (drunk and cheery). Earplugs are very useful in most situations but sometimes even they don’t do the job :-). Sorry but this backpackers would not get my thumb's up :-)


My recommendation: 
Yes, do visit Noosa - it is almost a must when travelling the east coast of Australia. Just book your hotel in advance to avoid disappointment.

--> Photos of Noosa

HERVEY BAY

Luckily, we left this backpacker after 3 nights and took our favourite Greyhound bus to Hervey Bay. This is the most popular place from where the tours leave for Fraser Island. My husband and I booked a 3 day tour to Fraser Island with a group of 11 people. The tour organizer put together five groups of 10 to 11 people to fill the five 4WD mini vans. We ended up in a group full of English and Irish blokes.


FRASER ISLAND

On January 8th we headed off to Fraser Island where we spent 3 days and 2 nights camping just a few metres off the beach. The weather was quite good and we had an interesting and exciting time. 

Info about Fraser Island
Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island. It is World Heritage listed and has become an Eco tourism venue now that its timber and sand mining industries have been abandoned. Fraser Island attained its World Heritage Listing in December 1992 in recognition of the island's exceptional sand dune systems, its rain forests on sand, and its beautiful freshwater lakes.
Fraser Island is situated just off the south Queensland coast opposite Hervey Bay. The island is about 120 kilometres long and between 5 and 25 kilometres wide. Dozens of lakes, rain forests and huge sand blows cover vast parts of the island. People who visit Fraser Island for the first time often struggle to find the words to describe the beauty of this magical island. But also animal life, especially the 230 species of birds, Australia's purest dingo's and many other species contribute to the unique island environment.
Aboriginals of the Butchalla tribe have been living on Fraser Island for the last 5000 years. And because the abundance of food supplied by the sea, the lakes and the forest the number of inhabitants was quite high. 160 years ago about 2000 aboriginals were living on the island. That changed dramatically when the island became an immigration- and quarantine post for ships that brought people and equipment for the gold fields in the area. Forty years later there were only 150 tribe members left. These were taken off the island to reserves on the mainland.

As soon as we touched ground on Fraser Island, we drove through the forest with a maximum of 30km per hour. Our first stop was at Lake Boomanjin where we freshened up a bit before we continued driving to our camp spot on the beach. We did not stay on camp grounds as wild camping on the beach was permitted in designated areas. All our vans were equipped with tents, pots and pans, cutlery, gas cooker and all other things you need for camping. Luckily, we had a cook ‘on board’ and he volunteered to look after our dinner. 


The rest of us chilled out and enjoyed the beauty of Fraser Island. Later in the evening, a Dingo was sneaking around our tents, trying to steal some of our delicious food. I managed to take a nice picture of it.

The following few days we went to places such as Indian Head, where we spotted reef sharks, sting rays, dolphins and an eagle. You can spend hours watching wild life, doing long walks or just enjoying a stroll along the beach. It can get very hot though and, unfortunately, there is only one place you are allowed into the sea. It was a sheltered little pool called the 'Champaign pools'. The reason for not being able to swim anywhere else is because there are hundreds of sharks lurking around just off the coast and it would simply be too risky to swim in open waters.

On our last day we went to Lake Wabby, a very special lake, next to large sand dunes, green water and trees on the other side of the lake. Happy to be able to cool down, everybody jumped into the lovely water. Soon after, we drove to Lake McKenzie for another quick swim before heading to the ferry terminal to return to Hervey Bay.

I would absolutely recommend a trip to Fraser Island. If you are travelling alone, you can book a 3 day trip with other people, just like we did but if you travel with company, I would recommend to rent a 4 wheel drive by yourselfs as this gives you more freedom to do what you want.
Please note that Fraser Island is a small island with no roads - you will be driving on sand only and therefore a 4WD is a must.


For those who have been to Fraser Island - what was your experience? Would you like to share your thoughts and comments with the readers of my blog?
Thanks a lot for your contribution!

--> Photos of Fraser Island

BYRON BAY - BRISBANE

BYRON BAY

After an eternally long drive on the bus (8 hours) we finally arrived in Byron Bay. My memories of Byron Bay were different from what I saw when we got there. It was already dark when we arrived but I could clearly see the changes this former laid back village has gone through in the past 10 years. I was in a shock when I saw the development of this place, which has grown into a touristy place, totally commercialised with all sorts of travel agencies and tour operators on each corner of the streets.

This might sound a bit cynical but this was just the impression I had when I stayed there over New Year’s. My memories of Byron Bay from ten years ago are lovely. I can still see this sleepy town in front of me as I get off the bus, in July 1997. I travelled on my own and I met this lovely girl from Birmingham, who also happened to travel on her own. We stayed at the same backpackers and went out for a game of pool and a couple of drinks that night. I can still picture this nice pub we went to and the lovely atmosphere there. We met a few interesting people, some of them were artists (painters, musicians etc.), who kept us entertained by telling us stories about this place. We had a tremendous time in Byron Bay.

Back in 2006, John and I only stayed for 2 nights as it was far too busy to hang around and relax on the beach. I have to admit that Byron Bay has lovely beaches. If you want to enjoy this place and make the most out of your stay, I would recommend to go there is in the winter time (June - August) when it is quieter.

Byron Bay has plenty of tour operators where you can book your sailing trip to the Whitsunday Islands. Don't go for the first best offer - shop around and you will find some good deals.

There is a lot to do in Byron Bay, depending on what you are interested in. Perhaps you prefer to spend some time on the beach or you might be keen on walking or hiking - there are more than enough activities for everyone to enjoy your stay there. Accommodation is easy to find off season but should you happen to travel anywhere in Australia during school holidays, I strongly recommend to book your accommodation in advance. This also applies to YHA's and Backpacker's, especially in popular places.

John and I continued our trip towards Brisbane on January 1st, 2007, again with Grayhound.


BRISBANE
A lovely house somewhere in the suburbs of Brisbane was our ‘home’ for the next few days. My hubby and I stayed at a friend’s house It was very quite there and we managed to get some good sleep for the next 3 days. We even saw a couple of Wallabies next to the house, just a few meters away from us.

I have visited Brisbane in 1997 and did not think it was an outstanding place. For me it was just another city. The main reason we stayed a few nights was to visit John’s friend and his family and to recover from those sleepless nights in Byron Bay. That's why I currently don't have any relevant photos of Byron Bay and Brisbane but I will try to scan some of the photographs I took in 1997 and upload those if that's of interest to you.

The following post will cover my travelling from Brisbane to Noosa and further to Hervey Bay from where we hired a four wheel drive and took off to Fraser Island.

BLUE MOUNTAINS – SYDNEY – BELLINGEN

BLUE MOUNTAINS

After our lovely week in Vanuatu, John and I flew back to Sydney and went to the Blue Mountains the next day, just for 3 days as we wanted to be back in Sydney for Christmas. We had some really nice days up there and the weather was not too bad, even though we had a bit of rain every once in a while.

The YHA we stayed at was very nice and the staff friendly and funny. We even got an upgrade from a dorm bed to a family room, just for the two of us (honeymoon special). If you are on your honeymoon, tell the hotels/backpackers etc. as they might be willing to upgrade your accommodation. Beside hiking and sightseeing we enjoyed being away from big cities. Sydney is nice but we both prefer to stay in smaller places and spend time in the nature.

--> Photos of the Blue Mountains

SYDNEY

After 3 days in the Blue Mountains we took the train back to Sydney where we spent another two nights in a Backpacker. We thought that Sydney would be a good place to spend Christmas.

On Christmas Eve we went to my cousin’s place for a few drinks and on Christmas day we choose to go to a restaurant in ‘The Rocks’ where we ordered Kangaroo with vegetables (yummy!!!). 

A little bit about Sydney:
Sydney is often mistaken for the capital of Australia because it is probably the most known about city. You won't be bored in this lovely place as there is so much to see and to do. Needless to mention that the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House are the most famous sights. A lovely botanical garden attracts also thousands of tourists every year as does the Jewish Museum, which is located in Sydney's Darlinghurst suburb, near Kings Cross.
I can also highly recommend a day trip to Manly which is easily reachable by ferry. Manly has a lovely beach and several little café's and restaurants. One of Sydney's most famous beaches is the Bondi beach, known for it's great atmosphere and very popular with surfers, backpackers and students.



General information about travelling on the east coast of Australia:
Travelling is easy in Australia, especially on the east coast. There are several bus companies that travel not only from Sydney to Cairns and vice versa but also around Australia with several stops in between. The probably most known one is Greyhound who operates all over Australia. I suggest buying a bus pass that allows you to hop on and off whenever you want and wherever you like to stay. You can use the bus pass in one direction only but it is a cheap option of travelling around Down Under.

Greyhound usually stops in every town or village at the main bus station and from there you can either walk to your hostel/backpackers or get a taxi, depending on the distance. Some backpackers have their own mini vans and often we were picked up from the bus station if we booked our accommodation ahead.

Another option is Oz Experience. They are great when you travel on your own as they target backpackers. Oz Experience doesn’t only operate in one direction (from A-B) – they are almost like a tour operator who takes you to different sights and with whom you can book special trips to National Parks etc. Check their website for fares and offers.

On December 26th we caught the Greyhound bus to Newcastle for just one night. There was not much to do for us as we arrived in the evening and all shops, pubs and restaurants were closed on Christmas day. This stop was pretty much just to avoid an overnight journey on the bus. I have to admit that the Greyhound buses were not the most modern ones, politely spoken. Every journey with them was an adventure on its own.

--> Photos of Sydney


BELLINGEN

We left Newcastle early in the morning to catch the bus to Bellingen, a lovely small town, just perfect to chill out and to enjoy the nature and wildlife. I knew this place from last time when I visited Australia and I was keen on going back there.

Bellingen is known as the Jazz Capital of “The Holiday Coast”, with Jazz nights on the first Friday of every month and the famous three day Bellingen Jazz Festival in August. The Internationally respected Global Carnival unites many of the world's cultures in a four-day festival every October. Stamping Ground, a Male Driven Action Arts Festival, runs over 16 days every January. 
The Bellingen Markets attract thousands of visitors on the third Saturday of every month. The Bellingen Natural Produce Market caters to the discerning tastes of the Shires population on the second Saturday of each month. The annual Autumn and Spring Plant Fairs cater to the very large number of people who find gardening or reafforestation of interest. Bellingen is fast becoming the "Arts and Crafts Capital" of New South Wales' Mid North Coast and is renowned for the blend of Alternative and Traditional Lifestyles that it's residents follow.

Our hostel was close to the woods and the terrace faced the lovely forest from where you can watch the Flying Foxes leaving their high tree top perches to look for food through the night. There were thousands of Flying Foxes, all over the place, covering the sky around 20 kilometres out of town. 

The next morning we went on a 3 hour kayak trip, down the Bellingen river. The weather was fantastic and we enjoyed spending some time in the nature, far away from tourists. 
On our last day in Bellingen, we went on an amazing rainforest walk in the Dorrigo National Park.

The same day, we had to catch the Greyhound bus to Byron Bay and therefore we had to return to the hostel in the early afternoon to pick up our bags and hop on the shuttle minivan to the Greyhound pick up spot.

--> Photos of Bellingen/Dorrigo N.P