Byron Bay to Brisbane (Part 1)

I was able to catch one class last week on my one day back at school in Canberra between vacations. I'm not too concerned about missing classes, though. I could have taken them in the States, but I am here to get the whole experience of Australia, which is much more substantial than simply attending classes.

Seven of us exchange kids had planned this trip up to the area known as the Gold Coast. Five Americans: Alex, Jeremy, Lindsey, Madeleine and myself; Juan from Mexico, and Steph from Germany. Any other group of people might have taken the setbacks we had and turned them into a negative trip, but we were relaxed enough to make the best of our experience.

Our first hiccup came in the form of our "Free Pick-up" from the hostel not showing up at the Bellina Byron airport (really just a runway and a garage). Jeremy ended up bargaining us a good deal with a van driver to Byron Bay. Our hostel was "37 seconds from the beach" according to the guy who checked us in, so we threw our stuff in the room and partied on the beach until we were too tired to move. We walked all around Byron the next day, up to the lighthouse and the "Easternmost Point of Australia", and then ran into a guy named Crazy Alex and wound up taking Kite Surfing lessons from him. Basically, you've got this kite that you can control and it tows you around the sand or surf. Really fun stuff, but one of those things that would be way more exciting if you could skip the learning process.

Byron Bay is an awesome little town. It's small, picturesque, and quirky. Little hippie shops, surf shops, organic restaurants and gelato stands dot the town, so that if you decide to get off the beach you've got some other options available. There's no McDonald's or chains of any kind, which adds to the eclectic feel of the town. A little pizza place called Earth and Sea is responsible for the best beer of my life, which, unfortunately, is only available at the restaurant, and only on tap. Guess that means I'll just have to go back. It's not all so mellow though, Cheeky Monkeys, one of the clubs we went to, held a wet t-shirt contest and beer raffle while we were there - Byron is completely capable of a party.

I could have stayed in Byron Bay all week, but we had to catch the train to Surfer's Paradise (yep, that's the name of the city). The problem? The train stopped coming through Bryron about three years ago, so instead of a eight dollar train ticket, we each shelled out 20 for a van. Whoops.

Surfer's Paradise is Byron Bay's worst nightmare. It reminds me of Miami, with high rise residential buildings lining the beach (which stretches for about 25 miles), exotic cars, and an overwhelming nightlife. Again, our hostel was on the beach, across from the Sheraton Mirage and next door to the Palazzo Versace Hotel. Behind was a marina with million-dollar boats and high-class restaurants.

As expected, our hostel lacked a hot tub, so Jeremy and I thought we would hop the fence at the Sheraton and scope out theirs. The bad news: They don't have one. Seriously. 700 Dollars a night and there's no hot tub to relax in (we assume they have them in the rooms, but still...). If the Versace didn't look like a fortress we might have tried it, so we returned home and told the rest they would have to live with a hot shower instead.

I'm going to take a break here. I'm tired of writing, and I bet you're tired of reading. We've still got another night in Surfer's Paradise and have to take the train to Brisbane despite the train station having no track...

Hi, I don't know you, but I'm crashing here all weekend

I haven't really done much out of the ordinary and blog-worthy since about the second week of classes. There's a comfortable routine of weekly social events and class that had been making me very satisfied with my time in Australia. But like any routine, sometimes it's fun to break it and do something else. In my case, I skipped class for a week and took off for the beach.

Alex, Jeremy and I spent the weekend in Sydney with a few of Jeremy's girl friends (note the space) from San Diego who go to Macquarie University. It was amazingly fun even though (or because) I didn't know the people we were going to be bombing around town with. Annie, Brooke, and Christina were incredibly hospitable, giving up beds, blankets, couches and pretty much anything else to give three guys a free place to stay.

We hit up the Taronga Zoo, which, by itself is fantastic, but it is positioned on the side of a hill overlooking Sydney Harbor. We were watching gorillas and giraffes on a background that happens to be the most beautiful city I've ever been to.

Christina had organized a wine tasting tour for the next day. Now, I'm not a huge fan of wine (perhaps because of my ignorance of it), but wine country brings out part of you that you never knew you had. Suddenly I felt like a sophisticated 40-something refining my taste of 2001 Chablis, critiquing its blend and balance. It didn't hurt that the experience was shared with some of my best 'mates' from Oz.

I can't talk about Sydney without mentioning Pancakes on the Rocks. It's tucked away right underneath the harbor bridge, and they make some excellent dessert pancakes. I had fried cinnamon apples with ice cream, but everything the waitress carried past us looked delicious.

The weather was gorgeous all weekend - so much so that we though we'd go to Bondi Beach. Unfortunately, we overestimated exactly how warm it was and ended up shivering our way among surf shops and food stands. While still a great time, it made bundling up under blankets and watching movies later that night all the more enjoyable.

Back to Canberra the next day - but only to do laundry, re-pack and head up the coast!