Katie and the Robsons (sounds like a band)

While on exchange England I had the the pleasure of getting to know a nice young lady called Katie. Despite clearly being a city girl, Katie grew up in a small town just south of Coffs Harbour called Sawtell. Though she goes to uni in Newcastle, her family still lives in Sawtell, which is a quaint little town with a lot to offer. Katie picked up Mark and I in Byron and we headed down where we spent 3 days with her family.

On our first day Katie's dad David arranged for some kayaks to be borrow from a family friend. We spent the morning paddling out the river down to the sea.

As well as the pelicans below we also got to see stingrays and fish swimming in the shallows (well Katie and I at least. Mark saw nothing, which bothered him greatly).


That evening Katie took us up to a lookout which has a nice view over the beach. She also informed us that this is where she used to go to make out with boys when she was in high school.

Don't worry Marieke, Mark got some love too.

Katie's house is right over there.....

After another day chilling out and seeing more of the town, David took the day off work and took us out for a hike. The hills behind Coffs are actually pretty high, and the localized climate makes for unexpectedly lush rainforest.

Now Katie is not what one might call an 'avid hiker,' or 'in good shape'. And although there was some concern of Katie "ruining it for everyone," she came along. What a trooper. Her favourite part...the clothes and shoes she borrowed from her sister.

This is the start of a steep decent down to the waterfall.


There was only one way in and out of the waterfall, so we had to walk back out on the same trail. Katie had held up well on the hike thus far, however the climb back up was her undoing. I believe "it felt like my heart was about to jump out of my mouth" was how she described it.

The next day we drove down to Newcastle where we had dinner with Katie's sister Trish and her man James. Katie and Trish both live in a nice area, however most of Newcastle is a hole, as it's basically a large port town for coal shipping. The next day Katie put Mark and I on the train to Sydney.

Helen and David, thank you for having us. The food and wine were delicious and it was great to finally meet you.

The Bay of Byron

My first day in Byron I took a jog up to the infamous lighthouse. you haven't heard of it? well let me tell you.. this is a lighthouse. seriously, that's what it is, I don't know what else to say. nice view.
Our place of residence was the Arts Factory which sports outdoor picnic tables and hammocks providing many places to "chill" - a traveller's favoured activity.
Rich and Claire, who were friends met in Laos and hailing from Englang, met up with us in Byron. We went for a stroll on the beach and decided to build a sand castle. We let this guy apply the finishing touches.
Paul showed up that night and the four of us shared some dinner and a box of australia's finest goon (boxed wine). Next day we hired a couple surf boards between the four of us and hit the beach. Paul finding his true calling at the beach.
Continuing our image as surfers, without actually surfing.
Our hangout for the day.
While we did go surfing, Claire decided to spare us only taking fotage of us doing sports we know.
I could learn something from the french guys on the right about spontaneously looking happy.
Paul working the camera.
That night brought with it another round of cheap wine. Rich and Claire tought us a dice drinking game they'd picked up in Hong Kong. It goes simply by the name "dice", beautiful in it's simplicity. Rich can't contain his excitement.
We headed out to see a live band at Hotel Beach Bar. It appears Marieke's not the only older woman I can attract.
PDA's must be a little different in england.
Next day we were back on the boards. This time the waves were at Wategos beach, and perfect for beginners.
Heading out for the surf. This part I can do.
Waiting for the waves. Also good at.
Here's Rich catching a wave... bastard.
As Rich strides confidently out of the water, I falter on another wave and curse him in the background.Sunset came again, and again it brought our fantasy of being artistic photographers.

Fraser Island

After some quality R&R in Brisi, we headed off to Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. Mark took off a day earlier because Brisbane offered little chance for activity, and Slim was getting restless (he also had some flight stuff to figure out upon his return). Since he also forgot his camera in Brisbane most of the pictures are mine, so I'll take the lead on this entry.

We opted to do a 'self drive' tour, which is essentially a rental of on overland vehicle, only you don't need a full group to do it, they just put people in together. It's a lot cheaper, and you get to meet people as well.

Day1

We were greeted by a calm sunny day, and after our briefing, grocery run, and booze run, were on the island by about 1:00. That's our sweet ride on the far right.

And the first team photo. We were a solid international crew, representing Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Iceland, Korea, and of course Canada. Everyone got along really well, couldn't have asked for a much better group.

There were also another 2 trucks that went out on my day, each with only 1 guy in each of them. Now I know what you're all thinking, a guys dream, Paul, you missed out. Well, hopefully without offending all our female fans, when you're camping for 3 days, quite often with people who've never camped before, no, it aint a guys dream. Just ask Mark...

Luckily he did find some friends among the other trucks who went out that day, so it wasn't all bad.No back to us....the drive to Lake Makenzie begins...although navigation shouldn't have been very hard, a few groups did get quite lost (we only got minorly lost).

But we finally arrived. This place was awesome. Fresh water lake which is just clean white sand... only in Australia. Although we were unable to swim in the shark infested ocean, this made up for it.


Who likes waterproof cameras...

Goon time! I introduced a drinking game we learned from some Kiwis in Brazil. It was a hit.

The dingos lurked near by looking for scraps. They're actually really cute, and just look like domesticated dogs.


Day 2
First stop was the Maheno ship wreck. We never did find out the actual story behind the wreck...you can make up your own.



Aside from the dingos, there was other wildlife. The sand crabs are have an orderly system of ball making for digging out their holes. We never actually saw a crab though.

And a big mother jelly fish..

Second stop for the day was the Indian's Head lookout. Nice views, and got to see some tiger sharks swimming in the waters below.


And then the Champagne Pools. The name comes from the frothy water that washes over top of the rocks. This is as close as we came to swimming in the ocean.

Back on the Fraser Island highway. The beaches here are registered highways, and have a speed limit (80 km/h). There are actually police who can give you tickets. It was really fun driving the trucks.

The tents and tarps were pretty shite, but got the job done.


A couple friendly Aussies camping a little ways down the beach invited us over to their fire (which were illegal on Fraser). Guitar is usually the instrument of choice around the old campfire back home, but they went authentic with a big honkin didgeridoo.


Day 3
Eli Creek started the day. Just like Lake Makenzie, the water was crystal clear, and the bottom was nothing but clean sand.

Then to lake Wabbi. Crystal clear...not so much.

The sane dunes were really fun to jump off of though.

So are the beaches....team photo time! (if you're looking for me...I'm taking the picture)

And now some free advertising for our rental company.