Sunshine Coast & Gold Coast

Well I have a lot to tell ya guys......I have been very slack with all this racing down the East Coast over the last couple of weeks.
So after Hervey Bay & Fraser Island, Mark & I continued our intrepid journey down the coast. It has been such a rush seeing places and it truly has been a whistlestop tour! Next stop was Noosa and we spent 4 days there with Di, she was like a true local showing us around her hometown!
It was great fun, we had a car to cruise around in and I truly loved Noosa, it is a posh and expensive place for a backpacker but would be cool to live there......Di is aiming for an Aussie Passport I reckon!
We spent a couple of days on the beach, Mark had a surf lesson and I was the official photographer aswell as a professional sunbather!
We stayed at YHA Halse Lodge which was a great hostel, it was a lively place with great views and they even had a table tennis table!!
The highlight for me was visiting Australia Zoo...Steve Irwins place....Crikey!! Sorry I had to say it!!
It was a good day out for Mark & I, although I have to say I was a little disappointed there were no monkeys!!! So another opportunity to have my photo taken with a Koala and to feed the kangaroos......love it!!

We spent the day in Brissy and did the tourist thing and jumped onto a hop on and hop off city tour bus which showed you the sights!! It was hilarious really as we took photos of random buildings and we were not impressed at all! We kept saying we would jump on and off when we find something interesting to see....we didnt and stayed on the bus for the entire route!

It would be a nice place to live and work I guess, but after all the lovely beach resorts to come to this boring city it was a let down!

Then next day we headed down the highway onto Surfer’s Paradise which doesn’t live up to its name.......I only saw one surfer hit the beach!!

Its a party town with a really nice long beach, lots of shops and thats about it!

The further south we head, the colder it’s getting. I have become quite a wimp and if the temperature starts to hit single digits I'm moaning!! We are still determined to get every last bit of sun though, we sat on the beach today and almost froze with the cold chill!! Mad eh!

So we got warm and headed inside to the Q1 Building as it is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. There they had a lookout floor that gives you a breath-taking view of the city and apparently they are intending on building a second one.

Next stop was Byron Bay and although everyone had said I would love it....I wasnt feeling it!
We arrived and had a look around the small town which didnt take long at all and then we hit the beach. It was a long pretty beach with lots of people on it but it was cold and we lay there shivering...desperate to stay there as we knew from here on in its just the big cities and no sand!

Byron at night was a party town, it was full of bars with Coyote Uglys themes, pole dancing etc very classy indeed so we ended up going to the cinema to see Pirates of the Carribbean 3. Mark enjoyed it but I slept through it along with 2 other room mates!
The weather has been quite rainy with sunny spells at times, so finally the rain stopped and we headed to a lookout point where a Lighthouse stands and this represents the most Easternly Point of the East Coast of Australia overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was amazing, great views and we even saw dolphins, whales had been spotted earlier but we missed them...doh!

The last say in Byron and we hired bicycles which was good fun...a bit wobbly at first but as they say you never forget and its true!

In the evening we have a 12 hour bus overnight bus journey to Sydney......hell on earth!

Fantastic Fraser Island!!

Photo 1 Me on the beach of Fraser Island

Photo 2 Our Group at the Champagne Pools

Photo 3 Di & I in the Rock Pools/Champagne Pools

Photo 4 Eli Creek, wading through......spotting eels

Photo 5 Lake McKenzie wow!!!

This is the worlds largest sand island at 123km long and we had the choice of whether to do a self drive or organised tour for 3 days/2 nights.
Diane & I decided to go for the organised trip with Cool Dingoes, which meant we didnt get stuck in a jeep with a load of numptys, didnt have to pitch a tent and basically rough it really!
So we had Ranger Craig who was so much fun driving us around in a bus and giving us commentaries and basically took the worry out of what to do whilst on the island
We had 16 in our group, a real mix of ages and nationalities but mainly British, Canadian, German and Japanese....we all got on so well which I was relieved about after hearing all the horror stories of fellow travellers
The roads around the island are so sandy and bumpy and it was a really rough drive most of the time, I would describe it like a rollercoaster ride....mum you would have loved it!
First stop was Basin Lake, we were the only people there and it was so peaceful and tranquil. The water was very refreshing shall i say! After a quick dip there we had a walk by the creek and through a rainforest before stopping for a picnic type lunch, I was very wary of dingoes at this point as there were signs all about how to be "Dingo Safe"! There are 150 of them on the island, but we were fine! Mustnt have liked our picnic! Apparently to be dingo safe you need to wave your hands in the air to make you look taller and dont approach them...whatever...think someone may be trying to make us look daft!
We stopped at a look out point and tasted the sap from a Scribbly Gum tree which looks like someone has scribbled over the light coloured bark! Anyway I tasted the sap and suddenly my mouth started to go numb and all that was missing was the dentist chair! The Aboriginals used it for this purpose as it acts like an anaesthetic
Then onto the infamous Lake McKenzie, which reminded me a little of Whitehaven Beach at the Whitsundays, white sands, gorgeous blue clear water.....the only difference being this was a freshwater lake not the ocean! So we relaxed there most of the afternoon, I had a body exfoliation treatment and cleaned my jewellery with the fine sand too! Wow Wow Wow! Amazing place!
We then went back to the lodges to book into our accomodation, thankfully no tents and it was very civilised! In the evening we all met at the bar for a meal and a few games of Killer Pool!
Next day was an early start as we drove along the 75 mile beach, again like New Zealand its not actually that length! But hey ho! It was cool to drive along with the sea to the right of us and having to dodge around other vehicles on the beach, felt like it was a highway at times!
We had a walk down Ely Creek and saw some huge eels, not like we are used to, they were massive!
Then onto a coastal headland named Indian Head, there were huge boulders to climb to get to the point and it was the most amazing view up there. We saw the first humpback whales of the season, dolphins and stingrays.
Next stop was the Champagne Pools, I wasnt as impressed with this as I had imagined it to be, it was nice though, rockpools overlooking the sea where waves crashed over which looked like champagne bubbling!
We spotted dingoes on the way back and all jumped off the bus for photos ensuring we were safe first but really they just looked like a cute dog!
Visited the Maheno Shipwreck that has been left stuck in the sand where it landed in 1935 and it was used for bombing practice during WW2 !
Our last day was spent mainly at Lake Wabby, beautiful green lake and huge sand dunes that you can roll down into the lake! We arrived very early and beat the rush of backpackers so it was sooo peaceful until Di dived into the lake and realised it was very shallow and nearly concussed herself!
Lunch time was in a nice restaurant and a bottle of wine later Di felt better, purely for medicinal purposes only!
So overall a good few days away, the place is beautiful and very sandy!!
Photos to follow, unfortunately my camera didnt mix well with the sand and has kaputt! Again!

Last few days in 1770

After 6 fantastic weeks in the Town of 1770 where I considered myself a local, I have finally made the giant leap to leave Cool Bananas and the friends I have made there! I even have a Tshirt from the hostel as a long established guest and I will wear it with pride!
So after being a cripple for a while I had the last few days running around like a lunatic doing all the things I couldnt do on crutches!

Dad...you will be impressed I even visited a musuem, without moaning too, it told the tale of how the town of Agnes Water was established and developed and the story of Captain Cook...again!
I walked up to the lookout point too which overlooked Agnes and the town of 1770 which was bootiful and it felt like such an achievement to climb up a hill after all of this time on crutches!

Last day I went on a Scooteroo Tour....this was riding a Harley Davidson Chopper around the town in a group tour, stopping to see wild Kangaroos and to have a general pose on the bike! It was so much fun! Top speed was 80km and I felt like Tom Cruise in Top Gun!

So I had to say goodbye to my friends Destiny & Lewis who I have hung around with since arriving here....sad moment....lots of tears and we sent cards to each other...pals for life indeed.
Hoping to meet up with Lewis in New Zealand which will be cool, he is thinking of doing a ski season and will be nice for me to see a friendly face after starting my travels again alone..boo hoo!

Diane is in lurrve and so her plans have changed a wee bit, she has met the lovely ozzie John who lives in Noosa and so she has found work and will be staying in Noosa long term....yeeha! Really pleased for you both and dont forget my wedding invite...good excuse to come back!

My plans now are to travel with Mark (candian guy who I have met at Cool Bananas a few weeks ago and who had joined our elite group!) to Sydney. Mark is a great guy and loves a game of scrabble/balderdash/table tennis etc so we get along just fine! Apart from the fact he beats me at everything I do......challenge on Marcus I will win eventually!
He has been offered a job in Sydney who are looking at sponsoring him to stay in the country so I now have two places to stay in Oz when I return! Thanks Guys!
Di is planning to meet up with us both in Sydney for a few days before I leave for New Zealand which will be fantastic and sad at the same time : 0

ok, from top left. This is my NEW GUITAR!!!! Yes, it's a beaut. It's the guitar that John Lennon used to have. middle.This is the complex where I am staying at the mo, it's in the west of the city and it's pretty cool. The right one is of the Lake, I go there and chill out. very relaxing. and the last is my OLD guitar, too many Pete Townsend style smash up's means that this needs to go into retiirement for a while.Lastly is the office that I work from although as of recent I've been relegated to working from the bar cos the local magazine team now squat in there.

So yesterday I went for a teaching interview. I've been reluctant to teach, cos I really want to work on stuff that I enjoy, music etc. So one the HR lady from this big American company (Eaton Power Quality Co Ltd) came to my gig on Wednesday and asked me if I wanted the job, offered me a decent package and so I said I'd do it. She said it's totally flexible to suit me. So she picked me up yesterday and we went to the company. I was asked to do a demonstration in front of the employees, it was a good size class (about 15) and I loved it!!! Just having a laugh and stuff and we ended the class with a rendition of 'On Top of the World' by The Carpenters (Lots of very surreal stuff happens over here). But I loved it all the students were really happy and smiling and actually got a round of applause at the end of the lesson (would that happen at North Chadd???).

After that I got an invite to an opening of a sports store, so me and Tim went down there. Now Tim almost looks as unhealthy as me , if not more so. So, scruffily dressed, we trundled to the stadium here and there was a fete style thing set up in front of the shop. We had a look around the shop at the stuff , Football shirts from all over the world, and we had to pretend we were interested. Anyway we then were invited to eat and drink outside. So we sat down and got food, drink and everything thrown at us. Then over-excitable randoms kept coming up chinking our glasses and bringing their kids up. Like I say surreal stuff happens all the time over here so I didn't think much of it. So then we left and Tim told me that the PR girls told everyone we were world famous footballers..........good job they didn't want to see our skills, cos I think the last time I kicked a football was back in 1987 when I tried to cross a ball to Ste Birley and ended up spooning it into Mrs Meeres' greenhouse, that was the moment that I came to the realisation that I should hang up my very cheap Asda football boots.

Then we went out to a place we're looking at buying into.....more of that when and if it happens. So I'm at the office now, working on a few things and getting ready for the band gig tonight at Paradise. Then Sunday up to Shanghai to do some DIY at my friends shop. I'll tell you it's all go at the mo.

OK readers, until next time Adios!

P.S.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY MOTHER

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

Have a great day mam! Love you loads!

My Birthday Party

below:me, Jing Jing, Eddie, Paul and Bong

right:Don, Nils and Iain

Me and Lenny singing 'Champagne Supernova'

Me, wailing out some nonsense

Well hello there people! It was my birthday on Friday, a big thanks for all your emails and I even got a couple of cards from back home as well. I had my party at the place I work and it was ace. Don took me out to a Thai restaurant with his staff to start with, then we went to Paradise for the fun and games. It was a good turn out. I put felts and papers on each of the table and told people if they made me a birthday card they would get a free cocktail, I read em all on Saturday morning and they ranged from offensively funny to sweet. Anyway, I've finally managed to get a band together, we aint got a name yet, but we have got a residency at my place, Paradise, every Friday.So we got Eddie on guitar, he's a top jazz player from America, Jing Jing on vocals who's got a great voice, Paul on drums and percussion, little ol me on vocals, keyboards and guitar and Bong on Bass,vocals and keyboard. Bong's widely regarded as one of the best players in China and I reckon I can learn quite a bit from him. So we played and messed about until 2am and the owner got me a bottle of whisky. Then I heard rumblings that I was gonna be chucked in the lake outside as some kind of birthday ceremonial nonsense. I didn't need to be chucked in. After a top party and with the adrenaline running thru me it seemed like a great idea so BOMBED it. It was cool at the time, but in the morning I felt like I'd eaten 3 courses of duck crap. Anyway it was a good night (except the fact that I lost my mobile phone).

So I'm up in Shanghai at the mo, helping some friends out with a shop they're opening, I went to B&Q last week for the first time in 12 months....................I don't miss that place. But guess what, I'm 5000 miles away and I walked in there and I could've been at the one in Chadderton!

Looking for some gigs up here at the mo as well, it's well paid in Shanghai and there are loads of places to play.

ermmmmm....what else?.......Just soursing some great and cheap guitars and getting some prices together in the hope of maybe selling them back home. Anyone interested in helping me out with that venture, let us know. I just bought one to test, back home it sells for about 450 quid and I got it for 120 quid. There are a few other things in the pipeline, but nothing worth boring you with at the mo.

Anyway people hope you are all wellKeep in touch. Theres another youtube coming soon.

LOTS OF LOVE coming back to the UK POSSE!

Gaveller

What a week!

Sue: Its been a great week of partying and having fun with the Cool Bananas Gang!

One of the backpackers here did a gig at a local pub so we all went to support her. She is amazing and we sat and watched this beautiful sunset overlooking the sea, she is really talented and hopes to have a recording deal when she gets back home!

Next day we went to the local rodeo!! Bull riding, bucking broncos, lassooing...the lot!! Such good fun! It was good to do something a bit different for a change...we have some canadians in our group and so they were not quite as impressed as we all were, as they see a real rodeo in Calgary!

Last photo is Destinys birthday, we had such a laugh, as you can see we all had party hats etc and organised lots of games which involved heavy drinking! The best game was you had to pop a balloon and inside was either a forfeit or a prize!! The worst one was to drink a pint from a snorkel mask....aargh!! It truly was one of my best nights since arriving in Oz!!