Byron Brisbane Boo-Yaa

And in case you were wondering: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Boo-Yaa

So I'm done with Australia. Spent 7 days in Byron Bay and then a week in Brisbane. Byron Bay was nice, but not quite what I'd expected...although I'm not sure what I actually did expect. I stayed at a hostel that was mostly full with a younger crowd that had the typical younger crowd agenda. I guess that used to be me, but not so much now, or maybe it's just my reluctance to integrate with large groups. Regardless, I spent the majority of my time hanging out at the beach, reading and swimming. It was nice and relaxing and I saw a couple of movies while I was there. Anyway here are a few pictures from Byron Bay.

Byron Bay from the plane

Part of the beach at Byron Bay

Australia Day festivities, but I think they called it Indigenous Peoples Day in Byron. Whatever...they had a free BBQ.

Found this guy hanging out in a garbage can. Hopefully he escaped before the can was taken away.

From the point looking back in towards Byron.

Friendly little bird.

A neighboring beach. I think it was called Watergloo, or something like that.

On the way back from Watergloo (even if that's not the name, I like it) this guy was hanging out on the path. A lady walking the same way said it was a smaller one at about 1 meter.

I'm not sure what the hell this thing is, but he certainly liked potato chips.

It's amazing what thousands of years of getting pounded by surf can do to rocks.

Bryon Bay under the moon.

Brisbane....hmmm...I'm not sure if it's that I stopped smoking or I was homesick or what but by the time I had checked into my hostel in Brisbane I was feeling fairly despondent. I thought maybe watching a movie would help....sort of helped. Luckily Brisbane has a casino so I went there to immerse myself in several hours of lucrative poker. Won $400. Not bad for a couple of hours work and I felt a little more grounded after that. Sort of...the next day I did manage to book myself on a trip to a local sand island, Morton, for the weekend, but I spent the rest of the day watching more movies. I just wasn't in the mood to go exploring. I have to say, though, that everyone should go watch Stranger Than Fiction, with Will Ferrell. I thought it was a great flick.

I almost forgot. I did drop into a pub and check out some of the local musical talent. These guys should definitely not be stuck in some dark pub...way, way better than that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmnWq0jqmQk

Friday I went to the XXXX brewery (http://www.xxxx.com.au/) for the tour and tasting and that was decent, but things started going downhill that afternoon. I was stricken by a pretty gnarly head cold within the next 3 or 4 hours...just in time to have to get up at 6 the next morning for my Morton Island trip. http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/park/index.cgi?parkid=77. I still gutted it out and went to the island and it was still fairly nice (even though it's only the 3rd largest sand island in the world), but I didn't do some of the more cool things like snorkeling and sand boarding. I saw a pretty good chunk of the island though and got in the water a little bit (maybe not the greatest of ideas). So here are some pictures from Brisbane and Morton Island.

The downtown area of Brisbane from the roof of my hostel

Cool Roos made out of machinery pieces

The one picture I took at the brewery tour. They told us we weren't supposed to take pictures but I felt that I needed to fight the man a little bit.

On the ferry/barge going to Morton Island.

Morton Island doesn't have any paved roads, they're all sand. The ferry/barge just pulled up directly to the beach and we drove off like we were invading the island.

Peeps driving off the ferry/barge

North Point beach. Nice looking right break but a little small this day.

Honeymoon beach.

One of the Korean girls on the tour took it upon herself to take pictures of my at most of the places we checked out. This is at North Point.

Near the campground we stayed is a fresh water lagoon called Blue Lagoon. I hung out on the beach trying to rest while the rest of the group went swimming.

The water here is fresh and clean. The cooler is stain from the tea tree leaves nearby. Apparently bathing in this water is really good for sores and aches because of the tea tree oil.

Back when people took year long journeys from England to Australia there were quite a few infants and newborns that died along the way. The Law decided it wasn't a good idea to bring these bodies to the mainland where they could possibly carry infectious diseases, so most of the deceased were buried on the islands. Here are a couple graves that have been preserved.

Our chariot for the weekend. Not the most comfortable ride. Two parallel benches in back, so leg room was a hot commodity.

A shot of the typical road on the island.

Michael, our guide, took us to one of his favorite beaches near the lighthouse. I didn't go to the desert portion of the island for the sand boarding, but I guess it looked a lot like this.


Chillin in the afternoon sun.

For being an island composed primarily of sand there is loads of vegetation.

Looking back towards the interior of the island you can see what I mean.

Our little famiry.

And now I'm in Bangkok and I'm still sick. I haven't been around the city at all. I meet up with Angie Cartmill this evening and if I still am not feeling much better tomorrow she said she has a doctor friend that can hook me up.

Okey dokey artichokey