Noosa

SUNDAY 16TH AUGUST

We were up early, as we got a free breakfast of pancakes with lemon and sugar... yummm.
Then on board the oz experience we were taken through Gympie which is weird little town and then on to Noosa. Noosa is a really nice upper class sort of place. Like Weybridge in sunshine and with lots of hills... oh and 2 beaches.




Sarah and I were due to go off to Gagaju bush camp the day after, but I'd decided as I had quite a stiff neck and also I'd developed a wheezy cough at night, that camping wouldn't really be the best idea for me. All things considered, a few days at Dolphins was much preferred.

Dolphins Beach house hostel is by far the most homely hostel I've ever stayed in and was alot like staying at a uni. It is made of units. Ours had 2 rooms, both with 4 beds in. Each unit shares a lounge, TV, DVD player, kitched and bathroom. Really nice and relaxing, exactly what I needed. They also have a free minibus that takes you into town which runs every hour or so... very handy!





I got to chatting to a couple in the other room who were from England and they suggested having burritos as a group style meal, which we went shopping to coles for - and a bottle of wine :) It was lovely and we watched a few things on TV - luckily Out of the Blue and then Australian Idol was on TV.

I also got talking to 2 girls from Wales, who were going to go Australia Zoo (Steve Irwins) the next day and they invited me to come too, which I thought was a good idea, as you can't really go to Australia without seeing the Steve Irwin zoo. Sarah had no interest in this, so seemed like a good idea to do it whilst she was away camping.


MONDAY 17TH AUGUST

I set off early at about 8am for the shuttle bus into town with Kacey and Emma, the two welsh girls to get the free Australia Zoo bus to take us to the zoo. On the bus, they played a DVD of Steve Irwin in the jungle with Orangutans.



We saw and did alot, including feeding elephants, stroking koalas and seeing a tiger show, but to be honest, it was alot of money for not nearly as much as Taronga Zoo. The nice thing here was that there are loads of large lizards randomly running around the place! Really funny. Here are some of my photos from there anyway.







TUESDAY 18TH AUGUST

Got up about 8.30am...mostly due to noisy people, but I got up anyway. I watched bit of TV but then got the free shuttle into town to have a look at the shops on Hastings Street, near the main beach. The main beach is currently being renovated, as a storm last year, took away alot of the sand, so they are currently working to replace the sand.



The shops were all very boutiquey and expensive. On the way home I got my hair cut at a nice place... but it was only $25, which is pretty cheap. I then walked home rather than get the bus and was followed some of the way by some really brightly coloured, chattering parrots!



I went home for a salad for dinner... stuck to that!!! Then I went on the last shuttle to the cinema for a $9 ticket to see CORALINE - an animated movie. It was quite creepy and walking home in the dark was.... interesting.

Watched a couple of shows and things with people sharing my unit, who were all new compared to yesterday.


WEDNESDAY 19TH AUGUST

My easy day of taking it easy. Went to beach for all of 5 minutes, but it was really too windy and it really wasnt worth it, so I went back to Dolphins, to sunbathe in the courtyard. I then went back to the unit very briefly just to chat to a french girl... I turned the tv on as she needed something to watch before the next shuttle and what do you know... a TINA ARENA 30 minute interview!!! It was very interesting and I found out quite alot about her from it!

I then went to get some alcohol for the evening out and then rented "21" which I watched with Nick, one of the Scouse couple that had just moved in.

For the evening we watched a few TV shows like the simpsons and then me, Marine (french girl) and Megan (scouse girl) got a taxi into the town to go to the irish pub. - That was very very empty, so we went along to 'Koalas' backpackers which has a nightclub at the bottom. It was very full and we had a good night drinking, dancing and chatting to random people. - for some reason there was a stomach comparison discussion... can't remember why but it was very funny.





THURSDAY 20th AUGUST

Had a quiet day just sitting out in the sun. We also walked round the corner for some fish and chips, which was REALLY good! - best i've had in Oz. We all sat around watching Smokin' Aces, another DVD from reception.

Sarah got back today with various tales of the strenuous work that was the canoeing and camping place - hmmm I was glad of my relaxed few days.

We got an early night as we had to get the next Oz Experience bus in the morning.