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Please add my Australian phone number to my contact on your phone to make sure you receive my messages: +61 405167768. Since leaving Sydney, I’ve been to Spot X, Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Brisbane, Noosa, and am currently in Rainbow beach about to leave for a 3 day tour of Fraser Island (where I won’t have any reception). My adventure is still going better than I ever imagined and I’m falling in love with the beauty of Australia!
Day 13: Monday, September 24th
After taking an overnight bus from Sydney, I arrived at Spot X! Spot X is a surf camp a few hours south of Byron Bay and about 10 hours north of Sydney. In the early morning, I had my first surf lesson! It was really fun, but so much harder than I expected. I swallowed so much water from all of the wipe outs. I’ll be getting pictures from the lessons sometime in the next few weeks.
The camp includes all meals and was really vegan-friendly. I bought an extra surf package so I got to surf in the afternoons, too. Most of the day was spent playing cards and waiting for the next meal. I met a lot of really awesome people at the camp and many of us have similar travel plans over the next month. A girl from Italy named Anja has the exact same schedule as I do for the next week and a girl named Charlotte and I have similar schedules after that.
Day 14: Tuesday, September 25th
Woke up even earlier for my second surf lesson at Spot X. It was easier to stand up this time, but still exhausting. It was raining all day and I didn’t change out of my swim suit, so I was freezing until the afternoon surf session. We played kneeling volleyball and there was an ocean rafting activity in the early evening. Spot X is one of only two places in the whole country that you can raft in the ocean. I quickly realized why after being hit in the face with a paddle after a wave towered over us and the guide goes “Well, we’re all going to die.” I had a black eye for about a week after!
Day 15: Wednesday, September 26th
Woke up early yet again for a bus to Byron Bay. The hostel I stayed at was probably the nicest place I’ve ever stayed on vacation, it used to be a resort so the rooms were two stories and had fancy bathrooms. Anja and I went into the town to wander around and get lunch with another girl we met. The food was significantly cheaper than Sydney. Byron Bay is the perfect beach town. It has a laid-back, almost hippie atmosphere and is filled with surf shops and vegan food! Every place I walked by had the word “vegan” on the menu, it was heaven.
That evening, I went to bed early but was woken up by a group of people coming in to my room to hang out. I decided to join them and ended up playing cards for hours! I love having the freedom to wake up and hang out with new people, the people I’ve met have made my experience so much more exciting.
Day 16: Thursday, September 27th
The hostel had a personal training session in the morning. It’s great having a workout built into the social aspect of traveling because it’s hard to find places to workout without disrupting others. I wandered around the town myself today to get a better feel for Byron Bay and replace the two swimsuits and two towels that I had accidentally left on my Greyhound bus. Found an amazing restaurant with a fancy vegan grilled cheese. In the evening, Anja and I went to the event at the hostel and then joined one of my roommates in the town.
Day 17: Friday, September 28th
I had signed up for a sunrise (aka 5am) walk to the lighthouse, but intentionally snoozed my alarm. Instead, I went on my own. The walk is supposed to take about 2 hours total, but I got lost a few too many times and it ended up taking me FOUR hours. Hello sunburn! The view was more than worth it, I saw whales flipping and jumping around in the ocean. On my way back to the hostel, I stopped a vegan place and had the best burger I’ve ever had (there’s a picture below). I was supposed to go Dolphin Kayaking, but it was cancelled because of the poor weather. Anja and I got ice cream to watch the sunrise and then went to the BBQ at the hostel.
Day 18: Saturday, September 29th
Anja and I both rescheduled our Dolphin Kayaking to a river kayak in the morning. It turned out to just be the two of us so we had a private kayaking tour! We saw a few sting rays and a neat spot where the river met the ocean. I broke my flip flops. When we got back to Byron, we went to a beachfront market and got gelato. I’m still so impressed with the vegan scene here, I want to eat everything. We both took long naps that afternoon and explored the nightlife together that evening. After just four days in Byron Bay, I’m almost sure I’m going to return to work here for at least a few months.
Day 19: Sunday, September 30th
Took a Greyhound to Surfers Paradise that morning. I ran into Charlotte who was also at Spot X and we discovered we have almost identical schedules for the next two weeks. When we arrived to Surfers Paradise, we were extremely disappointed. It felt super touristy, wasn’t that pretty, and had weird resort skyscrapers everywhere. After four days in Byron Bay, it was a big disappointment. We got Dominos for dinner (vegan cheese!) and played cards that evening.
Day 20: Monday, October 1st
Kicked the morning off with a workout (shoutout to Mackenzie for the creation) with a few friends Charlotte and I made the night before. After, we went to the beach to relax for a few hours. We briefly swam in the water but the current was so strong that just trying to stand you’d fall over and hit people. I found a vegan Indian buffet for lunch and ate so much food! It was delicious. The hostel had a pool so we relaxed there until it got cold and the sun went down.
Day 21: Tuesday, October 2nd
Checked out of my hostel and asked for a coffee recommendation. I got a free coffee card and when I asked if they could do iced, the guy said no. Then he asked where I’m from and said he couldn’t say no to someone from Seattle! It was the best coffee I’ve had here, most of it tastes so bizarre. Took a Greyhound to Brisbane and explored their river front. It’s called South Bank and is essentially just a huge park with purple flowers everywhere. They had a neat art exhibit going on in the park. The nearby Queensland museum was free so I wandered around a learned a little about the history and wildlife of Australia. I found an ice cream shop with vegan cappuccino ice cream. I walked across a walking bridge and wandered around the city for a little bit before booking a tour for the next day. When I was making food, I met some people in the kitchen (one of the best places for making friends) who invited me to hang out with them later. After checking out a few places near the hostel, I went back and played cards for a few hours.
Day 22: Wednesday, October 3rd
Woke up early (notice a pattern yet?) for my tour to Moreton Island. Moreton island has about 50 shipwrecks right near the shore that were placed there to help build a reef. There were only 10 people but everyone else knew each other and didn’t speak much English, so I hung out with the guides. It’s an almost entirely sand-only island, meaning most people fail miserably at driving on the island. My guide was great so we got to the sandboarding site quickly. I got a nice mouthful of sand on my first run because I didn’t follow directions very well. It was much more fun the next few times. When we got back to the beach, we had a very bland lunch and went kayaking in transparent kayaks! It was awesome seeing the fish and coral beneath the kayaks. After kayaking, it was time to snorkel. I had been looking forward to this all day. I was the only one who had snorkeled before, so they let me go off on my own to explore. I saw a TURTLE while snorkeling, it was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever witnessed. Definitely one of the highlights of my trip. I slept on the ferry ride back to Brisbane. That night, I hung out and played cards with the same group as the night before.
Day 23: Thursday, October 4th
Up early again for the Australia Zoo!! This is the zoo that the Irwin family owns so most aspects of the zoo are dedicated to Steve Irwin. I got to pet multiple koalas and kangaroos, a snake, and a weird lizard. A huge perk of traveling alone was that I could spend 2 hours petting the kangaroos without annoying anyone! I went to the famous Crocodile show and saw a talk about Koalas where I saw three babies! I had such a peaceful day alone getting to explore the zoo and see the animals. At the end of the day, I took a bus to Noosa. Checked in and went to the welcome meeting where I ran into a friend from Byron Bay. I’ve started running into people I’ve met at other places. We went to the beach with a big group that evening and played games.
Day 24: Friday, October 5th
Went surfing in the morning, which was quite the failure. I stood up twice and got hit by another surfer once. Overall, fun to try again but there were way too many people there. Got lunch and went back to the beach after surfing to relax and tan for a while. That afternoon, I did the coastal walk to the Fairy Pool and Hell’s Gates. The Fairy Pool was a beautiful spot to swim where waves rush over the rocks. Hell’s Gates was an incredible place to see water hit rocks near a rainforest. During my walk, I saw a WILD KOALA, lizards, whales, and dolphins! I’m in love with the wildlife here. It’s drastically more interesting than anything I’ve seen at home. I ran back on the trail. That evening, I got an amazing Acai bowl and walked to a river before relaxing at the hostel.
Day 25: Saturday, October 6th
I walked around downtown Noosa to see what it has to offer. It’s a cute beach town similar to Byron Bay, but with fewer vegan options and less to do. It started raining so I went back to the hostel, made lunch, and then headed out on a Greyhound to Rainbow Beach where I will soon leave for my Fraser Island tour. When I arrived, I learned that the hostel serves free vegan pancakes every morning! I ran into Anja at the hostel! It was so exciting seeing her again because we had great adventures together in at Spot X and Byron Bay. I attempted to go out to eat with some people from her Fraser Island tour that she just returned from, but literally nowhere had vegan options so I just made some food on my own. I met people staying at the hostel and went to bed early.
Day 26: Sunday, October 7th
Had a dolphin feeding tour in the morning. Finally saw dolphins up close and got to feed one of them. There are only 1,000 of this particular breed left and they only live near Australia. Ate some of the free vegan pancakes – by far the best breakfast I’ve had here. The rest of the day will be quite relaxing to prepare for my busy Fraser Island tour the next 3 days!
Please add my Australian phone number to my contact on your phone to make sure you receive my messages: +61 405167768. Since leaving Sydney, I’ve been to Spot X, Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, Brisbane, Noosa, and am currently in Rainbow beach about to leave for a 3 day tour of Fraser Island (where I won’t have any reception). My adventure is still going better than I ever imagined and I’m falling in love with the beauty of Australia!
Day 13: Monday, September 24th
After taking an overnight bus from Sydney, I arrived at Spot X! Spot X is a surf camp a few hours south of Byron Bay and about 10 hours north of Sydney. In the early morning, I had my first surf lesson! It was really fun, but so much harder than I expected. I swallowed so much water from all of the wipe outs. I’ll be getting pictures from the lessons sometime in the next few weeks.
The camp includes all meals and was really vegan-friendly. I bought an extra surf package so I got to surf in the afternoons, too. Most of the day was spent playing cards and waiting for the next meal. I met a lot of really awesome people at the camp and many of us have similar travel plans over the next month. A girl from Italy named Anja has the exact same schedule as I do for the next week and a girl named Charlotte and I have similar schedules after that.
Day 14: Tuesday, September 25th
Woke up even earlier for my second surf lesson at Spot X. It was easier to stand up this time, but still exhausting. It was raining all day and I didn’t change out of my swim suit, so I was freezing until the afternoon surf session. We played kneeling volleyball and there was an ocean rafting activity in the early evening. Spot X is one of only two places in the whole country that you can raft in the ocean. I quickly realized why after being hit in the face with a paddle after a wave towered over us and the guide goes “Well, we’re all going to die.” I had a black eye for about a week after!
Day 15: Wednesday, September 26th
Woke up early yet again for a bus to Byron Bay. The hostel I stayed at was probably the nicest place I’ve ever stayed on vacation, it used to be a resort so the rooms were two stories and had fancy bathrooms. Anja and I went into the town to wander around and get lunch with another girl we met. The food was significantly cheaper than Sydney. Byron Bay is the perfect beach town. It has a laid-back, almost hippie atmosphere and is filled with surf shops and vegan food! Every place I walked by had the word “vegan” on the menu, it was heaven.
That evening, I went to bed early but was woken up by a group of people coming in to my room to hang out. I decided to join them and ended up playing cards for hours! I love having the freedom to wake up and hang out with new people, the people I’ve met have made my experience so much more exciting.
Day 16: Thursday, September 27th
The hostel had a personal training session in the morning. It’s great having a workout built into the social aspect of traveling because it’s hard to find places to workout without disrupting others. I wandered around the town myself today to get a better feel for Byron Bay and replace the two swimsuits and two towels that I had accidentally left on my Greyhound bus. Found an amazing restaurant with a fancy vegan grilled cheese. In the evening, Anja and I went to the event at the hostel and then joined one of my roommates in the town.
Day 17: Friday, September 28th
I had signed up for a sunrise (aka 5am) walk to the lighthouse, but intentionally snoozed my alarm. Instead, I went on my own. The walk is supposed to take about 2 hours total, but I got lost a few too many times and it ended up taking me FOUR hours. Hello sunburn! The view was more than worth it, I saw whales flipping and jumping around in the ocean. On my way back to the hostel, I stopped a vegan place and had the best burger I’ve ever had (there’s a picture below). I was supposed to go Dolphin Kayaking, but it was cancelled because of the poor weather. Anja and I got ice cream to watch the sunrise and then went to the BBQ at the hostel.
Day 18: Saturday, September 29th
Anja and I both rescheduled our Dolphin Kayaking to a river kayak in the morning. It turned out to just be the two of us so we had a private kayaking tour! We saw a few sting rays and a neat spot where the river met the ocean. I broke my flip flops. When we got back to Byron, we went to a beachfront market and got gelato. I’m still so impressed with the vegan scene here, I want to eat everything. We both took long naps that afternoon and explored the nightlife together that evening. After just four days in Byron Bay, I’m almost sure I’m going to return to work here for at least a few months.
Day 19: Sunday, September 30th
Took a Greyhound to Surfers Paradise that morning. I ran into Charlotte who was also at Spot X and we discovered we have almost identical schedules for the next two weeks. When we arrived to Surfers Paradise, we were extremely disappointed. It felt super touristy, wasn’t that pretty, and had weird resort skyscrapers everywhere. After four days in Byron Bay, it was a big disappointment. We got Dominos for dinner (vegan cheese!) and played cards that evening.
Day 20: Monday, October 1st
Kicked the morning off with a workout (shoutout to Mackenzie for the creation) with a few friends Charlotte and I made the night before. After, we went to the beach to relax for a few hours. We briefly swam in the water but the current was so strong that just trying to stand you’d fall over and hit people. I found a vegan Indian buffet for lunch and ate so much food! It was delicious. The hostel had a pool so we relaxed there until it got cold and the sun went down.
Day 21: Tuesday, October 2nd
Checked out of my hostel and asked for a coffee recommendation. I got a free coffee card and when I asked if they could do iced, the guy said no. Then he asked where I’m from and said he couldn’t say no to someone from Seattle! It was the best coffee I’ve had here, most of it tastes so bizarre. Took a Greyhound to Brisbane and explored their river front. It’s called South Bank and is essentially just a huge park with purple flowers everywhere. They had a neat art exhibit going on in the park. The nearby Queensland museum was free so I wandered around a learned a little about the history and wildlife of Australia. I found an ice cream shop with vegan cappuccino ice cream. I walked across a walking bridge and wandered around the city for a little bit before booking a tour for the next day. When I was making food, I met some people in the kitchen (one of the best places for making friends) who invited me to hang out with them later. After checking out a few places near the hostel, I went back and played cards for a few hours.
Day 22: Wednesday, October 3rd
Woke up early (notice a pattern yet?) for my tour to Moreton Island. Moreton island has about 50 shipwrecks right near the shore that were placed there to help build a reef. There were only 10 people but everyone else knew each other and didn’t speak much English, so I hung out with the guides. It’s an almost entirely sand-only island, meaning most people fail miserably at driving on the island. My guide was great so we got to the sandboarding site quickly. I got a nice mouthful of sand on my first run because I didn’t follow directions very well. It was much more fun the next few times. When we got back to the beach, we had a very bland lunch and went kayaking in transparent kayaks! It was awesome seeing the fish and coral beneath the kayaks. After kayaking, it was time to snorkel. I had been looking forward to this all day. I was the only one who had snorkeled before, so they let me go off on my own to explore. I saw a TURTLE while snorkeling, it was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever witnessed. Definitely one of the highlights of my trip. I slept on the ferry ride back to Brisbane. That night, I hung out and played cards with the same group as the night before.
Day 23: Thursday, October 4th
Up early again for the Australia Zoo!! This is the zoo that the Irwin family owns so most aspects of the zoo are dedicated to Steve Irwin. I got to pet multiple koalas and kangaroos, a snake, and a weird lizard. A huge perk of traveling alone was that I could spend 2 hours petting the kangaroos without annoying anyone! I went to the famous Crocodile show and saw a talk about Koalas where I saw three babies! I had such a peaceful day alone getting to explore the zoo and see the animals. At the end of the day, I took a bus to Noosa. Checked in and went to the welcome meeting where I ran into a friend from Byron Bay. I’ve started running into people I’ve met at other places. We went to the beach with a big group that evening and played games.
Day 24: Friday, October 5th
Went surfing in the morning, which was quite the failure. I stood up twice and got hit by another surfer once. Overall, fun to try again but there were way too many people there. Got lunch and went back to the beach after surfing to relax and tan for a while. That afternoon, I did the coastal walk to the Fairy Pool and Hell’s Gates. The Fairy Pool was a beautiful spot to swim where waves rush over the rocks. Hell’s Gates was an incredible place to see water hit rocks near a rainforest. During my walk, I saw a WILD KOALA, lizards, whales, and dolphins! I’m in love with the wildlife here. It’s drastically more interesting than anything I’ve seen at home. I ran back on the trail. That evening, I got an amazing Acai bowl and walked to a river before relaxing at the hostel.
Day 25: Saturday, October 6th
I walked around downtown Noosa to see what it has to offer. It’s a cute beach town similar to Byron Bay, but with fewer vegan options and less to do. It started raining so I went back to the hostel, made lunch, and then headed out on a Greyhound to Rainbow Beach where I will soon leave for my Fraser Island tour. When I arrived, I learned that the hostel serves free vegan pancakes every morning! I ran into Anja at the hostel! It was so exciting seeing her again because we had great adventures together in at Spot X and Byron Bay. I attempted to go out to eat with some people from her Fraser Island tour that she just returned from, but literally nowhere had vegan options so I just made some food on my own. I met people staying at the hostel and went to bed early.
Day 26: Sunday, October 7th
Had a dolphin feeding tour in the morning. Finally saw dolphins up close and got to feed one of them. There are only 1,000 of this particular breed left and they only live near Australia. Ate some of the free vegan pancakes – by far the best breakfast I’ve had here. The rest of the day will be quite relaxing to prepare for my busy Fraser Island tour the next 3 days!