jlehman

So I made it to Australia safe and sound and met up with Cassandra and Dave my travel buddies to embark on a 3 week adventure in a camper van up the east coast.

We started in Sydney which wasn't my favourite. We stayed in Kings Cross, the red light district, at a hostel called The Palms and even though I met some cool people there I was itchin' to get on the road and unite with my true love Murgatroyd, the name of our van.

We started driving and made our way to a sketchy little town called Raymond Terrace just north of the beautiful Port Stephens and Newcastle. We stayed at a trailer park and drank with some locals who were a riot, asking us questions like: "How is the KFC in Canada?"
This was also our introduction to Goon the cheapest faux wine I became addicted to and am having withdrawl symptoms from now for real.

From there we ventured up to Nambucca Heads where we met our friend Michael Crossland a motivational speaker who taught us many life lessons and showed us around his town Sawtell and Coffs Harbour, beautiful places with many scenic lookouts and gorgeous Banana Plantation vistas.. he took us to some wonderful sand dunes, fed us the best Chinese food I have had to this day and even brought us home to his house for the night. We were truly lucky to have met Michael our tour guide and guardian angel.

Then we camped at a national park near Taree, where I really became one with nature. Let's just say Dave thinks I am a princess for screaming about christmas beetle swarms but I still feel I can rough it in the wilderness Dave.

From there we continued on to Byron Bay where Cassandra couldn't handle the amount of "schoolies" vactioning there...look up "schoolies" I don't feel like explaining. Byron was fun but our campsite in Brokenhead really took the cake. It was overlooking a stunning beach with a wonderful coastal walk nearby. We met a great older man named Gary who fed me french champagne and blue cheese, it was splendid.

Onwards to the Gold Coast where we met up with Cass and Dave's friend Kiera in Surfers Paradise to party for a night, staying at "miami caravan park" a sleazy little place but a wild one to remember........

And then we arrived in Noosa, an idyllic spot where we lounged, flew kites, drank alot of Goon and loved life.

Finally we took a 3 day self guided camping trip to Fraser Island... where we were bombarded by dingos in the dark at our campsite, drove for way too many hours in our 4x4 through the roughest terrain I have ever seen and saw unbelievable beauty at Lake Mackenzie, Lake Wabby, The Eastern Beach and Elie Creek. It was a wicked adventure.

Lastly we ended in Brisbane where Cassandra and Dave left for Thailand and I came here to Mt. Martha, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria just outside of Melbourne to spend some time with my friend Jade's dad Don and his girlfriend Judy at their beautiful beachside home.. so very happy to be eating great food, sleeping in a bed and being stationed in one place! This place is the most beautiful of all my stops I'd have to say...

I start work at a beachside cafe on Friday for the holiday season and then plan on meeting my step cousin Annie in the new year for more adventures.

Happy Holidays Everyone !!!!!

PS: I likely missed some spot offs on our trip but those are the highlights!!