This weekend the pair decided to venture south of Brisbane for the Queen's Birthday weekend before it gets too cold (the 60s is their winter). Their chariot for this event packed weekend was
a 1977 Volkswagen named Fee. Their first stop was Bond Uni on the Gold Coast, BJ's alma mater, to stay with his mate Billy. We were reluctant to walk the campus at night in the "cold" but nonetheless enjoyed it, despite its seeming sterility (compared to the beauty and tradition of Chapel Hill). Our therm-arests were put to the test on the dorm floor- an unpleasant flashback to college road trips. The next morning we ate brekky, aka breakfast, on the Gold Coast and then ventured into the Springbrook rain forest. We took Fee's top down, only to drive through the cold, into a rain storm. You would think the term
rainforest would have given us a clue. We hiked a brisk 4km to a waterfall and then another 2km to a natural bridge. It was splendid, moving on...we then stopped in Murwillumbah for another meat pie(#3) and then drove through the countryside to Nimbin.
Picture this: a blast from the 60s, a one block, psychedelic-painted town full of dirty hippies, and heaps of legalize marijuana propaganda. The second we reached the city limits the famous 3-legged dog raved about by every travel guide book ran across the street in front of Fee. We toured the Nimbin museum of cannabis and were approached to buy the local crop no less than 5 times, we kindly declined. Even though it is illegal to smoke in Australia, the police turn a blind eye to Nimbin because it is too widespread to enforce. What an interesting town- they have a festival called Mardi Grass...need we say more?
We then drove Fee to Byron Bay, the most eastern mainland point in Australia. It reminded us of a California surfer town with a mix of yuppies and its original hippy inhabitants. At the hostel, a creepy, brain-fried traveler with a t-shirt that said "Energie" and a crystal hanging around his neck told us his profession was to "inhale, and then exhale, and work on his tan" and thought it was important to mention that he loves baths with rocks and crystals around him. Turns out, he was just looking for a wife. We used a climb to the lighthouse as an excuse to escape. The lighthouse sits on top of a cliff on the bay peninsula where we had a great view of surfers, a large dolphin pod, and a few whales. We vegged out on the beach for the rest of the day and watched the sunset before heading out to Mt. Warning (1157m), where we camped in a trailer park, despite BJ's desire to pitch the 6-man, 2-bedroom tent on the side of the road.
We woke up at 3:30 and were on the trail by 4am to make the beast of a summit by sunrise. Katie soon realized she was morbidly out of shape, humorously commenting that she was "panting like a 400lb diabetic". Nonetheless we all made it to the top before the sun rose at 6:30am. The last 200m is a vertical rock scramble up the volcanic plug. We reached the summit exhausted, only to find people smoking cigarettes and chugging rum and coke-EW! It was neat to walk up in the dark when you could only see 1m ahead of you with a flashlight and the glow worms in the leaves and then back down in the daylight where the canopy of the rain forest housed vibrant wildlife that kept us company on our descent. After a glorious shower and a divine meat pie(#4) we drove to Coochiemudlo Island to pass out.
a 1977 Volkswagen named Fee. Their first stop was Bond Uni on the Gold Coast, BJ's alma mater, to stay with his mate Billy. We were reluctant to walk the campus at night in the "cold" but nonetheless enjoyed it, despite its seeming sterility (compared to the beauty and tradition of Chapel Hill). Our therm-arests were put to the test on the dorm floor- an unpleasant flashback to college road trips. The next morning we ate brekky, aka breakfast, on the Gold Coast and then ventured into the Springbrook rain forest. We took Fee's top down, only to drive through the cold, into a rain storm. You would think the term rainforest would have given us a clue. We hiked a brisk 4km to a waterfall and then another 2km to a natural bridge. It was splendid, moving on...we then stopped in Murwillumbah for another meat pie(#3) and then drove through the countryside to Nimbin.
Picture this: a blast from the 60s, a one block, psychedelic-painted town full of dirty hippies, and heaps of legalize marijuana propaganda. The second we reached the city limits the famous 3-legged dog raved about by every travel guide book ran across the street in front of Fee. We toured the Nimbin museum of cannabis and were approached to buy the local crop no less than 5 times, we kindly declined. Even though it is illegal to smoke in Australia, the police turn a blind eye to Nimbin because it is too widespread to enforce. What an interesting town- they have a festival called Mardi Grass...need we say more?
We then drove Fee to Byron Bay, the most eastern mainland point in Australia. It reminded us of a California surfer town with a mix of yuppies and its original hippy inhabitants. At the hostel, a creepy, brain-fried traveler with a t-shirt that said "Energie" and a crystal hanging around his neck told us his profession was to "inhale, and then exhale, and work on his tan" and thought it was important to mention that he loves baths with rocks and crystals around him. Turns out, he was just looking for a wife. We used a climb to the lighthouse as an excuse to escape. The lighthouse sits on top of a cliff on the bay peninsula where we had a great view of surfers, a large dolphin pod, and a few whales. We vegged out on the beach for the rest of the day and watched the sunset before heading out to Mt. Warning (1157m), where we camped in a trailer park, despite BJ's desire to pitch the 6-man, 2-bedroom tent on the side of the road.
We woke up at 3:30 and were on the trail by 4am to make the beast of a summit by sunrise. Katie soon realized she was morbidly out of shape, humorously commenting that she was "panting like a 400lb diabetic". Nonetheless we all made it to the top before the sun rose at 6:30am. The last 200m is a vertical rock scramble up the volcanic plug. We reached the summit exhausted, only to find people smoking cigarettes and chugging rum and coke-EW! It was neat to walk up in the dark when you could only see 1m ahead of you with a flashlight and the glow worms in the leaves and then back down in the daylight where the canopy of the rain forest housed vibrant wildlife that kept us company on our descent. After a glorious shower and a divine meat pie(#4) we drove to Coochiemudlo Island to pass out. 
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