100th Blog: Row, Row, Row Your Boat…
- Oct 5, 2016
- 5 min read
Location:
Noosa, QLD, Australia
It’s great when you don’t have far to travel, only a very short bus journey with Catarina and Lucas who we met on Fraser Island. When we arrived at the bus station in Noosa, Catarina and Lucas waited for a shuttle bus to take them to their hostels, while myself and Jason got all our luggage and walked to our hostel, Nomads. On first impressions, the place seems fine. Evelyn, who we also met on Fraser Island, took the early bus down and by pure coincidence happens to be staying in the same hostel as us. Noosa is certainly turning into a little reunion!
Completely underestimating how long it would take for myself, Jason and Evelyn to walk down to the start of the coastal walk to meet Catarina and Lucas, we were a tad bit late. How can you make an entrance being early or on time? No, that simply wouldn’t do! As coastal walks go, this one was certainly up there. The coast line was stunning with scenery even the most-hard to please wouldn’t be able to not admire. Trying our best to spot some whales, I think we saw either one or two. Top of my list is a whale watching tour. Seeing them up close would be incredible. Maybe in New Zealand. Fingers crossed! Maybe for Christmas! Hint, Hint Jason! By the time we finished the walk, darkness had fallen on the town. To get back to our hostel, we had the choice of either waiting for a bus or walking back! Since we had already walked for most of the day, another couple of kilometres wouldn’t hurt, or would it?
When myself, Jason and Evelyn finally made it back to the hostel, we all headed into the bar for our free welcome drink and a bite to eat. With cheap spicy chicken wings on offer, it was a no brainer for me. I don’t know what it is with the Aussies, but chicken wings aren’t that big over here, but surprisingly, these ones were incredible. When I went back up to the bar doing my ‘Oliver’ impression ‘Please sir, can I have some more?’ Of which they replied ‘You can’t have any more!’ I was so disappointed! Licking my lips will just have to do for now!
Sometimes it’s nice to have no plans and just see where the day takes you. Being able to explore at your own leisure without being restricted by time is something that is sacred. Nothing better than just being on a ‘Go slow,’ where you can simply take your time and have a proper look! As a traveller, it means you get to see more cool, interesting things that you would have otherwise walked past! During our little exploration of the town, we did find a nice coffee shop that sold the most amazing cakes that are baked on site in their bakery. Is your mouth watering yet? It should be!
When we eventually got back to the hostel, we went for a quick dip in the swimming pool where myself and Jason both had great fun racing each other from one end of the pool to the other. Unfortunately for Jason, his little legs were no match for mine! After my grand victory, we headed up to ‘Laguna Lookout’ which was a bit of a trek, but it was worth it. The sunset we were fortunate to see was absolutely breathtaking. It had to be one of the nicest ones I have seen! Minding my own business, who do we bump into but Matt and Ant from the Fraser tour. Small world, but that is what happens when you travel, especially down Australia’s ‘East Coast!’
The next day, we were up bright and early for our ‘Everglades’ tour with Evelyn. As usual, the pickup time was rather early, but I guess there is no point is missing half the day, is there Laura? One must get their money’s worth. Going by the clientele in the bus, it was certainly ‘The Real Granny’s on Tour.’ When we reached our destination in only a matter of minutes, all the grannies went on a different boat to ours, probably since our boat trip includes kayaking. Can you seriously imagine your granny in a kayak? Well I can’t! Much of the day consisted of us cruising along in a nice, but somewhat slow boat. As the water was quite shallow in parts, the boat had to go at a rather slow pace when travelling through these areas, once we were out of these tricky spots, it was ‘Full throttle’ all the way!
Along the way we had a couple of stops including a nice lunch where we had the option of steak or barramundi. How very posh! After lunch, myself, Jason and Evelyn hopped into a kayak and rowed all the way down the ‘Everglades’ with a few minor tweaks along the way. Poor Evelyn she tried her best with the old paddling, but, honestly, she failed miserably! I can be very competitive and when I saw another kayak further up, I wanted to get in front of it which meant I had to paddle as fast as I could. Not only did we go straight, we also occasionally went from bank to bank! How very enthusiastic of me! We caught up with the other kayak right at the end which wasn’t bad going considering they left a few minutes before us and we had such a slow start!
On the boat back to the starting point, we were somewhat entertained by a group of lads and girls from inner Dublin and Blanchardstown. They were proper characters to put it mildly especially the more they drank. Half way there, one of the girls starts complaining that she needs the loo and begins to ask the captain if he can either pull over or go faster. His response was a simple ‘No!’ Then one of the guys starts complaining as well. Next of all he was on top of the roof peeing over the edge for everyone to see. As we reached our starting point, the girl insisted that she wouldn’t make it to the toilet, and decided it was better if she jumped into the water instead. They really-made a holy show of us Dub’s! Nevertheless, even though they were funny, it was verging on annoying and embarrassing.
When we got back to the hostel, all three of us walked up to Laguna lookout with wine, crackers and cheese including some rather fancy quince jam! It was certainly a nice way to relax while enjoying another one of Noosa’s amazing sunsets. Extremely pleasurable and it didn’t cost us anything apart from the food and drink. When you travel, you begin to appreciate the simple things in life! Later that evening, the three of us met up with Catarina and Stefanie at ‘Mr Chow’ where we enjoyed some very tasty Asian cuisine.
We had a most enjoyable time in Noosa. It is certainly a place we won’t forget in a hurry, and going by how long one of the beds was rocking for on our final night, I’m not sure if it is for all the right reasons. I guess it’s all these experiences make it a lot more interesting and memorable. Maybe someday we might do it all over again, but our experience first time around, well, money can’t buy that!
By Andrew
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