Just north of Brissy... where have all the tourists gone?

We spent 3 days and nights in beautiful Noosa. It is a few hours north of Brisbane and, although there are a few hostels there, it appears to be generally overlooked on the every-backpacker-that-travels-up-the-coast-stops-here-here-and-here journey. It is an upscale beach town... a bit like Yorkville meets a really nice beach. So of course, Mars and I loved it! We stayed at Wood's friend Nathan's house. He just moved in and the place was really nice... a very welcome time out from the 8 person hostel rooms! (although, he is still a boy living on his own, which meant essentials like dish soap and light bulbs were still missing... and he was doing his laundry in the jacuzzi tub!) We spent our time there checking out the town, meeting a few of the locals, and surfing (more on that in a sec). We were so relaxed I just realized that I did not take a single picture of us in Noosa! Oops! Hopefully we get to go back.

So, about the surfing. We had our first Aussie surf lesson courtesy of a Kiwi (Nathan) and a Canadian from Whistler (Jay). In true Aussie style, we had no "dry beach" lessons. They just threw the boards in the water and said "paddle when we tell you, then when you feel like you're going really fast, stand up." Seriously. That's all we got. The day we were out was INSANELY windy and the water was really choppy with huge waves coming from every direction. Mars and I got DESTROYED out there! We were falling all over the place with absolutely no control, using our surf boards as weapons against ourselves and anyone else who was unfortunate enough to be within a 3 metre radius of our wipe outs!! At the end of the day, we were exhausted and bruised, but we both stoop up once... which is encouragement enough for us to want to continue. It was only once we were off the beach that the boys were like "yeah, those waves were terrible. Can't believe you held on as long as you did!" haha.

We are now in Airlie Beach, spending a night in a hostel before boarding a party boat for a 3 day trip to the Whitsunday Islands. Should be an awesome time! And in case anyone was worried, I have hit the spa for my birthday! Backpacking budget be damned... Mars bought me an eyebrow wax and an eyelash tint for my bday!! It is great to finally be able to spend my birthday in WARM WEATHER! Will use the cash that I received to buy some summer clothes for once! Miss you all... will post again if we make it off the boat!