Noosa

Day 1

I departed Brisbane bright and early at 7am, the earliest wake up call since I started this journey. My motivation for making the most out of my days on this trip is high. Rolled out of bed pretty easily and made my way to the bus stop. 2 hours later I had arrived in Noosa. Noosa never got too big of a review from the guide books and isn't largely talked about among travelers so I was not expecting much...well 1.5 days here is not enough. This is my 2nd favorite spot after Byron without a doubt. The town is small but it packs a big punch.

After arriving by Greyound I took a quick courtesy shuttle to my hostel, Noosa Backpackers...yet another gem in the hostel world.

I checked into my room and prepared my bed and gave myself a clean shave, first in 2 weeks, i had a pretty good scruff goin, next time it is that long I will let it grow..I think my month New Zealand will be no shave month.

Anyhow after freshin up it was time to see what this town had to offer. After a short walk thru the downtown I headed straight for the highly recommended Noosa National Park, I think I read it is Australia's most visited National Park. Anyhow, free entrance into this beautiful park made things just sweeter, this was one of my favorite days of the entire trip. Don't think I made one wrong move today. Great day. Anyhow the park was pretty large, but not that large. I did only 2.5 of the 4 walking tracks and wish I had atleast another day to go explore it. I started on the coastal track which you might guess took me all along the coast. There were several breath taking beaches along the way. The water was blue-er than ever and the tropic plants surrounding these pristine beaches made the view all the better.

This coastal trap wrapped all around the park, I had originally not planned on doing the 4 hour return hike but I was into it so much I did not want to sell myself short. Every little side path and route that I came across I went for as I was feeling extremely adventurous and never knew what I might be missing just around the corner. Well around every corner and at the end of every path was either great wildnerness walks, amazing coastal views or beautiful beaches. It was truly a great hike and will rate up there as one of the best coastal hikes that I will ever walk.

My turn around point was Alexandria Bay, a beautiful beach (bay?) than spanned for about a mile down the coast. It was truly beautiful but was caught a little off guard when I noticed several nude men laying around. I found out afterword that it does sometimes have a nude following. Aside the one or 2 bare butt cheeks that I unwillingly came on, the beach was spectacular. One of the most beautiful sights I have seen, pictures and videos don't seem to give the view justice.

Alexandria Bay from above

Owning it on Alexandria Bay(beach)

Anyhow from Alexandria Bay I decided to trek back as I needed to make the most out of my only full day in Noosa. On the walk back I stopped at one of the parks beautiful beaches and hit the ocean. The water was extremely warm and got the same paradise feeling I got when I was in Byron Bay. With the beautiful surrounding view, I suprisingly recieved several semi large sets of waves, had some lengthy body surfed waves and was loving it. Really gettin the technique down on my surfing. I discovered that If i paddled one or two strokes longer I have a much higher success rate at riding the wave thru.

View from the ocean

Anyhow after a bit rushed of a beach session, I went back on the hike and came across a Koala sleeping in the tree. First Koala in OZ, was stoked on it. Well it didn't stop there, I came across a large lizard as well, not sure what specie, but as the photo shows it was of immense size.

Koala in the tree (you can see his leg and head if you look closely)

This thing was huge

After doing a quick 30 minute hike on the Palm Grove track that led me into the woods, I exited the park and headed back into the downtown area. There is a main beach near downtown, but it was super packed with families and more of a lake with no waves, I definitely made the right call by going to the beach in the national park. From there I walked all thru Noosa downtown, about 10 minutes and got a bite to eat before taking the shuttle back to my hostel (about a 5 minute drive from Noosa downtown).

It was now around 4 oclock and was time to utilize some of the hostels perks. The hostel offered free surfboard, bodyboard and kayak rentals. Well with the only noosa waves being back in the national park, it was time to take out the kayak at the nearby Noosa River, 40 meters from the hostel. Pretty unfortunate I was unable to bring my camera on my epic kayak adventure. The river itself is beautiful, and there are hundreds of hotels, holiday condos and boats surrounding the river. Reminded me of somewhere but could never place it. Anyhow, I took the kayak out for about an hour and a half, you could immagine the uppy body workout. Keep in mind the weather here is still scorching, high 80's today. I was quite suprised at my endurance, I was eloquently glidly along the river in my kayak, taking in all the surrounding sights, including some beautiful marine life and the heaps of jet skis and party barges around the river. When I got tired of rowing I just parked up on a sand bank and enjoyed the extremely warm water. The free kayak rental was on my list to do's and so happy I was able to make it happen.  Upper body is feeling pretty worked now.

I did heaps today, pretty exhausted now. Ideally I would have liked to have about 3-4 days here, to explore more of the national park, soak in the waves, and rent a scooter, but I definitely made the most of my time.

I currently am still in Noosa but leave for Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo for a day trip. Hoping I will return in time to maybe get another kayak adventure in. I will pay my respects to the one and only Croc Hunter tomorrow, the least I can do for my most loved nature man.

Tonight while out in the hostel courtyard, I met two beautiful German sisters, best part is that are twins. Had a great night with them, they are good fun. Looking forward to getting the party started with them again tomorrow night. Twins, what else could a guy ask for?