Roommate Jon had been pushing this "One Fish, Two Fish" trip that is the classic spring break partying plus bungie jumping/sky diving and the likes all-the-while touring the East Coast from Brisbane up to Cairnes. Jon and Dan had booked the trip when I was in class on Wednesday and urged me to sign up when I got back. Being that I didn't exactly have the financial backing for this trip, I had to back out (the trip filled to capacity shortly after, anyways). With holiday approaching, I had no plans but I also had no worries - i figured things would work themselves out.
Two of my roommates from orientation (Zach and Jeff) were in the same boat regarding the holiday and we decided we'd go up to Brisbane for a few days and roadtrip back. We book the flight on Friday; we leave Sunday morning (7:00 AM flight. MY FAVORITE!) Since Jeff and Zach live in Coogie, I decided I would stay at their place the night before and we'd all leave for the airport together at 5:30AM. My "night in" quickly transformed into a long night out and I didn't arrive in Coogie until 4. Getting one hour of sleep the night before traveling is always an A+ idea. After "no worries" check in and flying out of Sydney, we take off for Brisbane and I take a nap that rivaled my prior night's sleep.
I didn't plan this trip, so I was still in the dark about what we'd be doing each day of the trip. We land and shortly thereafter I am let in on the rough draft of the itinerary. We're heading to North Stradbroke Island ("Straddie" for short) and we'll be staying there for a couple nights before actually seeing Brisbane After seeing Brisbane, we'd rent a car and stop at different beach cities along the coast. Jeff acquired one of these "Travel-Across-Australia-and-Do-This-and-Then-See-This-and-You-Can-Stay-Here" books, and it is our Moses.
From the airport, we take a train to Central Station in Brisbane and await the train to Cleveland (not that Cleveland). We get on the train and about an hour later we get to Cleveland to await the ferry. We take the ferry to North Stradbroke Island and board a bus. The bus takes us to a hostel (the only hostel on the island) and we check in. At this point, all I know about Straddie is that it has a population of 31k and it has some nice beaches... and according to our receptionist at the hostel, supposedly there are marijuana plantations somewhere on the island. Rubbish.
We spend the rest of the day exploring the beaches, getting lost, etc. We find a fish 'n' chips place (as suggested by our Moses)... and I remembered why I hadn't eaten fish 'n' chips since the first time I tried it. We go back to the hostel, play some ping-pong, (American) pool, catch the tail-end of "The Kite Runner" on dvd (there was this kid and he had a slingshot... you should go see it, or at least the ending).
The next day we get up early to find some breakfast and attempt to get on a group activity (ie: sandboarding, kayaking, etc. We caught the end of a breakfast buffet at a hotel nearby and it became the best $8.50 spent on the whole trip. (Just so you know, no meal in Australia is under $10, we just happened to get a 1/2 price deal because they weren't bringing out anymore food at this point.) From breakfast, we venture out to sign up for an adventure, but soon realize we'd be better off doing our own activity.
We go to the beach, climb some rocks, go for a walk, etc. We decide that we'll build a fire on the beach tonight so we spend some time during the afternoon collecting firewood and scoping out the beach for a good location. We find a hole already dug and stash our wood near the edge of the woods.
After last night's dinner, we decide we'd cook for ourselves. We pick up some potatoes and beans from the supermarket and before heading back to the hostel, we stop at a local fish market (shop) that we had seen earlier to pick up the main course. We get to the shop and learn it's only open on the weekends. Based on the directions of a local, we head for a similar shop not too far away. We get to the address we were given, and we see an ordinary house and lawn with a little shack adorning a "Fresh Fish" sign. Warily, we approach the shack and notice the counter full of photos of recently caught fish held up by a burly looking man. The walls are littered with similar artifacts. To one side of the counter is a big dinner bell next to a small sign, "Ring for assistance." The place looked empty, but I gave the bell a ring anyways. A minute later, the guy from the pictures came out to see what we wanted, and a few minutes after that we walked out with a flank of fresh mackerel.
That dinner was damn good. We bum around for a few hours before heading back to the beach to set up our campfire. Setting up the wood that night was easier than anticipated thanks to the full moon and lack of wind. We sat by the fire with some wine and snacks for about an hour, keeping a vigilant eye for anyone approaching (fires are illegal on this beach). But then we see a group of about eight people walking towards us and we hope they're not the authorities (I doubt the island has a police force of more than five). We welcome them over and realize they are the hostel's employees and their friends returning from the pub. They shoot the breeze with us for a while before heading back. Around 2:30, we head back
