31/01 - Surfing in Coolangatta

The alarm rang early again: 6.30am. We checked out at 7am, got our deposits back (worth $60! - we are rich!). The shuttle bus took us to the Greyhound bus stop at 7.30am. The bus was on time and nearly full! The 1st stop was us: Coolangatta, but before we had a 30 minutes break in a petrol station (with crappy internet). 

In Coolangatta the time is different, as the town is technically on the border between New South Wales and Queensland. We were the only ones getting off. The courtesy shuttle arrived 10 minutes after us, but before heading to the hostel the driver stopped in town for a coffee (her early morning Sunday treat she said!).

We checked in the hostel but no room until the afternoon. D. managed to find a surf school for today and a good one! So we got changed, put on suncream used the free shuttle again to go back to town at 11am. They dropped us near the beach were we met our group for our surf lesson: Rainbow Beach. 

 

They are 5 other people already ready to surf. It is a beginner course. We get MASSIVE foam boards (required by law apparently - oooops Shane!!). We practise a bit on the grass before hitting the water. It took me 3 goes again to get up, after that it was pretty good.

Dave, our instructor, gave me various balance exercises: weight front/back, getting lower on board (bending knees), stepping to the front and then stepping back, doing all 3 together and stopping completely (both feet at the end of the board). It was not easy but I really enjoyed it!! It was a bit more tricky for D.

1.30pm, end of the class, we headed to a shopping centre to get some food and cash before catching the shuttle back to the hostel at 2.15pm. We rested for the remaining of the afternoon. We are in different dorms as they don't have mixed ones. I worked on the laptop and D. was reading. We booked for an extra night and will try to surf tomorrow again.

D. cooked while I took care of the laundry. After dinner I was on the laptop sending emails and updating the blog for 2 hours. D. watched some tennis, but he was too tired to stay until the end of the match and went to bed around 9.30. I stayed another 30 minutes and watch a bit of the new X-Files. Back in the room, a group of middle aged ladies were taking photos of themselves, giggling like teenagers... I had to told them that some of us wanted to sleep. I read a little and fell alseep quickly.

 Walked 2 km today and surfed!.

Slept in a separated dorms, in Coolangatta YHA

30/01 - Sunrise at the lighthouse and beaches walk

Strange enough, I woke up before my alarm which was set at 5am. We were gone by 5.15am and met Jo&Gavin + their room outside of the hostel. So we walked together. It was nice, we followed the road and chatted the whole way. Me with Jo and D. with Gavin.

Once at the lighthouse, we could see that there was a wall of clouds, that will stop us from seeing the sunrise on the water... but the wall is not too tall to stop any sunrise. The sky above it is clear.

view on our "climb" to the lighthouse

the lighthouse at dawn - beautiful

We witnessed a lovely sunrise, took a few pics.

clouds wall

finally the sun rises

Damien, Gavin, Jo and I - selphie indian style!!

Then, while the others went back to bed, D. & I decided to take the long way back, following the coast. Beautiful!! Beach after beach, some early surfers, barely anyone around, warm sun, blue sky and not too hot yet!! There is even a small breeze. We walked all the way to the main beach of Byron Bay and even went further than that. We also stopped at Cape Byron to take a photo. It is the eastern most point of Australia!

view from the lighthouse on Byron Bay

Cape Byron - Eastern Most Point of Australia

jelly fish

bruises from surfing in Yamba

ephemeral sand mandala

D. went for a swim and after a while we headed back to the hostel and had breakfast. It was around 10am. We rested for a while (hot weather + tired). I journaled, we listened to some music and read. We went to town to get some food and go to the Greyhound shop to see what they had to offer. While I discussed with them D. went back to the hostel to cook lunch. Actually they refused to discuss anything with me because D. was not with me and I had no money on me: RIDICULOUS....

Back at the hostel we had lunch and later in the afternoon we went to Tallow Beach. It is facing the ocean with no protection against the wind. The beach was beautiful with white sand, really fine. but the wind was SO heavy that the sand was whipping against us the whole time (quite painful!). We headed to the top left corner hoping to get shelter from the cliffs and watch the surfers, but it did not really work...

entrance to Tallow Beach

We still settled for a little while. D. wrote, drew and listened to music while I read. It was just too windy so we left. On the way back it started raining a bit. It got worst but luckily we were nearly at the hostel. After that we stayed inside. I worked downstairs on the laptop while D. was having some "me time". We had our free dinner around 7.30pm - Chilly! so spicy!! but good.

I vibered my parents until the internet run out. Try to lie down a little due to a bad tummy. Then we packed and went to bed and read for a while. We fell asleep quickly after the long day we had!

 Walked 16.5 km today.

Slept in a 11 shared mixed dorm, in Aquarius Hostel, in Byron Bay