Journal: December 2006

Finally in OZ! After a quick stop in Hong Kong (1 day) we arrived in Brisbane, where one of my best mates Rico (a.k.a. Suave) picked us from the airport. We stayed at Rico and Kelly’s place and they showed us “the neighborhood” of Brisbane. We’d got the privilege of getting to know their family and friends and we’ve met some very nice people. Kangaroo point is a great place in Brisbane for having a BBQ and see the sunset.
During the week Rico and Kel had to go to work and so we went our own way during the day. In the weekends we got together and went out for a very nice Spanish tapas dinner in the Brunswick street area, that was a very cozy evening and we had a great time. It’s good when you haven’t seen a good friend for such a long time (it’s been years) and we got the time to “pull some old cows out of the creek” (Dutch saying), level and made a lot of fun.
Georgia and I went for a daytrip to North Stradbroke Island (a.k.a. Straddy) one day, witch was very nice. We saw our first dolphins and sea turtles there that day.
Of course we went to the Gold Coast for a surf session (at Burleigh Heads, Snapper point, Superbank and Kirra point). The current was very strong that day. We went in at Snapper point and by the time we got out of the water we were at Kirra point. Surfing here is a great workout, that’s for sure. We spent 3 days filming at Chris Garrett’s surf shop at Currumbin. He shaped a brand new surfboard for us and it’s beautiful! For more information about this read the Trip Turquoise part of the web log.
After two weeks in Brisbane we continued our journey further south to Byron Bay. Despite of the heavy rain we had for 3 days, we enjoyed our stay in this little village. We spent most of our time at The Balcony, a relaxed restaurant with great food and good vibes! Breakfast, lunch, dinner…you name it. Here in Byron Bay we saw our first whales at the lighthouse! After Byron Bay we went of to Yamba. In this (small) village we had a very nice caravan park, right next to the Yamba river and a 5 minute walk away from the sea. In the morning we spotted a dolphin couple with a baby, just from a few meters distance. Next to Yamba lies Angourie, a small village with a great surf spot…but unfortunately it wasn’t working. After leaving Yamba we went further south to Port Macquarie and during the way we took some nice scenic routes which brought us to places like Scotts Head, another great place for surfing. From Port Macquarie we traveled to beautiful Sydney were we stayed for 3 days. We loved the Rocks Area next to the bridge and near the Opera house. The Botanical gardens are worth a visit too! All the flying foxes are situated here during the day and at dusk they fly out over the gardens near the skyline, searching for some nice berry trees (figs). The fourth day we left Sydney for our final destination in Australia; Melbourne. We took ourselves three days to travel from Sydney to Melbourne and we made a lot of (overnight)stops at some very nice places like Wollongong (we took the scenic coastal route from Sydney), Pebbly Beach (kangaroos on the beach!), Lakes Entrance (pelican and black swan area) and finally we arrived in Melbourne!!
Once in Melbourne we contacted one of Georgia’s father best (Greek) friend who lives in Oakleigh - Melbourne. It was the first time we met and they are very nice people who reminded us to our own family! From day one they took us everywhere, and I mean everywhere!! Every night we went out for dinner, scenic tours, visiting family, crash the Greek Bazoukya (Kinisi), had a baptism party on Saturday (the ride back home…I can’t remember ;-).
George and I did the Great Ocean Road for 3 days in the first week in Melbourne. We started at Bells Beach, where the Great Ocean Road starts. What a beautiful ride! And man, we got some nice pictures… Anyway, we got really close with everybody from Melbourne so it was very difficult to leave!! But our flight was already booked and on the 28th of November we had to catch our airplane to Christchurch - New Zealand.
We had such a great time, that Georgia and I definitely want to go back again to Melbourne in the future…!