Final sights of Australia

(Sunset at Tallow's Beach near Byron Bay, New South Wales)
Bye bye pretty beaches of Australia....China here we come!

After numerous postponements and extensions, Amber’s company finally confirmed a final date of employment for her assignment in Bunbury.  Even though we knew that the next project would be in China we had no idea when we would actually relocate because it is a 4 to 8 week time frame to complete the process of getting a Z-class working visa. We started the visa application process a month before moving out of Bunbury by getting our medical examination completed in Perth.  The process included updating our vaccinations, which meant receiving 4 injections covering 8 vaccines (Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, Hepatits A & B, Typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis). I don’t have issues with needles or shots, but one of those shots pretty much deadened my arm within minutes of the injection and rendered it useless for the next 2 days! Ouch.

We were told that while the visas were being processed, we would be living in Brisbane, Australia – the Australian headquarters for Amber’s company.  Due to the short, 1-2 month stay in Brisbane the company would not allow us to move all of our belongings from Bunbury to Brisbane, then have it all shipped to China. Instead, we had to pack essential items to bring with us to Brisbane for our 1-2 month stay and leave everything else in storage in Perth. Once our Chinese visas are approved the items in Perth would be air freighted to us in China. Thus, when we moved to Brisbane we only had a few bags with us plus our exercise and tennis gear, and my guitar equipment.

Our tiny Brisbane apartment

Upon arrival in Brisbane, we were a bit disappointed because we found ourselves booked into a very small 1-bedroom hotel. There was barely enough room to set down our luggage! Upon further inspection of the room, I was more disappointed because the cooking area was equipped with an electric stovetop (cooking is so much easier with gas). Meanwhile, in the bathroom I heard Amber shriek, “eeww!”  No, she hadn’t seen a spider or cockroach.  She was horrified that the bathroom was equipped with a tiny shower and tub combination (it’s all about having a separate shower and tub, or just a shower). Geez, we do seem to be snobbishly spoiled with these complaints! We really couldn’t nit-pick the place too much as it was fully paid for by the company, including utilities, and it was located right in the heart of the city, near Amber’s office. It would be home for the next 2 months.

Brisbane is a city of over 2 million people located on the east coast of Australia in the state of Queensland. Like most Australian cities, it is modern with well-preserved, beautiful colonial buildings and sites. The cultural and music scene is exceptional, the public transportation is good (including the river ferries), and it is consistently within the top 20 most livable cities in the world. Although we loved living in Bunbury, it was a bit refreshing to live in a proper city again.

The Story bridge and part of downtown Brisbane

To keep myself busy for the next 2 months I spent my time doing various activities which included: participating in an African drumming class, taking capoeira classes, running along the Brisbane River (and doing the Bridge-to-Brisbane 5k run), working out at a very nice gym downtown, playing tennis, taking private Mandarin lessons, and taking our laundry to the Laundromat. Out of all these activities the most interesting was the weekly trip to the Laundromat.

Chinatown in Brisbane

The Laundromat is located in Chinatown, which is 2 blocks from the hotel. They offer a full laundry service where they wash, dry, and fold your clothes. On my first visit I met the owner - a short, middle-aged, Asian woman that spoke English quite well. She was wearing a touristy shirt from Bangkok so I asked her, in Thai, if she was from Thailand. She was surprised and delighted that I could speak Thai and answered that she was Thai. We had a brief conversation in Thai before switching back to English (without much practice my Thai isn’t as good as it used to be).  Her name was Apple and she was married to an Italian. They’ve lived in Brisbane for over 10 years running the Laundromat. It was near closing time, so I’d have to wait until the next day to pick up the clothes. When I returned the next morning the clothes were ready, and, to my surprise, she gave me a plate of Thai food (an entire fish, cooked and seasoned!) wrapped up for me to take home. Without fail, every Thai person that I meet, both in Thailand and abroad, has always given me Thai food. It pleasantly surprises me every time. Every week for the next 2 months I took our laundry to the same laundromat and every week she had a new dish of food or fruit for me to take home. We’d chat about Thailand, Australia, Amber’s job as an engineer, her daughter’s job as an engineer, and where to buy good Thai food and fruit in Brisbane. I was sad to say goodbye to her, and gave her 2 bottles Australian wine for all the food she’d given me.

Sunshine Coast

Another nice feature of Brisbane is that it’s near some major Australian tourist hotspots. The first one that we visited was the Sunshine Coast. Located 100km north of Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast is a collection of towns and beaches along the coastline that is popular as a holiday and surfing destination.

The first stop of our daytrip was the Ginger Factory in Yandina, which turned out to be a small ginger-themed complex. It contained shops selling food and snacks containing ginger, a café, an ice cream shop, a honey shop, stations chronicling the history and processing of ginger, a nature walk, and a gift shop. The ginger ice cream was quite yummy!

Checking out the Ginger Factory

The next stop was Nutworks, which was located across the street from the Ginger Factory.  Nutworks is a macadamia processing factory and chocolate factory. Macadamia nuts are local to Australia, and nearly 50% of of the world’s macadamia nuts are produced in Australia, which has more than 13 million trees. Ferdinand von Mueller first described the macadamia genus, and he named the nut after his colleague, John Macadam. We bought some macadamia-based snacks and munched on a delicious macadamia chocolate tart. We were also eyeing the kiddie ride at the front of the shop – who wouldn’t want to ride in a jeep with a kangaroo, wombat and, koala?

Hop in mate!

The next destination was the well-known area called Noosa. The Noosa River flows into the Coral Sea at the beach town of Noosa Heads. As we drove towards Noosa Heads we saw the river inlet lined with mansions, complete with their own private beach for a backyard and dock for their boat. The beach section of the town was packed with people and it took forever to find a parking spot. We strolled along the main street, which contained shops, restaurants, and a few hotels. We also walked along a very nice beach. Noosa Heads was certainly nice, but we weren’t overly impressed, as it appeared to be overdeveloped, cramped, and had way too much people for our liking – and this was the winter low season. Apparently, people from Sydney and Melbourne come here just for the weekend as a getaway. I really don’t see why because based my experience all beaches in Australia are equally fantastic and, while this beach is fantastic in it’s own right, it didn’t merit itself to be above and beyond the norm. I can only guess that the prestige of Noosa adds to the allure.

A Noosa Heads Postcard

We continued our trip by driving south along the coast and stopped at a few other beach towns including Sunshine Beach, Castaways Beach, Peregian Beach, and Coolum Beach. They were much smaller than Noosa Heads and they weren't crowded with too many people. It reminded us of living in Western Australia – beautiful beach towns with hardly any people, if any, on pristine beaches. We finished our daytrip by having an early dinner at a café at Coolum Beach while enjoying the ocean view.

Sunshine and beach - a great combination!

Gold Coast

Two weeks after our Sunshine Coast daytrip Amber decided to take 2 weeks of vacation so we decided to visit the other major tourist area near Brisbane, Gold Coast.

A view of the Gold Coast

The city of Gold Coast is Australia’s 6th largest city with half a million people. The name of Gold Coast’s most well known suburb is Surfer’s Paradise (yes, the surfing is good here). There are numerous high-rise apartment and hotels along the beach in Surfer’s Paradise, a nice promenade along the beach, and a large shopping complex. We stayed at a very funky hotel that served excellent tacos – yum!

Welcome to Surfer's Paradise

The highlight of the Gold Coast was the whale-watching trip. This was our first whale watching tour and we didn’t know what to expect. We boarded the boat in the morning on a pier on the Nerang River and made our way towards the sea. We could see beautiful houses and marinas along the river,  including Jackie Chan’s house and another with a helicopter pad.  We got to the open sea, rode out to the sighting area, and within minutes we saw our first humpback whale in the distance!

The obligatory whale tale picture

 The captain explained that once we sight a whale he'll try to drive the boat to where it will next surface, which can take 2-10 minutes. However, there is a law that boats can't drive within 100 meters of a whale, but whales can swim up to a stationary boat. For the first 30 minutes we would see a whale in the distance, chase it, wait for it to surface again without luck, but see another whale in the distance and chase that one.  During the 3rd or 4th time of the cat and mouse game, a group of 3 or 4 whales surfaced right next to the boat. The captain picked the perfect spot for their surfacing and the whales were literally a few foot away from boat!

The pod of whales right next to the boat (2 surfacing, 1 about to surface)

 They were massive and seemed to glide effortlessly in the water. They seemed to be curious or playful as they surfaced several times around the boat. The pod split off and we tried to follow them, but it was to no avail. The rest of the tour was much like the beginning, spotting whales at medium distances but no more close encounters. Overall, it was a great experience to learn about the whales and to see them up close.

2 whales coming up for air

Byron Bay

The rest of the vacation was spent relaxing in the seaside town of Byron Bay, located in the state of New South Wales.

Cape Byron

Byron Bay is known for its relaxed and easygoing spirit. Events held at Byron Bay include music festivals, yoga retreats, pagan gatherings, and film and writer’s festivals. We spent our time lazy about, checking out the lighthouse (which happens to be the Eastern most point on the Australian mainland), checking out the beaches, and even getting in a game of tennis.

The Cape Byron Lighthouse

Our final day of the trip was spent driving through the little villages near Byron Bay. First we drove along the coast and stopped at a lookout to see a surf reserve at Lennox Head.

Preserving Surf Habitats

A view of the Surfing Reserve and the village of Lennox Head

After driving through a few villages in the hills we stopped for lunch at a Pecan farm. The pecan pie and pecan cheesecake were delicious!

We made a quick stop in Bexhill to sew one of the world’s few open-air cathedrals.

Bexhill open-air cathedral

Our final stop was in the legendary village of Nimbin. Nimbin is a tiny village of 350 people and is an Australian icon for hippies and marijuana use. In 1973 the village held the Aquarius Festival (a big hippie festival) and some of the participants decided to stick around, form cooperatives, and live an “alternative lifestyle”.

The main street of Nimbin

 It’s said that you can’t walk around the main street in Nimbin without being offered marijuana, and we weren’t disappointed! We were offered marijuana in the Nimbin museum and out in the open as were walking along the shops.

A public notice posted at the entrance to the Nimbin Museum

Checking out the hippie history in the Nimbin Museum

After 7 weeks in Brisbane our Chinese visas were finally approved. We spent the last days selling the car (I’m gonna miss that car!), packing, and enjoying the Brisbane festival. It’s been a great 2 ½ years in Australia and we sincerely hope to be back in the future. One chapter of our lives was coming to an end, and a new and exciting one in China is about to begin. Here we go!


(Click here to view all of our Australia East Coast Pictures)