Noosa, Fraser Island, the frantic and the chilled

Well, this will be an interesting, muddled, and maybe brief post, but a lot of stuff has happened since the last time and i still don't have the photos up yet...

perhaps i'll take a couple days and organize all my posts and photos etc. later, but right now i'm busy bouncing from one adventure to the next... so:

Fraser Island was absolutely incredible, one of the most beautiful places ever, despite the circumstances we visited it in... Spent the first two days of our three day trip in pouring rain, grey skies, and a massive squall line of 360 degree thunder and lighting from horizon to horizon on the second night. On the other hand, mud just makes driving a four wheel drive more fun, and it was definitely that... On the second day the roads were so washed out that I was driving and having to do rally car powerslides and corrections at 25-30 kph! We also saw the most incredible white sand beaches and freshwater lakes, and the tourist shipwrecks and coloured sand cliffs...

The group we had was pretty good as well, definitely adding to the atmosphere with plenty of goon chugging, naked beach running, and stupid stunts down giant sand dunes into the water. Camping in the rain, however, with barely english speaking people and food shopping performed by the eccentric and clueless, was kind of interesting - I was pretty happy when it was over, but overall, i've never had a more enjoyable camping trip in the rain (think back to Tofino, dear friends and relatives) and ended up being the really annoying, always happy and cheerful guy who laughs when the skies open up again. So, in conclusion, fraser island is incredible and should be seen, preferably for more than three days, and preferably with camper van or something...

I'm currently enjoying the surf lifestyle in Noosa, a couple hours north of Brisbane, and contemplating my next move to Byron Bay, another surf / hippy destination down the coast. I've actually gotten used to the routine of waking up at 6:30, surfing until 11:00, then coming back to the hostel for a huge breakfast and a three hour nap - I remain that really annoying cheerful guy at 6:00 even when (go figure) we were surfing in a massive thunderstorm and rain two days ago. Everyone looked at us like we were crazy, but by the time we got on the water, the storm was passing and in 20 minutes the skies were perfect and blue and the waves were in a storm whipped fury. Managed to learn through trial and error and stand up most of the time now - even in the 1.5 - 2 m waves we were getting with the storm. I think i might take a lesson once i get to Byron, however, as it would be nice to turn once in a while or be a little more confident.

Anyways, life remains very good, if a little frenzied as my countdown to thailand begins - right now I feel like i'll drop off the face of the earth once I hit South east asia, but i'm sure once i get there it will be more connected and techno centric than Australia or Canada. Just wait until i'm emailing you from my mobile to know i've totally lost it :)

Happy Trails,

Chris