May 2, 2023
Day 2 of the East Coast Roadtrip
Noosa
Byron Bay – Glasshouse Mountains – Sunshine Coast – Noosa
Aisling
Ireland
Altan
ireland
Me
new zealand
Background
My name is Annabelle, I’m 20 years old and have decided to move to Australia on my own.
When arriving to Australia a couple of weeks ago, I met two Irish girls (Aisling and Altan). We soon became good friends, and they invited me on their road trip up the East Coast of Queensland, and while traveling was never part of my plan, I spontaneously agreed to join them.
In this article we leave Byron Bay (see my previous diary for further detail) and continue to Noosa, stopping at the Glasshouse mountains and the Sunshine Coast.
Glasshouse Mountains
We drove 3 hours north of Byron Bay into the Hinterland to see the Glass House Mountains, remnants of volcanic activity from millions of years ago. There was plenty of history printed everywhere, which would’ve been interesting, but unfortunately, my attention span had reached its limit.
Sunshine Coast
We drove to the Sunshine Coast, desperate for the bathroom. Running around for 30 minutes before finding somewhere appropriate.
In my opinion, the Sunshine Coast is the most underrated place in Queensland. The energy is incredible; its relaxed (especially when you’re not busting for the toilet lol), people walk the streets barefoot or in swimwear, and there’s surfstores and outlets everywhere. The perfect place to be for a chilled getaway.
Caloundra
The girls couldn’t possibly miss a sunset. So we stopped on a hill in Caloundra. It did not disappoint!
Noosa
After a lot of rerouting and many bad words to the GPS lady, we arrived at Nomads hostel in Noosa. The hostel had a good atmosphere; it was full of people and turkeys… wild turkeys. yepp… Everywhere.
To your surprise, we triple-checked that our car was parked correctly before calling it a night!
May 4, 2023
Day 4 of the East Coast Roadtrip
Noosa
Annabelle alone in Noosa
Noosa is incredibly beautiful. In my eyes, its a high-end version of Byron Bay. Generally, people that come here on holiday are high-income families or couples. You can see it in the way they dress, the vehicles they drive, and their attitudes. The stores definitely cater to this market, as reflected on the price tags eeek..
It was an amusing contrast between backpackers and wealthy locals/holiday goers, in such an upscale environment.
Homesick
Tonight I experienced my first feeling of homesickness, not from home in New Zealand but from the friends I’d made in the Gold Coast.
When I think about this hostel, a word comes to mind… Grim!
I’m sharing a smelly 10-bed dorm room with 9 boys. The beds had zero privacy, unlike the Gold Coast hostel, where you had a cubicle to yourself. One of the girl’s that I’d been speaking to in the kitchen had told me that a boy had come into her room that night, super drunk and mistaken a girls bed for the bathroom, urinating all over her and her things. Proper disgusting!
What topped it off for me was the kitchen. The kitchen smelt worse than the bedrooms, with flies and wild turkeys hanging around. There’s little fridge space, nor shelving to store food. Instead, you’re expected to hang your food in a grocery bag. You were lucky to get a hook; otherwise, you had to leave your bag on the floor and hope that a turkey wouldn’t get into it.
My hostel—you couldn't make this up
My first Noosa friend
I’m lying in bed scrolling after a lot of walking. The boys are doing the same; we’re all sitting in silence.
At one point the door opens, and a girl walks into the room with all her bags. A female roomie! She puts her things on the bed underneath mine.
She introduces herself to everyone in the room, “Hello, my name is Beth.” I’m the only person that acknowledges her. We hit it off straight away; she’s so funny, and we have similar personalities.
Beth’s from England and is currently taking a gap year, travelling the same route her Mum had done at her age (23), which I think is super special!
A night out in Noosa
Beth introduced me to friends she’d met in a tour group prior. These girls were also travelling the East Coast, so it was likely I’d keep seeing them.
We bought a couple of the cheapest bottles of wine in the bottle store (they don’t sell alcohol in the supermarkets in Australia??) and the group of us sat in our hostel room, drinking from the bottles. Our hostel was hosting a karaoke night at their bar, which we were later attending.
As hostel guests, we were allowed to skip the queue and get free entry, which was just as well because half of Noosa was queued up to come in. Noosa doesn’t seem to have any alternative nightlife.
May 5, 2023
Day Five of our East Coast of Queensland Roadtrip
Noosa
Noosa Fairy Pools
I spent the morning with Beth and our friend Sophie. We started the morning off by making some $1 pasta sachets for lunch. All you need to do is add milk and boil them (perfect for travelling).
The girls wanted to visit the famous Fairy Pools, which is a natural attraction that someone discovered and it went viral on Tiktok. We felt lazy and caught an Uber there, not realising the driver could only drive as far as the parking lot, and we had to walk the rest of the way.
It easily would’ve taken us an hour to walk there. The route took us through Noosa National Park, past Tea Tree Bay, and past Granite Bay. After reaching Picnic Cove, we had to look for a bench marking an unpathed opening down the cliffs, scramble over lots of boulders until we found some rock pools (it was really hard to find).
The fairy pools were worth the hike! We had a beautiful swim, cut ourselves on some rocks (these are the parts you don’t see on social media), and got some beautiful photos!
Reuniting with Altan and Aisling
And just like that, I’d survived two nights without the girls. In that time I’d tried something completely new (a bus tour), I’d made some new friends, done some sight-seeing, and enjoyed some alone time.
Tonight at the hostel, we received a complimentary drink and meal as part of our package. Everyone sat outside the hostel bar drinking wine and eating burgers.
Aisling and Altan gave me a complete run-down of their trip and said they thoroughly enjoyed it! They took turns driving provided landcruisers across the beach, then taken to a camp-site with pre-pitched tents where they did star-gazing, bonfires and a party on the beach (there was also an option to sleep in cabins if tents aren’t your thing).. All food was included and they got to cook it themselves while watching the sunset.
The group they went with were all similar age (in their 20’s) and there was a bit of match-making, romance going on, which kept it entertaining.
Aisling and I at pitstop
Altan and I
Altan and Aisling at hostel
Aisling and Altan
Locked out and nowhere to sleep
We had an amazing night of socialising and meeting new people. At the very end of the night once everyone had gone to bed I got locked out of my room…
Do you want to know how? A boy.
I’d been chatting with a boy named Thomas, and he wanted to stay up for a chat. He was outside my room, so I got up out of bed, leaving my phone on the charger. I stepped outside to tell him to move from the room so he wouldn’t wake anyone up. Thinking he was being helpful, he closed the door behind me, locking my phone (an electronic key) inside.
It was something like 12 a.m., and everyone was asleep. Not a staff member about 🙁
Thomas offered me to sleep on his bed, which I really didn’t want to do, but I didn’t want to wake my whole room up. Understandably, I was not impressed, so I made him face the wall, and we both slept in his single bed on the bottom bunk in a 12-bed hostel room.
I wake up the next morning to, “Annabelle, what are you doing in here?” Aisling and Altan are peering down at me. The room is full of people getting ready for the day. Embarassing, thank God it’s our last day today eeeeek!
How funny that out of all the rooms at the hostel, I happen to have slept in Aisling and Altans room.
May 6, 2023
Day six of Queensland’s East Coast Roadtrip
The Eumundi Markets
The last few hours in Noosa
This morning the majority of the hostel took the public transport to the Eumundi Markets, 30 minutes from Noosa. Beth and I took the bus, while Altan and Aisling packed the car and drove. Sadly, there’s not enough room for all four of us.
These markets are well worth the trip! When we arrived, it was packed with people. They’re the biggest markets I’ve been to in Australia. They’re not your typical fresh fruit market, but more hand-made goods, crafts, jewellery, home remedies, live music, etc.
I’m stoked to have Aisling and Altan back and even happier that they loved Beth as much as I do. I’m equally grateful for my short time alone, which taught me that I’m capable of building close friendships and entertaining myself by just being me.
Another Goodbye
Afer a beautiful day, it’s time to say a tearful goodbye to Beth who may never see again. As we continue to travel north, she travels south. Just when I get close with someone, I have to let them go and I hate it.
Aisling, Altan and I grabbed a Yo-Chi (this was my first time ever trying it = INCREDIBLE but also just an overpriced frozen yogurt), and we watched the sunset on the beach with their Fraser Island friends. So wholesome!! We’re happy, kicking the soccer ball and talking about our travel experiences.
The funny thing is, we had no idea where we were staying that night (hence the last photo of Google Maps). These girls showed me the beauty of being unorganised and living in the moment. Our trip was structured around the activities we had to book in advance, but beyond that, we let spontaneity take the lead, booking accommodations on the day based on where the adventure took us.