Christmas in Australia - Brisbane & Byron Bay

After all our tours, we were looking forward to having nothing to do. We first went to Brisbane for four nights. We stayed at the Bunk Hostel, which is located right in the city center. It had a hotel-like flair and we loved it. Nils already knew it from his trip six years ago. What we didn't consider is that parking in the middle of Brisbane is quite difficult and expensive, but we were lucky that our hostel had parking spaces available ($12 per day).

In Brisbane, we didn't have to cook because there are offers in restaurants or bars everywhere where the food is super cheap on certain days. For example, we had steak with fries and salad for only $6 - perfect!!

It's very nice in the evening when it's dark to walk over the Story Bridge, as you can see the city with its huge buildings from there. You can also cross the bridge with a city bike. There are many places where you can rent them, which are also not expensive. Brisbane, however, is quite hilly, so it can also be very exhausting.

We were there days before Christmas and until December 23rd, there was a fireworks display every evening on the Southbank on the other side of the river for free. There is also a lagoon where you can go swimming. There was also a small Christmas market where you could buy many little things as well as food, like German bratwurst - it was delicious!! We also drove to a lookout where we could see the city from a hill, beautiful - unfortunately it was cloudy. The botanical garden is also very nice to look at.

Time went by quickly in Brisbane. Afterwards, we went to Byron Bay with a short stop in Surfers Paradise. Spontaneously, we bought ourselves a Christmas present in Surfers Paradise and bought longboards and rode around in the afternoon. It was pretty cool.

In Byron Bay, we had a nice hostel right on the beach. To get to the city, we had to drive a bit further, but you could also walk along the beach, so you were there within 20 minutes.

On December 24th, 17 - Christmas Eve - we met up with a few people we met on the Fraser Island tour to have a barbecue on the beach. Good thing we didn't do it on Christmas Day, because Australians have their main Christmas holiday on the 25th and then also meet with their family for a barbecue. There were incredibly many people on the beach - mainly tourists - but everyone was in a good mood and there was dancing, drinking, and chatting!

On Christmas Day, a buffet was held in our hostel. Everyone was supposed to bring something typical from their country. Nils and I made fried potatoes with onions and bacon and currywurst - it was well received 😊. It was a fun day with nice people, good food, and Schnapppppps 🎉. Because of its direct beach location, you could easily rent surfboards or just go swimming in the water. We had a relaxed time with many good impressions! We continue our journey south - see you soon!!