The good life: Solo travel

If I move now, I'll be paralyzed for the rest of my life. I've just completed nearly 15 hours of bus travel. After giving up hope after hours of driving, I eventually managed to fall asleep. A fatal situation.

BYRON BAY
Another hour passes and the bus finally drops us off in Byron Bay, where we stumble half-asleep towards the hostel. It's warm. My backpack feels like it weighs an extra 10 kg because of my provisions. And I'm tired. But I have Fredi, my sunshine with me.
As we make our way to the hostel, we both fall in love with the idyllic surfer village and pay a visit to the beach once our backpacks are settled. It's fantastic. And the best part is, I'll be kayaking here in a few hours, for the first time.
The guide from the hostel personally picks me up and we make all necessary arrangements on the beach. I spontaneously team up with a lonely Englishman and we carry our kayak to the sea. Once we've battled through the waves and showered, kayaking on the rolling sea is a lot of fun, especially because dolphins occasionally pass by, just 2 meters away from our kayak removed.

I have to admit, I had trouble suppressing my wimpy panic attacks when the waves played with our kayak like Jack Sparrow with a coin between his fingers. In the end, we didn't capsize, but we were soaking wet. I would say it was a successful kayak session.
In the evening, we head back to the beach where we observed a group of people drumming, dancing, and singing. I don't know what they were on, but it was definitely some damn good stuff.
The next morning, our attempt to watch the sunrise miserably fails, but later we borrow a surfboard and carry it to the beach.

For the record: I hate waves. There is hardly anything that scares and fascinates me as much as waves, and today I have to surf for the first time. And have fun doing it. Fredi is a few meters more experienced and actually manages to get me into the waves. I was far from being able to stand up that day, but it was fun and I had defied my fear to some extent.
One last time, we wander through the streets of Byron Bay and cook a heap of pumpkin and sweet potatoes together, which garners the admiration of the other backpackers earned.
On the day of my departure, we actually managed to get our asses up at 4:30 in the morning and hike for an hour to the lighthouse, which was rewarded with an incredible sunrise. Back at the hostel, it was time for me to pack up and take the bus to Surfers Paradise.

SURFERS PARADISE
My expectations were low; I had never met anyone who was enthusiastic about the famous city. Surfers Paradise was packed with tourist shops, with no trace of character or charm that gives cities their special something.
The day was gloomy and I walked with my backpack for 30 minutes in the rain until I reached my hostel room. Only guys and no functioning lock on the bathroom door. Seriously.

I had the urge to be by the sea. To be alone and reflect. Suddenly, a cyclist stopped me. Well-equipped, he only needed knee pads. 'Can I ask you something?' - 'Sure' - 'It's my birthday today' - 'Well, happy birthday?!' - 'Thank you'

Pause. Strange looks. The tension rises.

'So...do you wanna go for a beer with me tonight?'

What the heck?

I had never been so confused in my life, honestly. Never before had I been at such a loss for words in the right moment. No, just no.

Shortly after, I sat on the beach. Finally alone. Until a guy with the worst Italian accent sat down next to me, his buddy watching us from 5 meters away. A true Melburnian. Definitely! And he talked. And he invited me to his cool apartment where there's weed to the point of passing out, and my inner self beat its head against the table 48 times. With his strange friend in sight and fearing that they were more interested in the camera lying next to me than in me, I grabbed it and fled once again. Will this never end?

I had had enough. So I just walked along the endless beach, away from Surfers. I looked at the people, listened to music, watched the waves. A storm was coming, but the taste of freedom was too good to go back to the hostel.

After a few hours, I once again explored the bustling pedestrian zone of Surfers, which finally brightened up the otherwise gray city. Back at the hostel, I found my complete beauty case full of (hopefully) only water in the bathroom. But there was no water dripping anywhere in the bathroom. You can sleep wonderfully with roommates like that, believe me.

Apparently, the events of the previous night haunted me for quite some time because the next morning, when I wanted to go back to the bus station, I missed the turn so badly that I would have been late. Not good considering the fact that my itinerary for the East Coast was so minimal that a day's delay would have been painful. But I finally found the turn and I got on the bus and arrived in Brisbane. Phew!

BRISBANE

The highlight of my hostel in Brissie was that the poor lady at the reception only charged me for one night instead of two, despite my reminder (I'm a good person, yes!) and I ended up spending two nights in Brisbane for $9. What can I say, the price-performance ratio was right. I had a roof over my head. I admired my roommates, who didn't say a single word to me out of the five people. Two of them were literally in bed the whole day (who voluntarily spends a whole day lying in a hostel bed? Seriously..) sleeping or watching movies. Wow, why did they even come to Australia?

Day 1 in Brisbane was boring. Sorry. The North Bank had the Clock Tower as a highlight, which provided a view of the small church in the middle of the city, but otherwise only showed unphotogenic buildings. Great. So I decided to finally visit one of the Myer shopping centers, the fancy version of Karstadt. Strange Brisbane.

Thankfully, I fell in love with the South Bank during the morning run, the second part of the city separated by the Brisbane River. In addition to a huge water facility in the middle of the city, the wonderful Riverwalk, and the small rainforest, there was a small beach area, a Ferris wheel, art museums, and the pretty Brisbane installation.

She hadn't actually sacrificed her only day off in the week to show a lousy backpacker Australia and her home, had she? To be honest, I hesitated twice before actually calling the number of the stranger woman because, wouldn't the relationship become strange? What would we talk about, and what did she expect from me?

But thankfully, I called Carolyn, and not only did I see more of Australia, but with her as a 'local', I could also learn a lot. It was as if we had known each other forever; I talked on the phone with her daughter, and we had conversations, so good and so many that I could tell them all.

Noosa showed itself from its most beautiful side the next morning. I took a wonderful walk along the beach, and for the first time, that feeling arose in me... fuck, I don't want to leave.

My journey was rapidly approaching its end, and as my home became more tangible, Australia seemed to drift further away. How could 8 months pass by so quickly? Is it possible that my lifelong dream, which I had worked and yearned for for years, would soon be a thing of the past? At the end of the world and still longing for adventure. This is not how I imagined it.

And as fate would have it, I got back on the bus to Rainbow Beach after a beautiful afternoon in Noosa National Park. For the first time, I had a small bathroom in the 8-bed hostel room. Miracles do happen, my friends.