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The East coast of Australia has been a great adventure allowing us to see and experience all manner of beautiful things; from World Heritage Sites to spectactular sunsets, camping on isolated islands to chopper bikes. Using the Greyhound coach network has made this possible moving us from town to town, experience to experience with minimal fuss and hassle.
One thing though has been more of a gamble; accomodation!



We've stayed in all manner of places, all with their own atmosphere and environment, people and staff and importantly cost and value for money.
Simple things like hot showers, clean toilets, walls (yes, you read right!), curtains, comfy mattress, no infestations become essential topics of conversation on the road.

Good places are recommended, bad ones aren't. The power of websites like TripAdvisor and HostelWorld isn't taken for granted and I have to admit before we left was a little sceptical about how they actually worked, but listening to hostel owners and managers its like having big brother watching you!

We were fortunate to have many lovely places to stay;
Inn Crowd in Singapore,



Pippies at Rainbow Beach,





Emu Park Beach Resort,





Enid on the Whitsundays,




Bungalow Bay Koala Village on Magnetic Island





and Cape Trib Beach House in Cape Tribulation.






(Obviously the best place was Jan & Pauls in Brisbane!!!)

Other weren't so bad and had the basics;
YHA Rockhampton




Beaches in Airlie Beach, Grand Hotel in Bundaberg,





Cool Bananas in Agnes Water





and Caravellas 149 in Cairns.



The only place that we couldn't recommend was Globetrotters in Townsville due to no walls, cramped space and next door to a loud bar. The facilities advertised were also out of action and minimal thought to food supplies in the kitchen.



Most of our accomodation was based on dorm styles costing between $15 and $25 per night with doubles costing approx 2.5-3 x cost of single dorm bed. It really isn't that bad, if you're thinking about it, just be sensible. Lock expensive things away and keep the other stuff on you.



Hostelling is great fun. You meet so many like-minded people and if you're doing lots of guided tours or going in the same direction, its very likely you'll see them again. We met up to 6 people in one place from our travels!



YHA cards are useful, but don't get as much discount as you might think although we had booked a lot through Tribal so the cost would have been heavily discounted anyway



It's very easy to get (in the Vauxhall Zafira accent!!) "overtired" from the sightseeing, scuba diving, kayakking, drinking etc etc so don't underestimate the importance of sleep and rest. Our top tips are:

1) ear plugs and face mask - snoring is second only to partying in the dorm as a cardinal sin and/or you could end up near a door!

2) use your towel as a curtain - helps with reducing light and increasing privacy in a lit and busy dorm

3) if you're up and out early pack the night before - it's courteous to fellow travellers and saves bashing into everything bleary eyed (Amber take note!!!)

4) sleeping bag liners - most places will give you a sheet, but not all will provide extra blankets so the liner will give you a bit more warmth but without the bulkiness

5) if you're on a tight budget think about working for your accomodation. most smaller places won't be offended if you ask, whilst others may proactively advertise

All above the streets…

and houses, Rainbow Beach is flying high.

Okay, so its not a thriving metropolis but its got a brilliant small travelling community mixed with a small number of locals and holiday makers from the city. It’s also a young community having only been established in 1969 and is famous for…wait for it…it’s rainbow coloured sands in the cliffs surrounding it.

On our first day we walked several kms to the south of Rainbow Beach along the sand to see it and it was simply amazing. 45 degree dunes stretching 50m high, trees growing at the wrong angle due to the sands shifting,

water runoff from the dunes eroding the black sandstone and a feeling that the place was alive. The colours were a mix from blacks and browns to curry powder yellow as well as chocolate sauce and stir-fried pork.

At times where they all mixed, think of a chocolate and caramel knickerbocker glory with meringue in it when its starting to melt and you’re sort of there with the textures and colours of the cliff face. (I’m not sure where all the food analogies came from but hey, that’s not such a bad thing…). Unfortunately the time we were there it was grey so the colours didn’t come out :(

It was quite an eerie place in a way because of the scale of the sand dunes compared to ourselves and the power of the sea coming in. It did look as though the sea was winning the erosion war but it will take many many years to win.

The sands, as well as the flags were a great opportunity to take a few RNLI related photos for SOS day with the different colours, textures and beach debris. Bill had a lovely time :)

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Rainbow Beach also happens to be the nearest destination point for Fraser Island, one of the World’s Heritage Sites and the largest sand island in the world and as such the main trips on offer focus on this. I’ll update later on our Fraser Island experience.

Amber & I stayed at Pippies Guesthouse and are still feeling sad that we had to leave. Everyone there was so friendly and had a bubbly attitude that was incredibly calming. Emmy, Emily, Graham, John and Paddy were some of the staff there and made our stay the best ever.

It was our first Australia hostel and cost $23 a night with YHA card in shared dorms and although it was a little disturbing when the early tours went out was just what we needed. Large verandah for eating, plenty of toilets and bathrooms, space outside to chillout, hammock,500m from the superb, lifeguarded patrolled beach and main shopping parade.

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It also sat opposite a large open space for games and the bus stop. All it needed was an internet connection and we probably would never have left.

There’s not much to do in Rainbow Beach other than the Fraser Island trip but you can learn to surf, kayak, skydive and something that we’d wished had done, visit the Carlos Sand Blow, a lookout from the cliffs overlooking Rainbow Beach and out towards Fraser Island. Apparently the sunsets and sunrises are spectacular but we were having too much fun to do it!

The isolation also means that the community gets together. On our first arrival a free BBQ greeted us accompanied with local DJ until the early hours. The Rainbow Beach Hotel, the grandest and probably oldest building in the town, hosts Tribal Night on Mondays with games, competitions and the chance to win travel vouchers. Tribal is the main tour operator in Rainbow and who we’ve chosen to book most of the remainder itinerary on the East Coast.

Several of the staff at Pippies are still travelling and working at the hostel to save some money either in return for free accommodation or paid work. This is something we’d not considered but after staying at Pippies, gives another option should we need it.

Apologies for any marks on the photos – the lenses have been playing up a bit and need cleaning but I’ve a nasty feeling it’s internally marked…grrrrr

Happy days :)