The Capricorn Coast as seen by a Capricorn.

Born in January, I am a true Capricorn. So I was intrigued to check out the Capricorn Coast which incorporates the areas of Bundaberg (known for its fruits and vegetable production), Rockhampton (the beef capital of Australia) and MacKay (famous for its sugar cane). We didn't care too much for these towns as they were pretty basic and bland, but venture a little bit further away and we found some great spots to visit.

We had a week to kill before getting to Airlie Beach and our planned three day boat tour of the Whitsunday Islands, so we took our time driving the short distance north. Our first stop was the town of Agnes Water with its little hamlet, the Town of 1770, so named for the date Captain Cook disembarked on its shores while discovering Australia.

Agnes Water and 1770 were hyped up for us well before we even got to Australia. We had met some Swedish girls in Fiji who raved about the place as their favorite, and even the Lonely Planet guidebook mentioned it as the next Byron Bay. I hope it doesn't become like Byron Bay, but it's a long way away even if it is heading in that direction. Sure, there are some big building developments going on, but aside from this, it was one of the smallest beach towns we have visited.

The town is the last official surfing spot when heading north. It is the start of the Great Barrier Reef, and so the waves virtually stop a little further north. It was my last chance to surf and so we set up camp at the nearby council-run site called Workman's Beach, and chilled out for four days. The first two days had great waves, but the last two were mellow and we just laid out and I finally got to play some frisbee with a Hungarian traveller we met. I'm still not sure why I didn't bring a disc (frisbee) while traveling as it's one of my favorite things, but the last two days filled a void not met since we played with our friends Kareem and Noah in Buenos Aires.

A little sad, I sold my surfboard to a happy local, and we headed north yet again. We sped through Rockhampton, but made a stop to visit the Capricorn Caves about 20 Km north of town. It's a privately run attraction with a labyrinth of caves, one that includes a makeshift cathedral where you can actually get married. They even set up pews and played us some beautiful music timed with lights. If the place was run by the parks department you would never have an experience like this.

Our next major stop was the Finch Hatton Gorge, and Eungella National Park, just west of MacKay in sugar cane country. We did a nice quick hike in the Finch Hatton Gorge to a waterfall and swimming area, and then rushed to get Eungella to try and see a platypus. Found only in Australia, we had been trying to see one for the last month. We had seen kangaroos, emus, dingos, wallabies, koalas, wombats, and the last on the list was the famous platypus. We were lucky to see them both at sunset and the next day at sunrise from the lookout at Broken River. I assumed these things would be as big as a beaver, but they were tiny. Almost like watching a mutated beaver/duck offspring the size of a swimming squirrel. If that makes any sense. But both of us were ecstatic and stood in the rain watching them dive around for about an hour. Unfortunately we couldn't get any photos. I'll never drink from my Platypus water bottle again without thinking of the little critters.

From Eungella we made our way back to the coast, and spent a night camping at the secluded Smalley's Beach, part of Cape Hillsborough National Park to the north of MacKay. With only ten campsites, it was a treat to have the place to ourselves so to speak. Then we drove up to Airlie Beach where we are now, heading on a much anticipated three day boat tour of the Whitsunday Islands on the Great Barrier Reef.

Here are our pics from our short visit to the Capricorn Coast.

Deja Vu on the Gold Coast

So much of Australia reminds me of home. It's hard to get homesick in a country with iced coffee, salt and vinegar chips, and movies that don't need subtitles. But in Australia's Gold Coast, the similarities were almost eerie. As we drove along the Gold Coast highway, I saw signs for Palm Beach, Miami Beach, Miami Keys and even Florida Gardens. It was as if this part of Australia confused itself for my hometown on the Atlantic.

Before we could hit the Gold Coast, we took a detour to Nimbin, the Woodstock of Australia. Nimbin is a tiny town known for still living the hippie lifestyle of the 1960s. If you ask a few of the residents, they might still think it's 1968. Set in among hills that are steeped in Aboriginal lore, Nimbin is a tiny little farming town. We stocked up on inexpensive, organic dried fruits and fresh beef. Just outside of town, we stopped at Protester Falls, in the middle of a tropical rainforest.


After a freezing night in Nimbin, it was time to head back to the beach. Surfers Paradise is the center of the Gold Coast, and from the name it sounds like a sleepy little town with a lot of dudes who say 'gnarly' all the time. Perhaps that was the case in the 1960s, before Surfers became a mecca for Japanese tourists. Now it is Australia's version of Cancun crossed with Las Vegas. Surfers has so many high rise buildings that we could see it from miles away.


From everything we'd read and heard, Jared and I were sure we wouldn't like Surfers Paradise. Then again, we were sure we'd love Byron Bay, and just the opposite happened. We had low expectations for Surfers Paradise, so it was easy to be pleasantly surprised. We knew it would be covered in high rises, flashing lights, and drunk 19-year-old backpackers. (Actually we joined the party for a night out, and had a blast.) But with an outlet mall and three Starbucks, we weren't complaining. In a country where cities are few and very far between, we loved being in a beach town that had all the benefits of a city.

Surfers Paradise is a bit of a misnomer, because the best waves are actually in the surrounding towns. Jared surfed the breaks in Coolangatta, and Burleigh Heads. In Currimbin, he accidentally rode into the middle of the Queensland state longboarding competition.

Taking a break from sleeping in the car, Jared and I checked into Backpackers in Paradise hostel. It was a great hostel, complete with a pool and mini-cinema. We even joined the Backpackers Big Night Out and hit 3 clubs on Saturday night.


From Surfers Paradise it was time to go to an actual big city, Brisbane. The capital of Queensland, Brisbane is Australia's third largest city. A river runs through the center of town, almost making you forget that the city is inland. While Brisbane seems to be a very nice place to live, we quickly realized there was little we wanted to see. We did get to see our good friend Julia again, and her friends Lucy and Sam were nice enough to take us in for the night. Thanks, mates!


We are in the posh beach community of Noosa now, trying to get caught up on our posts. You'll hear more from us soon, but until then, check out our photos from the Gold Coast.

From Sydney to Byron Bay...and everything in between.

Most travelers speed up the East coast from Sydney to Byron Bay. Friends of ours, Pablo and Christina, did the trip in three days. If you have limited time, then it really is only a 10 hour drive, but I think you would be missing out on some amazing national parks and beautiful coastline. We decided to take our time as we have a couple months to make it all the way north to Cairns, a classic travel route. I guess we're finally learning that it's better to take your time and see a place, than rush to see it all.

So, from Sydney we said goodbye to our friends and headed two hours west to the Blue Mountains National Park, and beginning of the Great Dividing Range that parallels the East coast. This was our one detour before heading up the coast, and I'm glad we made it.

The park has beautiful valleys, with gorgeous rock cliffs. If you get up early enough, fog covers the valley floors and it's pretty magical when the sun comes up. We spent two days hiking around the valleys, down to the floor and back to the top. A good climb. The whole place reminded me a lot of the Niagara escarpment outside of Toronto.

The town of Katoomba is the main place for visiting the park. It was also our first experience sleeping in our new car. Cozy, but took some getting used to. We actually slept on a residential street, and hoped that we wouldn't get a ticket. I can hear our friends shouting "dirty hippies." A highlight for us was our first visit to a Returned Services League, or RSL as it's known, which is basically a club for military veterans. The Cohens in Sydney mentioned it was a place to get a good cheap meal, and they were right. We were also entertained by joining in on their weekly trivia night, and even won some free drinks.

From the Blue Mountains we headed to the coast, and our first stop at Bouddi National Park. After a night at a beach front campsite, we headed for waves at Terrigal Beach. Now I should mention that for a long time I have wanted to get good at surfing. Five years ago I spent a week learning how to surf at Witches Rock Surf Camp in Costa Rica. Since then I've only gotten out about three times a year, and unfortunately became out of practice. So, I've made it my mission while in Australia to get good at surfing. Well, at least good enough to keep up with my friend Zack back home at Far Rockaway, Long Beach and Montauk, NY. I picked up a used board in Sydney, and we are stopping at every beach with waves. I need to thank Julie for her patience, as I drive from spot to spot stopping to see if there is good surf. It's kind of addictive.



There wasn't much surf at Terrigal that day so we moved on, resting at Crack Neck point to see whales pass in the distance, and finally stopping at Soldier's Beach near Norah Head for my first real afternoon of surfing. The next day we drove north to Newcastle, and visited a great little zoo, finally seeing wombats, koalas, emus, and kangaroos. We spent about 40 minutes watching the Koalas in awe, and the best part is that the zoo was free! That would never happen back home.

Our next stop was Hawks Nest, on the far side of Nelson Bay. A famous area for spotting whales and dolpins. Unfortunately we didn't see any, but we camped in a beautiful site in Myall Lakes National Park, and we had the whole place to ourselves. The next morning we moved on to Seal Rocks, visited the lighthouse, and got a good afternoon of great surf. We also had another night at a pristine campground in the national park.



After Seal Rocks we went to Crescent Head for more surf, and then headed inland over the Great Dividing Range to Armidale. The whole coast had suffered several days of pouring rain, and it made for an interesting drive. Some roads were flooded, and we took a ridiculously curvy path over the mountains, but we made it in time for dinner with the Gregg family. Some people looked at us like we were nuts to drive out of our way to Armidale, as it's four hours from the coast in farm country, but we went to visit with Vivienne and Michael (mother and brother of Julia who we stayed with in Sydney) who we shared three days with in a cramped landcruiser in the Salar de Uyuni in Boliva. After 2 nights of resting with friends, and getting our car fixed (our whole exhaust system was replaced after we put a hole in the muffler), we headed back to the coast.



The drive from Armidale to Coffs Harbour on the road dubbed the waterfall way, was scenic to say the least. One highlight was stopping in the town of Bellingen. Great architecture, with cool cafes and shops. It was like being in a Colorado mountain town. Coffs Harbour was a nice town, and I got in another afternoon of great surf.



The town of Yamba and the famous surf spot of Angourie was a must do for me. Angourie is so tiny, but everyone there seemed to be surfing fanatics. I can see why. They have a spot where the wave breaks perfectly all day, everyday. I hate to say it, but I was out of my league. I still need more practice, but at least I gave it a shot.

After a frustrating morning at Angourie, we drove a distance along the Pacific highway (our main route up the coast) to Ballina and then the coastal road up to Byron Bay. We stopped brifely in Lennox Head, to watch an all girls surf competition, and then finally reached Byron Bay in the late afternoon.



Byron Bay is not all it's cracked up to be. We were told it was one of the coolest spots for backpackers, but what we encountered is a chic surf town where the locals don't really like the tourists. The town has 9000 residents, but a ridiculous number of hotels, spas, and restaurants. I think they forget sometimes that the backpackers and tourists are the backbone of the town's income. That being said, the town is beautiful and has several beaches to choose from. We've been spending our days at Watego's beach just below the picturesque lighthouse, away from the crowds on Main beach. There are tons of cool restaurants, cafes, shops, and terraces to drink a schooner of beer and watch the sunset. Our plan was to try and get some work here for a month or two, but it's off season, and we get the feeling that locals are preferred. Oh well, their loss. We're headed north in search of better weather in Queensland.

So what's my impression of the New South Wales coast? It's basically like the California coast, but with much less people, and that's a great thing. There is beauty around every bend. A cliche I know, but in this case it's true. Here are my photos from our drive up the coast of NSW.

Saquarema and Arraial do Cabo

Julie and I are back in Buenos Aires after a grueling 40 hour bus ride from Rio. We had a great 4 days in Rio, but that will be another post altogether. Let me first fill you in on our week after Paraty.

After about a week in the Costa Verde (green coast) of Paraty, we headed four hours north to Rio de Janeiro, where we changed buses and went another 2-3 hours further north along the Costa do Sol (sun coast), to the tiny beach towns of Saquarema, and Arraial do Cabo. The drive from Paraty to Rio was one of the most scenic drives I have ever done, and around every bend there was a picture perfect postcard view. Too bad I didn´t take pictures.

Both Saquarema and Arraial do Cabo get little mention in the Lonely Planet guidebook, and because of this, we were finally able to get away from the backpackers and foreign travelers in Brazil.

The little resort area of Saquarema is the surfing capital of Rio state, and it reminded me a lot of a California beach town like Long Beach. The place gets a little crowded on weekends with Brazilian tourists, but never gets too busy. We stayed in an amazing beachfront pousada/guesthouse called Canto do Vila, with a pool and views of the ocean and sunset. It´s a strange feeling to witness the sun setting over the Atlantic ocean when you´ve spent your whole life on the East Coast. The land curved and faced west in case you are wondering.

I was so pumped up to finally go surfing, but of course it didn´t happen. The water was so cold, colder than New York in summer, and I could rent a board, but not a wetsuit. I lasted 10 minutes in the water until my lips went blue, then I turned around. Just a side note here, if you ever come to Brazil to surf, bring a board and wetsuit with you. My experience has been that if there are waves, there are either no boards to rent, or if you can find boards the water is cold and there are no wetsuits to be found. It´s a catch 22. Damn you Brazil. If you do make it to Saquarema, go to Itauna beach where there are huge waves (a left point break, and beach breaks further down).

Anyways, back to Saquarema. We had about 2 full days and 3 nights in the town over the weekend. The town square in the centro area where we were staying was bustling with street vendors at night, and they had a live cover band playing to the restaurant tables. It was actually pretty funny since the singer played all classic rock songs in English, but I don´t think many Brazilians really understood the songs. No one speaks English or Spanish in this country, but we´ll write more about that later.

After a couple days in Saquarema, we traveled an hour north to Arraial do Cabo. The town is a cape that shoots out into the ocean, and is surrounded on all sides by beautiful beaches. I have to say that these beaches were probably better than Paraty, although they had more people. The sand was the finest I`ve felt and the water crystal clear. Arraial is famous for scuba diving which is why we made a stop here. On our second day in town, I did two reef dives off of two different islands. The visibility was amazing, and I got to see about 4 sea turtles which are my favorite. I forgot how much I love to scuba dive, but I don´t think we will have another opportunity until we get to Australia in a couple months. The place we stayed in Arraial was so homely. The Hostel Villa Boas had a huge kitchen and pool, and we actually spent a lot of time relaxing and cooking at the hostel. We met some great couples from Argentina and Chile, and I can tell you, it was so great to hear Spanish again. With the rest of our free time we went to the best beach in the area, praia do Forno. The rest of the beaches were too crowded.

So, after about a week split between Saquarema and Arraial do Cabo, we headed back to Rio to meet our friend Maria, and had an amazing 4 days. More to come on Rio shortly. Click here for my photos of Saquarema and Arraial do Cabo.

Punta del Diablo: Where all the young people go to party

After the most pampered couple of days around New Years (Thanks to the Lema family), Julie and I set off for Punta del Diablo, another beach town 3 hours up the coast, closer to Brazil. Our guide book described it as the anti Punta del Este, and they were right since it was cabins instead of high rise condos, although they forgot to mention that it´s the place all the young people go after New Years, so it wasn´t the small backpacker town we were expecting.

We showed up in the evening on Jan 2nd. I should take the time to mention that when traveling in high season, you need to think about arrival time in a new place. It´s something that I never really thought about until recently. If you don´t have a reservation, and most of us backpackers don´t, then you need to arrive around noon, when others are checking out. Since we arrived at night, it made finding a place difficult. That, and the fact that every young person from Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil had descended upon the town, to party it up for their summer vacation after New Years, and all the cottages were totally booked up for the season until March.

So, we went from the lap of luxury in Punta del Este, to staying in the crappiest hostel I have stayed in to date on this trip, maybe ever. Just to paint a picture of how crappy it was, they were originally an HI (Hosteling International) member, but lost their status. I wonder why! We stayed in separate dorm rooms. Mine had 23 beds, and a stench of mildewing bathing suits and towels. The showers, bathrooms, kitchen and common room were in disrepair, and god only knows when the place was last cleaned. The second day we tried to find a bungalow to rent or another hostel to stay at, but couldn´t find space. By the third day, I started to get used to the place. Ear plugs saved me from all the snoring people, and we had a parilla (BBQ) with the other guests, which made it more of a communal experience.



The town of PDD is massive. It is spread out with all these ski chalet like bungalows all over the place. There are only a couple hotels, as it seems most people rent private cottages. But as big as it seems, you can walk the town pretty easily...much easier if you´ve had a bottle or two of wine beforehand. The two main beaches are great for people watching, and they have good surf when there are waves. I spent 3 days hoping for good waves, but none came. Ah well. C'est la vie. I should also mention that the town has a little artists market, but the best thing about this market is that they have several stands selling the best empanadas I have ever tasted. Totally different from Argentine empanadas, these were deep fried, and so good.



One of the highlights of our four days in PDD was meeting some locals from Montevideo. One evening we met an American couple in our hostel. The girl had family in Uruguay and her cousins had rented a cabin in town with 9 others. I should probably mention it was 11 girls crammed into a place that could sleep a couple people comfortably. That´s how they do it here. At 12 am, after the parilla/grill was ready, we cooked a feast and danced to old 90´s music that I thought was forgotten. Oh, and dinner at this time is completely normal down here. At 3 am, which is prime time, we set off for a club that was a 20 min walk down a dirt road, outside in the forest. The place is to date one of my favorite clubs. About a thousand people were dancing and singing the lyrics to the spanish pop songs of the summer, all under the stars. By 5 am we were spent and headed home, but I think the locals stayed out until 9am or so, which is also normal. It´s my 29th birthday on Thursday, and already I feel old. Although, as my Mom constantly states, age is a state of mind. I guess I just need more training to keep up with the 21 year olds down here. To see what we´re talking about, here are my photos of PDD.

Go to Punta del Diablo, you´ll have a blast. Eat the empanadas like they are going out of style, find the clubs in the forest, but please book ahead so you don´t end up with a hostel bed in the crappy HI. Here´s a travel site with hotels and cabins for rent, plus other info on PDD.

I should also mention that we had a brief visit to Montevideo, the country´s capital on the way back to Buenos Aires. We had exactly 5 hours to see some sights before our night bus, so we went to the old city. My first impression was that this city is run down. There is more poverty than other parts of Uruguay, and Buenos Aires. There are all these beautiful old buildings that are unoccupied. It´s a shame. The city center was clean and modern, and the bus terminal is the best I´ve seen in South America, so maybe we didn´t see the best parts in 5 hours. Here are my photos of Montevideo. If you do end up going through Montevideo, you need to try the medio y medio. It´s a bottle of mixed champagne and white wine, and will refresh on the hottest of days.

Some of you have asked about how we travel, and the quality of buses in South America. The US and Canada could learn something from this. Ecuador and Bolivia aside, we´ve traveled most of the continent in first class double decker buses. The seats are similar to business class in airplanes. There are three seats to a row, they recline most of the way, have foot rests, and there are bus attendants that serve you a meal. Couple this with some good earplugs and an eye mask and you sleep like a baby, ready for sightseeing at your next destination.

Mancora, Peru: A little slice of beach heaven

Julie and I recently left the beautiful beach town of Mancora, and headed for the mountains of Huaraz. We weren´t supposed to stay so long in Mancora, but the place just sucked us in, and apparently it happens all too often to other travelers.

Mancora is located on NW coast of Peru, about 2 hours south of the Ecuadorian border. When we left Ecuador, our plan was to travel as far down the coast as we could in a day. We were lucky that our bus driver told us of Mancora, otherwise we would have passed it by, and missed out on some great waves and relaxation.



We ended up staying 8 nights in the town at Pilar´s Laguna Surf Camp. The place was made up of thatched roof bungalows on sand, set around a common eating and lounging area with hammocks. The town is a perfect backpacker place, and I can understand why people spend months or years here. It´s not too big of a town, but it has everything you need from amazing seafood restaurants, great bars, and chill beaches.

Mancora is famous for its surf. The Mancora Peru Classic surf contest happened just the week before we arrived. I ended up surfing for the first 3 days until the waves died down. I need practice, that´s all I can say. I should also mention that the wind usually picks up in the afternoon and then the kite boarders come out to play. It really is an adventure wonderland.

So how did we really spend our 8 days in paradise. Well, we slept a lot. Julie read a bunch in the hammocks. I tried to surf when there were waves. When there weren´t any waves, we headed to the nearby beaches of Punta Sal to the north, and Las Positas to the south where it was void of tourists. We ate really well. In fact a fixed ¨Menu¨as it is called, consisted of fish ceviche (raw fish in lime), and a plate of grilled seafood called Chicharron, all for 5 nuevo soles (about $1.70 US). We also passed the nights drinking with new found friends such as Christian and Roger from Switzerland, and James and Charlotte from England. Did I mention I won a Texas hold em poker tournament! Seriously, I could never win with friends back home, but somehow I beat out 13 other people to take home the gold. The prize winnings paid for some great meals, I can tell you that. I also need to mention that Julie placed 5th, not bad for her first poker night.

So why didn´t we stay in Mancora for a while longer? Well, I can tell you that we asked ourselves the same question. Both of us knew that if we didn´t leave now, we would end up spending months in this town, and there is still so much to see. But if you do end up going to Mancora at some point in the future, I highly recommend staying at Laguna Surf Camp, eating at Sirena´s Italian restaurant, and drinking the night away at Lone Star Bar (owned by David, a native Texan, and place of the weekly poker tournaments), and at Surfer´s Bar (owned by a surfer/model from England) that also runs the Mancora Surf Club.

Here are pics from Mancora. I should mention that the last couple of images are from Trujillo, a larger city about 8 hours south of Mancora. We spent the day around Trujillo while waiting for our night bus to Huaraz. We saw the ancient Chimu archaeological site of Chan Chan and spent the afternoon and evening in the beach town of Huanchaco. I think Julie and I both agreed that you could skip Trujillo and the surrounding area. Maybe it was off season, but it was dead and not worth our time.

I should also mention that I finally uploaded my photos from our Jungle Trip.

Baños and Montañita, Ecuador

After climbing Cotopaxi, Jared needed a rest, and I could always use another soak in a hot spring, so Jared and I left Quito for good, and headed south to Baños, Ecuador. As we were approaching Baños, we had an excellent view of Volcan Tungurahua. The volcano erupted in August 2006, and smoke was escaping from the crater while we were there.

Baños was the perfect antidote to crowded, polluted Quito. It is a tranquil mountain town where everything is within walking distance. Baños means baths, and the town gets its names from hot springs heated by the volcano. We went to the baths everyday while in Baños, especially since admission was only $2. The best soak was the one we had after mountain biking 22km (mostly downhill) from Baños to Rio Verde, along the Ruta de las Cascadas, or waterfall trail. We parked our bikes and hiked down to the Pailon del Diablo, Ecuador´s most famous waterfall.



From Baños we headed to the seaside village of Montañita, Ecuador. After an overnight bus from Baños, we had to change buses in Guayaquil, Ecuador´s biggest city. The bus station was so crowded that we couldn´t get in, and once we got in, it was just a mass of a thousand people, with no room to move. The Ecuadorians, who are usually quite nice, thought nothing of pushing us by our backpacks. That was the day we learned to say ¡No me empuje!, or don´t push me. Eventually we realized it was not only Friday, but also All Souls Day, one of the biggest holidays in Latin America. To put it in perspective, the bus station was more crowded than any airport I have ever seen on the day before Thanksgiving. Hundreds of people were ahead of us in line to buy tickets, so eventually we broke down and took a shared taxi (collectivo) the three hours to Montañita. That taxi may have been the best $10 I have ever spent.

Montañita is known for its beautiful beaches and great surf, but we were there at the wrong time. For three days, we didn´t see the sun once. The constant drizzle turned the dirt roads into mud, and our little seaside cabin was always damp. Jared did get to surf a few times, but I was getting a little bored. The sun did finally make an appearance--after we were already an hour south, headed for the Peruvian border. Oh well, at least we ate some tasty street food in Montañita.

Right now we are getting our beach fix in Mancora, Peru, but more on that later. In the meantime, please check out our pics from Baños and Montañita.