How long can it take to see Australia?: Time to chill

"You after some weed love?" asked a man with long dreadlocked hair, long beard, and long flowing black clothing. Preceding this I was sat in my van idling behind another car, waiting to take its place curb side. 'Tap tap tap on my window. "Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude" said a heavily pierced dreadlocked woman in her 60's (or maybe 40's with some hard living behind her), "but we're worried about carbon monoxide poisoning, so would you mind turning your car off?". And with that, it was Welcome to Nimbin!

The town has long been a haven for those wishing to live an 'alternative' lifestyle, and if you stumbled upon it unaware, you'd wonder what you'd come across. Set in the hills of the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, I'd heard all about it, yet was still a little 'deer in headlights' when I got to visit for myself. If you can, do. Cheap weed ;-)

A BIG bong. Nimbin, NSW

Tee pee, Nimbin, NSW

Nimbin Rocks, NSW

My journey to Nimbin and beyond, took me firstly to Brisbane where I enjoyed the hospitality of my friends Sam, Alli & Fraser. With fantastic home cooked meals, late night chats and a roof over my head. Thank you guys!

Lagoon pool, Southbank, Brisbane

Brisbane, Qld

Last years flood saw the water rise to almost touch the bottom of these pods. You'd hardly know anything had happened now after an incredible clean up job.

Water dragon on the Southbank. Big city with suburban wildlife!

Brisbane. A much bigger city than I'd always imaged.

After a few days having a look around, I headed south staying in a cute little coastal town called Pottsville. Then to a place I'd last visited a few years ago when I was working on an outside broadcast for the UK TV show 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!' Coolangatta was a little quieter than when we were here for the wrap party. The show is actually currently filming a series, and I was hoping an old friend of mine (Pat Sharp) would have been voted out by this stage so I could say hello. He hadn't. I moved on. He has now.

Coolangata, looking back over a cloudy Surfers Paradise.

So after driving through Tweed Heads I was now south of the border and in New South Wales. I was really looking forward to getting to Byron Bay, a place I've always wanted to visit. Home to music festivals, fantastic beaches, and a reputation as a haven for living a laid-back lifestyle. It was all that and more. More being that just like the Gold Coast, Byron was enjoying the influx from *schoolies. I didn't stay there, but moved just up the coast to Suffolk Park. Thankfully at half the price of staying in Byron, and less schoolies to suffer. They were still there though and the group of about 10 camped next to me squealed and laughed and drank and sang well in to the night. Not too bad really.

*An Aussie tradition of high school leavers having weeks long holidays to celebrate the end of an era.

'To the beach' Suffolk Park, NSW

Byron Bay Lighthouse. Cape Byron is the most eastern point of mainland Australia.

Moo Moo, NSW

The drive from Brisbane down to Byron has to be one of the beautiful I've seen. The beaches of course, but it was the mountain ranges that constantly had me gazing left to right. From tea & banana plantations, to lakes and rivers, it was stunning. There's many markets in this region, and I was lucky to catch the one in Bangalow. Probably one of the best I've ever been to, unfortunately! I'm not meant to be spending extra $$$!!

You can buy anything at Bangalow Markets!

Bangalow Markets, NSW

Back then to the coast, where I stopped for lunch at Lennox Head, and found a spot with a great view. I couldn't believe it when I saw a big pod of dolphins come in to play with the surfers. At one point the surfers all just lay on their boards and watched as the dolphins played around them. Then they all had a surf together. A fantastically unexpected sight to see.