Traveling to OZ, where should we go?

Hello,
I am planning on taking a trip to Oz next summer (2010) with a French friend of mine, and we are looking for chill places to go. I want to meet laid back, easy going, open minded people. Smoking is chill with me on the trip, and I would love to immerse myself in some good quality sub-culture. Oh, and we are trying to stick to the east coast, thanks.

 

maybe you should check out nimbin, in new south wales

 

Yeah, i've heard that that is an awesome place to go. Thanks!

 

i'm going there in a couple weeks, maybe i'll bump into you if you go! haha. enjoy where-ever you do plan on going

 

Couple of recommendations, I traveled around in 2002.

Moreton Island and Fraser Island are both sand islands off the coast of queensland. And both worth a look. The Whitsunday Islands are a an archipelago by the town of Airlie Beach. We went with a bunch of other travelers (There was like 28 of us total) on a big sail boat for three days and sailed around the islands. Go check out AJ Hackett in Cairns. It's a Bungy Jump place. I paid for unlimited jumps and went 5 times, and it was wicked awesome each time. Of course, you have to go to the Great Barrier Reef. We went horseback riding in the peel river valley in Nundle and saw lots of different wildlife. This lady in the town lived next door to a vacant lot. There were a bunch of wild wallabies and kangaroos that hung out in the lot and she fed them there. It was cool.

Canberra is probably the best place for smoke (Stop me if I'm wrong). I didn't go to Canberra, but I think I've read it is legal to grow 5 plants for personal consumption.

Can't think of anything else that was absolutely wonderful, the whole place is pretty cool.

 

Gotta check out Fraser Island:

http://realtravel.com/dk-36866-fraser_island_useful_links

Beautiful place.


A

 

Yeah, you want open minded people, Byron Bay / Nimbin is a must, hippy capital of Aus.

Gold Coast for touristy stuff, thats where all the theme parks are, although they are tame compared to some overseas ones.

Torquay/Bells/Great Ocean road just south west of Melbourne if you like sun/surf, but only in our Summer, pretty chilly in our winter

Sydney & Melbourne are the only decent sized cities.


BUt by the sound of your post, Byron Bay should be at the top of your list

 

Byron is a cool place. That is where I took surfing lessons. (Something highly recommended.) Byron has a very artsy vibe, lots of hippies there.

Funny story about Byron:

Have you ever met a person that didn't know how to ride a bicycle? I met a couple of guys from Edinburgh in Sydney and was traveling north with them. One of them didn't know how to ride a bike. We rented a bikes in Byron and we were going to ride them up to the lighthouse. This poor dude thought he could do it, but he hadn't been on a bike in years. So we were going up the hill and this kid starts having a wobble. And he wobbled his bike right into a parked car. Took off the driver side wing mirror. It wasn't a really nice car, not a BMW or Mercedes or anything but it was a quite new Holden. I don't remember what it cost him, but I know it was a lot, and being a traveler he was on a strict budget. Poor dumb bastard.

Oh by the way the view from the lighthouse was cool. Whales were migrating and looking down at the sea at the base of the rock we could see turtles and a little shark swimming around.

 

I'm pretty sure it's three plants for personal consumption.

But yeah; Canberra is the best place to go to get some.

 

Maybe I'm biased because I'm from Adelaide, but Kangaroo Island is one of Australia's unspoilt, hidden gems. I heard Clive Owen saying that it was his favourite place to visit here. Also, queensland is awesome, as well as the great barrier reef, stunning natural environments, rainforests etc. I would recommend getting away from the more touristy places and seeing some unsusual places like the Kimberleys and the west coast....wild, just wild.

 

Don't go to australia zoo.
Don't go to any Gold Coast theme parks.

If you do go to nimbin, make sure you don't leave any valuables in your car, and theat you still have your wallet when you leave.