Surfing in Straddie

We'd read and heard a bit about an island off the mainland near Brisbane that sounded pretty good so we decided to head off there. North Stradbroke Island, or Straddie as everyone seems to call it, was a dull and expensive ferry ride away but the promise of unbuilt up beaches and quality surf sounded too good. Apperently its big whale spotting country too but we saw not a one.
We drove for a while to get to a full to bursting campsite with no room. Off to another one we went and that was pretty full but we managed to bag a decent spot that fit both our vans. It turns out that it was the start of the school holidays and the place was rammed with brainless kids. At 15 or 16 most of them can drive so they take the opportunity to go across to Straddie to get lashed and go surfing. It's practically lawless too as there isn't enough police on the island to cope. It's only a small place and has but 1 main road.
Still it seemed pretty idillic with some good looking beaches and practically no houses and built up areas.
That night we started a fire, a mistake in Oz as they're scared to death of forest fires, and after an hour or so were told by a park warden to put it out. A real shame really that some people can't control fires and therefore spoil it for the rest of us. Ah well, surfing tomorrow.
Hiring a board was a bit of a problem and quite extortionate but I got one anyway. We went out and got totally mashed by the harsh waves. Still it was a nice place to be if not totally exhausting.
After some food we headed to another beach. We knew we would have a chance because small kids were out surfing!!
Much better surf action but somehow, when there was practically only me and Matt out on the waves, I managed to get on a classic wave only to come crashing down on Matt. His board my head, my board his head. Oh the joys of surfing. No harm done though.
The evening was full of drunk kids throwing up and fighting, not too near us thankfully, but it was still pretty cool to be out of the hustle and bustle of a big high rise tourist place like Surfers Paradise.
Mainly got battered by waves again the next morn on yet another good looking beach. We stuffed our faces with Fish and Chips and then bemoaned the fact that we'd have to give the van back the next day. Although it has 'issues' as the woman at Wicked Campers said, it was still so good just being able to go where you like when you like and not have to carry bags around or bother too much about accomodation. Now that the weather was much hotter it was way better too. The end of an era and back to backpacking, we weren't looking forward to it.
This also meant the end of our 2 and a half month stint in Australia. Nearly. We still had 3 nights at a hostel in Brisbane before flying to New Zealand.
Back on the ferry and on to Brisbane with Matt and Casey. Cleaned out the van that night and packed our bags. The petrol had been a nightmare, the van was freezing when we were down south, it looked crap and the stereo worked sparodically but we could forgive it all for the freedom it gave us. Not having to rely on public transport, especially in Oz, was brilliant. But it had to end and the next morning we dropped the van off, donned our backpacks and got a taxi to a hostel for the first time in 52 days! Boo!