The last few hours in Sydney were happy ones. After picking up her Backpack from Wake Up! Jessie only had to walk across the road to Central Station for her Greyhound Coach. She was booked on a coach leaving at 7pm and would arrive at the Bohemian and beautiful Byron Bay at 7:45 am the next morning.
Jessie wanted to catch up with her childhood friends Tom and Macauley. They had left the UK the same week as Jess, but started their journey in Melbourne and would eventually go to New Zealand to work. The pair were a bit further North than Byron Bay, but were going to meet up with Jessie in Noosa.
The Greyhound pass was quite a simple App on her phone. Adding dates and destinations on the Greyhound Route and easily changing them if the plans changed.
Jessie What’s App’d me when she was
Currently driving over the Sydney Bridge
to let me know it was
Such a PENG coach!
Getting herself comfy with the boomerang shaped travel pillow her brother gave to her as a useful Christmas pressie, her Greyhound, East Coast, Backpacker Trail, Road Trip had begun!
At 11pm during a Pit-Stop she tucked into some chips at a service station before settling down again to get some sleep for the remainder of her 12 hour coach trip to the subtropical destination.
Having loved the Surf Camp so much the week before, Jess booked herself into another Mojo Surf Hostel for a couple of days which included some Surf n’ Yoga.
Exhausted at the end of her first Greyhound Coach journey she waited for the free shuttle bus to take her to the hostel at 8am. She was a little bit confused however as the place it took her to was called the Arts Factory!
The Arts Factory Lodge is a cool, tucked away budget Hostel, created by Hippies in the 70’s. It then became a Rock n’ Roll venue in the 80’s and is now a hip place to “Relax, Rejuvenate & Recycle”. With its Hippy Roots and Tents I thought Jessie would feel at home.
We stay in teepees…crazy…..This place is crazy
There are Lizards n’ Turkeys everywhere lol
She settled into her teepee with 3 other young women, then had a very laid back lunch before her first Surf lesson. Each Tipi has 4 beds with access to a shared bathroom and kitchen, although all the food is provided on this package. The camp is located right next to Byron Bay Brewery which has DJs, Gigs and performances in the evenings. There is also a nice pool and hammocks to relax in. It is a 10 minute walk into town and all that has to offer!
On her second day at the Arts Factory she had a choice of Yoga or Surf and also managed to have a good look around the town. Jessie thought I would love it there with all its Organic food shops, Jewellery makers, quirky streets and colourful Street Art.
I love that my daughter is doing this trip and it is inspiring me to become a “Silver Surfer” at some-point in my future.
With more self confidence Jessie made much more effort to connect with people. While waiting for her surf lesson a young woman smiled and spoke to her
I recognise u, were u in Bali?
n’ I was like OMG I stayed in a Hostel with u in Canggu – Small World
They had such a good day, talking, surfing, lunching,chilling and Yoga-ing. The Yoga Jess did was called Ashtanga Vinyasa –
a more physical movement. It’s about focusing on the heat going through ur body
It was probably good that she had done some beginner classes in Bali to give her an idea and feel for the poses.
Feels good, it’s hard work, but worth it!
Jess bought some snacks from Aldi for the next leg of her Greyhound Journey in the morning, but before that she had Reggae Night at the camp to enjoy.
In the morning she had a pre-paid breakfast voucher left, so decided to get the Red Lentil Dahl as it came in Take Away tub and would eat it at the Bus Stop.
The journey to Noosa stops at the Gold Coast for 4 hours
So I’ve got my bikini on to go for a swim or whatever
When she arrived at the Gold Coast Jessie left her Backpack at the Greyhound Store at the Bus Station and headed to Surfers Paradise.
Buying a large Subway Roll she sat and watched the surfers and looked around the area and gazed up at the
Gurt Q1 Tower
After 4 hours hanging out at the Gold Coast, Jessie made the rest of her journey to Noosa to meet her friends. The bus rolled in, she got off and made her way to Nomads Hostel and there they were waiting for her. They picked her up, swung her around and she cried with happiness and relief ( I think).
Using the Past Simple + Past Continuous
Story telling is a really useful skill.
Actions in Stories + Story Background
Most of the time when we’re talking about things that happened in the past, we use the past simple.
You add -ed to the main verb, you form the negative with didn’t and irregular verbs have special forms.
But sometimes there is another past tense form too: the past continuous.
We can use it to talk about actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past: 2 years ago, 2 days ago, 2 hours ago etc.
We form the past continuous with the past form of the verb be – so was or were – and then the -ing form of the main verb.
We often use the past continuous like this at the start of stories to set the scene.
We use it to give the background and context for the story, and when the action starts, we switch.
For the events in the story we use the past simple.
Using the Past Simple + Past Continuous
The dogs were barking and the moon was shining brightly, Jess the cat sat down.
After picking up her Backpack from Wake Up! Jessie only had to walk across the road to Central Station
Buying a large Subway Roll she sat and watched the surfers
And the past continuous can tell you about the timing of events.
She was booked on a coach leaving at 7pm
At 11pm during a Pit-Stop she tucked into some chips at a service station
My Daughter's Gap Year & Other Adventures 