Yamba Baby!

November 30,2009

We have 3 words for anyone currently in Australia, or planning a trip to Aus: GO TO YAMBA! And in addition to that, go to Yamba

YHA hostel/café/bar! Best hostel yet- brand new building, pool, flat screen TV’s, great bathrooms, and the best part- the kindest, most enthusiastic extended family run this place! W

e had one of our top days in this amazing seaside town yesterday. We invaded the YHA the previous evening upon arriving in Yamba, searching for some fun things to do for our short stay. Signed up for Shane’s tour…and although he likes to call it his ‘bullshit’ tour (legitimately so for all the pranks & lies he fed us i

n 3 hours)…we think he should charge way more for this great tour around Yamba. We only paid $10 to Longboard @ Turner’s point all morning (with Shane & his expert tips)…free ride there, all our gear, and one of the best beaches & waves for our skill level so far! Such a fantastic morning! Then, another $10 got us the infamous Shane tour. And yes, we all survived it! Whoop, whoop! We got to: see kangaroos for the first time (!!!), go cliff jumping into 2 separate freshwater pools, walk along gorgeous beaches, check out incredible viewpoints, checked out the Angourie Reserve (known for some of the top waves in all of Australia, but because it’s a nature reserve…no surf competitions allowed here!). What a great host, he even scaled the rock walls with us (making sure we didn’t end up in the local ER) before jumping off the cliffs. Phew…what a packed day! Shane had our

entire gullible group believing that he had a red belly snake waiting in a cave to show us. Brittany was nearly hyperventilating, and chose to walk down the path to avoid being near a snake. We screamed, and then nearly peed ourselves as one of the German guys in our group went running down the trail like he’d just seen a ghost! Shane got us good. He also had us believing we were hand feeding piranhas bread, and that if we went swimming off the dock they would nip us for sure! Turns out

they were just regular, really hungry, snapping & jumping fish. And avoiding the BS for a few minutes, he told us there were elels in the pools we had been swimming in, lucky for Britt he waited until we were already out to share this info. We sooooo appreciated Shane’s sense of humor, his witty ways, his warm & welcoming presence, and the enthusiasm that he held in this tour! Upon arriving back at the hostel (which we weren’t even staying at), he gave us the grand tour, we met his gorgeous blonde Aussi kids (while they were enjoying iceblocks), and the rest of the family. We told him we’ll be back in March, looking for jobs. He has us convinced that we’ll be on short boards after only a couple months boarding in Yamba with them. Sold! Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the wicked restaurant at this hostel! They have a full menu of amazing seafood dishes to burgers, specialty coffees & desserts, etc…but highlight of my evening was getting lasagna for supper! I haven’t had any since leaving home, and I really miss my Mom’s lasagna... this stuff was so good, and only $5 with salad! Yamba has left us overwhelmingly impressed. We will be back. Peace. d.