Every country needs a best hostel and in Australia, it’s Cool Bananas. Started 6 years ago by an Australian hostel pioneer, Greg (the owner and manager of Cool Bananas who only refers to himself as the manager) has capacity for 80 backpackers but chooses to keep his capacity down to no more than 50 or 60. He likes knowing everyone who is staying at his hostel by face and first name. Agnes Waters/1770 used to be an Australian secret. Only 6 years ago, there was no paved road into the town and only 5 years ago Greg got a call from the CEO of Greyhound Australia “Is this Greg of Cool Bananas? I love fishing in your town, I’m going to make it one of the stops for the Grey Hound. Tell the rest of the people in town. I’m putting you guys on the map.” And that was the birth of the Agnes Waters/ 1770 tourist industry.
More about Greg, who used to work at the Hilton in Byron Bay in the 80s and decided to start to convert motels into hostels when an experimental community room of 4 bunk beds ended up remaining full for an entire summer. “There was no manual for how to make and run a hostel back then. We just had to ask people what they wanted and if it was within reason, we would give it to them.” “We also did some traveling ourselves and knew what were the most important parts of our stay in other hostels.”
Greg is a machine that goes all night. From midnight when he is telling his guests to take the party to the beach, to 4 am when he is patrolling the halls of his property to make sure everyone is safe. This man works all through the day and night with a knack for cleanliness and a sensible taste of friendly banter. Every element of his hostel reflects his dream and you can tell that you are walking in the halls of his dream.
He also has cooks who make a 5 dollar meal every breakfast and dinner. These meals are made from scratch by either an Australian cook or a French cook and the food that comes out is amazing.
But enough about some weird hostel, what about the town? Well there really isn’t much to it, but the main attraction is something called a “scooteroo” which is essentially a single gear mini motorcycle. They are really easy to operate and go just fast enough to give you a bit of a thrill on the open road (60 miles per hour). At first I was cautious about maxing out this mini hog but eventually I found myself understanding why bikers do what they do. We just toured the town on back roads and the coast line. The fee was $50 AUD which seemed a little steep for two hours of riding, but it was worth it.
Yes of course we had helmets and yes people did fall off of their bikes. But here is the difference between me and the rest: I rode that hog like I still had the world to see in the next year. I let other bikers pass me. I left a ton of space between me and the next guy, and I didn’t pass people on blind curves (you wouldn’t believe how stupid some of my fellow backpackers are.) It was a great time.
The day before I left Cool Bananas there were some pretty substantial waves at the local beach break. I got to chatting with the French cook and it turns out that he bodyboards too and he had an extra board and fins as well. For the first time in months I was able to ride a proper bodyboard with fins (something I had given up on a few weeks ago). It was great to finally be riding a board that was made for me and though the fins where way too big, I still had a great time bodyboarding with the cook who had been feeding be for almost the last week. In rural Australia, you can and will have meaningful conversations with people who are in the tourist industry (Just like everywhere in New Zealand).
Next I head up the coast to Airlie Beach (Whitsundays) for a 2 day 2 night sailing/snorkeling trip with 10 other passengers. The boat is the Prima which is a 47 foot sail boat. Just like Frazier Island, this trip’s success will rely largely on the group that shows up for the boat.
I can’t believe the fins were too big!