Nimbin Ho!

Hey guys

Well I know this is an early update, but I'm waiting for photos to up load and working up the courage to phone Surf Camp and beg for work.

So anyway, yesterday myself and a bunch of the people from the Surf Camp decided to hook up with GrassHopper tours to Nimbin. For those who don't know, Nimbin is basically the Australian Equivalent of Amsterdam. Complete with a "Bringabong" shop, "hemp embassy" and several smoke cafes and bars. What a strange place, really ...

Apparently the whole town was founded by a group of hippies in the 70s who decided the volcanic soul was perfect for planting marijuana, and they took over the small town of Nimbin which had been a ghost town at the time. Prior to the hippies arrival in the area, the whole region was in an economic slump, but after they arrived, the area gained alot more viability with tourism and such. Now there are at least 4 different tours out to Nimbin on a daily basis.

Our tour guide dropped us off in town after showing us the points of interest and gave us an hour to do what we wanted. He also advised us that despite appearances, marijuana was still illegal, but if we wanted cookies or cake, to be careful and only take a little at a time.

On the whole, while it was a strange place, not much worth mentioning happened in Nimbin. I stopped for Thai food with Laura and Nick, shopped around, paid for a photo with a rasta hat on, got lost and frightened in a museum, and generally was amused at the culture. One thing that was hilarious though, was when a bunch of us went in to the organic bakery. They had all these delicous looking cakes for sale, and one of the girls started buying a piece of everything. Then she politely asked the lady at the counter how "strong" they were. The lady got all mad and told her these were just regular organic cakes, and if she wanted the other kind, those were available on the street. We just knew something like that would have to happen eventually, just for the sheer cheese factor, but having it actually happen was hilarious!

It was really funny to be walking down the street and have like 5 people in the stretch of 4mins ask me if I wanted to purchase marijuana cookies. For those wondering, no I didn't buy any cookies, cakes or other dubious substances. I've got a pretty bad cold right now, so I'm on too many types of pain killers to attempt at experimenting with anything new right now.

our hour in Nimbin passed very quickly, and we headed back to the bus (cakes and cookies in tow) to head for our next destination. The reason I decided to go on this particular Nimbin tour was because it did other things than just stopping at the town. We headed off down the road to a gorgeous and secluded swimming spot. There was a waterfall, and a spot to cliff dive. We hung out there for an hour or so, but it was a little cold, and I had forgotten my swimming things. The guys all took turns jumping off the cliff though. It made for some really nice photos. check em out here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18000&l=d8b87&id=618320647

I do have more photos as well of my trip up to surf camp, I'll have to upload them. Well thats about it for Nimbin. for now I'm off to call Vicki @ Surf Camp and beg for work, then head back to the hostel and do some laundry.

Ciao!