Coral Reefer’s Guide to Cannabis Down Under

Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, attend massive festivals, partake in local and watch out for koalas, which are than you would think, says cannabis vlogger Coral Reefer. Coral — who’s racked up millions of views online with her personality-driven “Stoney Sunday” and “NewsNug” segments — shares some travel tips after her third annual adventure to Australia. We had her send us some beloved Reefer Mail featuring tips for visiting Down Under.

Top Destinations: Nimbin, Adelaide, Cairns

Year-round, Nimbin has a reputation for being a cannabis-positive place, but also a small town. Nimbin is overflowing with people for MardiGrass weekend, which takes place during the first weekend of May.

It’s a really unique celebration of cannabis — people have all green on, people have painted pot leaves on their faces and weed necklaces. There’s an ebb and flow of open consumption depending on the police presence. I love the Australian people’s passion for cannabis. They drive in from four to 18 hours away, because they feel there’s not one person in their hometown they can be happy about cannabis with.

Adelaide is huge for cannabis even if the South Australian state hasn’t legalized — it was my first time over there, and the public smoke-out had 70 people show up to share joints and bong hits in view of all.

From Cairns, I went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. It was incredible, a dream come true for this true-born Coral, but it was also nerve-wracking! I was crying, screaming and giggling underwater, I was so excited. We saw tons of fish and reef, and the water felt so much warmer than back home.

Timing and Packing

May is a good time of year, but if you can time it better than me, go to the 420 celebration in Melbourne, also. I haven’t yet been, but each May I hear epic tales of public smoking on 420 using the nicest glass folks have ever used. It sounds incredible. It’s a beautiful season, our spring is Australia’s fall or autumn. The Australians seem to think it’s pretty chilly, but it was 70 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit in most the places I visited.

I brought pants and sweatshirts and ended up sending a box home. You need shorts. Bring your sunscreen, sunglasses and floppy hat, it’s a tropical vacation between rainstorms.

Getting There… In Style!

You can fly non-stop to Brisbane from the West Coast. I try to always time my flight to leave around 10 p.m. and land at 10 a.m. It’s a 14-hour journey, and sleep is my goal so every time I go through 1,000 milligrams or more of Chocowaska and the Bud Barber, and enjoy the ride.

I find when leaving California, I’m able to bring my small amounts of medicine and it’s generally not a problem. Definitely no flowers because of the smell. Edibles, vape pens and preloaded cartridges are really, really helpful. For me, I went with indicas. Australia already has the sativas.

Laws of Oz

Cannabis law is hard to explain for the whole country. Australia is made up of six states and 10 territories — each one is going to regulate it different. The Queensland government is a little more conservative with cannabis. New South Wales is the most cannabis friendly of the Australian states.

We hotboxed one of the landmarks in Brisbane — their big ferris wheel-type ride overlooking the whole city in your own pod. It felt like a good opportunity to bust out the pens because I don’t think Australia is up to date with the vape pens for tobacco versus cannabis.

Local Customs

Australian cannabis is potent just looking at it. The genetics seem good, but it’s really humid in a good part of the country and lot of people struggle to dry their cannabis properly.

For Australian cannabis, the story attached to the genetics was really strong. We ran into quite a few people that had seeds their family gave them. One guy’s seeds were from his father that had passed away.

For finding cannabis people, the internet is amazing — a lot of the cities we visited have local hash tags or Facebook groups to organize meet ups. The #australiancannabiscommunity hashtag is a popular one for the country as a whole and can be a good place to start.

TELL US, have you ever enjoyed the cannabis scene in another country?

Originally published in Issue 22 of Cannabis Now. LEARN MORE