It's been 6 months! Hard to believe. Same thing as last time - update on where I am and what has been going on followed by the quarterly check-in. And I'll throw in a video that is seriously going to make you all hate me. Sorry, them's the breaks.
OK, I am a few hours away from departing on a 3 day boat cruise around Whitsundays. The weather has been super hot. It's been sunny and humid. Seriously, I am sweating my balls of here. You ready for this mental image transition? I've had to sleep naked in the campervan. HAHA! Get that out of your head! In your face!
Moving on, I have driven up the east coast from Byron Bay in the last 4 days, landing me here at Whitsundays. Along the way I drove the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, and the Beginning of the Great Barrier Reef. I didn't stay in the Gold or Sunshine Coasts because they are built for luxury travelers. Highrises line the beaches and just looking at people, you can tell that they are pretentious. Logistically, I left on the 12th and had to be in Whitsundays by the morning of the16th. The coast is huge and to drive straight would probably take 13+ hours. Too many cool things to see along the way to do that. The first day wasn't that spectacular and I slept at a park just North of Brisbane. So, after I left Byron I drove to Noosa, which was the top of the Sunshine Coast and thought about staying there, but I talked to a guy at the i site and plans changed a bit. The i guy told me of a town somewhat close by called Woodgate. Here, there are kangaroos that hop around the town, a 7km long beach with no development along it, and there is no one there. The town itself is just a sleepy little town that goes the stretch of the beach and is about two streets deep. They have 1 hotel, 1 RV park, 1 store, etc. - very few people. At any given time there are about 10 people on the beach, so you have it to yourself. They also have a brickwalk that goes along the beach with upscale park facilities.
Look Noosa was nice for the Sunshine coast because it was really pretty - with waterways like canals, billabongs, and bogs combining magnificently with the beach and some jungle. But it was still a little too much touristy for me and I wanted to get as far away from that as possible. I wish I had have stayed at Woodgate a couple more days instead of Byron Bay. Anyhow, that's how it goes. I stayed most of the third day there before leaving. In the morning of the third day I met some cool older ladies RVing around. They were camping like me and gave me extremely useful advice along with coffee and a map that had all the camping ($ and free) along the way. They were pretty neat and one of them introduced me to the 3rd place high jumping champion (it was a dog). She even showed me pictures of his 7 and 1/2 ft jump.
The advice was this: camping is much easier in OZ than in NZ. If it doesn't say no campervan or no overnight parking, it's legal. Also, in places where you have to pay, esp. in the off-season (which it now is), the rangers don't come around except for Sat-Mon to collect fares (they don't have pay boxes, you pay the rangers). Even when the rangers do come, they won't be there between 8PM and 8AM. They said most places are cool with campers for a day or two, esp. if you talk to the locals and make friends.
The ladies were staying in Woodgate for a week, but I had to kick some dirt up the coast. My next stop was a town by the name of 1770. Yes, the name is a number. It represents the year Captain. Cook. The town is also the landing spot. I used their technique for camping in a pay zone that night and left right as the rangers were entering the camping area. I walked around a bit, but to be honest, there wasn't much I wanted to do there. I wanted to surf because it is the last surfing beach, but the surf was too small. So I bounced early heading for a park where you are able to see platypus in the wild. It was a good distance away so I needed to break the trip up. I was recommended the camp zone in Carmila by the ladies from Woodgate. They were spot on. Not without a hiccup though.
I managed to get the van stuck in the sand. No, not on the beach. I was looking for a place to stay in the dark and the camp spot looked the same consistency as the sand road. It obviously wasn't. I managed to sink pretty good in. I tried to break up some roots and get them under the wheel for traction, but that didn't work. Thankfully, the people I was blocking were still up and I humbly asked them for help. They happened to have a 4 wheel with a tow. So, they yanked me out. The good thing about getting stuck was that before I asked their help, I looked further down the camping area to see if it was the same throughout. I managed to find a spot almost literally in the water (see video below). Had I not gotten stuck and looked around on foot, I would certainly not have attempted to go to this spot.
Anyway, next day it was off to Eungella NP. The drive was nice (I stopped for photos along the way), but the highlight was seeing the platypus. They are way smaller than I had imagined; think the size of your forearm. They also only eat, and are therefore viewable, a couple hours after sunrise and a couple hours before sunset. They also only stay on the surface for 20 seconds or less to mash up the food before diving down for 10 min. Totally worth it though. I was also now buying my food out because the mayo blew in the cooler and mixed with the ice water and got into everything in the cooler except the butter bag. It was now the last night before in any case, so I got as close to Whitsundays as possible (camping results in fines in the area unless you pay to camp at an RV park). Again, I used the Woodgate advice, I found a boat launch and left before 8.
Now, here I am ready to hit the high seas.
Here's the check-in:
Health - pretty good. Most recently, I think I have been getting flemmy at night, which I think may be causing me to snore. Not sure though. Other than that just a couple minor injuries here and there, like stepping on rough root or something. Oh yeah and bruising my tail bone doing drunken Olympic events. My ankle is all better though.
Foods - add kangaroo to animals I've eaten. Ceviche is coming back as a recipe for life.
Funds - I have spent the same amount in NZ and part of OZ in 40 days as I did the entire time in SA. Essentially, including some future airfare of about $700, I have spent $5k in these places.
Things I've learned - how to drive on the left, how to drive a left hand stick shift, how to sneak camp, some funny phrases, Fosters is not OZ for beer - seriously, I haven't seen it sold ANYWHERE. Kangaroos and wallabies are almost the same. As far as I know, the difference is that wallabies have a black dog nose (kangs have a furry nose) and are smaller.
Feeling - Well, I feel great. Other than not really being able to relate to the other travelers in hostels (average age is 19 and we are in different places in life). Actually, I love, love, the freedom of hopping in my van and jetting to where ever, whenever I want. I love being on my own.
Also, I find myself asking, "what is my life now?" No idea; completely different. I feel bound by nothing. My past seems distant to me. It seems more like a story, albeit the most awesome character in a story ever, that I read awhile ago. When I think back, which I rarely do these days, it doesn't seem like it is real. This, what I am doing now, is more real than anything I've ever done before. Even South America seems as if it was an immense time ago. In some ways I think it means that I'm living in the present, and that's good. But it's strange, when I think about anything outside of now, it just seems to roll out of my mind, down my back, and into the stream to be washed away to shore. I'm not holding on to anything in the past anymore with more than just a meandering amusement that it was my past. No emotions are evoked; I'm not a participant in my past just a casual observer.
I do think about the future a bit. Ideas I want to try, things I want to do, and plans I want to start making. Nothing too concrete, more just the idea of doing the above. They don't really hold any weight or significance to me at this moment.
I wonder what this trip will seem like when it's over...
I'll add some more things if I think about them, but I am out of time.
Without further ado, you're going to hate me -
That van owns! Good morning indeed
ReplyDelete