As I sit here and write I’ve already left the southern hemisphere behind, the trade winds are blowing through the window and the Koolau Mountains rise like a green curtain outside of my window. It feels rather surreal actually. It’s hard to believe that our time away down south has already come to an end and that the next chapter, however long it proves to be, is already unfolding. But it’s been a long time since my last post and there is plenty of story to tell.
Just about one calendar month ago Meredith and I loaded up old faithful Dolores for one final grand road trip on up the Australian east coast. We’d seen most of Tassie and a good chunk of Victoria, but that’s barely scratching the surface as far as Australia is concerned, so we wanted to head out on the road and send things off properly by seeing a bit more of the countryside on our way out the door. As we’ve become so accustomed to we loaded all of our worldly possessions up and turned our sights north.
“We loaded all of our worldly possessions up and turned our sights north.”
Well not precisely north, after all this was to be a scenic trip. So we stuck to the coast as much as we could passing through parks and coastlands that, despite being squarely in the middle of Australia’s most populous region, felt another world away. Our first stop was the hard to spell and even harder to pronounce Croajingolong National Park which offered as good of secluded beach side camping as we’ve ever had. Plus in the morning a quick hike up through the bush brought us to the Thurra River Dunes, an expanse of rippling sand you would not expect to find in this lush corner of the world. From there we motored steadily along New South Wales’ stunning south coast with charming seaside towns in every bay and lighthouses dotting every headland. We had a ways to go though so we motored on until we reached the sanctuary of Kangaroo Valley, an untouched vale tucked just far enough off the edge of civilization for wildlife to roam free. They may call it Kangaroo Valley but it really was wombat city, as we set up the tent for the night we tried counting all of the little buggers we could see in the campground and stopped at 30 all peacefully munching away at the grass as the sun set.
That’s when the rain began. A big storm cell closed in on Sydney and much of the central coast promising nothing but chilly drizzle along the shores for several days, so we took our chances and boogied on up into the Blue Mountains just to Sydney’s west hoping some elevation would break up the clouds a bit and offer something other than monotonous rain. Well on the first night we had no luck, and with the rain coming down and a couple strong Belgian beers in the belly in the charming town of Leura I was only too eager to spring for a cheapo room for the night at a local inn to keep us out of the rain. And our gambit paid off. The next morning the clouds lifted enough for us to wander through some of the most famous sites in the Blueys. It’s largely a flat topped mountain range with the towns actually dotting some of the highest points, so when the clouds lifted we were greeted by expansive views looking down into verdant valleys.
“By now you can probably guess what we got up to amongst the vines.”
From there we stuck to the back roads and kept on north, winding through the eucalypts until we emerged in the heart of NSW’s main wine region, The Hunter Valley. By now you can probably guess what we got up to amongst the vines, even in the middle of “winter”. A bit of research and we found a guy who would rented us some beater bikes out of the back of an unmarked white van and we got to pedaling. The Hunter is an expansive area with what must be hundreds of different vineyards in it’s various areas, but with no particular agenda Meredith and I just whiled the day away cycling from cellar door to cellar door, imagining what it all would look like in the height of summer with proper vines and not just dry wine sticks, and enjoying the first day in months we actually felt inclined to wear shorts.
Our ultimate goal for the trip was to make it up to the legendary bohemian beachside paradise of Byron Bay, just near the northern border of the state so after our wine trip we got up bright and early and put the pedal to the metal. It’s a fair bit of distance up to Byron on what has to have been the most monotonous driving we’ve done in years with the freeway plunging dead ahead through the forest, scarcely bothering with the ins and outs of the central coast, but boy were we glad we made the effort. Byron wins renown for many reasons. It’s Australia’s easternmost point, a variety of beaches offer good surfing in almost any condition, it’s far enough north that it starts to feel truly tropical, but mostly the town is just one of those places that seems to attract every surf bum, working holiday maker, and fellow wanderer in the country. A perfect place for us to come and forget that our time was running short.
“This feels like the soul of Australia to me.”
That was to be the northern extent of our grand adventure and we had some friends to meet back in Sydney, but not before one final night on the road that seemed to encapsulate so much of what makes Australia an amazing place. Tucked away on the central coast this the excellently named Booti Booti National Park, it took us half an hour to get there off the freeway but we may as well have been on the edge of the earth. We camped among the shady trees with brush turkeys fluttering around our tent, and just over the dunes laid yet another expansive, wild, empty, unspeakably beautiful beach stretching as far as we could see. This feels like the soul of Australia to me, a beach that would be award-winning most other places in the world tucked away, unpeopled, and remarkable precisely because it isn’t remarkable. It’s just another beach in this land of wild beauty, and it’s yours to enjoy because the beaten path isn’t that big. Sitting in the sand watching the sun rise getting ready for what was sure to be a mad run into the next phase of our lives it felt like I’d come full circle, right back into the heart of the place, and that’s what I think will stick with me in the years that lie ahead.
In the moment though there was little enough time to wax poetic as we had a wide and wonderful harbor-side city to explore. It’s truly enough said that no trip to Aus is complete with out spending some time in Sydney, and we were lucky enough to have some friends to host us. You may recall from months ago that one of our roommates from Tassie was moving to the city when we all were leaving, and we finally got to cash in on the connection. What a way to go out too, a convenient place to stay and knowledgeable guides turned what could’ve been a bewildering couple of days into a sun drenched relaxing send off. In hindsight, I’m not so sure why we avoided Sydney as a longer term place to stay. It’s a beautiful town wrapped around a many-armed harbor where the locals are equally as likely to catch a ferry to work as a train. It may technically be a bit bigger than Melbs but doesn’t feel it when the water makes each neighborhood feel so unique. Of course we did the classics like having a beer at sundown by the Opera House and catching a ferry out to Manly beach, but it was the little local explorations we were able to do that really set things apart, visiting classic aussie pubs, finding the best fried chicken in town that really had all things looking rather rose colored.
“Adventure is where you seek it and I intend to keep on looking.”
And then just like that our bags were packed and we set off into the next chapter of our lives. Sydney to Honolulu is a surprisingly affordable 9 hour red eye, we landed on Oahu about two weeks ago and have set ourselves up to spend a couple months out here in Hawaii as we consider our next moves. Maybe it’ll be a quick couple months, maybe we’ll love it and stay longer, either way it certainly is nice not having to move after 6 months. I guess that’s the advantage of “home sweet home”. Looking forward things look more opaque as than ever. I’m not sure what will become of this blog. I’m not sure when we’ll come back state side. Heck I’m not even sure if I’ll stay in my new job. But hell, if I’ve learned one thing from these past years it’s that adventure is where you seek it and I intend to keep on looking.