riverECHO

2,010 kilometers around Australia

We read a review of the Australia Zoo in Lonely Planet, claiming that it was one of the top ten sites to see in the WORLD. Well I don’t know if I would go that far but it was pretty cool. Unlike your typical city zoo, these animals actually have a ton of space in front of crowds and behind the scenes. Almost all of them, and the crocodiles in particular, ended up in the zoo because they were injured or about to be killed because they were “problem crocs,” or in other words they probably ate someone. We only had the afternoon to explore the zoo, which ended up being plenty of time to see it all. We immediately headed to the crocodile show where Steve Irwin used to put on quite the performance. We watched a replacement crocodile-tamer, or whatever he would call himself, feed and taunt the starring crocodile named “Murry.” BJ and I both agreed that he was very nervous and at one point he said “I think Murry is playing a little game with me” followed by a very nervous laugh. Well you wouldn’t see me out there dangling sausages in front of Murray, but this crocodile-tamer was no crocodile hunter.

We followed up our crocodile amazement with a visit to the free roaming kangaroos, a stroll below the trees of sleepy koalas, a look at a very chubby wombat, a glad-they-were-behind-glass glance at the venomous snakes, and a quick hello to a very shy cassowary, which is a large flightless bird who can kill you by either cracking your skull with a large horn or slicing your throat with a razor like talon. In the end, we enjoyed the visit but we couldn’t help feeling bad about the critters behind bars, no matter how much the zoo claimed to be pro-conservation.

After the zoo, we hopped back in Slim and drove a short distance north to the fabled Sunshine Coast, another series of golden fine sand beaches. But this time we were in for a very nice surprise. We actually went out for a swim today and let me tell ya, I can’t believe what we have been missing all along. It was instant relaxation. Just being on the beach on our Thai mat and under the warm sun seemed to flip my attitude from go-go-go to stress-free laziness. The water was chilly but easy to get used to and the waves were so much fun. BJ instantly mastered body surfing and I totally forgot about sharks until we got out of the water. We are planning to stay in the area for the remainder of the week and can’t wait to get in the water again.

1,896 kilometers around Australia

We spent the weekend exploring Lamington National Park, a couple hours drive inland from the Gold Coast. It was a sort of dry rainforest, if that makes sense, with tree ferns and lush foliage but a very dry ground cover. There are two main roads into the park; both follow a different ridge line to the summit of a plateau where there is a campground, lodge, and trailhead for numerous hikes. We spent a night at each campground, Binna Burra and Green Mountains.

From Binna Burra, a number of hikes lead out into the park. We opted for a half day hike, which was a nice change to not doing much physically other than a few bike rides and walks around towns. Our hike was quite a wildlife adventure. Our tally of snakes has now reached 8, four of which were spotted on this hike. We learned, after opening a children’s book about snakes in the gift shop, that one of the snakes that we carefully skirted around was a black red-bellied snake . . . only the 17th most venomous snake in the world. We also learned that Australia is home to the 16 of the top 20 venomous snakes in the world, 7 of which are the most poisonous. But no worries mate . . .  they are more scared of you than you should be of them. That makes me feel so much better.

Once we arrived to our second camp at Green Mountains, we immediately took off for the area’s famous tree walk, a series of wooden planked swing bridges and ladders, which reaches to a top height of 30 meters. It was a pretty cool structure and not surprising that it was very busy. I woke up extra early this morning to take another stroll along it without the crowds and only the sounds of birds and trees swaying in the wind.

After blowing through Brisbane this afternoon we made camp in a mozzie (mosquito) filled state park just a short drive from the Australian Zoo, Steve Irwin’s zoo to be exact. I’ve never been a huge fan of zoos but we have been told over and over that this is a must-do. Tomorrow afternoon we will enter the attraction and will surely have many photos to share shortly thereafter.

1,497 kilometers around Australia

The dust storm quickly passed and we made it to Byron Bay, the promise land for surfing, partying, burning nag champa, and chillaxing (as my little sis would probably say) along the east coast of Australia. We spent two nights in this hip little town and the surfing fanatics out there will be disappointed that we only ended up wading into the water. After much debate, we decided that we a) didn’t have enough time to really learn how to surf, and b) were secretly terrified of losing a leg or an arm to a hungry shark. The water, however, was beautiful and although slightly chilly, the hoards of surfers in the waves looked to be having a blast. We explored a coastal trail along Byron Bay point and up to a lighthouse, the eastern most tip of Australia, and strolled the amazing sandy beaches a handful of times. You will not believe how soft the sand is. It’s a beautiful golden color and so fine that it feels like you are walking along a smooth satin blanket. This is the type of sand that beaches are supposed to be made of. We weren’t on the beach for more than five minutes during our first visit when BJ pointed out to sea and said “look, a whale!” We spotted about half a dozen out there and it must be a common sight because no one else was nearly as excited as we were.

While we are trying to cook a majority of our meals, we are allowing ourselves one dinner out a week. This week we took advantage of the wide variety of restaurants in Byron Bay and made a night of it at a place called the Orient Express Eatery. I know what you’re thinking . . . “you got Chinese takeout?” The name was very deceiving and the restaurant offered an “inspired” mix of all Asian cuisine including Thai, Chinese, Malay, and Japanese. It even had a special menu for $50 teas . . . Fifty dollars . . . for tea! We skipped the tea and bought $8 beers instead. They even sent us away with a fancy little tea holder from Taiwan . . . a free gift because we found and extra batter chunk in our fried banana dessert. But the food was delicious and we left satisfied and satiated.

Today we are back on the road, driving a little further north to Lamington National Park, just southwest of Brisbane, where we will spend the next couple of days. I’d like to end with a comment from my mother, who yesterday told me that if she had her own blog she would share her latest adventure of learning how to snot-rocket while hiking. It’s taken her years of training and I am so proud mom!

1,442 kilometers around Australia

We woke up this morning to an orange haze and soon discovered that eastern Australia was enveloped by a huge dust storm. We spent the morning working inside the van with all the windows and doors closed. But as the day pushed on and the sky grew eerier we decided to pack up and drive north. We weren’t able to escape the dust and it was actually hard to enjoy the view because we simply couldn’t see it. Check out these photos from Sydney and Brisbane (by the way the distance between these two major cities is about 1,000 km). It seems to be worse in the cities, but we’ve definitely developed a layer of dust on pretty much everything we own. It’s not hard to breath or anything, but my eyes sting a little and my boogers are brown.  Tonight we are camped in the small quaint town of Lennox Head, just 20 km south of Byron Bay. We’ve heard it’s beautiful and will hopefully be able to actually see the coastline tomorrow morning. Now it’s time for dust . . . cough cough . . . I mean . . . beef tacos.

I can’t believe I almost forgot. We stopped off at one tourist attraction today. It was another big thing . . . this time a big prawn. It was worse than the banana in Coffs Harbor.

1,240 kilometers around Australia

Our weekend began with Bellingen’s huge community market complete with carriage rides, live music, great food, massages by the river, lots of crafts and a number of, what looked to be, excuses to clean out the garage. We circled the market twice until deciding to cruise up the hill another 20 kilometers to a place called Dorrigo National Park. The road was steep and windy but towards the top the mountain range that we thought we were climbing turned into beautiful rolling fields and farm land. Dorrigo National Park sits along this steep border and we started our tour with a stroll on a skywalk which led to an amazing view over the rainforest below.

We asked one of the rangers about mountain biking and she pointed us in the direction of a park trail that doesn’t get a ton of use. So we drove in that direction and found a perfectly flat piece of ground at the trailhead where we decided to camp for the evening. It was our first night of free camping in the country and, as we were prepared to get a tap on our window telling us we had to leave, we were excited about our find. Whether no one saw us or no one cared, we never got a tap on the window. Prior to our bike ride we spent the morning trying really hard to do nothing but read, drink coffee and gaze out over the neighboring farms. But in my relaxed state I did manage to give myself quite a scare.

Having a post coffee urge, I strolled away from camp into the forest to find a nice grassy perch. Just as I was about to . . . you know . . . I spotted a scaly, multi-colored and much too large for my liking snake just bathing in the sun. I actually can’t even be sure it was alive since I didn’t exactly wait around to inspect it. Before I knew it, I was leaping back over to the van to share my news with BJ . . . and to catch my breath. The bike ride was a great diversion and led down an old dirt road to a lookout that claims to be the point of conception for most of the local population. But I can’t pretend I wasn’t thinking about the snakes that were going to jump out of the grass and bite my leg the entire time. BJ finally reassured me, telling me to think of snakes like we think of bears and moose back home. They will typically only attack if threatened. The biggest difference when it comes to bike riding down here is that your line of focus becomes the many sticks (that I swore were snakes) lying in the middle of the trail. I can’t wait until we get up to crocodile country. I’m not sure I’ll be going on any bike rides up there.

We returned back to Bellingen for another night and then made our way into Coffs Harbor the following morning for another van appointment. We found a mom and pop shop that would be able to quickly fit a new alternator for Slim. As Jeff worked away on our new alternator (and battery) we were welcomed into his house by his wife for tea. We sat on their porch for what seemed like hours enjoying the neighborhood birds, a couple short rain showers and a view overlooking town. His wife brought us tea, chicken wings, crackers with butter and cheese, fruit, more fruit, and even offered up their spare bedroom to us if we didn’t feel like pushing further up the coast. We had never before experienced such hospitality from a mechanic.

On our way out of town, we made a mandatory stop at Coffs Harbor’s Big Banana, the area’s most popular attraction. It was about as exciting as a big fake banana can be and might shed a little light on the type of excitement you might find in the rest of Coffs Harbor. We didn’t stick around to find out, but instead continued north to a tiny little town called Red Rock, originally an Aboriginal community that is surrounded by national park land and ocean. The post shop, town store, laundry, take-away stand, and campground office are all-in-one but the camp is close to perfection. Just over a small dune from the beach, we set up camp for a couple nights on a nice grassy patch. We are surrounded by noisy birds and crashing waves and truly starting to feel settled in our temporary life on the road.

1,016 kilometers around Australia

I can’t say for sure that Bellingen Town Campground is the official name of the big grassy field we are calling home tonight. We simply saw a few other campervans and a tent set up just outside of a large soccer field, so we pulled in and set up camp along with them. It seems to be legit as it has a bathroom, showers and a few power outlets, but the lack of signage and fee suggest it is pretty unofficial. We are really excited about our destination this evening. It is the first place we chose to visit based on its character and location, instead of the number of mechanics and services it had in the phone book.

Bellingen is a small town of about 2,700 and has a really cute downtown with a sort of a wild west feel. It is inland from the ocean and Coffs Harbor and is located at the start of a scenic road called Waterfall Way which we hope to explore within the next few days. We’ve heard rumors that there is a large craft market that will be taking place directly next door to us in the morning. Hopefully the rest of our fellow campers aren’t here as vendors or we might end up having to set up a stand with our toiletries and Australia guide books.

It was an exciting day overall departing Port Macquarie. The town and its people, especially the very nice lady at the Post Shop who I am sure will miss my daily visits, have treated us well but we were glad to keep moving further north. Before we left town we stopped by the Koala Hospital, a government funded clinic that takes in injured or sick koalas. We were able to give ourselves a self guided tour. Koalas aren’t the most active of critters or the smartest. Their brains are about the size of a walnut. But they are damn cute, especially when they are just spacing out and eating leaves.

As we drove the short 2 hour drive north to Bellingen, I read about the area in our Lonely Planet guide only to find that we were about to come upon one of the most popular and highly acclaimed pie shops in the country. Now by pie, I don’t mean Marie Calendar’s peach cobbler or cherry pie. I’m talking meat pies. The kind you can eat in about three bites. Pies are very popular in both Australia and New Zealand. I never tried one in New Zealand, particularly because they all (even the vegetarian ones) seem to have a sort of mystery meat center. But we were about to discover an award winning pie shop. How could I say no? Eight dollars later, BJ and I sat down to a fine feast of a lamb with mint sauce pie and a pork, chili and garlic pie. It still looked like mystery meat to me but based on the taste, I probably would have given it a gold medal too. As we continued down the road we passed a handful of fruit and veggie stands. BJ, with a belly full of pie, said that maybe we should just eat at the veggie stands from now on.

Well we are still in Port Macquarie and not too much to report this round. Our van has had one doctor’s appointment after another this week, but all for improvements so that we can feel better about driving him around the country. Customs has been holding on to my new computer for over a week now and they don’t seem too keen on releasing it to me yet. I spoke to a gentleman from customs on the phone today about the “releasing” process and he answered all of my questions with either “yes love” or “no love” . . . so that made me generally feel better about the situation. It’s hard to be stern with someone when they keep calling you “love.” Overall we are still loving the Australian way. It seems like everyone is just out to make a new friend. Things are a bit more expensive here than they were in New Zealand and we’ve noticed a trend of “bigness” especially when it comes to serving size. It’s no wonder the Aussies just surpassed the Americans in obesity rates. We are really enjoying acquiring new sayings like “no dramas” and “no worries” and referring to everyone and everything as “mate” or “doll” or “love” or “champ” or, and this was only one time, “champion.”

784 km around Australia

We spent the last two nights in Crowdy Bay National Park and although we still have another day to our weekend, I feel like we’ve already had more than a weekend’s worth of adventures. Here are just a few to add to the list:

• We mountain biked along an awesome coastal hiking trail that dropped off in numerous places to meet the crashing ocean below.
  
• We finally touched the cold (yes, cold!) waters off Australia’s east coast and looked on in awe as surfers played with the waves, despite warnings of high surf, shallow waters and deathly currents.
  
• We camped among a couple kangaroo families. Kangaroos are actually much smaller than I had envisioned, standing only to about shoulder height. They are amusingly enough pear shaped and are quite entertaining to watch as they bound across a grassy field. Their strong tail acts like a fifth leg, which they use to help them graze. You see they don’t walk or waddle, but plant their tail and front arms like a tripod as they gracefully lift and move their hind legs forward. If there isn’t already a yoga move out there called the kangaroo, then I will dedicate this trip to creating it . . . and then BJ can post photos of it for your enjoyment.
  
• I stepped on my first Australian snake. Okay, it was only a foot long and it didn’t bite me, but it almost made me wee my pants. I’ve been reading Bill Bryson’s book about his travels around Australia called Down Under and he is obsessed with pointing out how deadly everything is down here. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to a rustle in the bushes, especially when we head up north to the land of the salties, their very endearing term for man-eating salt water crocodiles. The only rustle in the bushes we heard down here ended up being a goanna (monitor lizard) which was large enough that it made us keep our distance. Notice the lizard trying to climb the tree stump in the photo below.
  
• We made friends with a kookaburra who we named Bruce, who was particularly interested when we were cooking up eggs for breakfast. Kookaburras are known for making a shrilling laughing call. But until I actually knew what was making the noise high in the trees I swear I thought we were surrounded by a group of angry monkeys.
  
• We explored some of the east coast’s spectacular coastline. The ocean is crystal clear, brilliantly blue and totally inviting. I just need to get over my fear of Australia’s man-eating sharks.
  

We are now back in Port Macquarie, at the same campground we were in last week. It’s probably not a town that we would normally post up in for this long, but we are patiently waiting for my new work computer to arrive before we can continue our journey north. BJ has found a few biking trails just a short drive away and we stumbled upon a very cool used book store/café this afternoon, so I am sure we will have no problem staying busy until we depart. I must say we are already feeling like five months down here might not be enough time to see everything we want to see, but like any road trip it’s not about the destination and usually the unexpected things you find along the way are the things you remember best and enjoy most. We will, as my sister Shalyn said to me tonight, make sure to stop and smell the roses.

622 kilometers around Australia.

We departed the Sydney area on Saturday afternoon to head to the still large, but more van friendly, town of Gosford. Slim was in desperate need of an oil change and since the local mechanics couldn’t take a look at him until Tuesday we decided to make camp for a couple of days in an area called The Entrance. We had a waterfront site where we were literally three steps away from a fast flowing lake inlet. An elderly neighbor of ours named Doug, who was parked in a site behind us, would wander over a few times a day to test his luck with the fish. But he always left with the shrimp still on the hook and when we would ask him “Any luck?” he would reply “All bad.” Doug became a good friend in camp and helped us add a number of places to see to our Australia list. We were excited to have a day to just chill at camp and read about our upcoming travels but eventually ventured out to the nearby town of Long Jetty where we watched a daily feeding of the local pelican population. These birds were huge and could easily have fit my entire arm in their bill. I’m not sure the little fish nibbles that were being tossed at them really filled them up.

Slim’s appointment turned into more of a lesson on old car maintenance. They fixed him up for the time being but he is still in need of a few repairs, including a new carburetor. We knew we would have a lot to deal with because he was so inexpensive but so far he has treated us well, despite a minor cough-gurgle-rev-lurch whenever we turn him off. At least people are always alerted when we arrive. His horn is also really easy to bump so we are constantly sending out a friendly hello to neighbors and fellow highway drivers.

We spent the afternoon running around trying to wrap up a few errands before pointing Slim north to inch our way up the coast. BJ’s favorite moment along the drive was when I pointed out a yellow highway marker that had some sort of strange looking animal on it and said “I’m not exactly sure what that’s supposed to be.” Let’s just say we are looking forward to an array of wildlife sightings in Australia. After a long bumpy ride down a dirt road, we pulled into a powered campsite in Myall Lakes National Park just after dark. We had been reading up about the many things to do in the area and were looking forward to setting up camp for a few days. But after we moved in to our site and turned on our computers, we realized we couldn’t get an internet signal. We knew it was too good to be true and I think we are coming to terms with what “covering 99% of Australia’s population” actually means. So we quickly changed plans, decided to get some sleep and drove out of camp around 5am this morning in search of the Australian internet. We continued up the coast to the town of Port Macquarie where we have settled nicely into a well shaded campsite just a short walk from the beach. We are surrounded by birds at our camp . . . purple, green and red parrots, another bird that we can’t see but sounds like a monkey, and a fat little owl that just walked by our feet looking for food. Port Macquarie doesn’t seem to have too much going on in terms of the town but it has a beautiful coastline, pristine beaches and waves that I am sure the local surfers enjoy.

15 kilometers around Australia

We’d like to introduce you to our latest travel companion . . . Slim. He has a comfy bed, an extra battery, and a pop-top and after stocking him with a couple bins for our clothes and cooking items, we are excited to have him around while we tour the country.

After we picked up Slim we moved out of our hostel and into a campground north of the city in Sydney’s only national park. Although we’ve been catching up at work for the last few days, we were able to venture back into the city this afternoon for a show at the Opera House, the one touristy thing that we deemed necessary in Sydney. But when we found out that a concert or show in the main theater cost over $200, we opted for a much more reasonably priced performance in the drama theater, which is in the same building but just one floor below the impressive auditorium. In the end, I think we chose wisely. Put on by the Australia based Bangarra Dance Theatre Company, “Fire” is a dance production that combines modern dance with traditional aboriginal style dancing. We had seats in the second row and after two hours we were sad to see the show end. It was totally impressive and as BJ’s first performing arts experience of the kind, I think he’s hooked.

Post Opera House, we revisited the lovely Botanical Gardens, drank an iced coffee which in Australia is short for a coffee float (seriously  . . . they put a huge scoop of ice cream in a cup of chilled coffee), listened to a number of street performers playing a didgeridoo to techno music (BJ named it dij-dub), and had dinner at one of the 500 restaurants along the Darling Harbor. We would love to check out some of Sydney’s museums and other sites, but as it is only getting hotter in northern Australia, we are feeling like we should start getting on the road. But Sydney’s not done with us yet as we’ll probably be back to sell our van at the end of our trip.

Although we’ve been here for less than a week, I must say that the Australians are some of the nicest people I’ve met. They love to engage in conversation and love asking us where we’re from and where we’re going. We met a lady last night at the campground who, after finding out we were from a town near Yellowstone National Park, became really excited to tell her kids that we were friends with Yogi Bear and Booboo. We are starting to realize that living out of a van is not only convenient for our travel plans, but also a very social endeavor.