riverECHO

11,742 kilometers around Australia

While we may not have had the most traditional Thanksgiving celebration around family and lots of food, we kept ourselves busy and thoroughly entertained on the mountain biking trails in Wellington National Park. We zipped around a few purpose built trails at Leonard Hill but our favorite ride ended up being a trail that left right from camp and followed the Munda Biddi, a cycling track that spans the length of SW Australia, before meeting up with a walking track that followed the river back to camp.

After we had our fill of biking we pointed to the coast and to the Margaret River region. Picture Napa Valley. Then picture beaches and water in the Caribbean. Finally add in epic surfing. Put it all together and you get Margaret River. We’re not sure what the next few days will bring, but we like the town, we like our little camp, and there are beaches, trails, and wine tasting within minutes.

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.

After leaving southern Utah, we made a quick stop on the western side of Vegas to take a shower at an RV park, and then drove directly to UCSB to visit my little sister, Anni, during her freshman year of college. Nothing like partying in the dorms again and needless to say, we only lasted one night. We hopped in the car the next morning and drove up Highway 1 towards Half Moon Bay where we would meet up with Tim and Mary Lynn. We camped at Half Moon Bay as it was the cheapest, not to mention beautiful, lodging to be found close to San Francisco. We spent the first evening on the beach, just footsteps from our camp, playing with our kite. While Tim and BJ attended a two day Google developers conference, and saw Flight of the Conchords live, in downtown SF, Mary Lynn and I poached wireless internet from various locations in the city. Our favorite was the W Hotel. They had great tea too. Not many photos from the big city, but I experienced a big day for my older sister, Shalyn. Just two days before turning 29 and three months before her wedding date, she became Jewish. I attended her Mikvah and naming ceremony. Her new Hebrew name . . . Gila Chaya or Joy Life. Coming from a very non-religious family, it has been really interesting to see it become a very important part of her life.  We made a quick trip up to Sonoma to visit my dad and Fran. And then, a fter a short evening with Eros and Jaime in Noe Valley and a layover in Tahoe visiting Tal, Quinner, and Jess, we finally made our way home after three weeks on the road. Despite stories of constant rain and snow at home, we can’t wait to get there and see our little shitty kitty.