There were a few stops to make on the way to Sydney. We landed a housesitting gig for the month leading up to our departure, and didn't have to be there until mid-September so we had a month to explore the coast and slowly make our way. We knew once we got to Sydney there would be many things to do, so we wanted to enjoy our last bit of freedom.
There were many coastal towns with beautiful beaches to explore, and we stopped at a few to check out the prospect of snorkelling. Mission Beach had a great market with lots of things to look at, and we bought some fresh young coconuts from a vendor there. We walked the long beach as we drank the juice and snacked on the flesh, then went for a dip. The water was a bit sandy to see anything, but it was still a nice area. On our way into town we had stopped at a creek area and spotted a cassowary for the first time! He actually gave us a bit of an adrenaline rush as he moved continually toward us, but luckily was only interested in the fallen fruit. We saw another one on the road out of town, walking the tree line in search of food. Bowen was a great little spot, with a beautiful sandy beach at Horshoe Bay, and a rocky border that was full of coral and interesting fish. Airlie Beach turned out to be a really lovely little town, but there wasn't a whole lot in terms of snorkelling. A gal at the local herb shop recommended Coral Beach in Airlie, and while the walk there and the beach itself was great, the visibility wasn't so good. It was too bad, because we were told this would be a great spot to swim with some sea turtles. We collected some coral from the beach and checked out some of the shops in town instead. Some of the other towns had some nice beaches, but we weren't willing to pay to take a boat out to the Whitsunday Islands for the good snorkelling. It was expensive, and we'd spent our money on our reef trip the week before.
The next area we stopped at for a while was just north of Brisbane, at a campsite called Coochin Creek. From here we spent a day at the Australia Zoo just up the road, and got our Crocodile Hunter fix. Seeing Steve's zoo was pretty amazing, and everything was just as I remembered from watching the shows. The most spectacular part was the Wildlife Warriors show, with the big crocs and other critters, but the most touching was the Animal Hospital. It was plain that not many people visited this area of the park, but it was my favourite. As we walked in, a team of veterinarians was operating on a very large green sea turtle, as an exploratory surgery to see what was wrong. Past him, the koala care unit was full of koalas recovering from surgeries and munching on eucalyptus. Most of them had suffered injuries due to being hit by cars, and here they were getting the care they needed. I could tell that this was the heart of Steve's zoo, and it was really special to see this important work in action.
Also very near to Coochin Creek was the Glass Mountain National Park, so we took a drive to check out the scenery and walk some of the trails. We spent one night in Brisbane, doing some necessary flight-planning for Asia, and checking out the night scene which was full of live music. We also caught a bit of the Jazz Festival at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast, just south of Surfer's Paradise. There was a great band with a singer who sounded remarkably like Michael Buble, and we stayed for a while to hear their renditions of some Sinatra tunes.
The next big attraction to the area for us was Byron Bay. We found a rest stop just outside the town which was free to stay at, and we camped there for a few nights in a little space hidden by some trees and overlooking a field full of cattle. We even spent a couple days making and selling jewelry to the folks who stopped in! We checked out the town when we needed to charge our electronics and use some wifi to get in touch with home. We discovered a little music shop off the main road called Three Worlds, and were very excited to find some beautiful didgeridoos and drums. We got talking to the manager, Brad, and even ran into the resident didge maker, Adam. In chatting with the guys, we asked if there was anywhere in town that we could camp cheaply, and they very casually and generously offered for us to park our car out behind the shop where Adam lived in his bus! There was a large grassed area and a few community gardens behind the shop as well. We could tell that this was our kind of place...
We ended up sticking around Byron for a couple weeks, living out of our car behind the music store and busking during the day to make some extra cash. We bought our groceries from the market and used the kitchen space in the shop to cook our meals. We picked fresh greens from the garden for salads, and occasionally treated ourselves to a decadent smoothie from the raw-vegan cafe down the street. We met some really wonderful people in the area, and experienced all kinds of new things as a result! I took our jembe to a drum circle and led the group one night, then we played a little at a community gathering with free chai and massages. Brad hosted a Fire Party at Threeworlds, and we were introduced to fire-staffing, fire-twirling, poi, and hooping. These were skills that the folks practiced not only for fun, but for shows as well, and we acquired a taste for playing with fire. I got some quick lessons in hooping from a beautiful gal, and started practising with a hoop from the shop. I very quickly realized just how much I love to hoop! I made good use of the lawn, between the hooping and practising yoga every day. Jason spent much of his time in the shop practising his didge skills and learning some new techniques from Adam. He was obviously in heaven, playing didgeridoo for hours every day. He even got the chance to witness and take part in the process of making some didgeridoos! Adam had a whole shipment of logs come in while we were there, and Jason got the chance to make a didge from start to finish on his own. The whole time in Byron was an amazing learning experience in so many ways.
After a couple of weeks, it was finally time to head to Sydney, the last stop in our Aussie adventure. We managed to squeeze in a bit more WWOOFing; one week spent at a quiet property in the hills with some horses, a dog and a peacock, with a beautiful new strawbale home and a WWOOFer treehouse; and another week at a Swami Saraswati's Yoga and Health Centre, where we lived as both one of the staff and as a guest. At Swami's, we made some fantastic connections with yogis and musicians, played a number of concerts and meditation sessions, cooked and ate fantastic Indian food, and of course took part in some yoga classes ourselves. It was a great experience, and it felt like we were there for far longer due to all the amazing things we did and great people we met.
We had a lot of things to take care of before leaving Sydney, so a housesitting gig was the perfect opportunity for us to have some essentially free accommodation, and the freedom to get our errands done. We managed to have a place just outside the city centre, only a 40 minute train ride to the CBD. Our task was to look after two gorgeous Dobermans, and just take general care of the house while the owner's were away in the States. Among plenty of drama, we managed to get our visas for our trip to India, ship our many instruments back home, sell our car for the same amount that we paid for it nine months earlier, and even earn ourselves some extra cash at a casual job! It was certainly nice to have a bed to sleep in for that last month, a full kitchen to ourselves, and the freedom to explore the area and the city. We had been living in our car for a solid three months, as well as our stint in Tassie and the road trips prior; and New Zealand would be spent in a tent, cooking over the camp fire once more. After a year tramping around Oz, the first stage of our trip was coming to a close. With feelings of excitement for something new, some anxiousness to move on, and some sadness to be leaving this amazing continent, we said goodbye to Australia and all of the beautiful people we met along the way. We honestly hope to return one day, to see some of the places we missed the chance to experience, and to revisit some of the places and people we fell in love with. Until then!
Check out our videos of the reefs, the Australia Zoo, Byron Bay, and our WWOOFing adventures on Youtube.
No comments:
Post a Comment