Aimful Wanderings

This is Part 2 of 3 of Luke and my epic journey up the eastern coast of Australia. Continued from Part 1.

First, a few quick notes: I added geo-tagging to the pictures on the blog; you should be able to click the pin in the corner of the picture to get an interactive Google Maps popup with the exact location the picture was taken. Give it a shot and let me know if it works! Also, please pardon the picture overload in this installment. I wasn’t feeling all that selective this evening …and now onto the post!

After leaving Seal Rocks we set a course up the coast towards Byron Bay. It was slow traveling as we stopped at just about every beach we passed by. After the freezing cold night in the Mondeo, we decided to stop in at a KMart and buy more proper camping supplies. For less than $70, we bought a tent, two sleeping bags and a butane stove. Not a bad deal at all!

As night fell we passed by a forest fire right on the side of the highway. As we continued driving, we saw large plumes of smoke rising from farmland. Last I checked the fire danger was supposedly low, so we figured most of the fires were set intentionally. Regardless, we went to investigate and took a detour onto a side road that went through some farmland. Interestingly, mere minutes after we started watching one fire it went out, almost instantaneously. Another fire on a different section of land started up shortly after. Seeing the night sky ablaze is a pretty wild sight (Check out the short video clip after the break!).

We stopped for gas and did a bit of research on where we should stay that night. I came across a campground on the Beach in Bundjalung National Park, just a few miles south of where we were. We headed out, turning off of the highway onto dirt roads into the park. After 15km or so driving into the bush we came to the Black Rocks campground, setup our campsite, cooked some steak, potatoes, and baked beans for dinner and called it a night.

In the morning we cooked some breakfast and went out on the beach to explore. We didn’t know it at the time, but apparently this section of beach and ocean was used as recently as 3 months ago for live bombing exercises for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). (There’s an article on its decommissioning here). This might help explain some of the most interesting beach terrain I’ve ever come across; it was truly fascinating! Along the beach were really soft “rocks” that had been eroded away by sea water. They were super easy to carve into, even with just a finger, stick or rock, and we added our impression to the vast array of scrawlings along the beach.

After we finished exploring again, we hit the road up to Byron Bay. Byron Bay is a lot like what Boulder, Colorado would be if it was on the ocean. It was full of hippies and tourists. Fun I suppose, but a far cry from some of the gorgeous beaches we had been experiencing on our journey north. After spending an hour body boarding and tanning on the main beach at byron bay we went off to do a bit more exploring.

We drove down the road a bit into the Headland Reserve at Byron Cape, the Eastern-Most point in Australia. The beach and terrain here was far more impressive than Byron Bay, and we actually got to see a pack of wild bottlenose dolphins swimming in the Bay! It was a pretty amazing sight!

We made an executive decision to make it up into Queensland, to Surfer’s Paradise and Brisbane, and continued our journey up the coast (stopping to bodyboard and sightsee along the way).

We arrived in Surfer’s Paradise just as it was getting dark. I’m really not sure who gave it the name, because the beaches and waves were nothing spectacular (Certainly less impressive than the other beaches we’d visited), but Surfer’s Paradise was an interesting city in its own right. It felt a whole lot like Miami Beach, with a pinch of vegas thrown in for good measure… with surf shops everywhere. It was very built up, and very touristy, but definitely worth the visit. Perhaps as if to fit right in with the Surfer’s Paradise culture, we decided to eat dinner at McDonalds (“Maccers” to the Australian natives), a first for this trip. There was a rumor (which we pretty soundly disproved) that the McDonalds burgers in Australia tasted different, even better than the ones in the US. Perhaps their “Angus” burgers, but their standard fare tasted pretty much the same. And a note to anyone visiting McDonalds in OZ: You have to ask for ketchup (tomato sauce to most here..), and they’ll only give you 2 packets unless you ask for more! At least McDonalds has Heinz

We left Surfer’s Paradise and headed up further north to Brisbane, mostly because we wanted to be able to say we made it there. We got there pretty late (~8PM), and because it was a Sunday most of the shops had already shut down. There were a few 24 hour shops and restaurants in the pedestrian mall and a few clubs open late. After a few hours in the City snapping some pictures and checking out the sights, we headed back to the car to begin the return journey back to Sydney.

Little did we know our adventures were just beginning. More to come in the third, and final, installment tomorrow! read more…

This is Luke, coming straight out of Oz. Thats Australia for all you foreigners. I have been in Australia for about two weeks now, and oh what a two weeks it has been. I’m here visiting my brother, Adam, seeing how life abroad is and what his days are made of.

He lives a pretty tough life. He’s finishing up that computer science major and for that he’s taking… ceramics, photography, web production, and the philosophy of happiness. Pretty tough schedule  if you ask me. Especially because he has classes all of three days a week. Hey, but who’s complaining. I’m surely not. Fewer classes=More time for adventures.

And the adventures haven’t stopped.  Lets start in Sydney: Opera House, jet boat roads, sight seeing, amazing city beaches, clubs, pottery, driving on the wrong side of the road.

Sydney is a combination of Vancouver, Barcelona, and what I imagine San Francisco looks likes. Amazing views, night life, architecture. All connected by steep city streets, parks, dense coastal communities, and beaches.

The opera house is everything its made out to be. An architectural icon in the middle of sydney harbor. It looks great from the water too. Using my newly developed sales and negotiation skills I managed to negotiate our way onto a $120 dollar jet boat tour of the harbor for forty bucks. Besides the opera house, the sights haven’t stopped. Adam and I found ourselves cruising through open urban markets, where we happened across some of the best sandwiches this side of the equator. So good in fact, Adam even eat one. (Ed: I did? Oh right, the steak ‘sandwich’.. more of a piece of steak in a yummy bread roll…)

Speaking of firsts; Sydney has been full of them. The first time I body boarded a perfectly smooth, left handed, double over head wave happened right in the heart of Sydney. Thats’s right, twelve foot tall waves, and many of them. Sydney is host to the most beautiful beaches in the world. Right in the city. Besides the occasional surfer who reminds me I have no idea what Im doing, Sydney beaches have been the highlight. They are amazing. Perfectly white sand, an intense cliff and urban environment, and crystal clear seventy degree water. Did I mention its the dead of winter? People think I’m crazy to go swimming with out a wet suit. I’m quick to remind them they did not grow up swimming in Seabrook, NH.

The one great perk of having an awesome brother is his awesome car. His awesome car, which may I mention is very Dodge Neon-ish (RIP), rides like a dream. 1995 Ford Mondeo. The Mondeo has taken us over roads that the most serious Utes (SUV for Austrailians) wouldn’t dare look at.

The Mondeo brought Adam and me north of Sydney on an epic road trip. As I write this we are half way into it. The first part of the trip brought us to Seal Rocks, a series of beaches surrounded by cliffs and lush green forests. (Ed: The lighthouse looked like a UFO circling the night sky.. Without any light pollution, the stars were more vibrant than I’ve ever seen before!) We camped out in the car our first night at Seal Rocks, making use of a vacant lot that overlooked an incredible bay with an incredible beach. That night we set up our kitchen on the beach, made a fire, and made a quick dinner of spaghetti and tomato sauce.

After dinner we put the fire out and made our way to our five star accommodations. Just as we were getting settled in we heard a frightening, loud screech and then crash. The telltale sign of a car crash, a bad one. We made double time to the scene. Or where we thought it was. I saw the crash from our camp site. It occurred across the bay on the steep and windy roads that brought us to seal beach but as we approached were I saw the car leave the road there was nothing. Upon closer inspection we could make out two dark skid marks leading directly off a cliff. I jumped out and ran to the edge and low and behold there was a car. About two hundred feet down the cliff, rolled up onto its side. It would have rolled all the way to the beach except for the two precisely placed trees that held it into place. I quarter ran, three quarter fell to the car below me, expecting the worst. All the while Adam was on his iPhone calling the crash in to the fuzz (000 here in OZ). Thank god he had an iPhone because I had no idea where we were. Right as I got to the car a guy popped open the driver door  and climbed out. Following him was four other surfer dudes. They exclaimed they were ok, grabbed a surfboard and a guitar, a case of beer and walked off. All five of them. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Here was easily the worst car accident I have ever seen and before I could even blink the five people in the car are up the cliff side and gone into the night. It was something out of a movie. Five guys, a case of beer, a guitar, a surfboard, and a completely totaled car. I tried to explain to them that the police were coming but they weren’t having any of it. In true aussie fashion they disappeared into the night leaving my brother and me to wait for the police.

The police came from a station 40 minutes away. After a brief chat with the officer , who seemed equally as unconcerned as the surfer bros, my brother and I called it a night and tried to sleep in the freezing Mondeo.

Morning and the sun couldn’t come quick enough. When they did we found ourselves in a paradise, really only explainable with pictures. It was the first time we had seen the area in full daylight. If you’re ever in Sydney, make the trip to Seal Rocks.

The night brought a very large and rambunctious swell to the beaches. They were big and powerful, doing a good job showing me who was boss. After two rides on my body board in those waves I dried off with the white towel. (Ed: We didn’t have a white towel…)

On our ride out of Seal Rocks, on one of the many dirt roads that brought us there, our muffler fell off. The whole kit and kabootle. Luckily there are two, so we jimmied the busted one from under the car, threw it in the trunk and headed on our way.

After our Seal Rock excision we hit the road and set our course for due north. Byron Bay is our destination. We’ll see how leg two of our many legged road trip treats us.

Ed: As it turned out, our adventures had just been getting started at this point… more to come tomorrow!

I mentioned in my previous post I might be buying a car here in Australia. Well, I did it! I am the proud owner of a white 1995 Ford Mondeo with a manual transmission, and just under 190,000 km on the odometer. It’s got new tires (tyres?) A/C, manual windows, manual seats, power locks, grey cloth seats, and a tape player! Aside from a few issues with an intermittently high idle and being a bit cranky to start when its cold it actually runs pretty darn well.

Since picking up the car late thursday night and getting my first taste of driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car, I’ve been doing quite well. Most of my journeys so far have been to various beaches, with a 40 minute trip down the motorway to get the car back to the city, and a trip to the airport to pick up Luke interspersed in there too.

More on the (awesome) waves and beaches later, I promise! In terms of getting used to driving on the other side of the road, I’m pretty comfortable now after only a couple of days. The first few times out were a bit nervewracking, but after getting used to it its really not much different than driving at home. Shifting with my left took some getting used to, as did staying in my lane (Being on the right side of the car gave me a tendency to drift a bit further left than I should be… I’ve gotten much better at this though!). Some things to remember if you ever find yourself driving here: No left turns at red lights unless its explicitly stated, and no u-turns at traffic lights (though I’ve still seen people doing it!). Also, in the city the leftmost lane tends to get filled up with parked cars, so be wary if traveling there that you might have to quickly move over!

I’ve been using my iPhone loaded up with TomTom Australia as a navigation tool. It seems to do pretty well at getting me where I want to go, and has a handy warning indicator for speed cams, red light cams, and whenever I’m exceeding the speed limit by a good amount. It also lets me choose routes without tolls, which is nice too.

I went down to the RTA on Friday and got the registration formally transferred to my name (as required by law, within 14 days of purchase). As far as I know, this makes the Mondeo the first car ever legally owned free and clear by me! While I was at the RTA I also picked up a Toll transponder, which I figured might come in handy.

Working on planning out road trips now, I’m excited! Having a car gives me lot of flexibility as to where I go and what I see… Since getting it I’ve already seen a ton of things I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Lets hope the trend continues, and let the adventures continue!