Beach to Bush

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!