Movin’ On Down Under–Byron Bay to Newcastle: Feb. 11-Feb. 15

We left Brisbane on Feb. 11, having covered roughly half the distance of Australia’s East Coast; at the beginning of the trip, we had both assumed that we would see kangaroos and koala bears hopping and scooting all over the place, but so far, we had only seen one kangaroo that still had a pulse (and that was just a fleeting glimpse) and no bears at all.  Needless to say, we were both excited to read that there was a koala reserve only a few kilometers south of Brisbane.

The Daisy Hill Koala Center is a large forested area that is a natural habitat which has been given protected status for the koalas.  These little bears are not yet endangered but are declining in population at an alarming rate; as deforestation gets worse, and their habitats become human habitats, they are killed most often by dogs, cars, and diseases.  I was surprised to discover that koalas actually live longer in places like Daisy Hill than they do in the wild (that’s bad).

We got to the area before the center opened and spent an hour hiking around with our heads tilted towards the sky, hoping to see koalas in the wild; they like to hang out in the forks of eucalyptus and gum trees.  They aren’t real active during the day and also camouflage very well, so it is really hard to see them.  No worries, though, the Daisy Center is the permanent home for 3 or 4 koalas that most likely wouldn’t make it in the wild.  Sarah and I spent a good hour watching the adorable animals, which are about the same size as a teddy bear and have big fuzzy round ears and two opposable thumbs on each claw (maybe if I had those, I could climb rock as well as ol’ sparky, but for now, she still wins out).  The vistor’s center was really aimed at educating kids about easy ways to coexist (backyard fences that keep koalas away from dogs and obeying speed limits in koala-inhabited areas), so hopefully, it will have a positive effect in helping preserve these shy, peaceful animals.

On down the road, we reached Byron Bay–since Nepal, we had been asking everyone we had met who had been to or was from Australia where we should go during our time here,and this beautiful beach was the number one answer.  Being here on a weekend meant that Sarah and I would have to deal with crowds, but the different walks of life–dirty,  cheese-stealin’ hippies, surf bums sporting fake Ray-bans, and yuppies with sweatshirts knotted over their polo-clad shoulders and reeking of old money and bad cologne–pack all four main streets and give Byron Bay its own unique vibe.

I knew that we were in a good campground when the old dude who managed it came rolling around with his grandson in a golf cart to alert every single camper that “it looks like a good beet’o’rain is comin’ he-ah.”  Sarah and I immediately took down our tent to wait for the rainstorm to pass and headed to the covered area, where we met a couple from San Diego–Brad and Lana were in the second week of their own year-long world tour, and it was a lot of fun to share our experiences with them and to learn about their plans for the next 12 months.

Sunday was one of the highlights of our trip–Sarah and I took a surf lesson.  I used to mess around on the surf board and had even been on some surfing trips around 10 years ago, but I never really knew what I was doing, and good things on my part were always accidental, except for the intake of gallons of sea water in mere seconds–that always seemed to come naturally.  Anyway, I was really excited to get back on the board, and Sarah approached it with her usual zest for life.

Our instructor, who arrived in an old minibus with a trailor full of surf boards, looked and sounded a lot like Spiccoli, but he knew his stuff.  After a short lesson on safety and the process involved in standing up on the board, Spiccoli set us loose, and we got after it right away!  Sarah got up on the very first wave, and after a little practice, we were both getting up on the board consistently; several times, each of was able to ride the board all the way in, which was pretty good for beginners.  Even though the waves were getting bigger, we kept at it all morning, and we both had a blast and felt the rush of success as we zoomed back in to shore on our boards.

We were both dog-tired and sunburned after the lesson, so we took it easy most of the afternoon.  That evening, we met up with Brad and Lana for happy hour and dinner at the Byron Bay Brewery–not only did they have the only cheap beer that we found in Australia, but it was also the best.  It was really fun to get to know Brad and Lana, and it was also good to feel the excitement that they had; our trip has been amazing, but there are definitely ups and downs as we grow road-weary, miss home, or simply struggle with nonstop planning and moving.  It was good to feel their energy, and I hope that they have a trip that is just as rewarding as ours has been.  As for Byron Bay, we may not have fallen into the hippy charm–I swiped not a single wedge of cheese–but it was definitely a gorgeous place to ride some waves, dude.

We switched gears Monday, moving inland to explore Waterfall Way, one of the most scenic drives in Australia.  It was actually pretty far out of the way, and the weather got bad as the afternoon wore on, but we had a fun time bumming around the interior anyway.  Our first stop was Ebor Falls; although not stunning in terms of sheer size, these falls are nonetheless lovely as they cascade down small cliffs protruding from a deep green river gorge.  We were treated to the guidance of a kookaburra (which sounded sort of like a monkey when it “sang”) as we walked between viewpoints.  Not far from Ebor Falls, we entered New England National Park and, after waiting for the 122nd time at a construction stop in Australia, arrived at the scenic viewpoint just as pea soup fog rolled in.  Oh well, it had been a fun day in the car with Sarah, listening to the Australians endless playlist of Elton John, John Cougar Mellancamp, and Billie Joel. 

As we momentarily outran the clouds on the way down to the town of Durango, we got our first good look at some kangaroos, but they have very good hearing and got away before we could snap a photo.  Minutes later, the rains came pouring down, and Sarah and I found a steal of a deal at a historic hotel  built in the late 1800’s in the nearly deserted town–it was a good splurge, and we enjoyed being dry for one night of the trip!

We spent Tuesday on the road to Newcastle, stopping a few times along the way–we had reached the point in the driving where the kilometers were getting tiresome, so we needed to break up the drive.  One notices strange things when driving prolonged hours day after day.  For instance, I have concluded that Australia is the roadsign capital of the world.  Within the span of a kilometer, one is likely to pass five to ten roadsigns on a consistent basis; additionally, a kangaroo crossing warning sign set for 2 km will be followed by another exact same sign in 2 km; this might continue for 30 km, meaning 15 signs that could easily have been covered by one sign that read, “kangaroo crossing–next 30 km”!  The Aussies are nothing if not thorough, but I often grew dizzy from trying to keep up with the signs that were supposed to protect me.  🙂

After a stop at a neat little winery a bit off the highway and a little detour with great lake views, we pulled into the Newcastle suburb of Stockton and got a beachside campspot.  As we checked in, I noticed that they had Nerds candy at the office, so Sarah and I got Nerds for Valentine’s Day–very apropos, I suppose.  Stockton may hold the record for most overpriced used-foods store in the world, but we were able to procure enough edible food for a bratwurst barbecue and green salads (campground BBQ’s are excellent here, but I have to turn the meat with my pocketknife).  We checked out the beach, but it was basically a spit between the river and the ocean, and all of the rains had dirtied up the water to the point where swimming or surfing were out of the question.

We both had been pretty excited to visit Newcastle, which was promoted as a neat town with lots of historical buildings that also is on the move as far as a cool stop on the tourist track.  After taking the ferry across the river and exploring the city on Wednesday, though, it seemed like sort of a dump and a place where the residents were really unhappy (and unhealthy!).  It did have a neat clock tower and a pretty coastline, but we couldn’t help but notice that everyone looked beaten down there.  Even in the pretty park overlooking a beautiful beach, as we ate our hummus picnic, we noticed that most other people used the benches for a seat to smoke 3 or 6 cigarettes on their lunch break, swigging a big gulp soda (probably diet) before looking at their watches, and trudging back to work.

Anyway, Newcastle did have some neat little shops, and it was also home to a great (GREAT!) secondhand book store, where the owner clearly loved books.  He even gave us a discount for no reason (and probably gave up any profit he would have made) other than the fact that we looked like readers and were really excited to find a book that we’d been looking for over quite some time.  After visiting the bookstore, we found a coffee shop that made iced coffee with ice cream–brilliant!  Newcastle hadn’t lived up to our expectations, but it had been nice just to wander around aimlessly for a day.

Aside from the excitement of surfing in Byron Bay, this week of the trip had been sort of a lull in the excitement, but things were sure to pick up in the winelands of the classic Hunter Valley and the beautiful shores of Sydney, and we were well on our way.