Advertisement
WE’RE GOING ON A ROAD TRIP BABY!
And so the journey begins…
Our plan was to leave at 7.15am today so we could avoid the morning traffic and we actually do manage to leave the house on time for a change. However, we decide to have one last farewell breakfast in Barzura to set us up for the day and to celebrate not having to work for a month, yippee! Words cannot describe how nice it feels to be a customer rather than a member of staff. When we are finished I ask for the bill and I am a bit miffed when one of my fellow ex-colleagues brings it over without so much as giving us a free coffee! Forgotten already haha. I go to pay Michel the manager and he takes off the price of our coffees, which is a nice gesture and a bit more of what I was hoping for. A final look back at the restaurant and Coogee beach and then we are on our way. By the time we get out of Coogee it is 8am so a bit later than planned but not too bad for us by our usual standards.
Port Macquarie
Feeding a kangaroo at Billabong Koala ParkThe journey is surprisingly straight forward and goes as planned without any mishaps. Things seem to be going far too well for my liking and surely something must be due to go wrong?! We arrive at our first stop, Port Macquarie, at 1.30pm which is right on schedule. Port Macquarie is quite a small harbor town but is really pretty with lots of lovely secluded beaches. The sun is also shining and it is surprisingly warmer than we were expecting which is always a good sign. After checking out lonely planet for hostels, we decide upon one called ‘Ozzie Pozzie’ backpackers as it seems to have really good reviews. The reviews don’t lie and it is a really cute, chilled out and clean hostel with very friendly staff. It even has a pool and hammocks to chill out on in the heat of the day. We manage to blag a 4-bed dorm all to ourselves, so it works out a lot cheaper than we were expecting, another added bonus. After getting ourselves organized, we decide to head to Billabong Koala Park, where you get the chance to touch a koala- a must when in Australia.
Just as we are
Port Macquarie
Wetsuit on the right way round this time! about to leave, Greg asks me where the car keys are. I reply I don’t know as he was the last person to drive the car. We check through all of our bags and all around the car but can’t find them anywhere. After another then minutes go by I start to panic, and we eventually come to the conclusion that Greg must have shut the car boot with the keys inside, along with the spare key. Words cannot express how mad I am and we start thinking about how we can possibly break into the car without causing much damage. The prognosis isn’t good. Just as we are about to try and force the boot open with a screwdriver (the only tool available to us, stolen from a nearby workie), we both simultaneously have flashbacks about the bag of food we placed in the shared industrial fridge in the kitchen- is it possible they could have ended up in there? The answer is yes, that is indeed where they are. Panic over thank goodness.
Billabong Koala Park is really good value and we have a really fun afternoon stroking koalas, hand feeding kangaroos and even getting to touch
a baby crocodile! The Australian talking Cockateels are hilarious, until one of them decides to crap all down the back of my top. Not so hilarious now. Back at the hostel we have a relatively low key night watching a film on the laptop in our dorm.
Day 2 - Wednesday 27th May 2009 - Port Macquerie
We were meant to be making our way up to Byron Bay today but after all the flooding at Grafton and Tweed Heads we discover that parts of the main highway are closed and therefore we can’t really continue much further north. Feel a bit sorry for a group of Americans also staying at our hostel who have to be at a wedding in North Queensland by Friday and so they have no choice to make an extreme detour West in order to get there in time. We’d rather stay the extra night and get to our next destination a hell of a lot quicker.
Instead, we decide to do a surf lesson as that is what we would’ve been doing if we were in Byron Bay. I must admit I am pretty apprehensive at first, especially as the instructor
Port Macquarie
Our own lasting memory at the Breakwall tells us how dangerous the currents are etc etc. I don’t think I am going to enjoy it or be any use at all. The instructor nearly kills himself laughing when both Greg and I emerge from the changing rooms with our wetsuits on the wrong way round. At least we didn’t lie and say we had done this before! After a few tips he lets us loose on the waves and after about an hour, we both start to get the hang of it. Greg is first up on the board, even if it is only for about a second, and being the competitive person I am, I just have to beat him. I actually manage to stand up several times, which then makes Greg more determined to beat me. My last wave is my best, and I proudly ride to shore lasting on the board for about 5- 6 seconds. I am really glad now that Greg talked me into doing it.
In the afternoon we head out over to the harbor front to see the Breakwall, which is basically a long row of rocks that people from all walks of life have hand painted with their lasting memorials. Some of them are really good and we all of a sudden find our creative streak and decide to paint a rock of our own. It takes us about 2 hours and we get absolutely covered in oil paint, but eventually we manage to finish our picture- a Scotland flag surrounded with our names and the date. We also leave a lasting tribute to William McManus so he will forever be next to the beautiful landscape and sunshine in Australia.
Another low key evening as we watch a film in the common room with a few other backpackers staying in the hostel. Everyone is really nice, apart from a freaky Dutch couple who for some reason always stare intensely at Greg and I when we walk into a room. Maybe they aren’t keen on Scottish people?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.094s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 12; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0663s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
