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Published: January 21st 2006
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Drive to Bingara
But first a walk in the mud
Again I slipped. Doh!
Early wake up at about 6AM since there were 23 of us and only one toilet and shower for us all! Thank goodness I made the tactical move of showering before bedtime as most others either woke up super early or queued up for the showers. So I had a nice relaxing breakfast of toast and cereal (Oh how I miss my milk!) in front of the TV after packing up my things. Someone had the television set to “Mork and Mindy”. Now that's an oldie!
We were supposed to be ready by 7 but it was more like 7:30 and then 7:45 by the time we went on our little nature walk by the river. We saw quite a few colourful birds - parrots I believe. Dave, our guide told us that the uglier the bird call, the more beautiful the bird will look and vice versa. We saw more Kangaroos and Wallabies out on the hills. Once again we didn't see any koalas. Oh yes, and we were told that the scent of dogs has scared off the kangaroos in the area. So dogs are not allowed on the property any longer. The last two weeks they had a cute puppy, Rex, on board and his scent has scared away about 90% of the kangaroos on their property.
The nature walk along the river was pretty muddy and what a surprise...I slipped onto my butt. Once again the old hikers have become ice skates in the mud. Oh well. Not too bad and I guess a big laundry day was in the cards anyway. Hopefully I'll be able to use Rob and Ann's washer and dryer when I go to visit them in Brisbane. 😊
Being the off season, there are fewer buses running with Oz Exp than they have in the peak season. So that means I have to spend a couple of extra days in Byron Bay and a couple less in Brisbane. Not the end of the World since I hear it is really great in Byron Bay. In fact I remember the two Austrian girls I met in NZ telling (again and again) that Byron Bay was a must see stop. So that just means more time sitting on the beach. What a tough life. I hear learning to surf is a popular beach activity but think I will stick to people watching on the safety of dry land since I don't swim! I can't wait to get to Byron Bay now...
Currently have been waiting almost two hours for the horseback riders to finish up their horse rides along the river. I was interested in going until I heard it was going to cost $60 for about 1.5 hours of riding so I had to decline the horse riding option. At least we have the DVD going and have been able to watch “Troy” to help pass the time. Always a good thing to be able to watch Brad Pitt and Eric Bana...
There will be another Barbie tonight in Bingara - a small rural farming community. Since there are no kitchen facilities at our accommodations we're all sort of "forced" to have BBQ for a second night in a row. Hopefully the meat feast isn't super well done...I like my steak medium rare. I'm still surprised at the amount of beer that was consumed last night at the Steps Hostel/campground in Barrington. I believe they are a new stop for Oz Exp...all of 16 days! I guess because Oz has changed hands they've changed their routes and itineraries a bit as well.
Our accommodations were at the "Imperial Hotel". Pretty fancy name for a huge room beside the pub that had about 15 bunk beds and surprise, surprise one toilet and shower. At least we later found out there were a few more showers out back. Sort of brought back some memories of my first hostel stay down in San Francisco...
Bingara is pretty small and there were some locals hanging out at the pub associated with our "hotel". It was interesting to watch these guys. Kinda on the sleazy side and really makes you think that they hang out there every night playing some pool and drinking too much hoping to get some action with the Oz bus...Oh, how that gives me the creepy crawlies...
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im not sure
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hehe
omg i love this town its so trailer park man awsome well by