Flying solo - Port Macquarie

For me there was an notable change in climate from stepping on the train at Newcastle and alighting five hours later in Port Macquarie. I arrived around 7pm to a humid subtropical evening. The sound of birds fremescent and rhythmically accompanied by the cicadas. There's palm trees everywhere, a welcome change from the usual, humble eucalypt.
 

Cheeky and his pal Groodle

I was given some rough directions toward my hostel and arrived about fifteen minutes later at Ozzie Pozzie, a YHA backpackers. The hostel has been added to over the years creating a network of traveller's nests bordering various covered courtyards. There's a pool and ping-pong tables and a TV room complete with an overflow of old VHS classics (I watched The Beach, again). The potted palms and a few beautifully painted murals really bring the tropics into the hostel. Waking up each day is like stepping into the rain forest to brush your teeth.
A long-term resident here is a rainbow lorikeet called Cheeky. And he is just that... I recommend introducing yourself first to the feathered friend before attempting to walk past him barefoot, if he's hopping around on the floor he takes to bee-lining towards your pinky toe to remind you of your manners!

I think I've done the most amount of walking from day to day since our arrival in Aus. I awoke early on Wednesday and decided to follow the Hastings river up to the mouth and then hike the coastal walk. At the mouth of the river Hastings is a large section of painted rocks which has been added to over the years, tides of travellers artistically marking their passing through with mutations of the common 'I woz ere' catchphrase. I admired them for a long while.

The coastal walk is where it gets interesting. Picture an entrancing illustration from a children's fairy tale book and you'll be halfway toward imagining the majestic surroundings. The narrow, cobbled path weaves unevenly up and down and in and out of the multiple coves along the Port Macquarie coastline. Indigenous flora is unyielding and in abundance. The native animal life noisy and curious. For most of the walk you can't see civilization (apart from the occasional Surf Life Saving Club and convenient toilet) and, if I'm honest, once further on from the town beaches, you're blissfully alone and in awe of the crashing ocean, sandy beaches and dense, mossy, emerald-green rain forest. Complete with mosquitoes, of course!
On Thursday I managed to make it the whole way to Lighthouse beach which is well worth the distance to see it. From the lighthouse hill you can easily see all the way along the 9 km curl of white sand and turquoise ocean.

$5 hired me a bicycle from the hostel and with it I cycled to the koala hospital, which admits between 200 to 250 'patients' a year. The hospital is open 365 days a year, staffed by volunteers, with the exception of the vet and leaf pickers. They manage to run the hospital on donations alone. National Geographic have released an hour TV documentary, 'Koala Hospital', available for purchase which also helps donate funds to the hospital and help prevent the threat of extinction to the most beloved marsupial. We were given a brief run through of each of the current patients, their reason for admission to the hospital, their treatment and ultimate outcome.
Most koalas are treated and successfully reintegrated into the wild. Others have become regular visitors, the 'clumsy' ones. I was interested to find out that there's around 800 different species of eucalypt in Australia. The koala species eats only around 50-60 varieties, determined largely by their geographic upbringing. Mummy koala passes an enzyme found in her poop to her baby and with this enzyme the young koala can then successfully digest that species of eucalyptus. In aboriginal dialect, koala means 'little water' and are aptly named as they require little additional water to that of the content they obtain from the leaves. Due to this, aboriginals believed killing a koala would bring on a perilous drought. The koalas are really cute and at 3pm a group of visitors and myself get to see the koalas being fed their milk. They're really cute.

On Friday I walked around the Kooloonbung creek national park. The deafening screeches in the trees above belong to thousands of flying foxes, hanging around upside down. At first I got excited spotting a few then realised they were everywhere... I then became quickly concerned with where their poo was falling, which I can assure you, had no relevance to the direction their bottoms were pointing! The creek is more like a swamp with temperate rain-forest thick vegetation. I could imagine walking there to cool off on hot days. I saw a huge goanna lizard on the path as well.

I left the hostel at 3pm with a jammy lift I managed to score a few days before. Sam is a lovely trainee nurse who lives in Coffs Harbour and offered to take me and Sean, another back-packer, with her. The petrol contribution was easily a third of the cost of a bus fare. We explored Southwest Rocks en route too. Thanks Sam!

Flying solo - Newcastle

Newcastle - Shortland Esplanade

I hopped on the train from Sydney Central station at 11am and arrived around two hours later in Newcastle. Having not pre-booked a hostel for the night, my first challenge was to make sense of the small map in my Lonely Planet and find one. This was certainly my first experience as a real backpacker (as opposed to the rubber tramping Luke and I are accustomed to!). Arriving somewhere entirely new, on my own, hungry (2pm and no lunch), homeless and carrying my weight in belongings, I was thrilled. And this is no sarcastic witticism, I was genuinely ecstatic. I won't lie however, my happiness was certainly heightened upon finding a Subway...

After ravenously scoffing my sarnie I walked purposely and without direction toward the hostel/ hotel neighbourhood, confident of my chances. I checked for my first time at a YHA and was very pleasantly surprised, despite my father's constant advice on the benefits of being a YHA member... Ever learning the hard way (cue dad's eye roll).
I walked along the Shortland esplanade and up a steep and winding path to Stzelecki scenic lookout. The views of Newcastle from up here are outstanding. I missed Luke and wished he was there to share it with me but the vista is truly euphoric so the missing part may have been somewhat short lived - sorry Luca. Love you!
 At the lookout point I spotted a congregation of skydivers and their equipment. Whilst their general vibe was somewhat disappointed due to the blatant lack of wind, we still chatted enthusiastically about Bill Moyes, who I had met a week prior (see my previous post Flying solo - Bondi). I'm sure when traveling you have these bizarre and seemingly remarkable re-acquaintances because you're looking out for them, that is, you're exposed to so many more people and different experiences than you would be in every day 'routine', that you have much greater chance of encountering the same people again. That, and much more time on your hands to look out for them. I stayed in a girls dorm for the first time in Newcastle and discovered the social side of solo travel. It's much easier to spark a conversation with someone when you're on your own. It's also crucial you do otherwise you could find yourself feeling a little too solitary.

On Tuesday morning I walked up to Nobby's Lighthouse and took pictures of the contrasting views of Newcastle. From Nobby's you can see a certain Brightonesqness* of the foreshore to your left and the industrial coal mining precinct to your right, broken up by some serene park land and a little city centre in the middle.

I spent the rest of the morning speed-walking the city and looking around the Art Gallery where I stumbled upon a great painting by Brett Whiteley called 'Summer at Carcoar'.
After eating a rushed lunch I got on my ContryLink train, destination Port Macquarie, a mere 5 hour trip ahead of me. Fortunately I was sat next to a dairy farmer who maintained a steady manipulation of air waves, for most of the duration. Now insert sarcastic witticism - I feel as if I have been truly educated on the process of milking cows. I was pretty surprised to hear that dairy cows produce between 30-35 liters of milk a day. Tell that to all those marathon runners complaining about nipple chaffage...
When my new dairy farming companions left at their stop, I was then nicely rewarded with the honor of entertaining two young children who had taken to throwing paper cups around the carriage (5 hours for a kid must be an eternity!). My remaining hour went by in a flash of 'eye-spies', 'name an aminal** starting with the letter...' and 'try to decipher this modern-contemporary art drawing without offending' challenges.

*complete with fish n' chips and ice cream parlors but with the wonderful addition of the Ocean Baths, white sand, surfers and most importantly, SUNSHINE.
**miss-type intended, bless 'em

Flying solo - Bondi

I expect the title of this post will initially startle those who follow my blog so I will write a hasty explanation...

A month and a half into our wonderful Stubbo farming adventure, Luke and I discussed the possibility of my doing a little solo trip up the east coast of NSW.
Since my teens I have always aspired to travel solo. I imagined it to be a very freeing and independent experience, waking up each morning and making nothing but selfish decisions. Looking after one person's interests alone - mine! After all, we are in charge of our own happiness.
Whilst I was never quite able to make the leap of faith on my own, instead choosing to come out here with my rock, (ironic pseudonym for a geologist?) we agreed that now would be a great time to have a little sample.
Luke is remaining on Stubbo farm whilst I do a short expedition from Bondi to Byron, via Newcastle, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.

My return to Sydney felt interestingly nostalgic. Tim, Jess, Luke and myself all came down for the night on Wednesday. Jess had to visit the doctors and we were treated to a wonderful two day break whilst they were down for her appointment. It's a good three and a half hour drive to Sydney from Gulgong. We stayed in Darling Harbour at the Sheraton and dined out in the harbour. The next day we went to The Royal Easter Show at the Olympic Park. The park is filled with rides, food stalls, art and lots of prize livestock. We loved the nursery with all the little kids (of the baby goat variety) and lambs running around. Luke bought me a cup of straw to feed them, only to have a sheep make a beeline toward me and knock it out of my hand within seconds. Go pick on someone your own size, Shaun!
After a fab day out and an emotional goodbye - Tim, Jess and Luke left me at the park to make my way to Bondi by train.
I booked in at Surfside Backpackers en route over the phone and arrived there around 7pm. Perfect timing for my dinner of Thai, which I had been craving for a couple of weeks!
After dinner I made arrangements to meet with my friend Natalia for a walk and breaky the next day, only to find out that during our month and a half farm sabbatical, her partner and our good friend Drew had moved out of his parents and was in fact living three doors down. A very handy twist of fate!

Bondi pool. Photo courtesy of Natal.

Natalia and I enjoyed a beautiful walk to Bronte, where I called in on the Bogey Hole Cafe to name drop a rather interesting person we had met a few days beforehand. Sub-note: Luke lent a helping hand at the airstrip next to Bruce's farm for the day on Tuesday last week. Not only does it arise that the airstrip is home to Australia's national handgliding competition, but also, that the inventor of handgliders himself, Bill Moyes, is a regular visitor. Luke met Bill and also Bob Bailey, who is the inventor of an ultralite plane called a Dragonfly. To thank him for his help, we were rewarded with flights with Bob himself. Words truly cannot do justice for the experience. The Dragonfly lifts off seconds into the runway, it climbs faster vertically than a helicopter - I imagine, I don't actually have the statistics - turns, loops, stalls, swoops and glides, just like a dragonfly with two people perched in it's open cockpit. Bob spotted kangaroos and dived down. We flew over the paddock literally next to the hopping kangaroos. We would have been able to touch them if it weren't for the slight obstacle of wings either side of us. So, with this incredible experience under our wing, pun intended, Bill suggested dropping in on his granddaughter's cafe in Bronte, just a few doors down from where he lives and saying hello. So I did! Small world.

On my return to Bondi I was shown tremendous hospitality by Harry and Drew, who had me to stay and by Drew's family. I was kindly invited over for dinner by his mother on Friday night, which is also where Luke and I celebrated New Years and our previous 'leaving Sydney dinner'. We all went over again last night, for a second 'leaving Sydney dinner'. Thanks for feeding a hungry traveller!

On Saturday and Sunday I wondered around the markets and Bondi's backstreets. I took a saunter up to the Junction and bought a few much needed tops to replace my holey ones and lounged without the concept of time on the beach, reading. My return to Bondi was relaxing, reminiscent and all teamed with great association.