Up in the Clouds

We awoke the next morning to an extremely busy parking lot bustling with people and traffic. I got up first, which happened quite a lot on this trip, and went to investigate a bathroom in the cool organic store. For a rest stop store it was super awesome with everything very eco friendly and lots of healthy food. I bought a fruit cup because I felt fruit deprived from being so poor and it tasted so good! Once we got as put together as one can hope to be after sleeping in a car park, we got on the road again and headed for the Blue Mountains. We had been told that the Blue Mountains were beautiful to drive through and that we were pretty much guaranteed to see wildlife. Not only did we end up having to drive through tolls but we more or less had to go to Sydney and then an hour and a half away from Sydney a different direction because of our impatience the night before. If we would have taken the time to place our route properly we would have known which town to head towards that would have taken around Sydney first and then looped us back. No such luck.

As we drove we were in pretty good spirits because we had slept. It is amazing what sleep can do when you have been in a car for a million hours too long. We also knew that this part of the trip wasn't going to take very long. As we started the climb into the mountains I will admit it was beautiful. As first. However, the further up we got the fog began to close in around us. We nearly ran out of petrol and didn’t realize it until we had passed all the towns so we just had our fingers crossed we would make it to the next big town. I should clarify here that driving through the mountains in Australia was not like driving through the mountains in Washington. While it was pretty, it was more reminiscent of driving through the mountains in California on I-5. Lots of big red rock structures and drop offs but less of the giant trees and towering...MOUNTAINS. So, we continued to drive for another hour and once we got petrol we decided to follow one of the signs in that town to a waterfall. This is where the fog became ridiculous. I was driving at this point and literally you could not see 10 feet in front of you. We couldn't even see the signs of where to follow to get to the trail head and once there you could barely see the cars in the parking lot. We got out anyways, very much like any Washingtonian would. We got out and pretended like we were going to actually hike this trail in complete fog. We got to the lookout and yup, boy was it a beautiful cloud. You couldn't see a single thing. You could hear the waterfall but that was it. I have a picture so I can remember that foggy view. I also took a picture of the sign so we could remember what it should have looked like. We were troopers though, and walked to the second lookout just to see if maybe it got a little better and to stretch our legs. No luck. We laughed about it because really what else are you supposed to do? I made a couple stupid comments that Makenna has cataloged as “stupid things Thea says” that was something about the fact that it was hard to see where we were going because I had cloud in my eyes. In my defense, I said it trying to articulate that the condensation in the air was making me blink a lot!

Once we gave in and went back to the car, we decided to keep driving to our initial destination which was Katoomba. A town that is the heart of the Blue Mountains and where you normally can see the Three Sisters Peak. The town itself was actually pretty stinking cute. I mean what we could see of it through all the fog. We drove around a bit and decided we were starving and didn’t have any money so I found a random side street to pull off and park so we could open up the back and made some lunch. There were a few of these moments in our trip where I really did feel like a homeless person and was just waiting for someone to yell at us for parking in front of their house to cook some quality two minute noodles (top ramen).

Unfortunately, this point in our trip quickly turned into the most depressing hour we had experienced. We checked our bank accounts... Now anyone who has traveled knows that money is tight and that you sacrifice things along the way to save. We had been doing really well until we realized we were two days away from flying out and A. Makenna knew nothing about her flight and B. we had very very little money. The issue that started this downward spiral was realizing that Kenna didn’t know how much paying for an extra bag on the plane would cost her and she literally had that much money left. Her parents were out of town camping in Canada and my dad wouldn't answer the phone so we just sat there for a good while back and forth saying “I don’t know what to do”. We were stuck. We had to return the van the next day so we didn’t have anywhere to sleep, we had very very little money left, one hotspot ran out of data and mine was pretty close, and we were in the mountains and couldn't see a damn thing. The original plan had been to camp in the mountains but as we sat there we realized that was pointless. Also, Makenna described the foggy cold weather the best, it was like a Halloween day. It really did feel like a Washington October. We got a bit delusional there for a bit and played Heads Up, which is the fun phone game that Ellen DeGeneres came up with, until the phone got too low on battery. (we didn’t have a way to charge any I-products in the van).

We sat there a long time. I say an hour but I truly have no clue how long we sat in our van, on this side street, just pondering. Sometimes talking, sometimes in silence, sometimes grumbling into our hands... Either way, time passed and eventually we had to make a decision. Together we agreed that staying in the mountains was pointless on a couple levels so we decided to just turn around and head back towards Sydney where we figured we would just find somewhere to park for the night. One thing we did accomplish while sitting there was we found the cheapest hostel on hostelworld and booked it for two nights for the both of us with my credit card. That way we knew we at least had somewhere to sleep and hostelworld only makes you pay 10% of your booking upfront.

Happy Hippies in Byron!

On our way to Byron Bay from Surfers, Makenna randomly pulled over in a small town called Coolangatta and told me to get out of the car. I had no idea where we were or why we were stopping since I knew we still had further to drive. As we started walking I saw a sign that said Welcome to New South Wales and I realized that we were at the town where you can literally straddle the line to both states. One foot in Queensland, and one foot in New South Wales. It was nice of her to stop for me because I had no idea until we were there and I will admit it was pretty cool. We did however get honked at because there is a huge rival going on at the moment between the two states for the State of Origin, which is three game series of rugby that gets quite heated. We had our nice photo-op and then got back on the road again.

Coming into Byron Bay I knew I liked the place from the second we got there. It had a very homey feel to it, reminiscent of Bellingham, with lots of cool shops and eateries along the main road. We drove straight to the beach where we found some free parking so we could get out and explore. The rest of afternoon passed as we lazily walked in and out of all the stores we wanted and Makenna showed me a couple of her favorite places. The last time she had been in Byron it was during the cyclone so it was kind of nice for her to be back when the sun was out. I found myself a really cool bracelet that I love (and later lost) and Makenna finally invested in a sweatshirt. The further south we got, the colder it was. Once it started to cool off enough that we noticed that it was getting late, we drove to find The Arts Factory, which is a hostel that I had been recommended by many people.

The Arts Factory was created back in the 60s when the real hippies decided to make a commune for travelers and it literally has everything you could think of. The best part, to park our van it was only $6 a person. Considering our financial state, that was a bargain and they had a great kitchen and other facilities including a shower. It happened to be trivia night that night and while we were eating one of the staff came around and told us we should join in. Together we decided that we should be semi-social and participate. It cost two dollars to play and I literally counted out two dollars in 20 cent pieces. Classy and typical backpacker. We didn’t have other team members so the host matched us up with a German, and two Israelis who really ended up being pretty useless as far as trivia goes. It was fun though, we got one question about America wrong and that was pretty funny. It was mainly because we misheard the question, but still. After the game we got ready for bed and headed out to our humble abode in the parking lot, which now was full of fellow Jucy vans.

The next morning we got on the road a bit late because we decided to have a proper breakfast. We made pancakes with Nutella and jam as well as some scrambled eggs. It was delicious and well worth the late start. Once we got going, we realized we had a lot further to drive than we thought. Headed south, we came to Coffs Harbor and the Big Banana which continued our photos of Australia’s “Big” things. After taking tourist photos through construction, we parked our van at the end of the parking lot and got out and made sandwiches. This also fits in the classy department but we were hungry and too broke to buy anything. We also were trying our best to use up all the food we had already spent money on. After the Big Banana, Makenna took over driving and we continued to head to Sydney.

We drove for so many hours... I am pretty positive it was our longest day, nearly 12 hours I think and we didn’t even make it to Sydney. At some point we got so tired that we pulled off and tried to find some town to sleep in. That was pretty much the most unsuccessful excursion. We ended up being unsure of which direction we were going and couldn't decide which town to drive towards. At some point we tried to stop somewhere but there was just nowhere good to park so we kept going but had to backtrack and ended up on some backwoods road that was unsealed and basically for a good half an hour drove through the most remote middle of nowhere on gravel just hoping it would put us out on the main road again. After we got back on the main road Makenna was about to lose it so I took over driving. We decided we would just keep going towards Sydney and wait until we saw one of the signs with a tree and picnic table which meant there was a proper rest stop. Unfortunately, simply because we were looking for one it was a million miles before we got to one and it was raining. Finally, I made a decision that the next place that we could pull over, we would and it happened to be an awesome rest stop about 70km away from Sydney. There was gas, a Maccas and a nice organic store as well as what we really needed, a big parking lot! So, continuing on our classy backpacker events, we found a spot away from everyone that was pretty dark and set up camp for the night. At that point we didn’t even care, we were tired and needed to sleep so here’s to camping at a rest stop!

Not what I pictured as Paradise: A day in Surfers

We got into Surfers when it was dark, and drove straight to the Sleeping Inn which is where Makenna worked and lived when she first got to Australia. She was there for a couple months so it was kind of like a homecoming for her. However, in the backpacking world, people move on all the time so there were only a couple people left that she had spent so much time with. It was cool to see where she had been and all the things that had welcomed her in Australia. I liked the place, I did but it was not what I pictured. A lot like Townsville, in my head I had pictured a much smaller place, a smaller city, and what I got was something much more equivalent to Seattle or maybe Bellevue. Big skyscrapers and a full city with bustling people. There was a Starbucks, and we went out to a club to have drinks that night. We got one free drink thanks to the hostel and it was nice to be able to go out at least once. Although we really didn’t stay long and my first impressions weren't great as the door girls were super rude to us. The only difference to this city is that it is on the ocean, and yes there are good waves but I did not find it particularly special and it made me happy that my stationary location had been Melbourne.

We really only had one day here, so we woke up, checked out of the hostel and went and walked around town. I got to see the beach, and the city and that was pretty much it. Said goodbye to Makenna’s friends after seeing where she lived and we were back on the road again headed to Byron Bay and into New South Wales.

The (new) Happiest Place on Earth

We woke up at 6am on Tuesday to get ready to go to the zoo. We wanted to actually look put together which we hadn't actually done the whole trip. We did our hair and makeup and picked out cute outfits. On the road by 8:30 ish, the zoo opens at 9 and we got there about a half an hour after it opened. We seriously were like small children. SO giddy and excited to be there we couldn't help it. We packed lunch, sunscreen, hats, water, just like soccer moms but just for ourselves. The parking lot was still pretty empty when we parked and quickly got out and headed for the entrance. Before we even got to the gates we took our first photo-op with the welcome sign and I couldn't stop smiling!

From the moment we walked in it was so much fun. We came up with a game plan of how to tackle the whole park and right when we got there we were closest timing to the elephant feeding so we hopped on the safari shuttle and went to Asia! When we got there, there was a line but it wasn't too bad so we got in it. The elephants only get fed twice a day, once in the morning and then late afternoon so we were stoked that we got it in early. I hand fed the little elephant a piece of old melon and it felt so funny to have it take it out of my hand with its trunk! Again, child moment of being completely fascinated by animals. After that we walked through the Tiger sanctuary but kept on moving to Africa where we saw giraffes, zebras, and rhinos! There were even two new baby rhinos that were just revealed to the public that week. So cool. And even as babies they were pretty big. While in the Africa exhibit we ran into Jessie and the rest of the group from Noosa. We said a polite hello but then kept moving without them.

After Africa is was pretty close to 11:30 and we had been told upon entry that starting at that time was Bindi Irwin’s performance followed by the whole wildlife show in the Crocoseum. We couldn’t miss that so we walked back to get a good seat. Sure enough, in the flesh there was Bindi. It was really surreal to be there and really see these people in person. They are such an inspirational family and I find it so awesome that they still care enough to put the effort in to still do the shows themselves and continue to advocate for what Steve stood for. Bindi’s show as dorky and cute, and very for kids, where she danced and sang about king of the jungle and stuff. It was adorable, and all the kids went down to the front and danced. One of her last songs was a song about her and her dad with a montage on the big screen of all their memories and I kid you not it got my eyes watering pretty bad. It’s so sad he died and well I am such a daddy’s girl stuff like that gets to me! And I miss my dad.

Once she was done with her bit, they began the real show with awesome birds flying in and all around the stadium in such coordination. It was incredible and hard to describe. Each species that came out they told you about them, where they were found, and what makes them special. Finally, after all the build up, all three of the Irwins came out together! Bindi (15), Terry and Robert (10). Again, I had that feeling of being in awe thinking “this is really my life right now”. With them came the crocs! which lets be honest is why everyone was there.  They let Robert feed a little one and then they brought out the big guns. I think his name was Murphy. Talk about a stunning animal. They are so powerful and cool looking. They taught you all about how to attract a croc and more importantly how to stay away from them, and the importance of them as well as their history.

I walked away from that show in awe and was just so happy to have gotten the chance to see it. And then the day just got better. We got in a pretty short line for the thing I had been waiting for since I got to Australia: a picture with a koala!!!! Oh my gosh it still makes me giddy. It was so fluffy and soft and they cling to you like you’re a tree, or a happier thought is its like a big koala hug! :D They are so stinking cute I can't get over it. Makenna got a second one too because how could you not? And every picture is a donation to their conservation so you feel like you are doing something good at the same time. Once we did that, we had lunch and went to the Tiger show which had just started. That was also really cool. Considering I am the biggest cat person ever, I find big cats magnificent creatures and they are so amazing to watch. Again, the kid in me came out and I somehow was able to snake through the whole crowd and end up in the front. Sneaky me.

When the Tiger show was over we didn’t realize so much time had passed and that we needed to pick up the pace a little. We quickly went through the wetlands with all the birds and then headed down the wonderful cuddly koala walk. Basically we got to pet them all over again but not hold them. There were tons of them on very low trees set up so you could see them really close. There was even a baby in its moms arms! The Koala walk then turns into the roo walk where I finally got to feed and pet lots of kangaroos!!!! Yeah, that’s right, kangaroos. They really don’t care about humans and just lay there in the sun and let you hand feed them. Up close, kangaroos are very strange animals.. watching them move and balance with their tails is crazy and their feet are very weird and pointy. Still, they are super cool and a lot of them have faces that remind me of grumpy old men. I am in the airport right now but when I get back to the states I will update this post and others with pictures to share.

We spent a good amount of time with the kangaroos and koalas and to be fair, who wouldn't? The only bummer was that 5 pm was approaching very quickly and we found ourselves nearly running to see all the crocs, alligators, dingos, cassowaries, wallabies and more. We also missed out on going to the animal hospital which was located in a different building off of the parking lot which was a bummer. They rescue all sorts of wildlife and apparently Justin Timberlake just donated some crazy amount of money to them and he is the single highest individual contributor to the zoo. Fun fact I thought. We made a pitstop at the gift shop where I got most of my souvenirs and then very slowly, and very regrettably we had to leave :(. We were nearly one of the last cars in the parking lot as the sun set and we called it a day. We blissfully got back in the car and started driving to Surfers Paradise reflecting on how awesome the day had been. It is hard to find words to describe how perfect the day was and it was definitely my second favorite thing we did this whole trip (the first was snorkeling the great barrier reef) but it is one I will never forget.

All on our own; a stop in Brisbane

After we left the Noosa Bushcamp early the next morning we had this weird realization that we were now on our own. We had finished our last official destination and tour. It was a big change from the rest of our trip because we really always had a place to get to and a certain time frame. We did still have an outline of what we wanted to do next but it wasn’t the same. Our next big thing we wanted to do was go to the Australian Zoo or the Steve Irwin Zoo. Even though the entry fee was pretty steep, it qualifies as a necessary experience in Oz. We decided that we would wait and go to the zoo on Tuesday instead of Monday to make sure we had the full day, so instead we headed to Brisbane for a day. Brisbane was nice, we went to the Lagoon and tried to lay out in the sun but the clouds kept getting in the way and it was cold. I officially observed that the dead giveaway that it is winter in Australia is that the sand is cold. There might still be sun, and it still feels like it could be nice out, but when you lie down, the sand is not nice and warm like it should be.

We walked along the esplanade and looked at all the nice shops, stopped at a sweets store where they sold some American candy and Dr. Pepper! Ahhh I had to buy one. It tasted like heaven... mmmm so good! Such little things that you forget remind you of home. After we gave up on the sunbathing, we went to Max Brenner's Chocolate Cafe. I decided I would rather spend my money there then at the sweets store and I bought Makenna and I the shared fondue for two that comes with milk and dark chocolate, bananas, strawberries, marshmallows and banana bread. So delicious. It kinda put us in a chocolate coma but it was so good! The place was packed, we waited in a line nearly out the door and then once we ordered waited another half hour at least to get it but it was so worth it.

While we sat there enjoying ourselves we decided that the best course of action was to find a cheap hostel to stay in for the night since campervan parks are a bit hard to find in cities. We ended up picking Brisbane City Backpackers which ended up being a super cool hostel after we figured out how to park and get into it. The check in staff was awesome and the girl upgraded us simply because we were only staying one night into a twin room where it was just the two of us! When you live in hostels, there is literally nothing more luxury then getting to have your own room with your friend. The hostel also had gated in parking for our sweet van, a bar and outside/rooftop deck, and just overall a super cool place with nice people. We were going to go out and walk around town at night, maybe grab a drink (with all that money we have) but basically we got too comfortable and we didn't go. Makenna was asleep by 9 and I followed not too long after.

Serious Bushcamp

The drive from Hervey Bay to Noosa wasn’t a bad one, only about 2 and half hours. We thought we had left enough time but as we were leaving town we grabbed brekky at Maccas, then Makenna wanted postcards so we went back down to the esplanade and by the time we really left we were cutting it close. Since we had called the Gangaju Bushcamp the day before and told them we were coming in at noon, they had informed us that there was a shuttle bus at 1pm. Even though we had our own car they recommended we follow them since the Bushcamp was apparently difficult to get to. Of course we rolled into Noosa literally at 1:05pm....we contemplated rushing to try and meet the shuttle but I had called when we were 20km away to tell them we were running late and they said the next bus was at 4pm. Since neither of us had any clue where the bus stop was that we were supposed to be meeting, we figured we would just take our time and wait for the next one and I am glad we did. We found our way down to Hastings St which is the main esplanade in Noosa and where everyone had recommended. I was shocked. For some reason I had pictured Noosa to be more of a small town when in reality it was like we had arrived in Newport, Beach in the OC. Really cute boutique shops and quirky little stores, small expensive grocery stores and beautiful houses. Not what I expected at all. Once we parked we walked into a couple of the cool shops to kill time and just moseyed around. After that we drove around town some more, saw the view even though it was raining and then went to find the bus stop. On the way we ran into an Aldie, which is a super super cheap grocery store that is a German company. It is almost like a Grocery Outlet, where it has lots of cheap stuff but usually the knock off brands. Considering how poor we are, it was gold and we knew that this trip did not include food and we had time to kill so we stopped.

We stocked up on food and spent too much money, surprise, and then really did go find the bus stop. We were meeting at the greyhound station which luckily ended up being pretty obvious. Since we were still a good hour early we decided to boil some water out the back of our van for a classy lunch of cup of noodles (equivalent) and settled in to watch an episode of New Girl on Makenna’s computer. I won’t lie that boiling water and making lunch in a main parking lot during the middle of the day was an experience. It gave off a very homeless feel to it. Finally, the bus pulled up and I went and told the guy who we were and that we were ready to follow him wherever. I guess we were waiting for two more people but they never showed. Now this fellow was very interesting...he was an older gentleman with a no nonsense attitude but clearly someone who has been living in a tent a while. He had pretty bad teeth and smelled like a good ol Olympia hippie but he was a character that’s for sure. And boy did he take us on a journey to the camp. We ran errands behind this guy for a good 35 minutes, including two stops at Woolworths (main grocery store) before we finally headed to camp.

The road to camp seemed normal enough until the main road ended and it turned to serious gravel and potholes. We drove on that for a good five to ten minutes passing what was similar to a tent city or at least a lot of motorhomes set up for long term use. Still further down the road we finally saw a sign that we were in the right place and he got out, directed us to park and showed us around. The camp was truly that, a camp, a bush camp. There was only cold water unless you hiked it back up to the one flushable toilet and showers up by the residents, there were tents for everyone to sleep in, a small outdoor common room and a kitchen. Drinking games had been banned since apparently people in the past had been very destructive, lighting stuff on fire and breaking stuff...I found that interesting. The first night they did offer us a ‘bed’ in their dorm room which had pretty cool sling/hammock style beds but we didn’t feel like spending the extra five bucks to rent a sleeping bag when we could just sleep in the van. Turns out that was a good plan as most people froze in there and later we had people bargaining with us to sleep in our van with us. We went to bed early which seems to be a pretty common thing this trip and since everyone was watching a movie that was too far in to join in and not very sociable it wasn't worth staying up.

We woke up early the next day because we were told to be ready by 8am, which we were. However, we were the only ones. There were 9 of us going on our first day canoeing and two of us (Makenna and I) were ready on time. At first I tried to be patient because I myself have been known to be running late. However, after waiting nearly an HOUR I was irritated. There literally was nothing you had to do to get ready... just grab a life jacket and a paddle and listen to the directions. The slowest of the bunch were two Irish girls who seemed shocked that we were all waiting for them. Around 9:30 am we finally were off. The canoe held three people so we added in one of the guys from another group, an English lad named Jessie.

The water was beautiful and the river was pretty massive. It was less impressive to us only because we're from the NW and are used to rivers being like that. The unfortunate part was that we were not going with the current for most of the trip and my arms burned! If anything was to show off just how weak my upper body has gotten... So this trip was unguided. The funny guy gave us a short five minute run down of what we were supposed to do and where we were supposed to go and sent us on our way. At first we pulled off onto some sandy beach because we wanted a break and Jessie was complaining he was getting sea sick. We had a brief chat on the beach, took some pictures and realized if we wanted to get to the beach we were supposed to park our canoe at, we would have to get back in the water and canoe around. It was also super windy and a lot colder on the beach then in the canoe.

We got to the proper beach, got out and headed up the path to find the pub we were told to go to. When we got there is was a super cool little place. Strangely, it was a huge biker hangout place but they enthusiastically waved us to come in. Apparently, it is also one of the oldest pubs in the area and was very historical looking. We ate our packed lunch, splurged on some ice cream and laid in the sun for a bit. When we all decided we were good, we headed back to the canoes where we then struggled to find the mouth of the small creek we were told to go down. After getting it wrong about four times, we finally found the opening and paddled down to the well known rope swing. I won’t lie and I was hot from the workout but it was anything but hot out. The sun was starting to lose it’s strength and most of the creek was in the shade, but most of us, apart from the Irish girls, all sucked it up and used the swing to jump in. Talk about refreshing! And it was fun.

After we all jumped in, with photos as proof of course, we started to get chilly and got back in the canoes. There was some minor confusion about whether the creek went all the way through and looped back around or if we had to go back the way we came. I ended up being right and we had to turn around. Now so far I have left this small detail out, but it would not be a proper representation of my experience if I did not fully express that Jessie, the guy in our boat, drove me insane. Absolutely bonkers. He was literally the most whiny, lazy, know-it-all who made the most ignorant comments repeatedly and was always trying to tell us which direction to go even though he was wrong. As a quick reminder, Kenna did rowing for a lot of years in her life, so we had her at the back steering and choosing our direction. The nitwit could not seem to grasp that he was clueless and useless and the longer we were in the boat with him the more I disliked him.

We got back to camp before dark as we were told and jumped to get the first showers. We again decided that socializing was over rated and unlike our previous trips, there wasn't the same kind of camaraderie as a group so we made dinner and went and watched New Girl in the van. The next morning we were much slower getting up and getting ready because we figured that everyone would be late again and we didn’t want to wait for them. It turns out the first day we canoed over 17km which would explain why I was so tired and sore. Luckily, the second day was a mere 7 km total. This day we were told to go to the other end of the river which was another lake, park our canoes, and walk to the beach. It was much easier to find but once there the beach was freezing. Like we were all sitting there pretending to be enjoying ourselves with goosebumps all over. We gave in earlier than the previous day and got back to camp before 3pm. Again, we jumped on the fact that no one else was back yet and got the hottest showers. it was awesome and since it was so early in the day I didn’t feel bad about taking my time or using hot water to my leisure. After that we cleaned up the van and organized our stuff to pass time before repeating the night before with dinner, New Girl and bed before 10.