Week 30 (Australia: Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay)

01/11

Slept for almost 9 hours! Rose at 9.15, Breakfasted and chatted the morning away with the Annet and Esther over two coffees. Did my laundry and updated my blog.
Then got the hostels guitar and played for almost an hour. Felt really good. Finally, after being without a guitar for months.

It kept on raining for the rest of the day, so spend the day with bookings, updating, the media, chatting, guitar playing, and finally a pizza. It's 21.35 now and it's still raining. Think i'll head for the TV room. Laterz...
Played some pool with Warwick (kind of permanent guest here). Had a beer with him afterwards. he told me his lif story... impressive. (Won't go into details (for privacy reasons obviously).)


01/12

Slept good, woke up at 9 even. Breakfasted, did the media (my wifi connections just goes on working, where as i payed for only 24 hours (downloaded far over 1 Gb too (running out of Star trek episodes))), played a little guitar.

Rented a bicycle and cycled for hours and hours. Saw the rainforest thing here and the whalewatching louk out point. Great! Got even more sunburned (i forget to put on sunblock all the time). Napped for 30 mins and did another short cycle ride.

Back at the hostel: Got my laundry, showered and got myself some fish and chips. Ended the evening chatting with Warwick and a few other guests here (mainly germans (place is crowded with them all of a sudden)). Slept like a log again.


01/13

Just woke up. having breakfast now. Warwick invited me to do a little tour around here in his car. How nice! laterz...

And a good tour it was. First a splendid view point over the area here:

We also saw a 76 yo (!) man paragliding from there.

As his collegue said: "And what did you do with your lives?".

Then a nice walk over some pier trying to see sharks. Unfortunately....

Then i showed Warwick (yes) the place to see some big Guana's (Big lizzards, or small komodo's if you like) ... and found one! (I just happened to go there yesterday, so that's how i knew.) Swam there in the sea as well.

Then back to the hostel for a dip in the pool and a nice cup of tea while updating blog and do the media. Shopping still needs to be done for tomorrow. Think i will do it tomorrow actually, since i also want to run.

Laterz...

Did do the shopping right away. And ran the 5 K, showered, ate (made my own for a change) and played guitar. Ended the evening over a (bad) movie and a chat with Warwick and Monica. Star trekked and slept good as usual.


01/14

Had to go to the toilet several times (cooked myself, rememeber ... ;-)). Woke up at 8.30, breakfasting now. About to pack. Take the 14.00h greyhound bus to Coff Harbour for 3 nights. Hope to see you there. Laterz.

Made a last stroll along the beautiful coast of Port Macquarie. Lots of painted stones there. With messages for loved ones or people who had past away. I reminded me of all the people i lost over the past few years (Herman, Trudy, Kees, Brian, Mieke, Jette, my mom and recently Michel). Made me sad. Miss them all.

Anyway, back at the hostel. Ate a roll, said goodbye to Warwick and Monica (great people, good friends) ...

... and hopped on the greyhound to Coffs Harbour, where I'm now.

The trip to Coffs went OK. Strolled along the beaches here, back to the hostel, chatted with a few other guests (girl from Irak (name too dificult to remember) and Victor from Finland). Watched tennis and went to bed at 11.30. Warm, warm room, but tired enough to sleep reasonably well.


01/15

Woke up at 8.30, breakfasted, Updating blog in hostel. Did my shoppings, booked the next trip to Byron Bay (leaving on the 17th), booked a hostel there as well. Now coffee! Laterz...

Spend some time on the beach. Not that fantastic though. Too hot (i was under the pier, in the shade). Lunched with the left over buns from yesterday. Going for another coffee i think. After that a swim in the sea.

Two times to the beach it was. Doing some shopping in between. Bit of a lazy day, but hey... it's holiday after all.

Cooked simple (instant noodles and instant soup). Walk to the viewpoint now. Laterz...

Sipped a relatively cheap beer at the 30 latitude (name of a bar here), and spend the rest of the evening chatting with a girl from Irak and watched tennis with an Egyptian businessman who's a guest here too. (Won a bet with him (the youngest wimbledon winner is Boris Becker).) Slept good, despite the warmth in the room.

PS: The local italian restaurant here is called "Fiasco". Wonder if they know what it means.


01/16

Woke up at 8.30 or so. Relaxed breakfast and coffee afterwards. Spend my last hours wifi. Watched the news in the TV room.
Went for a very long walk (the so called Creek walk (including a visit to the botanical gardens)). Took me more than 3 hours. Came back hungry and thirsty, so... to the supermarket.
Went to the beach once more, where i fell asleep (in the shade luckily). Made the walk up to the Muttonbird Island once more, sipped a pint of Cooper Pale ale at 30 latitude. Showered, ate and finalzed the evening chatting to Markus and 2 other girls who work here. Star trekked and slept well.


01/17

Woke up at 9, packed and stored my lugage in the store room. Have to wait for the greyhound bus to Byron Bay. Wil arrive there late (9 PM). It leaves at 4.50 PM, so... waiting is today's game. Will do a stroll soon.

And so i did. Long stroll along the beaches, where i hadn't been yet. Then lunch, a movie and goodbye Coff Harbour. The bus arrived on time and at 9 we were in Byron Bay. The YHA is immense. A people storage place. Not much fun in the beginning. Luckily i ran into two nice people from Holland (Judit and Ruben). Spend the evening chatting and beering with them. Star trek episode and slept well afterwards, despite the heat.