Australia
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The Whitsundays
I’ve been to countless beautiful places; aside from Patagonia, this one is right up there as one of the most beautiful. The color was pure, crystal turquoise, that make your eyes thirst for one more look. Each day the tides would rise and play with the white sands, swirling them into unique patterns. Then they would depart, leaving behind a masterpiece of color. Whitehaven beach was rated the second most beautiful in the world, and despite the multitude of tour groups and helicopters overhead, it managed to retain an aura of untouched purity. The sand itself was possibly the most expensive in the world; the US having paid billions of…
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Crikey Mate
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not always the biggest fan of zoos. In general, I find them inadequate to the emotional and instinctual needs of the animals. Though there are a few that are doing a thing or two right; one of which was the Australia Zoo, brainchild of Steve and Terri Irwin. The zoo was originally started by Steve’s parents, though then it was a much smaller scale and focused predominantly on reptiles. Today the zoo is huge, includes an animal hospital, and focuses its efforts on conservation, rehabilitation, and education. The exhibits are designed to enrich the animals, including an entire island where lemurs run wild. The only…
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Byron Bay
The cocks began crowing around three am, though the sun was far from rising. Whether they belonged to a nearby farm or had simply decided to make the campsite their home, I do not know. There were at least ten of them wandering around while we made coffee. Don’t fret, we waited till the sun was up, despite the cock’s best efforts. Fog hugged the landscape, but it was evident that the sun would claim victory over the day. After a quick bite, we continued on our drive to Byron Bay. It was quite far so we stopped at Lennox Head for lunch and considered having a swim. There was…
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Hagrid and His Hills
The view made the steep climb entirely worth it. From a solitary picnic table, we stood gazing out over the Pacific. As a local, I would have gladly hiked up there every day to enjoy my lunch in the sun. From one side of the hill the terrain was a moist jungle, with spider lines crossing the path every few feet. Wild turkeys strutted about in the bush, eyeing us with caution. The opposite side was a drier, dusty walk, with wide spaced eucalyptus and tall, pokey grasses. Though we could have climbed up a mountain near Buladelah and seen an old mine, I really wanted to go for a…
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Newcastle
I put my beanie in the bottom of my clothes box and took out my bandanas. I wouldn’t need it again until much later in the trip, if at all. The time had come for sand, sun, and sandals. Truth be told, it wasn’t entirely summer weather; I was still wearing jeans but could get away with a t-shirt. I had even woken in the night to remove a layer because I was sweating. As I sat in the park, the sun tickled my skin like a lover’s touch, and I discovered myself wanting to expose every inch of flesh to its embrace. Looci sat nearby on the swings. We…
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City Camping
It’s not as though it was particularly warm in Sydney, but it was measurably warmer than we were accustomed to. Unfortunately, we arrived with rain and a spike in petrol prices. If you ever travel Australia there is a great app called FuelMap that will help you keep an eye on the cheapest places to fill up. While we were on our way up the coast, everything in Sydney was around 1.25 a liter; by the time we pulled up they had gone up to 1.50 a liter. Fortunately, we weren’t planning on driving Hagrid much during our stay and were hoping the prices would drop by the time we…
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Well (Down)Under Way
The cold was biting, but couldn’t stop us from getting up early to do yoga in the little park we had slept in. School children walked along a track that took them to the school across the street. It was a Tuesday morning and not everyone was on holiday like Looci and I. An old man followed his dog through the grassy football field in front of us. The curious mutt trotted over to inspect my downward dog, not bothering to wipe his paws before stepping on my mat. He was quickly satisfied and moved on to more enticing scents. Once our bodies were warmed…well in theory…in reality I was…
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Hagrid
There was a leech on my leg! Well, I mean he was on my pant leg. Looci and I had checked for signs of them a few minutes before, but we had expected the bigger buggers you see in films. These were tiny little wriggling strands, easily missed by the untrained eye. Using the back of a fork she scraped it off me and flung it away. It was time to search again. There were four on me and six on Looci. Fortunately, none had latched on yet. Although I was apprehensive for the next day and a half thinking I would eventually discover one fully engorged on my blood.…
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Frozen Bones and Toxic Stones
As some of you may know, I’ve been gathering supplies for a big hike later this year. Anyway, I figured it might be prudent to test my tent, sleeping mat, and sleeping bag before I set out on a five-month exhibition. Good thing I did cause my tent leaks when it isn’t pegged out far enough. I’m getting ahead of myself. Since we were running out of time to see the west coast and the massive expanse of forest included on that end of Tassie; we had to choose our stops wisely. Mt Field National Park had been recommended by a few friends and had day hikes we could quickly…
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Hot Showers in Hobart
Free hot showers! That was the goal and really all that mattered as we sped towards Hobart. After leaving our campsite we had attempted a trip to Remarkable Cave only to discover the road was closed for construction. Feeling remarkably disappointed we turned our sights to Hobart where hot showers, friends, hot showers, cider, hot showers, and food awaited us. Oh, did I mention the free hot showers? Hobart reminded me a bit of a smaller Seattle: a hilly port town, with light fog and a crisp bite to the air. I’m not really a city person and neither is Pieter so after the hot showers (don’t worry I’m done…
