Well the nice thing about not having a travel plan is that
you never fall behind schedule!
My last post was leaving Sydney after being in the city for less
than 24-hours … clearly I’m going to have to double back before I leave the
Pacific to give that town its fair due.
My second stop was camping with the locals near the town of Forster. Thanks again to Dave Kelley for the camping
invite and coordinating drivers for me to and from the cabins. Dave, I apologize again for hijacking your
Tinder account and making some ‘improvements’ on your behalf :)
For some reason, Ausie’s don’t really like to pronounce an
‘r’ that appears in the middle of a word, so Forster is pronounced Foster. To make up for this linguistic slight,
Ausie’s throw in a ‘r’ at the end of words that don’ have one. For instance ‘no idea’ is pronounced more like
‘no eye deer’. Coincidentally, no-one in
Australia drinks the beer Fosters and you can’t find it in a bottle shop.
Speaking of beer … I found Sierra Nevada here for the
low-low price of $22 per 6-pack.
Comparatively, you can get it for around $20 per 24-pack in
California. Which brings to mind … this
country is very expensive. If you ever
come to visit, expect everything to cost about double what you had in mind.
After camping, I went to Byron Bay. Byron is a backpackers party scene paradise
set on a seemingly endless white sand beach.
Each day has been delightfully the same.
Late breakfast before a surfing lesson, drinks with fellow students, a
quick nap, then a pub crawl with the Europeans that line the streets. The title of this post relates to the fact
that I now just tell everyone I’m from San Francisco rather than the sleepy
hamlet 80-miles away known as Sacramento.
Most peeps love SF and they seem excited to talk about their last visit
– who am I to deny that level of enthusiasm …
I planned on spending 2 days in Byron, but it ballooned to 2
weeks. This is not an uncommon tale to
extend one’s stay here. The current plan
is to head north this Friday before I grow dreadlocks and consider being in a
drum circle as my second career.
The attached photos are from one of the smaller Byron
beaches. There is a great hike that you
can take along this beach to a lighthouse that is the eastern most part of the
country. While on that hike, I saw a pod
of dolphins surf the waves near the shore break. To be any more magical a scene, you would
have to throw in some unicorns shooting rainbows out of their horns.
Other than heading north soon, I don’t really have a
plan. I’m thinking about Frasier Island
and then the Whit Sundays. If the weather
is good I may go up to Cairns and see if I can dive the great barrier
reef. Options abound – if you are in the
general vicinity, please come join me.
- Tony
