Australia – New South Wales

Hello again!

I write this post as Rich drives us to Sunshine Coast in Queensland, the ‘Sunshine State’. It’s absolutely peeing it down. Ironic eh?! Dont worry though you can still surf in the rain ; )

SYDNEY

We spent a fair amount of time in Sydney: 9 days in total. This was mainly to see our friends (shoutout to Eric and Claire!) so it was quite a chilled start to our Australian adventure. We stayed in the YHA on Bondi Beach. This was quite an experience. As it turns out, we’d been quite spoilt by the broad spectrum of people we’d encountered in relatively upmarket New Zealand hostels. On Bondi Beach, you mainly encounter one type of traveller. This traveller is around 18-20 years old, they have a relaxed attitude to hygiene, they’re on their gap year, they have absolutely no money which means that they may steal from you (we lost half a pint of unopened milk one evening), they drink goon (shit Australian wine from a cardboard box), they stay in 8 bed dorms which spill out onto the sofas in communal areas when there’s a snorer present, they try and loudly outcompete each other about how well travelled they are and they’re pretty much all trying to sleep with each other. After a ginormous cockroach scuttled past my foot one evening whilst we were eating dinner, we decided to name the hostel Cockroach Castle (because apparently we need to name everything). Luckily, our private room was perfect – comfy bed, lockable wardrobe and a fantastic view of the sea. It was like a little haven we could retreat to and meant that we enjoyed our stay overall.

Bondi is a fab place. It’s buzzing pretty much all the time and is filled with unnaturally attractive young people with ridiculously toned abs and golden tans. Many of these super-fit people seem to have no other purpose than to run up and down the beach in expensive gym wear and make you feel bad about yourself. We didn’t mind too much to be honest – if you’ve ever been on holiday to somewhere like Marmaris and witnessed the scum of Britain burning themselves to a crisp and chain smoking on their sun loungers, you don’t mind being surrounded by these athletic gods and goddesses so much! There is a bustling cafe culture in Bondi, and each of its independent eateries offers something a bit different. We were spoilt for choice when we wanted to eat out. We particularly enjoyed a visit to Bangkok Bites where they serve you up huge mountains of fantastic Thai food, half of which we took home and enjoyed the next day! The actual beach itself is stunning. We considered hiring boards and having a surf there but the line-up was so crowded that we decided not to bother and instead just watched other surfers as they fought for the best waves.

We took a few trips into Sydney whilst we were there, visiting the botanical gardens, opera house and the centre. The botanical gardens were gorgeous but most memorable because we found a flock of huge white cockatoos with yellow feathery bits on their heads. We found they were quite tame and started feeding them pieces of cracker. Some of them suddenly decided to land on my arm and back and I started running around like a crazy person thinking they were going to peck my eyes out! A local guy came to my rescue and taught me how to let them perch on my arm. They were incredibly heavy but it was so cool to get so close to them! We also took the ferry from circular quay over to Manly, which is a beachy suburb slightly less hipster than Bondi. The ferry trip itself was the best part- it gives you amazing views of the opera house and Sydney Harbour Bridge, particularly as the sun was setting on the way back. We also took a trip to the races whilst we were there which was really fun, despite us not winning a single race!

FIRST NIGHT IN THE CAMPER AND NELSON BAY

A number of things went wrong when we picked up our camper. First, the battery in our camper was dead and we had to wait for it to be changed. All the while our bags back at the hostel were in automatic timed lockers which were ticking down until our stuff was basically fare game to the scumbags currently residing in Cockroach Castle. Finally we got our camper (we named him Kevvo which is short for Kevin. Australians shorten everything. Think docco (documentary) Ambo (ambulance) etc). We picked up our bags and set off to Manly to pick up some cheap surfboards we’d found advertised on Gumtree. Next, we started driving towards Nelson Bay and after some googling of campsites it became clear that there were no vacancies and we might have to sleep in a supermarket car park. Luckily I managed to find a site at Melaleuca Surfside Backpackers by ringing round a bit. We arrived in darkness into what seemed to be an impenetrable forest filled with cobwebs and gigantic spiders. We found the office and were greeted by a pack of dogs that may or may not have wanted to kill us. The pack of hounds were called off by their respective owners ( who appeared to be a bunch of wildly drunk middle-aged Australians). The lady who showed us round was nice so we parked our van and set about trying to work out how to make the bed. We then sallied forth to the toilet cabin to brush our teeth, dodging low hanging cobwebs as we went. Rich suddenly stopped ‘oh wait there’s one of those massive dogs looking at us’ ‘it might be friendly’ I said. We crept closer. And then it stood up on its back legs. ‘Oh wait…actually errr I think that’s a kangaroo’. It was just stood there, munching and seeming disinterested. “Are kangaroos friendly?!” “No idea” “let’s just shuffle round it”. So we shuffled round it and it just looked at us blankly whilst we told it it was a nice kangaroo and that we wouldn’t hurt it. We made it to the sinks and started brushing our teeth. Rich suddenly yells “What the FECK is that?!” (Toothpaste sprays everywhere). I look upwards and see this big bushy tail dangling from the porch roof and then I follow it round and there’s this little face looking at me with a snubby pink nose and big brown eyes. “Awwww rich it’s a possum! How cuuuute!” Rich gives the possum a wide birth and keeps his back to the wall as he finishes brushing his teeth “It might bite you know!” This guy is seriously cute though and I decide he’s friendly. A few nights later we find that, actually, possums are quite scary sometimes so maybe Rich was right to be suspicious of it!

Despite our reservations on the first night, this campsite actually turned out to be quite a little gem with a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere. As it turns out, the kangaroo lived onsite. Her name was Josie and she had been rescued as an orphaned joey many years ago from an area of Australia where a massive kangaroo cull has taken place following a seven year drought. After the age of two, kangaroos cannot be transported in enclosed spaces as they tend to suffer heart failure. This had meant that Josie could never be returned to the wild, as the drought in her original homeland had been so prolonged that she was too old by the time she could go back. Josie wasn’t the only rescued resident at the camp site either. As it turns out, the whole place was a sanctuary. Along with Josie was a gorgeous joey called August, whom we first encountered snoozing in a patch of sun in a pillowcase, her long gangly legs draped over the sides. I’ve never seen an animal look so relaxed! Along with the kangaroos were a multitude of birds in an enclosure who produced a deafening amount of exotic sounding calls if something displeased them. The facilities, whilst spidery, where fine for us and the atmosphere was chilled and quiet. We learnt how to walk around at night with torches, using them to pick out spiders webs and ducking under them like we were competing in crystal maze. The site was also ridiculously close to the beautiful One Mile Beach, which we surfed on every day we were the there. On our final day, we were also invited on a free trip to the Stockton sand dunes, the largest moving sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere. We were strapped in to an ex military transport with a wicked sound system and went on a hair raising journey through the dunes. Once there, we were given sand boards and threw ourselves down a steep dune on them until we wore ourselves out and returned to the transport absolutely covered in sand. We then took a trip to the beach nearby, where our guide showed us how to find Pippis – shelled creatures that hide just beneath the surface of the sand. When you find one and place it on the beach, it will eventually poke its little frill out and magically dig itself back into the sand. If you find a few you can race them, which is pretty fun! Apparently the beach we were stood on is actually a great white shark breeding ground, so we didn’t bother going into the water…

FORSTER

We stopped in Forster on the way up the coast. It’s a pretty little place with a gorgeous long bridge across an estuary which made for a stunning run that evening at sunset. There’s not a whole lot to do here – the surf was pretty much non existent and we didn’t have much luck driving to other local surf spots either. It was a nice place to chill for a bit but we moved on pretty quickly. On our drive out of town across the bridge we glimpsed two wild dolphins swimming underneath us so that was pretty exciting!

MOJO SURF CAMP – SPOT X

We booked five days worth of lessons at Mojo Surf Camp which is located right on a fantastic surfing beach known as Spot X. We liked it so much we ended up staying for seven days in total and made the most out of the friendly surf instructors. The camp itself was a mix of converted shipping containers, wooden huts, teepees, tents and campers. The site couldn’t have been closer to the beach – you walked along a little bridge to get there. As the sun rose in the mornings we liked to watch surfers head out across the bridge with their boards whilst sipping coffee in our camper. Whilst there, all of our meals were cooked for us in a big kitchen and we joined throngs of bare-footed people in the queue every mealtime to receive our mountain of delicious food. Our meals were eaten communally outside and it was often tricky to get a table if you left it too late. It was always quieter over breakfast, although you had to carefully guard your food from the cunning bread-stealing pair of Kookaburras that lived in the surrounding trees. After one of them swooped down and took Rich’s toast right out of his hand one morning, we decided to name the birds Bonnie and Clyde…obviously.

Whilst there, we booked on to have a two hour lesson every morning and afternoon. The instructors were brilliant and we had fun absolutely exhausting ourselves each day. After five days of nonstop lessons, I got a bit ill but rich surfed right up until the last day. We saw our first snake here too – after coming back from lunch we saw a small crowd forming around a gigantic 7ft long monster trying to find its way into one of the teepees. Mass panic was ensuing amongst the non native surfers. One of the senior instructors appeared after a few minutes “what do we have here then?!” *glances at the snake* “Oh it’s just a python”. The python is then dragged unceremoniously back from whence it came by its tail and normality is restored. Only in Australia!

BYRON BAY

Byron bay was our last stop in New South Wales. I was hoping that it would be similar to Bondi but Byron is a bit less hipster and a bit more hippy. There were shops filled with incense and ridiculous baggy traveller trousers, nobody wore shoes and there were signs everywhere advertising alternative therapies and ‘crystal healing’. The beach was stunning of course, and it was great to see some bigger waves so that we could watch the pro surfers in action. We also took a walk up to the lighthouse, which marks the most easterly point of Australia.

OZ SO FAR

Our time in New South Wales has been pretty chilled overall. Although the weather has been warm for the most part, we’ve also had plenty of showers to keep it interesting! Life in the camper can be frustrating at times – my constant battle with mosquitoes at night time makes everything a bit of a faff as we try not to let the little buggers fly in towards the light. It goes pitch black before 6pm in Australia and this is something I struggle to get used to. I think of British summers when you’re still outside drinking Pimms at 10pm at night. I guess that’s the price you pay to be so close to the equator! Other than this, the camper is a big improvement on tent life – for one thing I can sleep a whole night through without waking up with one of my legs dead. We also have a fridge with us at all times and can brew up when we feel like it on the road. The big advantage is that we don’t have to assemble anything when we park up. No airbeds to inflate, no sleeping bags to unroll. We can just rock up and chill out!

That pretty much sums up our time in New South Wales. Let’s hope the sunshine state perks up soon for the next blog post!

Jess & Rich

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