We're Still Going Strong!
So, where did I leave off? Newcastle? Okay, I’ll tell you about Newcastle.
The first day was standard; we went swimming, walked around town and hung out at the hostel. The second day we were on a mission: we had to find white gas for our camping stove. We took a (free!) bus to a camping store, but they were out. They suggested a gas station or a hardware store. We walked to a bunch of gas stations but could not find any white gas. One of the attendants pointed us toward a whole new camping store. The walk continued.
On the way we found a liquor store where you could drive your car through. How fantastic! Too bad we didn’t have a car. When we finally got to the camping store it couldn’t have been more out of business. The only way we could tell that they used to sell camping supplies was the sign on the building; the rest of it was empty.
We headed back, this time on the way to a hardware store we heard about. Luckily they had the gas. We caught another (free!) bus back to the hostel and rested.
After resting I had another mission: find cheap booze. We had heard rumours of 5 litres of wine for $9, but so far we’ve only seen expensive stuff (you know, like $16 or $18 for 5 litres). I had remembered going to a liquor store when I was in Newcastle three years ago, so I set out to find it. It was actually quite easy to get to and I a nice feeling of nostalgia as I walked down Darby street. The liquor store was different, but it was still a liquor store. And they had 4 litres for $11. Good enough for me. I caught a (free!) bus back.
We drank that night and had a horrible morning. We were planning on catching a bus to Port Macquarie. Didn’t make it. We booked it for later in the day. I bought some sun glasses (“sunnies” in Australian) and went to the beach. Then caught the bus.
When we got off the bus it was approaching 10pm on Sunday. We had no idea where we were going to sleep. Maybe a park? Luckily, a few people had a shuttle to a hostel, so we went there.
The next day we set off to walk the beach, with the intention of camping on it. It turned out just getting to the beach was exhausting. We got there though, and walked down a bit. Then Rod came. He had a Land Rover. Rod was our hero.
Kyle rode shotgun while John and I hung on the back standing on the bumper as Rod drove down the beach, beer in hand. Kyle said he was going 40 km/h at one point, but I think he was going faster than that. We got to the end, and then Rod turned down a one-way sand road with trees closing in on it. “Duck!” he shouted out the window. It was awesome, and was immediately reminded of Jurassic Park.
He let us out at the bottom of a grassy ridge that overlooked the whole coast. We walked up and set up camp. The view was incredible. We saw how far Rod had drove (probably a good afternoon of walking for us) and the forest inland. So cool that this was our first campsite.
There’s more, but I’m going to give someone else a chance on the computer. If you want to comment just write on my Facebook wall. Talk to you soon!
10 months ago • 0 notes