Brisbane and Our Journey North

Hello all, and welcome to my long delayed blog post.
On Friday 18th January 2008, Leanne and I finished packing our shit, and headed north to our new city of residence, Brisbane.
As is our style, we understimated just how long t would take to pack, and we didn't leave until after midday. It didn't really matter though, as we were going to stop off at my Uncle Bruce's place in Fernleigh (in between Byron Bay and Ballina) and spend the next day there.
The drive was good. Neither of us grew too weary, and the driver reviver stops helped us on our way. We had dinner at Coffs Harbour. A delicious fish burger each. Holy cow, it was *exactly* what I wanted. In fact, I want one now. Damn. So tasty.
We arrived at Bruces around 10pm, and talked for a little while before going to bed.
The next day we heard that the Mullumbimby makets were on, and thought it would be a great place to go. Unfortuntely, after driving out there we saw a sign informing us that they had been cancelled due to all the recent rain. Shame.
Well, not so much, because Leanne and I went for a beautiful drive through to Main Arm. Wow, so pretty. I'd love to live there for a few years. We followed the winding roads across fords and up into the mountains, and eventually turned around when it became a national park. We then took a different path back to the Pacific Hwy, but not before stopping off at a pie shop for some pies, peas, mash and gravy. Once again, yum yum.
We had a BBQ for dinner that night, and afterwards went down to Lennox Head pub as a band that Kate (Bruce's girlfriend) wanted to see were playing. A whole heap of Kate's friends and their families were down there, too.
So we went along. Not a bad band, but a cover band so they held no real interest for me.
Funnily enough though Casey Rickets (from primary and high school) was working there. Strange world. What's even a little stranger is that he has married a girl from Louisville, Kentucky. What's strange about that is that that's where Megan went to College. Funny how two boys from Turramurra end up going with two girls from Louisville.
The night went well. Leanne and I spent most of the time talking with Bruce, who's rather entertaining.
Strangely, during the night a man walking past reached out and stroked my sideburns, smiling. He then left, silently. Strange man.
After the pub we went back to Bruce's and lit a spliff. He had some hash, so we had some of that, and Kate rolled two fat joints. Holy cow. I went to another planet.
It was great talking with them through the night, but Leanne and I had to be up the next morning to meet Alex before he went to Gold Coast Big Day Out (which is about an hour and a half from Bruce's place).
Leanne and I woke up around 9am. We promised Alex we'd meet him by about 10am, which wasn't terrible when you consider the fact that Qld doesn't observe daylight savings. So we weren't doing too badly.
Of course, this "not doing too badly" quickly turned into "late" because we had a lazy breakfast, a lazy packing session, and then had to wait for Dad to stop by.
On top of this, the traffic was terrible so Alex ended up missing some of the bands he wanted to see. Of course, I was doing him a favour (playing mule), so he couldn't be too upset. Also, in the heat and the traffic, the car started to over heat.
We ended up getting into Brisbane some time around lunch, and to save the $$$ we ate pasta that we cooked that morning. The night's activities began to take their toll, so we bought some V, which helped us get by and made us excited about moving to Brisbane.
Rather than heading straight to Leanne's cousin's house, we thought we'd take a tour of the city.
It's small.
Very small.
Like about as big as Parramatta or maybe Chatswood. A teeny, tiny CBD. And then it's Central Coast-esque suburbia. And maybe 90% of the houses look the same. I unerstand now why they call them "Queenslanders." Every fucking house in Queensland is a fucking Queenslander. It's strange. If it's a nice house, it's a renovated Queenslander, if it's a shit house, it's a run down Queenslander. Rent varies dramatically between the run down and the renovated, but they're all fucking Queenslanders!
Of course, I'm exaggerating a little.
So Leanne and I are staying with her cousin, her husband and their two kids. They're all nice, so at least it's not terrible staying with them, but I'm keen for my own space - as is Leanne.
But the search for housing isn't going as well as it could. We viewed 5 or 6 houses yesterday, and only one of them was what we wanted, and one other was worth considering. So that sucks. Today we didn't see any good houses. Tomorrow is a big day though. 9-5 drivng around Brisbane kinda day. It's gonna be tiring. But, hopefully, we will come out with some houses having been applied for - and maybe even a house to call our own - although I'm feeling that could be a somewhat optimistic viewpoint at this juncture.
Either way, wish us luck.

Thoughts on Brisbane:
Hot & muggy.
Small but quaint.
More obviously bohemian.
A strange older brother of the Central Coast.
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The Sapphire Coast Trip

From the 13th to the 17th November, Leanne took me on a road trip.
She saved the destination as a surprise, but I was told that it would be down south and near a beach.
But a beach holiday down south? Don't you usually head north for a beach holiday? Well, there is logic behind that: we're about to move north, so this will probably be the last opportunity to head south before it becomes a supreme trek/pain-in-the-ass.
Leanne did a little research, got directions, and on Tuesday 13th November 2007 - after an itchy night from an allergic reaction to Mescal - we headed south to a secret destination.
Now, I was expecting a 2 or 3 hour trip down south, but Leanne had bigger plans; she took me all the way to the Sapphire Coast, near Bega.

View Larger Map

Yup.
Day 1.
Now, what was awesome about Google Maps was that it decided to take us a scenic route in the Kangaroo Valley. I'm so glad it did. This meant that we got to drive by some pretty places:





The Kangaroo Valley is absolutely spectacular.
During this drive through the valley, we saw a sign for a café, and deciding that coffee and a bit to eat wouldn't be a bad idea, we stopped.
The café was undergoing renovations, so there was no food - we would get coffee and stop for food later. The café was located in a national park. The guy behind the counter asked if we'd seen the falls yet. He said he came here 3 weeks ago and didn't want to leave - he was from Victoria. So Leanne and I finished our coffee, and went for a walk to "the falls."
On the way we passed these:


and joked that they were the falls. We were very wrong:





We couldn't believe it. What a perfect surprise. What a wonderful start to a wonderful adventure. Better yet, there was nobody around. It was just Leanne, I and the view. Well, after about 5 minutes, some people walked up, so we followed the path around to the next lookout and stayed ahead of them the whole time.
Oh, this was the next lookout:


Wowsers. There are more photos on the Flickr set that I have created, if you wanna see 'em.
There was another lookout after this one, too, at Twin Falls, but you'll have to go to the aforementioned Flickr set to see that.
Shortly after that, we saw a sign for the "Worlds Best Pies." Not being able to refuse, we pulled over for lunch. They weren't lying. Holy cow. Absolutely magnificent pies. I had a chicken and vegetable, and Leanne had a red wine and steak. Oh man. I want one now. Better than just that, they did great milkshakes (we shared a vanilla and malt) and you could eat it all outside in their lovely herb garden. What a happy moment. This trip was off to a truly fantastic start.
A few hours of driving later, following Google Maps directions, we took a right turn at the Snowy Mountains Hwy. Unfortunately, and for no good reason at all, only a few km after this turn, is another Snowy Mountains Hwy - the one we were actually meant to turn at. This meant we went 40km out of our way (which you can see on the map I've created), and had to turn back. Not all bad though, the drive was very pretty, and we listened to King Billy.
So this meant we were about an hour later than we could have been.
Leanne's research had turned up a few different possible campsites to choose from. The first one we decided to check out was in Bournda NP, and sat next Wallagoot Lake. We pulled in (and saw some roos), but while it had showers, gas BBQs etc, there were a fair few people, and we really wanted one next to the beach, anyhow. So we left and after looking at the list of possible campsites, decided that the Gillards Beach campsite sounded best. We had a little trouble finding it (the GPS on my phone had never heard of Gillards Rd), but eventually we came to the dirt road leading us there.
Oh man. We were SO glad we decided to check it out. It was perfect. Each campsite was surrounded by bush, so you didn't see or hear your neighbours, and our campsite was walking (but not smelling) distance to the toilets, and was huge. There was a shaded area for us and the car, our own fire pit (with billy stand and hot plate) and the tent was set up at the top of the stairs to the beach. Oh yes, the stairs to the beach, we were 6 stairs away from the beach - with our own private access. That's what I mean when I say "perfect."
You can tell how happy we were by this photo:


After lighting and sitting around the fire for a little while, we explored the beach in the dark, and were struck by two things: phosphor in the water, and three dead birds all in a line. The phosphor was really cool, but the birds were... odd. But we weren't phased. The phosphor was awesome, but didn't make an appearance for the rest of the trip - we caught the beach at a magic moment.
The perfect end to a perfect day. The stars were bright and beautiful that night, and we enjoyed them on our backs and on our knees.
This road trip was going to be absolutely perfect. It was.

Day 2.
We woke, after a fairly uncomfortable (damn roll mats...) nights sleep, but it didn't matter because it was a perfect day, and we were at the perfect spot. We decided to have breakfast on the beach, so we got some fruit our of the car, and headed down to the beach.
Hey ho, what's this?


DOLPHINS!?!





Could this place get any better? Wow!
After revelling in the awesomeness of this place, and after enjoying kiwi fruit and banana on the beach, Leanne and I decided to head for a walk south down the beach.
One immediate thing we noticed: more dead birds.


So many dead birds. To solve the mystery for you now, the ranger came by the next day and he told us that it was because they are migratory birds (they even sleep while flying), and this is very near the end of their journey, so a lot of them don't make it. It only happens once a year. Nice. So Leanne and I occasionally had to put up with a bit of stink, but it didn't mar the trip in any way.
There were also bluebottles:


They were all on the beach though; we only saw one in the water as the tide came in, and we didn't get stung at all. That was all that was less-than-perfect on this trip - and they're fun to pop anyway.
The walk down to the south was the main event of the day. It wasn't that far, but it took us some time because, on top of the dolphins, dead birds and bluebottles, we were distracted by photos, swimming, skinny-dipping, sex, and the beauty of it all.
After we arrived back at the campsite, a HUGE goanna shuffled by our site and into the next. Man, this place is incredible.
But we needed one thing: Fish 'n' Chips. So we headed into Tathra for some. They were fantastically crispy, but - as I often do with fish 'n' chips - I felt a little seedy afterward.
No matter. We ate them by the inlet, and walked to the beach afterward. It was lovely.
After that we drove back to the campsite, and played with fire.


But not before a visit from a wallaby and her joey. So cute.
Soon enough, it was time for bed.

Day 3.
Leanne and I decided that today would be a day of exploration. So we popped in the car and headed south. We ended up visiting (and spending most of the day) at Bournda NP (across the lake from where we were originally going to camp).
What a beautiful place.
Driving in will take you past Wallagoot Lake:


Which is beautiful in itself, but the road leads to a beautiful picnic area that has a walking track down to Turingal Head and Wallagoot Gap.
The walking track itself was spectacular. The trees that surrounded you gave the area a surreal Sleepy Hollow feel. Take a look:




As if the path wasn't beautiful enough, it led to this:


Wallagoot Gap.
Holy fuckballs, I am in love with the Sapphire Coast.
We sat at the Gap for a little while, then followed the path to the head.




I think the photos speak for themselves.
After lunch at the original picnic area, we continued south to this strange development at Dolphin Cove. In the middle of nowhere, down an unsuspicious street, was this little nugget of new, large houses. Just about all of them looked funky. It was very cool. It was built around a golf course, and surrounded a beach. A strange place. I'd actually quite like to spend a couple of years of my life there.
But onto greater things.
Driving home, Leanne and I passed a sign for "Tathra Oysters" and couldn't help but stop in. We also bought some wine and headed down to the "Historic Wharf" to enjoy them. This led us to a fenced off (for vehicles at least) collapsed road. It was cool. You could see old tarmac and gutters down on the rocks below, while little segments of road still existed up where we were walking. We settled on a rocky outcrop, poured the wine, and slurped the oysters. The ocean surrounded us, and spread out forever. It was all very lovely.
After the oysters, we stopped at the general store to buy some bait as we were planning on fishing - something I've never done (beyond a reel), and something Leanne was excited to show me.
Unfortunately, however, the waves were too strong and started too far out to enable our bait to stay far enough out in the water, so we weren't able to catch anything. More unfortunately actually is that we didn't get the opportunity to fish again. Well, I guess we will just have to make another trip sometime soon.
After cheese & fruit, another fire and more animal interaction, we went to bed, satisfied with the day's events.

Day 4.
Today was to be our last day at Gillards Beach. Sad times. Because we hadn't walked north up the beach yet, that was the thing to do today.
It was so wonderful, and I was so excited by it all that during the walk I ran to the water excited as a schoolboy.


I wouldn't let the fact that this was to be our last day get me down.
It didn't take too long to reach the pointy rock at the head that could be seen from the beach in front of our campsite, so we kept walking past it.
Moving around the head opened up another secluded beach. This meant another opportunity for skinny-dipping! Weee! (no photos to show you...)
After a fun little frolic, we kept heading north to the rocks we could see jutting out of the sand up ahead.
Leanne did a fine impersonation of them, if I might say so myself:


And I looked mighty sexy posing against them, too:


Hell yeah.
The rocks were a very soft siltstone (it could be engraved with your nail), and many other people had engraved little messages, so I took it upon myself to add a little one of my own:



Walking back to camp, some surfers appeared (lucky we had our clothes back on), which gave me an opportunity to show off my sun-safe headgear:


Sexy, no?
Once back at camp, we made some lunch, and a wallaby came by to say hello:


Cute little fella. He/she came SO close! I could hold the camera right up to it, and it would sniff it. So cute!
After all of this, Leanne and I both came to the same conclusion; we needed a spliff. So I rolled two super thin joints. We smoked one at the campsite, and then went down to the beach for a second one. We had chips:



saw a crazy bug:



talked shit:



and went swimming for 45 minutes. Swimming was the most amazing experience. We made our own martial arts (Tai Sea) and were amazed at the worlds-within-worlds aspect of all the waves. It was incredible. I fell in love with the sea all over again.
Tiring ourselves out, we took a much-needed nap, before cooking dinner; it was pasta tonight. Simple and relatively tasty.
But all things move toward their end, on that you can be sure.

Day 5.
We woke a little later than planned, but still caught what could be called a sunrise. And after waving goodbye to our most wonderful campsite, we headed home.
We stopped at Narooma for some breakfast and some coffee. I like it strong, and I asked for a mug of strong black. He asked how many shots, me thinking a mug was going to be large, asked for 4. It wasn't large, so the coffee was stronger tasting than I expected. A lesson was learnt here: 4 shots of coffee is a LOT of caffeine.
***VIDEO COMING SOON - for some reason, YouTube won't encode the video, so I will have to encode it myself and then upload it again***

On the way home we stopped off at Jamberoo to say hello to Jill.
And that's about it.
That was my trip down south.
Thank you for reading.

I might add that we were both keen to stay down there (and are both keen to go back down), but we had to come back for Claudia's engagement party, and Mickey's "I've sold my house" party, both on that Saturday night.

Listening to: Fez Dispenser - 2: This is Trip-Bop (album from CD Baby) along with just about every other CD I bought from CD Baby - it took me that long to type this mofo up...