AusTour 17: Kangaroo Island

aka the most unplanned and inefficient part of the entire trip. I had decided to go to kangaroo island on a whim—it was in the vicinity of Adelaide and was relatively easy to get to. What I didn’t decide on was how exactly I would get around such a large island. Most people rent cars or take tours to see the entire island. Me, I didn’t. Regardless of this deficiency I decided to treat Kangaroo Island as a day to relax, to take it slow for once on the trip.
The day began with a 6:45am bus from Adelaide bus terminal to make a ferry at 9. The bus and ferry were run by the same company, sea link. The bus driver was friendly even for such an hour and gave some pretty good commentary coming out of Adelaide and down through the valleys and wine (and olive) valleys. I’m sure it was interesting but I don’t remember much about it, partially and mostly because it was SO GAWD DAMN EARLY IN THE MORNING. Anyway when the bus got to the 45 min ferry line I saw the high and rough seas, groaned and took a travel sick pill before hiding in the centre of the ship away from anything that proved just how much we were rocking. Arriving in one piece and without any spillages, I disembarked to find a place to drop my stuff. Id seen the YHA from the ship so knew it wasn’t far and when I got there I found my key on the counter and let myself into my room. The owner of the hostel sprang up from nowhere after about five minutes and she was really nice and helpful. With my bags stowed in my room of six for one (!) I went ‘into town,’ what I mean by that is I went into the two roads that run parallel to form Penneshaw. The lady at the info desk was entirely unhelpful and arrogant so I left with little more than a map. With it only being about 11am I went into the only café in town, ordered a cup of tea and sat down with the days paper (how Bill Byrson!).
The owner of Kangaroo Island YHA had told me about a track along the coast and out to the ruins of a house. I decided I would walk that, having nothing else to do and no way to get anywhere else. The walk was pleseant and quiet, the sun was warm and the sky clear. I stumbled upon a group of wallabies and spent a while with them (probably most to their distress). It was a very casual wonder up and along the cliffs, in no hurry and stopping often to sit and look out to sea or across the hills. There was no hurry that had existed in the past 10 days, so it was entirely relaxing just to be able to go as fast or slow as I wanted. On the way back I saw some dolphins just off shore and watched them before they disappeared.
Back in Penneshaw I sat on the beach just taking in the atmosphere and basking in the sun for the remaining part of the afternoon. Again, incredibly relaxing atmosphere. After dinner there was a walk around the little penguin’s habitat for incredibly cheap. Unfortunately their colony has been decimated by seals eating the returning penguins so they weren’t nearly as loud or numerous as their Phillip Island cousins. After that I went across the road back to the YHA where I talked with 2 of the 4 other people staying there for a good while in the sitting room before heading to bed to depart the next morning at 11 back to Adelaide.
Kangaroo Island: the Complete Review
Yeah, I didn’t do anything really, but that was good. In the end that’s what I really wanted—not another action packed adventure. It’s definitively worth a visit if you do it right, there are lots of attractions on this quarantined island, they’re just spread out. With that in mind ill have to plan something better and come back to really explore the island.

AusTour 8: Newcastle

We arrived at 3:30am in Newcastle. I knew exactly where this YHA was, and without much energy exhausted we got in and passed out. I should mention this is one of the most ‘hostel’ hostels I’ve ever stayed at. It used to be an Old Gentleman’s Club, the ceilings were high, it was spacious and the floors, banisters, windows, furniture were quaint-ornate. Overall the hostel had a very homey feel to it which was very agreeable. The next morning we slept in and practically missed breakfast. After eating we made our way down to the beeches, past the bathes and out to Nobbys’s head. One thing that made me extremely jealous was seeing a Newcastle Uni student reading his reader on the beech—something I haven’t and won’t be able to do in Melbourne. After reaching the farthest point on Nobbys’s head (used to be an island with a light house until it was joined with the mainland) we returned up the beech to the hostel to grab some body boards. The sun had rejoined us after yesterday’s debacle, and the beach was sunny and the waves clear. They were also high and strong. Simply getting out to a point where you could catch a wave was the hardest part, but the ride in was utterly rewarding—ridiculously fast and wild. The water was cold but withstandable, and the body soon got used to it. With that out of my system we headed back to the hostel for showers and a free barbeque and trivia night. I should add that during the time between body boarding and bbqing I headed up to the highest point in Newcastle to catch some pictures as the sun set. Following trivia night and getting ‘best name’ for “Thank God we Left Port Macquarie” we stayed to watch some of the bands in the local battle of the bands. One band was seriously good, but not everyone’s cup of tea, Memorial Drive. The next day we had just enough time to grab breakfast and a short walk through town and up the Queen’s Warf Tower for a look out on the port of Newcastle (‘the giant penis’) before meeting the bus at 11 to Sydney (oh and while waiting we saw Newcastle’s elusive, yet most famous, tram).
Newcastle: the Complete Review
This was a nice town, the atmosphere was relaxed and it was fairly clean. We discovered on the drive out on the bus that there was a whole end to Newcastle we never got to. We’d scheduled extra time in Newcastle for a bit of rest before Sydney, but could have easily eaten another day doing more of the things Newcastle had to offer. It might be worth noting that Newcastle Uni was one of the original placed I looked at attending—from the town, it wouldn’t have been a bad choice.

AusTour 7: Port Macquarie

After leaving Byron Bay at 6:40pm we arrived into Port Macquarie 11:30pm. It was raining when we got there, and we had little idea where the YHA we were staying at was exactly. After some directions from a couple of policemen as they drove by we arrived at the visitor centre. The problem was the hostel was in completely the opposite direction. Back through the night and rain we eventually found the hostel and passed out in what lonely plant describes as a hostel “homier than nanna’s spare room.” It wasn’t. The next morning we got some directions from the hostel staff (LP managed to get that part right—“the owners are charming”) and headed out on a grand loop. Our first ‘stop’ was at the maritime museum, but for a building the size of a caravan and an admission of $7 it was really a stop and turn around. We first made our way to the koala hospital where koalas are nursed back to health after run-ins with cars and wild fires. Following that we walked up hill street (aptly named I might add) to the coast and coastal walk. Up along the coast we snaked along a short section of winding trails before busting out at the two beaches of Port Macquarie. It was still cloudy today, the rain had passed but the sun hadn’t reappeared. With that in mind, and the challenge of an unperturbed strip of sand on the beach I set about drawing this:After amusing our little minds, we followed the beech down to the flagstaff for a look out at the miserable ceiling of clouds and back on the small town. Further along the second beech we found the town’s most famous attractions—the break wall. Essential it’s a regular break wall, but all the rocks that are easily accessible are painted. The rocks include pictures, families, lovers, messages and poems. Following the break wall we made our way to a sunset cruise. Though with the cloud cover still resisting removal, it would probably not be anything special. I was wrong. About 10 mins out of the harbor and up the river we came upon about 5 or 6 bottlenose dolphins. They circled the boat, at some points catching a ride between the catamaran hulls. We followed them for the best part of 20 mins before catching a glimpse of the sunset and returning to port. We left port at 11:30 that night, following a particularly hard trivia night.
Port Macquarie: the Complete Review
Not the most exciting town ever, and for the majority of our stay one disappointment after another. The dolphins though we definitively the best part of the trip and almost made the town worth it. I was glad to be back on the road after this short stop and on to Australia’s 5th largest city, Newcastle.
Also how can you arrive at and leave a city without knowing exactly how to pronounce its name?

AusTour 6: Byron Bay

This place was gorgeous and a great refresher after a city atmosphere like Brisbane. We arrived into the small beach community at 630ish after leaving Brisbane at 3. After arriving we made our way to the Byron Bay YHA (our first YHA experience). The feel of this hostel was good, and matched the beach town environment. The only way to describe it would be like inside-out camping, a horseshoe of room surround shady-palm courtyards, decks and pool. Really relaxed and laid back. After a quick dinner of fish and chips (we were by the sea after all) we went to the railway friendly bar (‘the rails’) where we were serenaded by a western Australia artist, Freya Hanly (I urge you to check her out, she was really good). Later that night we made our way to the beach to try and see some stars as the night was really clear. The next day we rented (free) bikes from the hostel and made our way out to the beach and the Cape Byron walking trail. The sun was warm in a cloud free sky and the beech was white sand greeting crystal clear water. Lazily we made our way up the walking trail (past the most enormously huge lizard I have EVER seen) towards the lighthouse. As we ascended, we passed the most easterly point on the Australian continent (marked conveniently). After too many steps to count we would reach the lighthouse at the top for a look out at the wide ocean and back upon the mountain ranges including (the Captain Cook named) Mt. Warning. We (as in i) decided to continue along the trail which included, can you guess…more steps (up and down, even though we were going down). At one point we left a message of sticks on the path for any other weary traveler on the steps to nowhere ‘Boo more steps.’ The last part of the trail brought us through the Cape Byron Headland Reserve before dumping us pretty much where we had started. We went back onto the sandy beech (which squeaked curiously like tennis shoes) where Barry braved the waters. Finally we went to the surfer’s beach on the other side of Cape Byron where we watched the surfers for a good while before returning the bikes and meeting the bus for our next destination Port Macquarie.Byron Bay: the Complete Review
Beautiful and relaxed place. Definitely want to go back. There’s no annoying transit system, no noise pollution (no light pollution) and I wouldn’t be surprised if the sun shone everyday there. The beaches were large and clean and the water was even better. Nature abounds here from giant lizards to some sort of mutant turkey. Singularly the best stop on the trip.