December 13, 2008
...continued
So we were out of Karijini National Park, but we were still a long way from Broome. We still had almost two full days of driving to go. We continued to drive through the remote stretches of The Pilbara back towards the coast of the Indian Ocean. The next town we passed through was Port Hedland.
Yes! Civilization! I had reception for my mobile phone! Cold beverages! Air conditioning! Fresh bread!
We stopped at the shopping mall in Port Hedland for a short while. I needed to buy new flip flops... I only had this cheapo AU$8 (CA$6.70) for two weeks and they were already wrecked. This time I bought a proper pair (AU$30 ~ CA$25) that had a comfy mushy layer and had a kangaroo on them! They were my skippy flippies (since Aussies call kangaroos “skippies”)! They’re still going strong a month later!
I think, at this point, I was the dirtiest I’ve ever been. I hadn’t had a proper shower or shave in like three or four days. I had been wearing the same clothes (my “Karijini Dirties”) the same length of time. My boardshorts, which used to be two-toned white and beige, were now a uniform ruddy red colour from the dust. They would never be the same again. I actually felt somewhat self conscious while walking around that shopping mall!
Port Hedland is somewhat interesting since it’s the port that all of the iron ore that’s mined in The Pilbara heads to on long trains to get loaded onto ships. The trains are very long. We drove past one train for like ten minutes before we got past it! They are reputedly the longest trains in the world. The raw unprocessed iron ore is loaded onto ships to be taken to China for refining.
We continued driving on the way towards Broome. In the evening, we didn’t even reach a town... there aren’t any at all between Port Hedland and Broome (at least 500 km). Our stopping point that night was a little camping area on the Pardoo Cattle Station. At least they had hot showers! And a swimming pool! LUXURY!
That night we got to sleep under the stars again in our swags while wallabies hopped around the campground around us.
December 14, 2008
This was the last day of the tour. It was still a lot of driving to get to Broome. We stopped briefly at Eighty Mile Beach, which isn’t actually eighty miles long. Like many of the beaches in Australia and New Zealand with similar names, it got its name when some early explorers said something like, “Crikey! Look at that beach! I reckon it’s got to be eighty miles long!” Silly Aussies.
After driving for a bunch more hours, we finally reached Broome in the early afternoon! What a relief! We drove briefly through the town and onwards towards neighbouring Cable Beach. We stopped for photos and celebratory martinis at a beach bar. We had done it!!!
Everyone else was staying in backpacker’s hostels near Cable Beach. I was the only one who was silly enough to book myself into a hostel in Broome itself (about 8 km away). Tammy was going to give me a drive to drop me off at my place, but the bus wouldn’t start. Silly Turbo Charlie had a loose connection. After unhitching the trailer, me, Sasha, and Tok (Tammy’s boyfriend, who traveled with us through Karijini NP) managed to push the whole bus and get it started again. I guess Turbo Charlie wasn’t so turbo after all.
I went back to my hostel in the afternoon, but took the city bus back to Cable Beach in the evening. I watched the sunset on the Indian Ocean as a caravan of camels walked down Cable Beach.
After sunset, I heard singing and music. What was going on? Upon investigation, I discovered that Cable Beach was having a Christmas Concert. I got to see SANTA CLAUS!!!
Aussie Santa was kinda funny. He had a funny accent, his jacket wasn’t closed properly, and I think he was an aboriginal.
After hearing some Christmas carols in the lavish production, I met with the tour group again for a nice dinner at a restaurant at Cable Beach. Many beers were had, of course!
December 15, 2008
Today was a sightseeing day in Broome for me. It’s actually a pretty small place, and is famous for glorious Cable Beach and it’s pearl industry. Before the war, there was a rough-and-tumble pearl diving industry here. After the war, with the introduction of cultured pearls, the nature of the pearl industry changed, but Broome remained a centre of pearl production. Since it was the Japanese that brought the cultured pearl industry here, there is a heavy Japanese influence in the town.
I didn’t actually do much that day in Broome. I just walked around, took photos, and returned to the hostel to do laundry before catching my flight out of there. My Karijini Dirties got somewhat cleaned. The boardshorts were still ruddy red, but my olive Billabong t-shirt seemed to have escaped somewhat unscathed.
That evening I flew back to Perth (covering the distance, by air, in a couple hours, that took ten days overland -- though we didn’t go in a straight line!). At midnight, I caught another flight from Perth back to Brisbane. My time in Western Australia was finished.
So, Broome itself was kind of boring to me. It’s really just a beach resort town, much like any other, except very far from anywhere. You can really say, that in my trip to Broome, the real adventure was the journey itself, not the destination.
December 16, 2008
I landed in Brisbane about 5:30 AM. I collected my bag, found a bench to lie on, and promptly fell asleep for a few hours. I had not slept on my overnight flight.
Why would I stick around the airport for so long? I was waiting for Meps (AKA Melissa Johnson)! She was coming from Canada for a vacation and had somehow suckered me into planning her trip being her tour guide! I don’t mind planning someone else’s trip, as long as I get to go on it, too.
Around 10 AM, Meps emerged from her transpacific flight ordeal. We hopped into our rented car, a tiny blue Toyota Yaris and we thundered off (as only a tiny Yaris can). It was my first experience driving a stick shift car in a right-hand-side-drive car on the left side of the road. Yes, you have to operate the gear shift with your left hand. No, the pedals are in the same order. Yes, there is a clutch. No, I did just fine!!! I was quite impressed with myself.
We needed a name for our car. We’d have it for two weeks and it would take us lots of places. Meps called it “Little Larry,” but I decided to call it “Wee Lawrence” in a terrible Irish accent. Try saying it: “Weeeeeeee Law-rence!” Hilarious!
I drove us to Surfers Paradise, about one hour south of Brisbane. It’s probably the single most touristy place in the whole continent of Australia, being all condominiums, shopping malls, restaurants, beaches, and gimmicky tourist attractions. Normally I avoid these places (since I don’t consider myself a “tourist”), but Meps was on vacation, and it was a good place to start it off for her (besides, I hadn’t been here yet!).
That afternoon, I introduced Meps to the pleasures of goone (cheap boxed wine). Okay, by “pleasures” I mean, “a cheap way to get drunk”, but, now *I* was on vacation, too! Getting drunk is something that you’re supposed to do on vacation! So there!
Our hostel (the Islander Resort) was really more of a hotel than a hostel, sadly. The common areas and kitchen were extremely disappointing. It was challenging to find people to hang out with, so mostly Meps and I hung out with each other (drinking lots of goone), and enjoying the hot tub. We went in there a few days in a row, before discovering, in the light, that it was scummy and filled with bugs. Yuck.
December 17, 2008
Today, Meps and I took Wee Lawrence out for a spin and hung out in Brisbane for the day. We walked around the city centre where I bought myself some sweet new board shorts. They were kind of expensive (AU$79 ~ CA$66), but they looked really good. They weren’t the standard Billabong, Quicksilver, Ripcurl, or generic hibiscus-print boardshorts you see everyone else wearing. I gotta be different (even if it costs money)! I wonder if my backpacker-budget ideals are beginning to crack.
Walking around the Brisbane city centre was fun, because, of course, the city was decked out in Christmas decorations (only one week left!). There were buskers performing and there was a band playing Christmas music. Even though it was like 30 degrees and there was no snow whatsoever, I was totally getting into the Christmas spirit... just an upside-down version of it.
We stopped by the Brisbane South Bank park, across the river, too. It was a huge park and very swanky. There was an artificial beach and lagoon. Since Brisbane isn’t actually located on the sea, I guess the city planners decided to bring the beach into the city.
Meps said that she “still didn’t feel like she was in Australia yet”. We had to fix that. So, after a couple of ice creams (yay Rainbow Paddle Pops!), we drove to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to see some real Australian animals. There were plenty of koalas, kangaroos, sheep, lizards, birds, and snakes. We watched a fascinating sheep dog demonstration. The Aussie farm dude showed us how one man and two well-trained dogs can move an entire herd of sheep. It was funny watching the dogs run in fast orbits around the sheep, who, acted like sheep... That’s the only way I can say it. They herded close together and moved in a big wooly mob. The two little dogs pushed the whole rabble of woolies into a pen and then proceeded to jump ONTO the sheep and run around on TOP of the herd. I thought this was the best part of the show.
After the animal sanctuary, Meps confirmed that, yes, she finally felt like she really was in Australia. Mission accomplished.
The next destination was the lookout on top of Mt Coot-tha. The road curved up and up steeply and poor Wee Lawrence really struggled to get up there. The view from the top was pretty fantastic as the whole city of Brisbane stretched out before us.
December 18, 2008
I hadn’t been on any roller coasters since my first trip to Japan back in September 2004. That’s more than four years, and that’s officially much too long.
Thankfully, being the tourist hub that Surfers Paradise is, there are several amusement parks nearby. Though none of these are as big as Canada’s Wonderland (which I’ve decided is actually quite a large amusement park), Meps and I still got to enjoy a couple roller coasters and a whole lot of water slides today at Dream World! The roller coasters were fairly tame by my standards, but the water park was very very fun. It was a typical, glorious, sunny, hot, pre-Christmas day in Australia and the water park was highly appreciated.
Since Meps went on roller coasters with me, that makes her an official better travel buddy than Will Chau, who didn’t want to go on roller coasters when we went to Japan in April 2006. :P
December 19, 2008
Today was the third road trip in a row. We took Wee Lawrence one hour south, across the state border into New South Wales, and went to Byron Bay. I had spent six days there back in February, but today we were just here for the afternoon. Meps bought a book. I bought some Thai fisherman pants. It’s been a regret of mine that I didn’t buy more when I was in Thailand, so when I saw some for sale in one of the hippie stores in Byron Bay, I went for it. Fisherman pants are really light, baggy and comfortable pants that lots of people (especially backpackers) in Thailand wear. We also went to the lighthouse on Cape Byron (the easternmost point in Australia), had lunch at an organic cafe, and went to the beach (with huge waves!).
December 20, 2008
Today was a quiet day for me. We went to a shopping mall for some groceries, coffee, and to buy more goone. Meps went for a surfing lesson in the afternoon. I didn’t do much at all. I think I worked on my blog.
December 21, 2008
Nothing-day! We’re on vacation! We’re not obliged to do anything if we don’t want to. Normally, I usually take more nothing-days when traveling, but I was trying to be a good tour guide for Meps on her big vacation.
December 22, 2008
After two rest days (which I needed, deserved, and enjoyed, of course), it was time to do stuff again. It was our last day in Surfers Paradise, so it was finally time to go for a drive to one of the several national parks in the mountains outside of the city. Just 30 km from the coast, there was a plethora of parks and mountains to visit.
The one I chose to go to was Springbrook National Park, located on the edge of an old volcanic caldera from millions of years ago. It doesn’t really look like a volcano anymore, just a collection of pretty hills, cliffs, and plateaus. We took a short walk through a forest that had so many insects buzzing in the trees it was actually hard to hear each other talk. I had never been in a forest that was so noisy before. It was truly summer here in Australia (even though Christmas was only a few days away!).
We drove to a lookout with the very boastful name of “Best of All Lookout”. From there we could see all the way across the caldera, including to Mount Warning (the central peak) and all the way to Cape Byron on the coast with all the bumpy land in between. That’s a pretty good distance. It was a good lookout, but I’ve been to better :)
We had lunch at a picnic area near Purling Brook Falls. There was a hiking trail around the base of the falls, so we went for a little walk. At the start of the trail, we saw two rainbow lorikeets in a tree. Cool! Colourful birds! I had to try and take their pictures, of course.
It was kind of dark under the trees, though. My pictures weren’t turning out very well. I decided that I should break my own rule and use the camera’s flash while taking pictures of animals. One of the birds objected strongly to being flashed and actually flew up and attacked my camera!!! There was no damage, but I was certainly surprised. I guess I shouldn’t break my own rules. Stupid birds.
The waterfalls were pretty, at least:
You can see the hiking trail winding behind the cascade part way down. We got to walk behind the waterfall, of course!
From the bottom of the waterfall, there was a side path to a rock pool. There were some very-refreshed looking people coming up from there who had gone swimming. I had brought my swimmers, so we went down to check it out. When we got there, I found a ledge to jump into the water from. The water looked VERY VERY cold and I was reluctant to do it. After seeing some kids jump in I remembered how much I love jumping off of shit into shit and how much I live for this kind of stuff (yes, this really was my thought process), so I had to go for it.
Indeed, the water was very very cold. As an added bonus, I had to jump three times before we got a picture that turned out. The sacrifices I go through for my art...
The drive back was fun. Wee Lawrence was nearly out of petrol. It was a good thing though that most of the way back was downhill on a very twisty road. Usually, I threw the little guy into neutral and rolled most of the way down at speeds only vaguely acknowledging the posted speed limits. The road wasn’t very busy, so, remembering the lessons I learned from the crazy bus drivers in Southeast Asia, I cut all the corners on the hairpin turns and switchbacks that I could. Surprisingly, I didn’t terrify Meps too much. She’s a trooper!
December 23, 2008
Goodbye Surfers Paradise. We drove north two hours (putting us one hour north of Brisbane) to Maroochydore, on the Sunshine Coast. I had spent one week on the Sunshine Coast back in February with my father and sister. At that time it rained six of the seven days, making a mockery of the name “Sunshine Coast”. I still enjoyed the place, and I thought it would be a nice place to spend Christmas. Originally, I had wanted to spend the week in Byron Bay for some excellent Christmas partying, but the town seemed to be booked solid, so I thought the Sunshine Coast would make a suitable replacement. This time, however, instead of staying in Noosa, we stayed 30 km south in Maroochydore, which is somewhat less touristy.
In Maroochydore, we stayed at Cotton Tree Backpackers, located across the street from a park and a beach (an excellent setting). The backpackers was a proper one: a cozy house with only a couple dozen guests. Many of them seemed to be long-termers: transients (like me) who had settled in one place for a while to work (unlike me). Many backpackers in Australia stay for a year and spend most of it working. I, however, didn’t really feel the motivation to work, and I’m sure that I’ve seen much more of Australia in my four months here than many have in their year. Long-termers seem to be very cliquey and it’s hard to make friends with them, but the ones at Cotton Tree were very friendly and we had no problems being social (unlike in Surfers Paradise).
It was a Sunday night and it was hard to find a place in town to have dinner. Australia is really bad for restaurants on Sundays. Many are closed, and the ones that are open charge you an extra 10% for the privilege of being able to eat there on Sunday. Lots of other stuff is closed on Sunday, too. Sometimes it’s hard to remember how progressive Canada is in this regard.
I had a craving for fish and chips and I had some that night. The fish was snapper, which is definitely classified as “tastyfish.” Meps even tried some of my fish. It was the first time she had fish in like fifteen years. She survived the encounter and even said the fish was pretty good. Maybe the walls of her vegetarianism are starting to crack?
That night was a fun one. Cotton Tree Backpackers has a few picnic tables out front and we drank a lot of goone with the other people there. Mostly we chatted with Amanda, from New Zealand. Around midnight, she tried to call her friend who worked at a pizza to try and score us some free pizza. He didn’t answer the phone, but Amanda passed the phone around and we left silly messages on the voice mail. Silly us. We also hung out with Aemon, from Canada. There were actually a lot of Canadian backpackers at Cotton Tree. That just continues the trend of there being far more Canadian backpackers than Americans (though the numbers of Canadians are still dwarfed by English and Germans).
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! But I’ll write about that in the next update, mmm’kay?
--
Rob Sz
Auckland, New Zealand
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