Where has the time gone?

2008-10-11 - Saturday

Today is another travel day. 650 km to our next destination. But unlike all other travel days, this one is different. This one is to be our last. The last day of packing up the van and it's faithful blue trailer; The last day of travelling as a group; the last day of combining forces to complete a crossword puzzle; the last day of communal van sleeping ...

The last day we'll be sharing a lunch of sandwiches and juice (Ok, maybe it's not all bad).

Today's drive was really no different than any others we have done. The night before, we had presented Matt (our Tour Leader) with a new FM transmitter for his van stereo... To replace the one that had died during our tour... And we were now putting it into good use... Changing up the music we've been listening to a bit.

We did complete one more crossword puzzle and pretty much everyone did doze off atleast once on the ride to our final destination.

I don't think the finality of it all really began hitting home until a view of Sydney could be seen in the distant foreground, and certainly by the time we had crossed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge there was no escaping that we were now in the final minutes of our collective journey.

We pulled up to the gateway hotel and began unloading the van. Once completed, there was time for one last group shot and some final good-byes before we all started moving in our separate directions.

I'm not sure what the reason, but these final minutes did not feel as final as I expected they would. Initially I had envisioned much more emotion and much more anxiety involved with saying good bye to a group of strangers with whom I've spent the last month (practically 24/7) getting to know and exploring Australia with. Maybe it's because collectively, we've already added each other as facebook friends - so that sense of finality has been somehow cyberly diffused; or maybe it's because we are all (except for a couple) getting together tonight for supper... And will be getting together over the next couple of days to explore Sydney; I don't know, I just know that this parting of the ways doesn't feel as heavy as I had expected it would.

As mentioned, we all, except for two, did get together later that evening for supper at a downtown pub then it was back to my hostel for a good night's sleep.

Some final reflections on the OzXposure portion of my trip:

All in all, the trip was absolutely awesome. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I was given the opportunity explore and experience Australia as I had only thought possible in my dreams.

I've walked around the monolith Uluru; I've seen it cast in both sunrise and sunset light. I have met and interacted with native aboriginees; have slept on the devil's marbles and partied in Darwin; have camped under the stars of the southern hemisphere; have held pythons and swam with crocodiles (although I never saw them, I'm sure they were around). I have bungee jumped from a 50 meter (164 foot) platform and have dove on the Great Barrier Reef. I have sailed around the Whitsundays and have explored a sand Island. I have petted kangaroos; have held a koala and have had upteen other experiences of a lifetime. (And thanks to Bart, not only do I have my photos, but also those of my trek mates - all 14,000+ of them - to help me recall those experiences.)

I still have a couple of days to explore Sydney and I'll try to keep updating my blog to reflect those experiences as well; but in the meantime, I do want to thank all those who have taken the time to leave a comment... I've enjoyed receiving and reading them. I'm glad someone out there is enjoying all this writing! :-) This blog has certainly been an interesting little experiment.

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Hogg's Breath

2009-10-10 - Friday

Another bit of bad news this morning. I've been keeping a little touch of the sniffles at bay for the last couple of days... Something that's travelling around the van. Unfortunately, I think the exertion of yesterday's surf lesson combined with walking around all afternoon with a damp swimsuit on gave it the leverage to grab hold. I've awoken this morning to a sore throat and a congested chest.

Luckly there's already drugs going around the van that will help keep it in check... Or atleast suppress some of the symptoms such as the congestion.

Oh well, better for it to happen now rather than a couple of weeks ago.

This morning, several of my trek mates are heading back to the beach to practice some more surfing. I'm glad I didn't sign up for that. There was a touch of rain last night, and the skies are overcast and looking pretty gloomy right now. I'm thinking it's not going to be as fun out there today as it was yesterday.

Instead, I'm heading back into Byron to join some other trek mates for breakfast and then spending the day souvenier shopping.

Byron is a very laid back town and its core is certainly set up to cater to the tourist. It's streets are lined with cafes, boutiques, and other specialized shops (such as surfing), and of course souvenier shops.

With a good dent in my souvenir shopping and some "Noodles in a Box" in my tummy (for lunch); we're picked up from downtown Byron and head off to our next, and last, overnight destination: Coffs Harbour; a short 250 km ride.

Like several of our destinations throughout this trip; we don't have any activities planned for Coff's Harbour. It's simply serving as a gateway or layover on our way to our true destination; being Sydney for this leg.

So, like most travelling days, the highlight will be supper and tonight, it's off the menu: Hogg's Breath's menu. A pub around the corner from our hostel.

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Surf's Up!

2008-10-09 - Thursday

Today I learn to surf...well, that's the idea anyway. Given it's only a 3 hour course, I'll keep my hopes grounded in reality. I had a similar experience this winter with snowboarding... After three hours of lessons, I was pretty much exhausted and barely got off of the bunny hill...technically, I probably shouldn't have.

Shortly after 9am a group of us were brought down to the local beach where we would be learning to surf at the site called "The Wreck", aptly named for the wreck which is visible just off the beach.

After being introduced to our instructor, I believe his name was Fraser... But I might be confusing it with his dog's name... But for the sake of clarity, I'll continue to refer to him as Fraser, we were outfitted with wetsuits and rash suits (a thin shirt that adds in traction with the board; also easily identifies us to Fraser).

Helping Fraser this morning is Sarah. I do remember her name as shortly after our instruction began she had identified herself as Canadian... liviing in Australia for the last cuople of years.

Fraser struck me as exactly what a "surfer" instructor should be. ** Caution: some pretty generalized stereotypical descriptors are about to be dished out. ** He was super laid back, at ease with the world, and perhaps slightly out of phase with it. What I mean is that while clearly intelligent and wise in the ways of surfing, his speech was so relaxed that it could be interpretted in a couple of ways: deeply profound and slow, weighing the words that were to be spoken; or slightly dazed and confused; trying to remember the words just spoken so they could be followed with the proper works to complete a meaningful sentence. I suspect it was somewhere in between those two extremes. He also spoke with plenty of colourful surfer slang... As if trying to decode everyday Aussie slang wasn't enough!

Fraser, with some supplementary instruction from Sarah, began with the basics. We reviewed the physical area we'll be surfing in; some basic common sense safety guidelines (no surfing in swim zones, ensure you have a clear line with the beach before taking a wave, how to swim out of a rip tide, etc.); The basic parts of the board and some of the slang used to descibe these parts.

Then it was into the water... But first without boards. This part of the lesson was all about getting comfortable with reading and looking for the types of waves we'll be trying to surf. To help with this, we spent several minutes body surfing. Several of us got along Ok with this; especially Peter who appeared much more seasoned than the rest of us. None of us, though, could match the skill of Fraser as he caught white wave after white wave. And while the rest of us normally had our heads burried in the wave, his was several inches ahead of it, back arched, clearly able to see the track he was surfing.

Then it was back up on the beach for some more theory and land practice of some surfing skills, which included:

* How to steer the surf board out to the waves (we were only working in waste high waters today);

* How to properly mount the surf board;

* How to row to match the speed of the wave;

* Once on a wave, how to transition from the rowing position to the surfing position;

* How to accelerate / decelerate;

* How to properly dismount the surf board

And with one final review of the safety guidelines, we were heading back into the water, surf boards in hand.

It took a bit of support and determination, for sure, but within 15 to 20 minutes several of my trekmates were "catching waves" and were up on their boards "surfing".

The waves we were after are the ones which have already broke (and have turned white); versus those which are rolling in, called green waves. The reason for this is that white waves have the flatest tops, and thus the timing to catch them does not have to be as exacting as when trying to catch a green wave.

After another 10 minutes, it was pretty clear to Fraser that we were all getting pretty tired... So we headed into shore for a quick break and some photos.

Then it was back in for more practice. Now, I had no problems with getting my board out to the waves; or for spotting and catching waves. My biggest problem was the transitioning from the rowing position to the standing position... Just couldn't get those legs positioned properly. Nonetheless, it was a great experience... And I am taking away some good theory which I can continue to practice should I ever find myself on a beach somewhere with a surf board in hand... And some waves, of course.

Those of my trek mates who were really into it decided to continue surfing for the afternoon and even booked their boards to continue practicing tomorrow morning.

As for me, I'm heading into town this afternoon... See what Byron Bay is all about.

Oh, and all those photos that were being taken. We ended up buying them.

Before heading back to the campground for supper; Matt had taken us up to visit Cape Byron. In addition to being the most easterly point on mainland Australia; Cape Byron is also well known for it's picturesque lighthouse and the frequent sightings of dolphins and humpback whales just off the coast.

Well, I did see the lighthouse (pretty hard to miss it really); but unfortunately, no dolphins or humpbacks. I had thought I had seen a small pod of dolphins kicking it up in the distance, but upon closer inspection they turned out to be a pod of surfers swimming out to their next wave. :-(

For supper tonight, it was back to Nick and me. Already?? My, how time flies. Tonight we have a bit of a group effort going on. There were a couple of folks helping with the grocery shopping and again, there's a couple of us doing the prep work. The actual cooking is solely Nick and myself though. We're cooking up a goulash of sorts: boiled potato smoothered in a red wine sauce (of sorts), green and red peppers, butternut squash, carrots and sausage.

It's the last meal we will have to prepare... Meaning both for Nick and I; as well as for the group as a whole. Tomorrow we eat out and the day following our tour comes to an end. :-(

Tonight also represents our last night of camping... Tomorrow we're in a hostel. In total, 23 nights of camping... My longest camping adventure ever and sure to be a record for a long time to come.

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