Post 14 - Road trip
The excitement for the road trip was great. After Amber (my host on my last night in Melbourne) and I had breakfast, she dropped me off at a car rental agency near the airport.
I didn’t know what car I would get and I felt like I was scratching my head over a bunch of cars. I won an MG SUV, a great little car that served me faithfully along the way. Although it’s not a 4X4, it was trained by me and in the end I returned it knowing how to drive (or at least try to drive) on any route.
Okay, I got the car, music - yes, Google Maps - yes, peanuts - yes, we can hit the road.
Australians (god bless them) take the maximum speed very seriously and the many cameras that monitor the roads make sure that no driver violates it even by a kilometer per hour (the speed limit on the highway is usually 110 kilometers per hour). Now imagine that there is a car in front of you traveling at 109.5 km/h and you are traveling at 110 km/h. To overtake it, you will need to make some 5-10 minutes of time on the schedule. It really reminded me of speed walking competitions. In addition, they like to vary the maximum speeds every so often, 110 then 90 then 100 then 70 and then there are koalas on the road so drive 50. You’ve got it. Luckily, cruise control came to the aid of a friend and gave me a hand (or leg) in the drive.
Okay, enough with the driving lesson, let’s get straight to the point. Did you see a kangaroo? Yes, I saw a family of 4 kangaroos somewhere on the road and one of the cute ones even hid in his mother’s pocket.
The first day was all about gaining as much distance as possible. The road between Melbourne and Sydney is not particularly exciting and I decided to do it quickly in order to devote more time to the part between Sydney and Brisbane. Although there wasn’t anything too exciting for me, I still liked this day because it gave me some understanding of the vast expanses of Australia, one of the things that such a riding trip conveys so well. On the way, after a few hundred kilometers, I devoured a hamburger at McDonald’s, which unfortunately, and unfortunately for the cows, didn’t have vegan options. I decided to end the first day in Canberra so as not to push myself too hard and also to see the Australian capital.
Canberra is a city that resembles more of a village if you compare it to Melbourne and Sydney. I reached the city center without any problems, there are almost no people on the streets and it’s very quiet. I spent the night in a nice hostel and went to see a local stand-up show (I laughed at 40% of the jokes, Australian humor after all). After that, I played a little four-in-a-row with some Germans and went to sleep.
The next day I popped in to visit the Prime Minister at Parliament. The cheeky guy wasn’t waiting for me at the entrance, so I went to have a coffee and use his bathroom.
Hitting the road
First marsupials
Australian Parliament
I set off, next destination - Sydney!
On the way I wanted to see marsupials, so I put the car through its first baptism of fire in the field. How fun it was to drive a car that I don’t mind getting damaged (some insurance I added promised $0 deductible) after three months of driving with the cautions manners.
Sydney. I tried to make the most of the two days I had there. First the famous Bondi Beach, then the opera and the library and the gallery and the ferry and the CBD, basically I got some culture and walked around the city. I was impressed by Sydney, in my opinion it is more beautiful and organized than Melbourne and my time there was pleasant.
One of the hostels I stayed in in Sydney was really cool. Hostel is not the right word to describe it, I would use the combination - the meditation house. It is a house that is also a hostel but also a house and you meditate in it. The cool thing is that if you don’t join the meditation you pay more for each night, I killed two birds with one stone, both meditation and being cheap. I really enjoyed the meditations and staying at the house and in the evening we also saw “Don’t Mess with the Zohan” which was fantastic.
The Opera House
Bondi Beach
Sydney
Sydney Library
In Sydney I also met my partner for the rest of the trip, Guy. A great guy who we quickly bonded with and had a great time together. I was a little afraid of bringing another traveler into the equation because, having learned from past experiences, I knew that sometimes I need my spontaneity and that doesn’t always work when there’s another person to consider their wishes. I want to deal with this fear and I see myself as still being able to travel even when I’m not solo. It was very successful, we were on the same page, we were flexible and made decisions together.
I picked Guy up in the morning and we set off for the next part of the trip. Apart from myself, it definitely adds interest.
On the first day together, we drove between huge dunes and beautiful beaches and ended the day at a cool camping site along the way.
Life is good
Deep sand
Van and tent, quality time
We arrived at the family-friendly hostel in Port Macquarie at the end of the second day, there was a warm and pleasant atmosphere when the heaviest rain I’ve ever experienced outside was falling. In addition, it was my first FIFA game in almost four months (although FIFA 16, but Barça was a pretty good team at the time).
We went to cheer up koalas who were hospitalized at the local koala hospital, Mitzvah. Koalas are sweet, sweet, sweet animals that don’t move much, but we arrived when breakfast was served so the guys were a little more active. We also watched a koala being operated on, which was very impressive.
Dolphins are something you get used to seeing in Australia, and that’s also one of the cool things after you find out they’re not sharks.
Get well soon, koala
Find the dolphin
Crew on point
The next surf town on our way was Woogonga. Cool place! There I began my Australian barefooting, I felt comfortable and in the atmosphere to let go of my sandals for free. Guy and I joined Roy and Adi (Roy is my old friend from the time in New Zealand for those who haven’t been following) and Adir recognized us all when we played Frisbee on the beach. That’s how this spontaneous Israeli gang had a Friday dinner at a hamburger restaurant and then Kiddush over beer at the hostel pub (which, surprisingly, was full with Japanese surfers, I even met someone called Sushi).
Shabbat was a classic Shabbat, at least by Australian standards - beers, surfing and friends, I don’t need anything more than that. The Australians came up with an interesting bit here, a drive-in liquor store, all you have to do is drive into the lane, open the window and ask for your favorite poison - Getting drunk couldn’t be easier. All this goodness made us hungry and we had to go eat pizza, so we went. Full and happy, we left Domino’s straight away To the next hostel, which was actually a roadside motel that seemed to have frozen in time 100 years ago.
The famous Byron Bay is our next destination from there. But as they say, on the way to Byron, you stop in Yamba, so that’s what we did. After all, we stopped in Yamba only because I had to, there’s no way someone with a name like Yam wouldn’t pass by Yamba.
We arrived in Byron, let’s see what all the fuss is about. To be honest, I lowered my expectations because I thought that travelers like travelers always exaggerate in their descriptions of places, but the truth is that Byron is cool. Streets full of tourists, but in a good way. Stunning sea with waves and beautiful people. Lots and lots of shops and yummy, yummy food. The hostel we stayed in was also quite cool (the surf house). We met Dave in the hostel’s pub and instantly became the Byron gang, together we walked around this magical town.
I wish I had stayed there a little longer but the car missed its home and I had to move forward to get it back to its parents in time. I decided not to sleep in Byron on the last night of this road trip because I didn’t want to pay the price of the town’s popularity and not take advantage of it the next day. I decided to stop somewhere on the road between Byron and Brisbane and spend the night there. I found a refreshment station like this on the highway, lowered my chair, opened the sleeping bag and poked around for a few hours. This was also an experience I had to do and I’m glad I ticked it off.
Byron Bay
I returned the car and everything went smoothly. This road trip was very, very fun for me, both because there were good people, beautiful scenery and a country that was new to me and also because it was a style of travel I had never experienced before, traveling a huge distance with stops in cool and remote places along the way. In nine days, I traveled almost half the distance that it took me three months to experience in New Zealand. The other difference is the sociality of this trip, unlike a van trip where you are often alone, here I had a lot of encounters with other travelers and it was nice. I am glad that I chose this route to get from Melbourne to Brisbane even though it took more time and money.
The driver of the car rental company picked me up at the airport. What do we do from here?
When I traveled in New Zealand, I wondered how I would travel in Australia. My first idea was to buy a car and do a trip that was reminiscent of what I had in New Zealand. After some inquiries, I realized that Australia is a bit difficult from a bureaucratic point of view, so I went a little off track and started looking into other directions. A Romanian guy I met in Queenstown told me about a website that allows boat owners to find crew for their boat and crew members to find boats. I started looking at this site and messaging boat owners who had plans that suited me. After a few days, I received a reply from Trevor, a 50-year-old Australian who bought a yacht 4 years ago in Australia and has been sailing on it ever since. After a video call and countless questions on WhatsApp, we agreed that I would jump on board around the beginning of April.
The beginning of April arrived and here I am jumping on board! I arrived on a yacht called Ruff N Tumble, Trevor gave me a tour of the new home for the foreseeable future.
We are currently waiting for another crew member, Felix, a 19-year-old Dutch guy who should arrive in the next few days. Until Felix arrives, I will return to Byron for a few days to rest a bit before the big adventure that lies ahead.
I am very excited about this part of the journey, something like this has been on my fantasy list for a long time and now it is coming true. I am very much looking forward to the special places we will reach for a new connection and unique interaction that life on the yacht will bring with it and also very much looking forward to gaining my first real experience in the world of sailing.
In conclusion, the part of the journey was exciting and fun and I am eagerly awaiting the next part!
“Not to be afraid to fall in love to be heartbroken not to be afraid to lose along the way to get up every morning and go out into life and try everything before it ends to search for where we came from and always return to the beginning in the end to find more beauty in everything and dance until we fall from fatigue or love from all the moments in time to find one to hold on to to say that we have arrived always remember to stop for a moment and be grateful for what we have and where we came from”
Idan Raichel