In 2000, over a decade ago now, I traveled to Australia for the first time. Traveling with a group of 25 University students from around the USA, we spent six weeks in and around the city of Brisbane (in the state of Queensland) making our way up and down the eastern coast traveling as far south as Sydney and as far north as Bundaberg. Witnessing kangaroos hoping on the side of the road, crocodiles striking prehistoric poses along the banks of billabongs, awing at the beauty & expanse of the Great Barrier Reef, and set amongst a culture that thrives off the ocean, I knew this continent was a place I'd one day return...
As it is with larger groups, and being that we had a specific mission and itinerary, I recall staring transfixed out of the window of our bus as we meandered our way along the coastal roads past countless empty waves peeling their way towards the Pacific shore. In my plans to circumnavigate the globe on these travels, I was determined to return to those images in my memory and aimed to manifest into reality the "mind-surfing" I did ten years ago! With 8 months of traveling behind me, my return to the "Land Down Under" marked a new phase in my journey... No longer was I somewhere completely foreign & different (and poised to again learn to breath as a "fish out of water") but, rather, I was returning to a place I had been to rediscover what it was that made me want so much to return.
Beginning by flying into Cairns (to the north) and ending with a flight out of Sydney (in the south), my plan was to take the full month of March and snake my way from north-to-south scuba diving, surfing, meeting up with friends scattered about, and, all the while, eat meat pies along the way... But, as you learn, plans change...
Recent bad weather had plagued northern Queensland before my arrival... the region just south of Cairns was hit by a category 5 (the strongest on the rating scale) Cyclone just a few weeks before and heavy rains had persisted since, serving to both hamper relief efforts and greatly limited activities available for travelers like myself. Though mother nature seemed to be uncooperative, as luck would have it, I touched down on the tarmac aboard an AirAsia flight from Bali to the heavens parting and the suns rays shining brightly over the soggy land... I was back in Oz and brought the sunshine with me!
Not having had the opportunity to scuba dive The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) on my first trip, my primary reason for starting my Australian travels in Cairns was to make it out to the reef. Because of the recent weeks of awful weather, it was no surprise that this "gateway to the GBR" was virtually a ghost town! However, the lack of crowds, coupled with the sun making a reappearance, proved to be a recipe for fun at a discount... Well, even with the discount considered, I still incurred my most costly single-day activity on all my world travels to-date: $200 (A shocker compared to the $20 a dive price tag back in Bali)!!! Offering the incentive of a free transfer an hour north to a more secluded portion of the reef, along with free gear rental and three dives for the price of two, I booked a full day boat trip out of Port Douglas with Poseidon Cruises regardless. We had a great crew and a fun time although, after my experiences underwater in The Red Sea and Micronesia, the reef was not quite as spectacular as I had hoped...
Backpacking around the globe you constantly run into other travelers from all walks of life... And, it seems you run into more Aussies than travelers from any other country (they say that at any one time 10% of the population -- or 2 Million Aussies -- are overseas)... You just can't escape them! Shocked at my sudden return to the prices of the 1st world, I was fortunate to have a list of Aussie friends I shared time with on my travels and whom offered me a place to stay should I stumble into their hometowns. The first of these friends were Rory & Hannah (who I had spent the better part of two weeks exploring Turkey and attending a Turkish wedding with back in October)! Unfortunately, the rain returned but R & H were determined to show me a good time and share their homeland with me as we spent the weekend driving through the rainy rain-forested areas and Tablelands surrounding Cairns...
After a week of starting to get comfortable I was ready to get on the move again and signed up for a vehicle relocation service -- In Oz it is common for individuals to travel around the continent via campervan... It's not atypical for these people to cover large distances over long periods of time and, often, they end up ending their journey far from where they originally departed. Many of the campervan companies accommodate this trend and, in order to recoup their vehicles, offer vans needing to be "relocated" for free to capable drivers (they even pay for the high cost of petrol)! The catch? You only have a set number of days to return the vehicles to their destination...
Alternatively facing the surprising high cost of public transport, I volunteered to be a relocation driver and prepared for an epic road trip of 2,000 kilometers over a 4 day period. But, upon arriving to pick up the vehicle, I was informed the road to the south was closed due to excessive flooding :(. I had spent a couple extra days than planned in Cairns and, although I had managed to keep myself occupied, no assurance of when the road would become passible was cause for a shift in gears... Tired of being a traveler, and lacking the motivation to go trail blazing on my own through the Outback, my mind was focused on escaping the rain and getting to those stretches of coast abounding with waves. Ditching the impossibility of driving, I cheated, and caught a flight to the white sands and right point breaks of the Gold Coast... Just in time to witness Kelly Slater win the first major contest of the ASP World Tour!
Fortunately, I had a friend who just happened to have an awesome pad on "The Goldy" right overlooking the sand and within a motorbike drive away from a variety of surf breaks. Cindy is from California and she and I first met several years ago at a mutual friends wedding in Maui. As a surfer desiring to travel, I recall talking to her back then about her desire to move to Oz... And, also sharing with her my desire to undertake a trip around the world! Well... low-and-behold, several years later here we are; she planting herself in Oz and returning to university studying to be a nurse and myself on my world trip! Amen to dreams coming true :)
With my Balinese surfboard under my arm, I was back to the sun, the beach, and surfable waves (be them on the more "smallish" side). I've spent the last couple weeks enjoying the ocean, the company of Cindy and her flatmates (Kat & Mel and the resident wildlife!), and going on mini adventures in and around The Gold Coast, Byron Bay, and making good on my desire to return up to The Sunshine Coast. Having gotten to surf Noosa, Byron, Straddy, Snapper, and a host of other lesser known spots, my daily routine centered around getting in the water, getting better fit for upcoming larger surf in Tahiti, and having fun with the gals and their "mates."
As each day passes I become more aware of my longing for home. As privileged as I've been to travel to the places I have, and for the duration of time I have, the magic of the travel experience has begun to wear off: I've out traveled the majority of my fellow travelers! Intent to score some BIG waves, I scrapped my last week planned in Oz, changed my flight to just route for a day through New Zealand, and am off a bit earlier than expected to the serenity & surf of French Polynesia! Originally dedicating a full month to roaming the islands for waves, my early exit from Oz now yields a full six weeks! These latter stages of my travels have always been left open-ended and, although at one time it was a consideration to continue onward to South America, I purposefully left plans open so as to evaluate my head, heart, and wallet when this time arrived. At this stage, Tahiti, with the exception of a potential hop over to Rarotonga, will likely be my last destination!
Over the next few weeks I hope to have sufficient time to reflect on my travels abroad and mentally prepare for bringing my experiences back with me to my small island home in the middle of The Pacific..... I hope I bring back with me my experiences in a way that helps me continue to live outside my world while I live inside it..... God-willing, this will be my view in the meantime.....
