After having a great night camping on the beach we got back on the road heading North! We stayed overnight in the town of Forester, pretty low key night cooking up some chicken rice and beans. We have been eating very well on this trip, all of our cooking while were camping is always delicious and filling. Waking up in Forester we headed down to the water for a morning dip and brought the mask to do a little diving.
Nice relaxing morning before a couple hour drive up to our next destination Port Macquarie, where we were going to catch a ferry across the river! As we got into town we searched for a quick lunch and went to the mall to get some wifi for a bit. After chatting with the fam and some friends we decided to go down to a cool lil beach and get in the water and find out what to do for the night. As we got outta the water and had a look at the map we realized were only another 45 minutes or so from Crescent Heads.
Flash forward an hour and I'm looking over at Bryce with the biggest smile on his face driving down this dirt road, the van shaking so much we wouldn't be surprised if it falls apart. After hoping on a quick ferry and dodging potholes for about an hour we had finally arrived in the lil town of Crescent head, we immediately left the town again in search of camp for the night. After finding a perfect spot on the beach outside of town we started cooking dinner under a tarp held down with a couple sticks and string as it started raining. When we had finally finished dinner the rain had stopped and the millons of stars had appeared behind the clouds. I thought being out in the middle of the desert I saw a lot of stars but nothing compares to the nights here on a deserted beach!
Waking up to a couple cars nearby I knew there had to be some waves, I suited up and got out to head high peaks with 3 guys out and plenty of waves for everyone. Surfing is getting so popular nowadays, when surfing at home in Huntington Beach with a hundred people in the water and hassling for every wave, it makes me wonder. I wonder why don't more people stop complaining about going out to crowded waves, just being on this trip I've surfed by myself multiple times without
having to go that far to search for that wave. The waves were hardly perfect, but it makes you appreciate surfing and the ocean so much more when your relaxed and not getting angered by other people in the water. Anyways, we chilled on the beach for a bit cleaning up the van and making some improvement, and of course as I look back out at the water I see another fun head high wave roll through. Being a surfer seeing unridden waves coming you have to go out if it's the middle of Australia and there could be a shark out haha. It was hard leaving that beach since it was such a beautiful setup with nobody around, but I know I will come back here again soon and I'm sure it won't change.
We hit the road back to the highway and to our next stop Coffs Harbor which was about 120km (75miles) so a pretty easy day. We try to not drive far or fast everyday so we can keep the van running good and not breaking down. Coffs harbor was a cool area but we didn't do much but take a nap and cook up some dinner before hitting the bed.
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| Iluke, NSW, Australia |
From Coffs Harbor we cruised for a couple hours to the town of Grafton where we stopped for awhile to get some good internet at the library. It's hard to find a decent internet spot on the road and that's also why I have had a hard time updating the blog! On our way towards Byron we had one more night to stop, we decided on a super chilled spot in Iluka, just north of Yamba. We got to the parking area and immediately headed down to the water to go for a dip, fun lil bodysurf waves out front. After chillen on the beach and taking in the sun and scenery we headed back to start cooking up dinner. Nobody around but the sound of the wind through the trees and birds chirping in the distance, after no time dinner was ready and we chowed. It started pouring rain during the night which sounds like guns shots on the metal roof of the van! In the morning I got up a bit early to check the surf, I met a guy named Pete down by the beach the only other person around for miles. He ended u being a super cool guy as we chatted for awhile about where we were from before deciding to hit the water with no one around. As I found out he had worked on private yachts for the last 8 years and has traveled the world by boat, we exchanged emails so I could send him my resume to potentially get a job around here. After surfing with 2 other guys out for 2 hours I finally headed in to snag some breakfast and decide where we were headed next.
On the road again headed towards Byron with no plans what so ever, getting into town we already saw that this place was special! We parked the van and just walked around for awhile checking out all the shops, food, and went to a pawn shop to look at longboards (mauw, they call it here) for Bryce. Couple minutes later as Bryce was at the ATM I ran into my friend Emilie who had been living here for a couple months. I hadn't seen her since I was in Bali last year and it was awesome catching up and we planned to hang out while we were in town. After asking a couple people the best option for the night we ended up at Nomad's probably the most famous hostel in Australia. There were young fun people everywhere and we knew it was going to be a good night, stay tuned for what else to come from our stay in Byron!
Amazing you guys!!
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