It was very sad leaving Manly. My home in Australia. However moving on was much needed as a few things were starting to get to me. Particularly meeting new people all the time and talking the same old shit. I do not think I can handle another conversation with a very nice German or Dutch guy about accents and language!!! Also the, looking back at times gone by, by other Manly 'long termer's' and myself was becoming tedious and ultimately resulted in it becoming a chore to mingle with the new crowd. So the time was right to move on to Melbourne, meet a new set of people in a new place and experience being the new-by, besides I had a ticket for the Grand Prix down there. I bid my farewell to some very good friends at the ferry quay and set sail for the city for what could be the last time. I spent the journey reminiscing and fought back the odd tear. Once in the City I took a taxi to the car hire place. The driver being Croatian I think found it hard to hold back his joy of their triumph over England in the European Championship - cock.
I had booked the car for a backpacker rate from an Internet cafe in Manly so I really didn't expect too much in the way of luxury. Driving a car alone in its self is something of a luxury to a backpacker so I was overjoyed when I actually saw that the car I had ordered was a beautiful executive Hyundai Sonata. I couldn't' believe it and once behind the wheel I immediately felt some sort of affinity towards the car. I felt I wanted to name it. This was something new to me as I have only ever had the type of car that makes getting to work without a hitch an accomplishment. After twenty minutes of traffic I was out on the open road. While sat in the traffic I had been thinking "my God, this is going to cost a fortune in petrol!" but once on the open road I thought "fuck it" and whacked the tunes right up and put my foot right down. I thought I should stick to the speed limits as I had heard there where plenty of cameras but when you see how straight and empty the roads are I would say it is nearly impossible to remain at 100kph all the way. Besides it was a long drive. The only thing I had to worry about were stray kangaroos.
I made it into Wollongong just as it got dark and stayed in a hostel that was literally like staying in a hippies home. It was excellent although the rooms were pretty shitty and in the morning the place was full of kids. I didn't hang around as I was itching to get back on the road with my new toy.
I must have done about 140kph all the way down to the Pacific Drive tourist highway that clings to the beautiful coastline of New South Wales. From there I had to do a more reasonable speed as the views were too good to miss. I had some decent fish and chips, which is rare for me as I always regret fish and chips afterwords. I pulled up to have a look at Calungatta beach which was up there with the best beaches I have ever seen. It is not only the shear beauty of the beaches in Australia that I find so amazing, it is the fact there is not a bloody sole on them. I was literally the only human on this beach that any where else in the world would have shops, fairgrounds, lifeguards and pineapple sellers all over it.
I stopped at a roadside cafe for lunch. A greasy spoon kind of place complete with mismatching chairs and decor form 1971. I loved it, it was very refreshing after spending so much time in Manly where it is hard to order a bacon sandwich without Turkish bread and a rocket salad on the side. This place was just what I had missed but hadn't realised it. This small joy was enhanced when three blokes came in wearing high-vis jackets just as I was ordering my food. You could even choose to have a cup of tea or mug of tea. Not forgetting my surroundings, I ordered the mug, but despite the road workers listening to my order, I still couldn't bring my self to order four sugars.
I stopped at another stunning and unique beach where I was not alone. At the other end of the beach was a man doing something very strange. He was walking around picking up clumps of seaweed and moving them to a different part of the beach. I thought I better get a move on but would have to walk past this guy and then through some woodland to get back to the car. I walked by and then he saw me and ran and hid behind a rock. Then as I walked away, keeping an eye on the rock I would keep catching him look to see if I was still there. Obviously having seen Wolf Creek, I thought, Shit!!! I still had a quite a walk so I quickened up and got my Durham on a Saturday night head on, just in case. I was glad to get back to the car and was away.
I had a quick stop at Ben Boyd National Park, and bumped into a couple of small black kangaroos and then to a very rich area called Turo Heads with another stunning yet desolate beach, which just made me question whether the Pele that live here really appreciate how lucky they are. I hope they do. After that I made a mad dash to a youth hostel in Mariumbol which was a little too quiet. I had to assure a dutch couple that not all hostels in Australia where like this as they had only been to two and the fact I was in this one made it the most lively. The highlight was finding a Round the Twist video. A kids show we loved, set in a lighthouse just outside of Melbourne. I was surprised that I still knew all the words to the theme tune.
I saw on the map that there was a Duck Billed Platypus sanctuary in Ballamba which was a bit of back tracking but so what, I was on my own, had the time and was loving every minute of it. The scenery changed as I made my way inland as I was entering Snowy Mountain area. The fields gave way to pine forests and the Kangaroo warning signs changed to wombat signs. I felt like I was racing along the Autobahn in the Black Forest of Germany. Especially when an Audi A5 flew past and for about an hour we had a good old head to head. Unfortunately I got to the sanctuary at the wrong time of the day and the Duck Billed Platypus still remains a mystery to me. What is it? A mammal, duck, dolphin, lizard? It is like all the animals in Australia had a massive orgy and this creature was the end result.
I did the last leg of the journey at a slower pace and had time to fit in Wilson's Promontory, which is a national park on the southern most point of Australia and if the beaches so far on the trip were special then these where like nothing on earth.
I eventually made it to Melbourne and had to hand my car back which I was a little sad about as the drive had been one of the highlights of my whole trip.
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