Blitz-Road-Trip

From 4 months in OZ, the main thing I have learned about myself is that I am a poor blog updater...

Last week, my cousin Megan showed up with a friend. We hung out in Sydney for two days and then jumped into a van that they rented and headed north. I had 2 ½ days off, and they were flying out of Brisbane in 3 days. There was a bunch of flooding on the coast highways in between Sydney and Brisbane. Most people use the Pacific Highway, and we started our whirlwind tour in similar fashion. After buying some supplies, we made lunch in a park in Newcastle and headed inland to avoid the closed freeways. We jumped over some mountains and drove for a ways in the dark after an unreal sunset. It was sad to miss the scenery, but when we stopped cooked an easy dinner the best stars I have ever seen were out. The Milky Way completely filled a huge section of the sky, it was unbelievable. We drove on and slept a little way off the highway in a wooded area.
The next morning we continue along inland and found a set of beautiful waterfalls. When we finally ran back into the coast, snacked on some cheese and crackers, went for a swim and enjoyed the sun on a nice little beach. We rolled into Nimbin that afternoon to check it out. It is hard to spend long in OZ without hearing of Nimbin. This is straight from Wikipedia…
“In New South Wales, the cultivation, selling and possession of cannabis is illegal. In Nimbin all three activities are part of every day hippie culture. Nimbin has a high tolerance for cannabis plant (marijuana), with the open buying, selling and consumption of locally grown cannabis on the streets and laneways.”
I avoided the drug dealers and spent 6 minutes in an internet café booking my flight for the next morning. We arrived in Byron Bay just after sundown because I was driving too slow, the left side of the road thing is still very weird. We had a nice little birthday dinner, drove up to a random forest above the gold coast and spent the night there. The next morning I packed while Megan drove us to the airport, and I made it early enough to work to take a quick shower. Great little trip. Thanks girls.