Lost Lighthouses and Big Bananas
Port Macquarie -> Byron Bay, 27th January 2002
We were all up and ready to go at about 9:30 this morning, an early
start for us! Just after we'd finished loading up the van, the crazy
old guy ran over and shouted "Quick, quick come here, I need some
help". He ran around, rounding up me, Stinge and another guy and got
us to move his workbench from one side of the courtyard to the
other. After this, just as we were checking out, he came running
over and told me to wait for a minute. He disappeared into the
kitchen then came running out with 2 six-packs of yoghurt. He asked
if we liked yoghurt, I said yes, so he gave them to me, along with 2
spoons. "Take them with you. Thanks. Bye" he said before
disappearing back inside.
'That's nice of him' I though. But halfway to the van, I noticed
that they were over 2 weeks past their use-by dates. They also had
slimy brown stuff on the wrapping. Yuck! I placed them carefully in
the car and told the others not to touch them. I don't know if he
was being nice or nasty. I guess I never will.
We drove round the corner to a nearby McDonalds for breakfast and
after parking up, the first thing I did was to bin the long
out-of-date yoghurts. They made a satisfying thud as they hit the
bottom of the bin.
After some Sausage Egg McMuffins (mmmmm!), Em, Nat & I popped into
the shops to get some bits & pieces. When we got back to the van,
Stinge was sitting in the front seat, earphones in, bobbing along to
his CD. Behind him, the two "frappes" (brightly coloured ice drinks)
that the girls had bought from McDonalds, were lying upside down on
the rug. A big, bright mess!! And Stinge was totally aware of the
fast spreading mess behind him. Of course, Stinge said it wasn't
him. Even though Stinge was the only person in the car. After a
group sigh and a swift cleaning operation, we were on the road
again.
The journey went swiftly, but we made one essential stop on the way.
We stopped at 'The Big Banana', a huge, plastic yellow banana in the
middle of nowhere. Connected to it is a tourist attraction including
tours of the banana plantation by bus or monorail. This is actually
a major attraction and sums up this region. We're in a sub-tropical
region, so bananas can be grown and we're near Queensland, so
anything can be a money-making tourist attraction! I've also just
read that they've built a $60000 Big Mango somewhere in Oz. Must see
that, not!
The only other stop we made on the way to Byron Bay was a toilet
break stop. As we all stepped out of the car to stretch our legs,
Nat looked back into the van, and sitting on the floor, looking
straight at her, was a huge cockroach! Ewwwwhhhh! Stinge had seen it
earlier, but it was next to the engine, so he assumed it would be
killed from the heat or the moving parts. But oh no! Cockroaches can
survive nuclear blasts, never mind car engines!
Quickly, Nat used an old box, to scoop the bug out & throw it onto
the road. As we watched it scurrying, it started to head back to the
van, Nat flicked it away again, into the middle of the road. We
watched it crawling around for a while, then it disappeared from
sight, somehow dodging all the cars on the road. After that
excitement, we hoped there were no more in the van. But we bought
some bug spray, just in case.
As we drove into the town, we were hit with the whole atmosphere of
this place. Byron Bay is horizontal, as in 'so laid back' it's
horizontal. The place was full of backpackers, surfers and
teenagers. They cruised the street, walking slowly, absorbing the
warm air. They crossed the roads slowly & care-free without looking
(a major hazard to drivers). Every so often, a short shower of rain
would fall, but they would just ignore it. I guess the fact everyone
was dressed in swim-wear meant they had nothing to get wet! Bikinis
and swimming shorts were the essential dress here.
After a quick drive round town, we checked out some of the hostels.
We wanted to camp here (it's much cheaper than staying in a dorm) so
we asked various hostels if they had camping facilities. Only one
did, and they charged such a high rate, we settled for staying at a
normal out-of-town camp site. (We prefer camping at hostels instead
of campsites because then you get to use all their facilities!
Campsites usually have very few facilities.) After checking in we
quickly found a site and pitched our tent.
Once that was done, we went for a look around town. As the campsite
is so far out of town, we had to take the van. We decided to go to
the Lighthouse because it's supposed to be a nice, scenic walk out
there with a good chance of seeing dolphins. I followed the road
signs and soon arrived at a car park. Then I looked at the signs.
One sign said 'Lighthouse 1.5km'' and next to it was another sign
saying 'Lighthouse 2km', pointing the opposite way. Great. Which
one? After a quick think, we decided to go for the one that was
closer.
We trekked up the hill and the sign to the lighthouse pointed into a
small forest. Another sign said that we about to do the 'Rainforest
Walk'. Ok...
After hiking through the thick undergrowth for about 10 minutes, the
light started to fade, the sun had almost set. We decided to keep
going. We wound up a hillside on a thin path and the light continued
to fade. The light soon reached the level where every object looked
like a crazy animal or axe-wielding psycho. Still no sign of the
Lighthouse. Or dolphins. Or even the sea! So we decided to head
back. We can do this another time.
Rushing back in the dark, we did the return journey is less than
half the time (it's amazing what adrenaline can do!) But as soon as
we stepped out of the cover of the trees, the rain fell. Hard! We
ran to the van and jumped in. Soaked. Deciding that we'd had enough
for the day, we drove back to the campsite and called it a (slightly
damp) night. Good night!
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