Dinning on local cuisine. Wild New Zealand spinach I found along the shoreline north of Byron Bay. Yummy!
Camp. Tucked away offshore in the trees.
Me by the fire. Camped out on the beach near Pottsville, NSW. It was a very cold night.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Day 32 - A few photo's from my trek up the coast.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Day 30 - Brisbane
Day 30
It was long haul from Byron Bay to Brisbane. Over the course of about five days I traveled approximately 165Km. Four out of five nights spent camped out along the beach.
I left Byron mid afternoon on the first day, making my way north along the beach – Destination Tweed Heads. The first day I took my time, making it just south of Brunswick Heads where I stopped, sure that I could find a spot to make my camp for the night. It’s a good thing I did too!
That night I feasted on a gourmet of boiled New Zealand Spinach I had picked earlier that day. It was, to my surprise, much better tasting than I had expected!
I had waited till almost dark to set up camp and till well after to get my fire lit so I wouldn’t attract too much attention. About 20’ in the bush off the beach I found a small clearing under some low growing trees and set up there. Using the last remaining light I pitched my tent in record time! I then scurried about to finish collecting enough firewood for the evening. I only needed enough to boil a small pot of water to cook the spinach.
Being winter, dark comes early. June 21 being the shortest day of the year was almost here, and it showed, 6:00PM and it was dark!
Turns out I had collected just enough wood for to finish cooking the spinach after building a decent bed of coals. Then it was off to bed.
The next day I awoke early and was quick to tear down and get on the move again. It was good two hours in the sun heading up the beach to Brunswick Heads, the soft sand not letting me move quite as quick as I had hoped. But never-the-less I made it into and past town and found my way back to the shoreline by noon. Once again it was off along the coast, an endless expanse of ocean to my right, temperate rainforests to my left - my own little sub-tropical paradise.
I was several more days heading up the coast, feeding on mainly Pigface, Spinach and on about day three, to my delight I stumbled upon a Mandarin Orange tree. Heaven!
The roughly 65Km route I had planned was definitely a great test of both myself and my pack. But before I could make it into Tweed Heads I had to detour back onto the road side for a while, and was almost instantly offered a ride north. Since I had no real itinerary I accepted the ride and found myself being dropped off just south of Miami, near Burleigh Heads. Reassuring me there were many, many backpacker hostels all around, I was left to wander town. I found out very quickly there were, in fact, NO such things within 15-20Km. SO I walked to the north end of Miami and bunked in a the first and cheapest little motel I could.
I found myself in a similar situation that I would have had I tried to walk out of Sydney. One town becomes the next. No chance of pitching a tent and no chance of hitch-hiking. So after a hot shower and a chance to rest my body I set out first thing the net morning for Brisbane. I walked for eight hours, trudging from Miami almost right to Pimpama, 40Kms. Finally I was offered a ride right into Brisbane where I am now.
Thanks to strained tendons in my ankle I am laying low for another few days while I plan the next stage of the trek. An opportunity has risen to travel about 800Km west in a remote cattle station near Augathella, Queensland. Finally, the real outback! from there I will make the decision to either backtrack somewhat to the coast, to Fraser Island, and then continue on to Cairns, or to continue heading west to Alice Spring seeing as I will be half way there already. My timeline may shift slightly, putting me in Cairns for late August if I take that route. Though landing me in Alice almost right on schedule if I continue west.
*As many of you may have noticed and already become aware, Google Adsense is no longer operating on this site. Google decided that the amount of traffic generating from my blog was due to "Suspicious Activity", and after appealing to their board they decided to remove the program from my blog, feeling I was abusing their system. Just to clear that up with anyone who might have been wondering.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Day 20 - Arrive in Byron Bay
Day 20
I arrived in Byron Bay tonight at about 7:30PM, marking 770Km I have traveled in the last three weeks. Hitch-hiking has been so effective I have actually had to slow down my pace a bit and spend a bit more time in town and a few days less on the road. Otherwise, I may be nearly in Cairns by now!
Since leaving Coffs Harbour I have spent nearly a week in the Grafton area, between a few nights where I was taken in by Wayne and Jean Gadke - parents of a good friend of mine in Calgary. Thanks for that connection Matt!
After a great couple of days there I was offered a Wwoofing position for a few more days with another connection provided to me by the Gadkes' son Matt.
- Wwoofing is a type of work-stay employment. Where "wwoofers" are given
accommodations and meals in exchange for working a few hours each day. Work type and
length varies from farm to farm, but the premiss is always the same. Usually found on organic
and cattle farms, Wwoofing originated in England in 1972, and farms can now be found all
around the world.
I spent several nights Wwoofing with Tim and his dog Gandhi. Even though we only had one day without torrential rains, it was still good to get my hands dirty and lend a hand for a bit. We spent an entire day pulling and cutting wild peach plants which are apparently very toxic. They resulted in deaths of two cows after they started feeding on them early last week.
I was also introduced to Black Beans which can be found commonly along river banks throughout the temperate rainforests around Oz. The seeds of these gigantic pods are edible, though they require about 10-14 days preparation before consumption to ensure that they are thoroughly rid of their toxins. The aboriginals used to eat these seeds after soaking them for at least 10 days (14 is recommended), then either cutting them into slices and baking them, or drying and grinding them into a flower like powder.
Unfortunately I did not have 14 days to prepare any of the huge bundle I came across - each measuring at about 6-8" long, but will keep them in mind for future reference.
Black Bean Pod and Seeds
I was lucky to have had the opportunities I did in the Grafton area, as we have experienced nearly 2 weeks straight of harsh rain. I made my departure (or escape I suppose) from Grafton just in time. Due to the harsh rains many roads were flooded and washed out, and even several days later now I am still hearing about flooding and road closures all over the southern coast.
Between Grafton and Byron Bay was Ballina. I caught a ride outside of Grafton with a couple and offered a place to stay for the night. This quickly turned into a great opportunity, and I was offered several nights stay with Chris and Emma and their two kids in exchange for a few days work with them.
Which brings us to Byron Bay...
I arrived in Byron Bay tonight at about 7:30PM, marking 770Km I have traveled in the last three weeks. Hitch-hiking has been so effective I have actually had to slow down my pace a bit and spend a bit more time in town and a few days less on the road. Otherwise, I may be nearly in Cairns by now!
Since leaving Coffs Harbour I have spent nearly a week in the Grafton area, between a few nights where I was taken in by Wayne and Jean Gadke - parents of a good friend of mine in Calgary. Thanks for that connection Matt!
After a great couple of days there I was offered a Wwoofing position for a few more days with another connection provided to me by the Gadkes' son Matt.
- Wwoofing is a type of work-stay employment. Where "wwoofers" are given
accommodations and meals in exchange for working a few hours each day. Work type and
length varies from farm to farm, but the premiss is always the same. Usually found on organic
and cattle farms, Wwoofing originated in England in 1972, and farms can now be found all
around the world.
I spent several nights Wwoofing with Tim and his dog Gandhi. Even though we only had one day without torrential rains, it was still good to get my hands dirty and lend a hand for a bit. We spent an entire day pulling and cutting wild peach plants which are apparently very toxic. They resulted in deaths of two cows after they started feeding on them early last week.
I was also introduced to Black Beans which can be found commonly along river banks throughout the temperate rainforests around Oz. The seeds of these gigantic pods are edible, though they require about 10-14 days preparation before consumption to ensure that they are thoroughly rid of their toxins. The aboriginals used to eat these seeds after soaking them for at least 10 days (14 is recommended), then either cutting them into slices and baking them, or drying and grinding them into a flower like powder.
Unfortunately I did not have 14 days to prepare any of the huge bundle I came across - each measuring at about 6-8" long, but will keep them in mind for future reference.
Black Bean Pod and Seeds
I was lucky to have had the opportunities I did in the Grafton area, as we have experienced nearly 2 weeks straight of harsh rain. I made my departure (or escape I suppose) from Grafton just in time. Due to the harsh rains many roads were flooded and washed out, and even several days later now I am still hearing about flooding and road closures all over the southern coast.
Between Grafton and Byron Bay was Ballina. I caught a ride outside of Grafton with a couple and offered a place to stay for the night. This quickly turned into a great opportunity, and I was offered several nights stay with Chris and Emma and their two kids in exchange for a few days work with them.
Which brings us to Byron Bay...
Monday, June 6, 2011
Day 11 - Coffs Harbor
Day 11
Coffs has treated me well. I have made new friends, and saw my first wild Kangaroos!
It has become apparent that I will be hitch-hiking much of the way up the East Coast, working my way through the national parks as much as possible, as it is much easier to find suitable area for pitching a tent rather than along the main highway.
In 11 days I have seen large cities, small towns, open fields of cattle, subtropical rainforests and muddy mangrove swaps. I have yet to cross paths with any snakes, not that I am complaining. Though I have seen several different types of spiders and as mentioned Kangaroos.
I find it quite funny really, in Canada we hear about kangaroos down in Oz and think of wide open ranges, and groups of kangaroos running through the wild outback. When in all reality, they are found in very populated areas. Here in Coffs Harbor for example, we spotted well over a dozen in a small developed community on the north end of town grazing on front lawns and beside houses. Kangaroos here and to elk in Banff.
Never-the-less it was exciting to see them. As well it is the migratory season for Humpback Whales here. I managed to spot one surface quite far off shore from Mutton bird Island the other evening. It is also a regular occurrence here to see manta rays and giant sea turtles just off shore.
I am learning a lot about the country, and have much much more to learn still. As assumed, the East Coast leg of my journey is far more civilized then what is to come when I head West through Central Queensland. It is becoming slightly more apparent to me why so many backpackers travel Australia by renting a van, or for those sticking to the East coast, as many do, taking a bus.
I am excited to see what awaits me. Today I leave for Grafton, only about 85Km north of my current location. From there I will head for Byron Bay - where I expect to be by Saturday.
And the adventure continues...
Coffs has treated me well. I have made new friends, and saw my first wild Kangaroos!
In 11 days I have seen large cities, small towns, open fields of cattle, subtropical rainforests and muddy mangrove swaps. I have yet to cross paths with any snakes, not that I am complaining. Though I have seen several different types of spiders and as mentioned Kangaroos.
I find it quite funny really, in Canada we hear about kangaroos down in Oz and think of wide open ranges, and groups of kangaroos running through the wild outback. When in all reality, they are found in very populated areas. Here in Coffs Harbor for example, we spotted well over a dozen in a small developed community on the north end of town grazing on front lawns and beside houses. Kangaroos here and to elk in Banff.
Never-the-less it was exciting to see them. As well it is the migratory season for Humpback Whales here. I managed to spot one surface quite far off shore from Mutton bird Island the other evening. It is also a regular occurrence here to see manta rays and giant sea turtles just off shore.
I am learning a lot about the country, and have much much more to learn still. As assumed, the East Coast leg of my journey is far more civilized then what is to come when I head West through Central Queensland. It is becoming slightly more apparent to me why so many backpackers travel Australia by renting a van, or for those sticking to the East coast, as many do, taking a bus.
I am excited to see what awaits me. Today I leave for Grafton, only about 85Km north of my current location. From there I will head for Byron Bay - where I expect to be by Saturday.
And the adventure continues...
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