up the east coast

July and the first half of August were spent between Sydney and Cooktown, with a few ventures inland.  Now that I have some time and internet access, here are select experiences from the east coast road trip...


Before leaving Sydney, Priscilla and I signed up to be Willing Workers On Organic Farms (WWOOF).  This program allows you to work for 4-6 hours per day in exchange for room and board, and we decided to do this twice on the east coast - once at the start and once at the end.  Our first WWOOFing stop was in Willina, northwest of Newcastle, with Bill and Jilliana - medical herbalists who operate a wholesale plant nursery as well as a holistic health practice that manufactures herbal medicine and beauty products.  Their listing said: If you're interested in health, natural healing and disease prevention, amazing Greek vegetarian food then you will enjoy our paradise.  It also said: You will live in our barn house as part of our family.  After a few years of naturopathic treatment to optimize my own health, this place sounded pretty intriguing, and Priscilla and I felt like we'd lucked out when we confirmed they had availability to host us.  After the excessive proportions of meat in the outback diet, I was also ready for a digestive break and excited about Greek vegetarian, thinking about veggie moussaka and Greek salad (mmm... feta).  I was also curious to see what living in a barn would be like, although a bit apprehensive about it at the same time - would I be sleeping on hay?  I would soon find out.

It was interesting to see how Bill and Jilliana described their lifestyle in the listing compared to my experience of how they actually live...  We left Sydney in the evening and drove straight up to Bill and Jilliana's 400-acre property, arriving quite late at night.  It was dark, but I could see that the house looked like a giant shed.  Bill met us outside and lit the way for us to quietly climb up the stairs into the loft that housed our beds.  The next morning we woke up to find Valerie, a 19-year-old university student on exchange from New Jersey, and a fellow WWOOFer, in the third bed in our loft (which was surprisingly comfortable and cozy for a barn/shed!).  She gave us the lay of the land: Bill and Jilliana only ate organic food; didn't eat breakfast (to give their digestive systems a break); didn't drink water (to reduce the amount of work their kidneys had to do); and only ate properly food combined meals (too much to explain here, please google).  This meant that they only ate 2 meals per day, one primarily consisting of fruits and the other one was usually made up of vegetables and beans.  My visions of vegetarian moussaka vanished into thin air.  Bill later informed us that their diet was based on the ancient Greeks.  It was like doing a detox by default - which, in the end, I actually quite enjoyed, even though it was unexpected... I was just happy that my own quest for better health had already at least introduced me to some of the concepts Bill and Jilliana lived by.  Otherwise it probably would've been too much of a shock!  Especially with the physical labour...

Priscilla and I helped Bill and Jilliana with both of their businesses, with the majority of our efforts focused on the plant nursery.  We weeded in the nursery and packed up plants on two trucks - one for each of the Sunday markets that Bill and Jilliana attended as vendors.  As someone who packs frequently, I have to say that Bill and Jilliana took the concept of efficient packing to the next level!  Plants were stacked tight and staggered at least 3 pots high.  We packed the trucks a day early and then got up at 3 am on Sunday to do the 2 hour drive to the market with Bill.  It was still dark outside and on the truck while I was unpacking, so I had to be careful not to drop pots of plants as I pulled them out - which was actually surprisingly challenging!  We were set up and ready to go well before the market opened at 8 am, at which point Bill asked us to help out during the market as well.  Tasked with selling plants, I felt like I was on The Apprentice - except that rather than competing to win the opportunity to work for Donald Trump, my prize would be having less plants to re-pack onto the truck on the way home - which all of a sudden was oddly exciting!  I was not equipped for the job...  I gave away all my plants a few years ago to avoid killing them (since I was never home), and consequently I lacked the product knowledge required to support the inquiries of customers striving to make an informed purchase.  I decided to focus on supporting customers who'd already made a decision, and getting those who needed info access to Bill.  It worked well - when the market closed, Bill said that sales were higher than usual given the time of year.  We still had quite a few plants to re-stack on the truck, but I was happy to do it - and that he trusted me enough to allow me to contribute to his livelihood.

Right after leaving Bill and Jilliana's I found myself in Hunter Valley - one of Australia's wine regions - eating and drinking at a micro-brewery just hours after leaving their home.  The next day was occupied by a wine tour.  It's funny how quickly and dramatically things can change - and how easy it is to adapt! :)

You can feel the energy in the air when you get to Byron Bay!  This was the first stop on the east coast where I got that sense of relief that you get when you arrive at your vacation destination after a particularly stressful and busy period (even though I can't say that I've been stressed or busy lately!).  Byron Bay welcomes visitors with sunshine, beautiful beaches, great food, alternative therapies and interesting people - some of whom told me things I already knew.  I totally get why some people never make it further up the east coast.  After some surfing lessons...

...I decided to get a picture of my aura taken.  I was actually tempted to perform a very, um, scientific experiment of getting my aura cleansed (a service readily available in Byron Bay!) and then getting a second photo taken to see the difference.  After my first aura photo I realized there was no need to go any further, as the reading felt accurate.  Red represents vital energy, grounding, passion, determination, will and focus.  My reading revealed that I am:


- Considered trustworthy, competent and determined by people who meet me
- In the middle of a cycle
- Capable of committing to a cause to effect change
- Sometimes overly focused on others/external things and for this reason need to make sure I take care of myself


I was also informed that I need to get clear on what I want for the future - which, ironically, is the reason I decided to take some time off in the first place.  It's exciting when life gives you confirmation that you've taken a step in the right direction... regardless of the source :)


When I was in Hervey Bay I called Neil and Claire, friends of a family friend in Toronto.  I had never met these people before.  They didn't know I might be contacting them either so until I picked up the phone and explained our mutual connection they had no idea I even existed - and even so, they excitedly invited Priscilla and I to stay with them in Bundaberg for a night.  We arranged to visit them a few days later and I have to admit, some of my initial excitement was not just at the prospect of meeting these people I'd heard so much good stuff about, but also because of the idea of not living in a hostel for one night... showering in flip flops and sleeping with things you don't want people to steal in your bunk bed gets old kinda quickly.

When we arrived Neil and Claire welcomed Priscilla and I with typical Aussie hospitality - meaning, they told us to feel at home in their home and actually meant it.  And I did feel at home, right from the start - how can you not enjoy being in a house designed with a special nook for happy hour?  We first met up with Claire at the Bundaberg Barrel and went to the house to meet Neil, who had come home to greet us between work and his evening commitment.  Neil and Claire are avid travellers and we immediately bonded by sharing our various adventures, getting into a conversation about the realities of travel that left us all erupting with laughter.  I was laughing so hard my cheeks hurt and it felt like my abs had gotten a good workout.  Since we'd blocked in Neil's car on our arrival and he needed to get out, I went to move our car.  After I got in I finally stopped laughing, looked up and found myself in the front left-hand side of the car - the passenger side down under. I smiled and started laughing again: "Well, I guess I better get in the other side." Neil replied: "I was wondering what you were doing!" Instinct is a funny thing, and can kick in when you least expect it.

We were having such a good time that we ended up extending our visit in Bundaberg, and the rest of it was equally fabulous and entertaining!  We toured around the area, shared some more of our experiences, ate some authentic and traditional Aussie treats - homemade meat pie and BBQ - and used the happy hour space daily :)  When it was time to leave I didn't want to go...  I was hoping time would somehow just pause so that we could hang around a bit longer without compromising the rest of our desired itinerary.  Unfortunately that never happens.  We had to move on.  The day we left, Claire woke us up to say goodbye before leaving for work.  Neil came home between his morning commitment and work to say goodbye to us.  The night before, Neil had thanked Priscilla and I for treating him and Claire so well, saying that it isn't often that they have the opportunity to connect with people from our generation at that level.  He reinforced that sentiment again that morning.  After we said our goodbyes and Neil left for work, I felt completely overwhelmed...  I couldn't help it... I started bawling.  Uncontrollably.  These people, who days earlier had been complete strangers, had generously invited us into their home and graciously hosted us for a few days - and they were the ones thanking us for treating them well!  It seemed to me like it should be the other way around.  I've realized that although it was hard to go, this was the ideal parting - how often do both parties think they got the better end of the deal and express gratitude for it?  Not often enough I'd say...

A few more stops down the road, Priscilla and I were at Airlie Beach.  It seemed a bit cold to go snorkeling, so we opted to see the Whitsundays via a scenic flight on a seaplane.  We booked a plane ride for the following afternoon through our hostel shortly after our arrival.  When the booking agent was explaining logistics, she told us the airport was 10 minutes down the road.  Priscilla and I nodded in recognition - we'd just driven by some signs for the airport turn-off on the way into town.  I was excited - I'd been on a seaplane for a work trip between Vancouver and Victoria a few years ago, which had been pretty amazing.  And that was for utilitarian travel!  A flight designed for touristic purposes in a part of the world known for breathtaking views would surely be at least equally enjoyable.  The next morning we walked around and tried to fill up our day before the fight, wandering around a market and making some phone calls home.  We hopped in the car early and started driving to the airport.  Ten minutes down the road, we hadn't seen any signs for the airport.  Although I'd been going the speed limit, I wondered if I'd been driving too slowly.  Maybe that was why we hadn't seen them yet?  Five minutes later, there were still no signs... the airport turn-off was further out than either of us remembered it being.  We discussed, and eliminated, the possibility of there being more than one airport in the area - Airlie Beach, with a population of less than 3,000, was simply too small to support 2 airports... right?  When we finally got to the turn-off, I was feeling a bit unsettled...  Why had it taken us so much longer to get there than it was supposed to?  And why was it not in the direction of water?  I was still optimistic, guessing that perhaps the plane took off from land and landed on water (a convertible seaplane? how cool!)...  The additional travel time meant that we were no longer early, so Priscilla jumped out of the car to run in and tell them we were there for our flight while I went to park.  When I got into the building, Priscilla was running out - there were two airports, and we were at the wrong one!  My cell phone rang.  It was the scenic flight people, to ask if we were still coming.  I quickly explained our predicament, only to find out that they couldn't wait for us to get from one airport to the other.  The plane was going to leave without us!  After spending the morning trying to figure out how to kill time before our afternoon flight, we were going to miss it...  We debated sticking around for another night to catch a flight the next morning but ended up opting against it - the time felt right for us to move on and I think that I just wasn't meant to be on that flight.  (They also kindly refunded our deposit, since it was an honest mistake...  Whitsunday Airport vs. Whitsunday Coast Airport - who named these??)  So the Whitsundays - a "must-do" in Australia - will have to wait until next time... 

More to come!  Stay tuned...