Highway & Sydney

10.4

That day we rose early once more to embark on the next part of our quest. Our destination of the day: south. To accomplish that we needed a new vessel that could carry us through the endless wilderness of this country. We secured another wheeled log with beds, that needed to be moved south. The procedure to pick it up, was surprisingly easy and with the sun still low in the sky we rolled down the freeway. Our wheeled log was due to arrive at the pre arranged meeting spot in three days, leaving us plenty of time to explore the countryside. This log was also so much more modern and bigger than the last one. The best improvement was that we were allowed to use everything in it, like the stove. The morning passed with good music and beautiful scenery. Like any other decent Hobbit, we stopped at the best point for lunch. With the view on the sea and sand below our feet our cold pasta, cooked the day before, tasted like Mrs. Weasleys cooking. We continued our journey until we stopped at the magnificent harbor of Coffs. There the ocean was raging a never-ending battling against the rocks. Wandering through the bird reserve we watched the waves piling and crashing into the land. The last destination for the day was a lonesome forest glen. There between pine trees and dancing fairies we stopped for the night. Delighted with the possibility to use the dragonbreath built into our wheeled log we cooked some chilli. Just like every decent person would do we ate our food standing next to our log and staring up into the sky. Glittering above us where the countless stars of the milky way.

11.4.

The next day dawned bright and clear. The sun crept up behind the trees illuminating our little glen. After a nice, warm breakfast we continued in the direction of the southern cross. After the time of the first shrek movie we stopped in Port Maquerie to refill our storage. We also started the side quest to find a typical aussie barbeque next to the beach. It took us a bit longer than expected but we managed to find a place, where we could prepare our food and look out on the sea at the same time. The only other issue was that we had to share the space with a rather large iguana. Snoozy the sleepy barbecue lizard might look a bit scary with its length of 1.2 m and scales, but they were really friendly. Due to the fact that they were over a meter long we decided not to cook on the side where Snoozie was laying. They were also laying very much in the way. But I'm sure they found it very amusing that everytime they rounded the corner of the bbq we would go to the other side again. So the three of us played a game of slowly circling the bbq. After nearly an hour our po-tay-toes were finally ready to eat. Just as we started to clean up, Snoozy also decided to move on to taunt other people. Our very nice meal consisted out of sweet po-tay-toes, carrots, broccoli, beetroot, zucchini and tofu. The next stop on our trip was the koala hospital. It is a sad and happy place at the same time, filled with miraculous stories of fighters and survivors. It is a place that takes care of wild koalas who are sick or injured. The day ended once more on a barren stretch of land, where we camped that night. We cooked dinner and practiced a new lecture of ours, before departing to the realm of dreams.

12.4.

On the day we needed to return our wheeled log, we rose earlyish and drove until shortly before we reached the biggest settlement in the country of the platypus. There we stopped for a quick lunch break and moved on. Into the hustle and bustle of the big cluster of houses. We said goodbye to our log on the outskirts of the settlement and took the snakey wheeled transportation device into the heart of the settlement. The inn we booked for the majority of our time in that cluster of houses fits perfectly into the image of a backpacker house. The biggest plus is that we get free breakfast and dinner. The dinner portion sizes were a bit small, but the rice dish was really nice. After dinner, we decided to venture out and explore the glittering lights of the artificial, attached fireflies. When the sun disappeared it took the heat of the day with it, so we could take a stroll without melting. A thing that was nearly never possible the last couple of months. With the cooler weather our evening stroll resulted in us walking for 2.5 h around half the center of the settlement. The rather tall buildings with several stories twinkled and everything looked magical. The most impressive sight was the music hall. The house of song and stories is legendary. We truly realized that we reached the other side of our planet seeing it for the first time, just because we heard so much about it. As the night grew old we had a late night snack before heading to bed.

13.4

That day’s quest was to really explore the city. So, we basically walked the same route we took the evening before, just with more of a plan. But first: Breakfast. At this point in time we have eaten at a very large number of inns and we have seen a very large variety of breakfast ranging in quality from Eowins stew to Hogwarts feasts. This one was to our surprise more up to Hogwarts standards with fresh pancakes, muesli and boiled eggs. Strengthened for the day we grabbed Härky and Worcy and set out. The settlement is divided by large water areas and was still very nice in the sunshine. The human density there is obviously a lot higher, than in other parts of this vast home of Billywigs, but the designer of the settlement still prioritized to incorporate bowtruckle homes everywhere. Something we really value in a place. It is also a very walkable place, so we wandered around until our grumbling stomachs called us back to our inn, where we cooked lunch and checked off some to dos. We also dealt with our very pressing lack of concerts, by buying tickets to the metal show from the king of dwarves! (If you are not familiar with the metal dwarves, the group is named moving-air-plant, or something like that). After dinner our inn felt very cramped with humans, so we left to relax a bit in the park before heading to bed.

14.4

In our early childhood we learned that the sun shines on a Sunday (If you are not familiar with that concept, you have obviously never met a Sams). Therefore, we took the chance of this beautiful day to venture out into the blue mountains. The blue mountains are a beautiful range of mountains just outside the large settlement. It is truly the edge of civilization in that area and the look outs sitting on the edge of a large cliff were magnificent. Fueled by tea and coffee (we asked for hot water in a café and just brought our own tea and coffee ) we followed twisted paths through eucalyptus forests and past a waterfall. Apparently, we followed the paths at lightning speed, as it did not take us 5 min to walk 50 m, as was indicated on the signs. So, we left the blue mountains, the home of at least 3 Antipodean Opaleyes, in the afternoon. It was very important to us that we reached our inn in time for dinner. We are two travelling Hobbits and therefore it would be scandalous to miss a free meal! After dinner, we strolled along the waterfront and channeled our inner ET to call home.

15.4

Every great day starts with a great breakfast or two. Only once that vital task is completed one can start to interact with fellow beings or embark on world-changing quests. Our first world-changing quest of the day was to prepare lunch. It might not have changed the world on a global scale, but it did from our perspective. With our lunch packed we ventured out into the big settlement once more. That day we were determined to cross the large body of water that separated the two sides of the town. Finding a way on the large stone contraption that hangs above the water proved to be a challenge, but nothing we couldn't manage. The other side of the settlement was also filled with homes for humans and bowtruckles. Not very surprising, but still nice. After wandering around for a while, we headed back to our inn, to grab our animal companions and head to a different inn. The next day we would continue our journey very early, so we decided to sleep next to the wheeled worm meeting spot, so, we could sleep a bit longer the next day. But our next journey is a story told elsewhere.