Heading North

I don't know if I'll ever make it back to Sydney but the two and a half months I spent there were enough. Nothing against the city, I loved Sydney as it reminded me of city living in Boston except much much bigger, but it was just time to move on.

And so it came to pass that I find myself in Port Macquarie in the smallest hostel I've stayed at so far. It's size is not a mark against it though as it's size it what makes it so great. It almost feels like I'm in the middle of nowhere camping and this is just shack in the woods. The town itself is a little beach town, just like something out of the movies, with a small town center with a shopping center, liquor store and restaurants. The hostel is situated on top of the elevated part of the town which gives the distinct advantage of having amazing views of the beach as it curves into the horizon. Cliff jumping is on the agenda for today and later a visit to the koala hospital is scheduled for later in the afternoon.

Before this stop I was in Newcastle which was a beach town as well but a little bit larger. Newcastle is a college town and on the Wednesday night that I went out to the local hot spot I was reminded after talking with an exchange student from Illinois that Newcastle University was actually one of the places I had looked at going to for a semester abroad. While there I took a tour of the WWII for, Fort Scratchley, which was attacked by a Japanese submarine. The fort and town were bombarded by the sub from behind Nobby's Point but none of the shells exploded as it is thought that the Japanese were using old English artillery from WWI which was defective. The town though was gorgeous and had a lot of character to it. The hostel was like something out of The Great Gatsby as it had a large lounge of stained wood and leather chairs with a central fireplace. A large central staircase led to the upstairs and the rooms were located along the whindy hallways. My room had a veranda that was joined by two other rooms and had a trellis over the top. I got to know the cleaning crew there, basically other travelers that work for free but get free accommodation, and we all shared stories and laughs. The only downside to meeting these people is that a few days after meeting them I have to leave, most likely never seeing most of them ever again.

The next stop is Urunga which is just a bit off the coast and is on the edge of a rain forest region. The hostel is supposed to be really nice with hammocks on the second story decks and bridge walks through the rain forest. I am trying not to spend too much money thus yet as most of the stuff I want to do is north of Brisbane. But the best thing about the YHA hostels that I'm staying at is that they always have tons of free stuff to do (perfect for travelers on a budget).

Here in Port Macquarie I've met a guy from Canada and two English girls and we played Monopoly last night. I haven't played that game in years and I had to be reminded of some of the rules. It all came back to me though and with a little improvisation on all our parts regarding the rules my partner and I came out victorious. All the names of the places on the board are different as it is an Australian version. So Boardwalk was Mayfair and so on. We are going fishing later as well, something I haven't done in years again, and then I leave tomorrow.

I am loving this part of the trip.