Day 32
What a lovely day. I left Port Macquarie early this morning
and stopped for breakfast in a little cafe just off of the beach. I wondered in
and literally couldn’t choose between the things on the menu, there must have
been 200 of them. The woman behind the counter smiled and said “Lots to choose
from hey?” and I mumbled back yes, in my pathetic English accent which is
nowhere nearly as cool as the Australian one. I mean, I can do an Australian
accent, but I think it’s classed as a piss take, like if you do an Indian
accent to an Indian.
“Oh, you’re British, are you hungry?” she shouted at me. I
half expected her to shout “Barbara, we’ve got a British guy here, and I’ve
asked him if he’s hungry” and then for Barbara to reply “Ask if he lives near Birmingham,
Sally has a daughter who lives near Birmingham” or something to that effect. I
nodded back to her and she asked if I wanted hot or cold food. Once I’d told
her cold food, she asked me how I liked my coffee, told me to take a seat and
told me she’d bring me something to eat. She brought my coffee over (I had a
fantastic view of the sea) and asked me what I thought of the beach and the
town and made polite conversation. To my amusement, a second woman appeared
with my breakfast. They’d made me ham and cheese with like a chutney thing and
some toast for good measure. She said she wasn’t sure if she should butter the
bread, so she didn’t. I was actually pleasantly surprised. It was really nice.
I drank my coffee and ate my breakfast and got up to pay. She asked me if I
enjoyed it, to which I obviously said yes, and she said “Good, then it’s on us.
And don’t bother arguing. You’re a lovely guy...” and she looked at me, I told
her my name and she introduced herself as Brenda and her friend as Patty. Lovely. What
a way to start the day.
Drove north (sick of saying that actually) to a small,
increasingly retirement town, Coffs Harbour. The town has about 50,000
permanent residents but this number swells to nearly a quarter of a million in
the summer. It’s set in two main areas, the town, on the main Pacific Highway,
and the port and harbour, about 3km toward the coast. I was staying at a
campsite in a small village called Moonee about 10 clicks north.
Got to the camp-site at about lunch time and the woman on
the desk greeted me with a huge smile. She asked me for my name, and instantly
something wasn’t right. She was English. I smiled and told her my name. She
pulled up my booking and asked for my address. Once I’d got to the
“Loughborough” bit she looked up and smiled. She used to go to Loughborough Uni
(she is now in her fifties). Such a small world. We had a nice long chat during
which the woman sitting next to us commented on us both being Poms. First time
I’ve been called that. Anyway.
Checked in and got to my pitch. It overlooked the sea. This
would do very nicely. I plugged myself into the electric. The camper I mean,
not me and walked down to the beach before the tide came in. I sat and
sunbathed for a good few hours before heading back to the camper. I decided it
was silly to sit in the camper when I had a beach less than 200 metres away, so
I stuck a hoodie and joggers on and walked back down to the grassy bit just
before the sand started. I got out my iPod and started reading.
There was a family cooking on one of the barbeques just
behind me and the smell was driving me wild. All across Australia there are
these ‘camp kitchens’ which are basically gas barbeques under like a shelter
thing. They’re free, most of them, and you just clean it after you’ve finished.
I was tempted to turn around and see just what they were cooking, but I
resisted, for the most part.
After a good hour, by which time the family had been joined
by another two families, this time with older teenagers as well as young kids.
It was getting too much. I just had to go and buy some sausages and a burger to
eat. I got up to drive to the supermarket, which is only a few minutes away,
when one of the mothers walked towards me holding a paper plate and a sausage
in a bun. “Would you like some, we have plenty. You can join us if you like?” I
honestly was so shocked.
This just sums Australians up. They’re so... nice. And
polite and caring. I smiled back and glady took the plate and she led me over
to the families which were sprawled across three long picnic tables. She
introduced me to everyone and told me all their names. She took me over to what
looked like the teenagers table and told, what I think was her son, to look
after me. I sat there talking to them all for a good three hours.
The woman, who was called Clare, had a son, Tom, who was
there with his girlfriend, Andrea, and his sister, Jo. There was also Joe (very
confusing) and Matt and their twin sisters Heather and Verity. They were all so
welcoming. We chatted for hours about the differences between England and
Australia and how beautiful it was, and I kept pointing out that the people are
all beautiful too (it would have been rude to not have complimented them – they
were giving me free food) and then we all walked back to the campsite. I said
goodnight and we parted ways.
This is what I like about being alone. I didn’t feel under
pressure to go anywhere, or leave them to come back to the camper, or even to
turn the food down in the first place. It was nice to just be able to chat to
people and for them to listen. I said it before, but I’ll say it again,
Australians are so nice. They’re just lovely. So welcoming.
Day 33.
I was awoken at 3am this morning by my mother who said she
had totally forgot about the time difference. At least I know that my
Australian phone number is working. She said she’d ring back later and hung up.
I don’t remember being up for long after that so I must have fallen asleep
pretty quickly.
I was woken up again at 8am by Mum again. We had a nice
chat, but I wasn’t really awake. As soon as she hung up, I went back to sleep
until.... 11am! I know! I like this holiday malarkey. I got up and went for a
shower. The families from last night had all left early in the morning but I
did just glance over towards where they were camped in case they’d stayed. They
hadn’t.
I felt that a good day on the beach was needed. So I pack my
rucksack, and spent ALL day on the beach. I mean all day... until 4pm ish when
the tide was getting a little too close...
Not an overly exciting day to be honest. But I couldn’t help
reminding you that I was in fact on the beach while in England, it’s been
raining... oh dear, that slipped out didn’t it.
See you tomorrow my lovlies.
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