To read from the beginning, click here.
A short storm last night, but the tent stayed firmly on the ground, we stayed dry, and woke up to a sunny Sunday morning. Thanks to the wind & sun, the tent was dry by the time we packed up (and returned the screw stakes to our neighbor!). A short riding day today 31km (19 miles), so Dana used the lack of urgency to get on the bikes to go for a run on the beach. I took the packed bikes to the common kitchen area and worked on the blog.
Dana returned from her run, took a shower, and ate a late breakfast and we got on the road at 11:30, our latest start of this whole trip. It was only 10 miles to the Koala Hospital on the way to our Warmshowers hosts in Port Maquarie. The hospital was temporarily moved to Guulabaa – Place of Koala while the Port Maquarie facility was being renovated. Guulabaa was pretty remote and the koalas were pretty remote from us. The reserve is a breeding center and refuge for koalas who were injured and unable to return to their lives in the forest. We were on a deck above a conclave of enclosures, each with a koala and a plaque describing the injuries that landed them there. A bit disappointing compared to what we heard about visits to the hospital in Port Maq, but we still had some genuinely good sightings.
We rode the remaining 10 miles to Port Maq and toured around the beach and breakwall and stopped at the Little Shack for a beer break. After our beers we stopped in front of the Royal Hotel where The Beach House restaurant had a woman singer/songwriter playing. We listened to her for a while and then went for a walk in the “downtown” and eventually to Coles to pick up lunch.
At Coles, we had a real “small world” experience. Walking through the bakery, a voice said, “I know you!” It was Jorma, a German hiker we had met and chatted with at the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road. I didn’t document it at the time as it was the day we also met Janet and Ian and the surfer dudes. Dana had talked to Jorma and his hiking buddy near the Princetown Campground on The Great Ocean Walk, and we saw them again at the 12 Apostles, much worse for the wear. They were both very tired and looking for a place to get a beer. We couldn’t give them much encouragement of finding a beer before Port Campbell, but at least there was water at the 12’s facilities. I used my rusty German with them and it was good enough that they understood, but that only lasted a couple of minutes before my memory went dry. Jorma remembered that, though, so I must’ve made some impression. Anyway, his hiking buddy went back to Germany and he was continuing his tour with his friend Luisa, and here they were in the Coles in Port Maquarie. How serendipitous that we were both there in that big town in that big box store at the same time and saw each other. We snapped a selfie and I exchanged WhatsApp #s with Jorma. He’s hoping to get to the US in the future and we hope to meet him somewhere when he does.
We walked back to the beach, found a picnic table near the water, and sat down to lunch. We were soon joined by an older man who wanted to hear about our tour, and he told us about his tours and how sad he is that he can’t ride anymore, and even has trouble walking. Sad, but he was mobile enough to join us for that little session!
After a great afternoon of Koalas, sun, and beaches, we headed to our hosts, Kristie and Gary. They offered us a camping spot in their yard, but also said we were happy to stay in the house. The weather report called for some rain, so we opted for inside, put our bikes in the garage, hauled our bags upstairs, and joined them for beers and some great stories of their tours in Japan. And a separate great story of the recycled industrial wood floor that Gary had installed himself. Their son-in-law was there too, as was Gary’s mother and we had long conversations with both of them, a lovely dinner of prawn laksa, and a few more beers. Another amazing Warmshowers experience. Did I mention that it started pouring not 15 minutes after we got in? So add a nice, warm, dry bed to crawl into after a fun day.
Leave a Reply