Long Island (New York State)

Two days of 8 million people in a crazy city and we were more than ready to escape to the beach! In desperate need of Vitamin D, and stocked up with Aussie Gold SPF 30, we hotfooted onto Long island. Horrendous roads complete with Bourke's Luck sized potholes, ended up buckling our tyre. Not impressed, as the $12 toll fee for every car should surely cover the road maintenance? Thinking of suing the state for damages. $160 bucks later and we were back in the game. We camped on the north fork of the island at the wonderful Wildwood State Park. The first night scared the bejeezers out of us - didn't realize how busy the campsite got on weekends! Chockablock full of the whole of Mexico and Cuba, screaming kids in tow. Not to mention the bra-less, toothless, brainless? LSD fried hippy of a neighbor who kept us up all night with her ramblings and heavy rock music. Nice. Anyhoo, mass exodus on the Sunday meant we got the campsite pretty much to ourselves for the whole week. Bliss.

We hit the beach hard: Smith Point beach on Fire Island National Seashore on the Atlantic Ocean was spectacular! It's no surprise why The Hamptons are so popular (and expensive!) We definitely felt like old farts surrounded by rich, buff, nubile, young privately educated college kids. Lovely eye-candy to feast on as these 18 year old boys (and girls) spent clearly more time in the gym and on the beach than in the classroom…. We drove around checking out the uber wealthy mansions and waterfront villas, pity about the horrendous traffic! We stuck out like sore thumbs in our moron carrier van with a missing hubcap and clanking chassis. Clearly we were way out of our league so we left before anyone mistook us for poor folk in need of a housecleaning job. Leaving Long Island via the north fork allowed us to see some of the splendid vineyards, rivaling the beauty of the Western Cape wine region. We caught the ferry from Orient Point to New London (Connecticut) to save a 20-hour journey back via New York City. We hugged the coastal roads and headed straight for Cape Cod. Long Island done: one could get used to this wealthy island lifestyle, darling!