We'd spent a night on Alstonville Showgrounds which happened to be just next door to the local library that had free wifi. Sadly it didn't open until 9.30 so we had to stick around even though it was raining. Sini bought a couple of books there for 50 cents each. After we finally got on the road we started south on the A1 which is a continuation of the M1 in Queensland. Only in QSL the motorway had been twelve lanes wide at points, while in New South Wales it was only two lanes wide and had occasional speed limits of 50 km/h. It could have been marked as a scenic tourist drive and we might not have known the difference. The driving went smoothly, even though we got passed by some trucks which apparently have no separate speed limits here.

It was raining for most of the day so we stayed on A1 even though there were tourist drives available. Our map was too inaccurate to show them so we could never be quite sure if we'd be able to return to the highway or not. Besides, we had a set goal for the day, to reach Arrawarra just north of Coffs Harbor for our last surfing lesson! We'd been on Mojosurf's six day island hopper course in Indonesia but missed our last lesson due to a local festivity and got vouchers to use in Oz. We'd contacted them about this a few days before and also reserved a site at their campground for the night.

There's not much to tell about the drive there, other than about our demented search for cheap pizzas. Back in Alstonville and the night before we had troubled ourselves with the decision between Domino's pizza and kangaroo meatballs. We'd chosen the meatballs and were now in desperate need of pizza for lunch. Had we been smart we would have checked for Domino's locations over the free wifi in the library, but since we weren't we were forced to go searching. We turned from the A1 to Grafton and started a grid search of the nearest streets, which of course got us nowhere. In the end we stopped at a Coles supermarket for groceries and directions. With that we got a little closer but ended up doing the same grid search all over again around the biggest mall in town. Finally we parked in the mall parking lot and went inside to abuse their wifi and toilet facilities. In the end Google knew where we wanted to go, just as it knows everything else about us. We walked the rest of the way there and found the pizzeria we were looking for! It didn't have to be a Domino's but where else were we supposed to get pizzas for $5 each? I guess you're supposed to leave the premises after you get your food but we stuck around anyway and had a deeply fulfilling lunch. We didn't even mind that there were at least three dead cockroaches on the floor. At least they were doing something about them…

Afterwards we returned on the A1 and drove straight to Arrawarra and the Mojosurf's campground. We'd had a great time with Mojo in Indonesia where the guys had been super friendly, relaxed and on top of things. They had even stored some of our things in their office for about a month for no cost at all, just so that it would be easier for us to travel around. We had high expectations for their Aussie counterparts (in fact the manager in Bali was an Australian too…). As we got to the campsite we were taken around and showed to our site which stood between two small cabins close to the kitchen area. There really was nothing wrong with it but it seemed a little confined considering we had paid $28 for the night (we usually pay $15 to $20 on showground areas). And quite shockingly they dared to charge $5 for one day's use of the wifi! Seriously, we'd been on the road for 106 days and this was the first place where they were charging extra for the wifi. We wouldn't have it. Also, they failed to mention about their hangout spot in cozy indoors so we ended up sitting half the evening under the roof of the kitchen area waiting for the rain to stop. A passerby finally remarked that we looked somewhat unhappy and asked why we weren't there… We checked it out and found a roomful of people sitting on sofas watching a zombie movie. The thing was, they all wore these colorful bracelets on their wrists which classified them as first class citizens. No-one had given us bracelets. We were the untouchables.

We retaliated in the only way we could, by taking advantage of everything that was offered to us, which mainly just meant the kitchen facilities. Our gas bottle had already ran out once so we were a little careful about using it. Not so much here though so we prepared a three course meal. We had canned pumpkin soup for starters and tuna pasta for main course. And to top it all we had Coles original pancake shake; a bottle of powder that only needed a little water to become such a huge amount of pancake dough that we ended up with 14 pancakes. We ate almost all of them… With apricot jam and chocolate spread… It was awesome.

We also enjoyed their laundry facilities, for the first time in Australia. On almost every proper campground they've had laundry machines for $4 a wash, but not all of them have dryers. With the weather as damp as it had been lately, we needed the dryer. Their machines all worked for two $2 coins so we got two machine fulls and a run with the dryer for $12, plus the $1.5 for the washing powder. With that we got pretty much all of our clothes cleaned and dry which on a trip like this is like a little bit of heaven. We couldn't possibly have done all that laundry by hand like we usually do since it rained again in the evening.

The surfing lesson

Our lesson was scheduled to start at 8.30 in the morning and we were supposed to be there by 8.15. For that we woke up nice and early just after seven and had a light breakfast in order not to sink. We also greased up with the sunscreen to avoid burns, we're told there's a hole in the ozone layer above Australia and you burn easier. The day was also starting with all blue sky and the sun was warming nicely. Unlike in Indonesia they had wetsuits provided but they seemed to be on limited supply. I was fairly comfortable in my XXXL suit but Sini had a little too much space to move around in her size L. In the end they both worked fine.

There were 13 of us and two instructors, which worried me a little since in Indonesia they had a maximum of three people per instructor. We got down to the beach and did something else we never did in Indonesia; sat down and talked over some basics in technique! Really, they never did that in Bali, they just had us do a couple of stand ups on the board and then we were off to the water. Here they actually taught us stuff which was beyond great. We also played a game for warm ups before going in the water. And here's another interesting thing, we actually got only about waist deep. In Indonesia we were put straight to the big waves and reef breaks. Telling so to our instructor here seemed to give him a little pause. I could see why, since practicing on the beach brake was so much easier, you could just walk out, wait for a suitable wave, get on your board and catch it. Whereas in Indonesia we would paddle way out to the sea, let a couple of huge wave toss us around (without anyone having told us how to do an eskimo turn or a spear to get through them like they did here) and wait for the instructor to yell out "paddlepaddlepaddlepaddleUP". That was the extent of the instructions we got there. Here the one guy responsible of six or seven people could walk around in the water and reach us all in turn, give personal instructions and advise and see us through multiple waves before moving on to the next one. It was unreal how much better it worked. In here we could have actually learned to surf! Sini did amazing again, she got on the waves on her own without needing a push like so many other people, but even she appreciated the better tutoring.

As for me… I actually missed more than one lesson in Indonesia since I kind of dislocated my shoulder a little bit in the beginning of lesson four. Lesson five I spent sitting in the boat taking pictures of Sini. Lesson number six, rescheduled here, needed a little thinking about. The shoulder had been doing better, so much so that I thought I could do it. But I wasn't sure if I should still just stay back and take pictures again. In the end I got to do both. I dislocated the shoulder again, again while paddling to catch a wave. The instructor was going "paddlepaddlepaddlepaddleUP…UP…UP!", I just cursed and held on to the board with my intact arm. By the time the wave had passed I got the joint together once more (I'm good like that) and asked the guy to take my leg rope and board while I walked to the shore. When he reached me there he told me he'd seen a bone sticking out of my shoulder. In fact it was just the opposite, my humerus just happened to be missing for a while…

That was the end of surfing for me, at least for a few years. I'd like to try it again someday but I really need to get the shoulder fixed first. A shame really since I really felt like I was getting the hang of it now, finally.

Coffs Harbor

Truth be told my shoulder felt a lot better than after the last time it dislocated and it didn't bother me as much either. I'm still trying to be careful while reaching for things though and Sini gets to do the driving so I don't have to hold my arm up for long periods of time. Anyway, after the lesson we packed up our things and had a second breakfast before heading out. We didn't really have a plan but thought we should stop at Coffs Harbor just a short drive south form Arrawarra. Once there we took advice from the travel app Triposo and headed towards the port to take a walk around the Muttonbird Island, easily accessible through the breakwater (suom. aallonmurtaja). It was really windy up there but the scenery was nice. At the ocean facing end of the island there's a platform from which people try to spot whales between June and November, but there were none to be seen now. The sea had a show for us anyway, the big waves crashing on the rocks created massive bursts that rose high into the air and created numerous rainbows. On our way back we got to watch a local guy trying to pull in a big fish he'd hooked with his fishing rod. After a long struggle the beast became visible and was almost caught with a large hook before the line broke. I know almost nothing about fishing but judging from the salmon files they sell at home the fish looked to be more than ten kilograms. Now it's swimming there somewhere with a hook and a broken line in its mouth.

In the port there was a map of the city showing, among other things, a showgrounds area. There was no mention of a showgrounds camping area in our book but on the map there was a campground marked there. We went to check it out even though it was pretty early in the day. Turned out the campground wasn't a part of the showgrounds but a separate private business belonging to a chain of North Coast Holiday Parks. They asked for $26 for a non-power site and had free wifi along with a very nice looking kitchen area, which seemed reasonable enough. It was by far the nicest campground we've been on so far and as such worth the money they were asking. It was also close to a couple of supermarkets. We walked to Coles and got equipped to have another fine dinner: we bought 500 grams of kangaroo steaks for $6.99 (they were 20% off because of the oncoming expiration day). We cooked them on the electric grill which turned out to be a pretty useless thing… The meat was rare but very tender and good. We also got a new wine bag to replace the one that had mysteriously leaked empty over the week without making any spills in our car… It wasn't quite as good as the first one but with four liters for $12 who really cares? It helps to loosen up my nerves and muscles. And joints…

Perhaps we should drink less…