News From The Road (literally)

Travel in Australia is very very easy. Compared to the difficulties we have experienced simply getting A to B in latin America we might as well be at home - its so easy to get around. But this means it kind of lacks the adventure we now crave. So instead of purchasing a costly greyhound bus pass we have been using a small protruding body part to get us around. No not that part. Our thumbs.

Having only hitchiked for a grand total of 30 minutes or so in Italy we didnt really know what to expect, but we happily made our sign and trundled off to a roadside far enough from our Hostel in Newcastle to feel like we couldnt turn back if we got bored. Setting our sights high we hoped to make it to Coffs Harbour by the end of the day, some 380km away. We got things under way in less than ten minutes of waiting, with a man who was also soon travelling to Thailand. To purchase a wife. He showed us a photo in his wallet and everything. So much for starting off with normal people. Our next lift was in pretty much the wrong direction and left us in the middle of nowhere very very far from the highway, but we were simply so grateful for the friendly couple picking us up (with no mention of wife-buying or anything else weird) we didnt know what to do about it. We managed to find our way back to the highway and most of the way there without really having to wait more than half an hour, in fact our longest wait came at a busy service station; everyone here more concerned with eating a Macca's than picking up the melting Poms sitting in the sun. Our fifth and final lift found us at our desired destination - Coffs Harbour. We were absolutely delighted to have made it there easily on our first day of hitchhiking, having met some interesting people, and most importantly having spent no money! Coffs Harbour was pretty but very quiet, and can be summed up by the following statement; we had dinner at a bowls club.

Our next stop was Byron Bay, 300k further up the coast. An all-too-eager-to-help-a-fellow-pom helpfully left us smack bang in the middle of the highway rather than at the petrol station as we had asked. Cars travelling at 110kmph without an exit or entrance in sight we thought we would be here all day (or quickly in the back of a police car as highwayside hitching isnt technically legal here), but thankfully some hippies found us. In 20 minutes with them we didnt understand a single word they said, just nodded politely whilst hanging on to our smelly cushions that functioned as a backseat in their combi van. 5 minutes later we had swapped vehicles for a boy/girl racer couples kevved up Holden. Despite an odd smell and some rather dilated pupils nother seemed out of the ordinary here. Then it all started to go rather wrong with a series of ever increasing confessions (at around half hour intervals with no way for Kate and I to communicate our wish to get out of the car due to the high speed driving and horrible fast and the furious style techno soundtrack).

1. They had been driving since 3am without stopping. It was now 11.30am
2. The car was not registered (hindsight tells us it was most likely stolen)
3. They didnt have a driving licence
4. They saw us as a way to balance out Karma. Oh dear.
5. They were on their way to Byron from Sydney to 'meet a mate for an hour or so'. This being a 12 hour drive there and back and they were not staying the night.

Later mutterings told us that this mate had run off with 4 grand of their money and they were on their way to fetch it back. Independant hurried discussion between Kate and I found us to have both arrived at the same conclusion all too late; we were on some mission to sort out a drug deal gone bad, almost definetely confirmed by their contsant paranoia of 'the cops' and their intent to drive at no less than 140kmph. We did manage a heartstammering 165kmph in a race with another boy racer. We did (after what seemed like forever in a slow motion carcrash about to happen) arrive in Byron Bay safe and sound, and vowing to never ever get in a car with custom metallic paint ever again.

We stayed in Byron Bay for 5 days honing our surfing skills. Ha. We got smashed around a lot and dragged down the beach by rip tides is more like the real version, but we had fun all the same.