Day Nine: July 15th, 2013
Port Macquarie
Waking in the night needing a wee is normally a pretty straightforward situation: you get up, you do your business and within 2 and a half minutes your ordeal is over. When you're camping, it's a very different matter. You wake up. You assess what woke you. You realise it's your bladder. You look at the time. You make an educated guess as to whether you can roll over and forget about it, or if you will undoubtedly wake up 30 minutes later with the same dilemma on your hands. I woke at 3.15am and after 5 minutes of weighing up the possibilities of being attacked by some poisonous animal, I decided I needed too unzip my warm cocoon of a sleeping bag and make a dash for the loos. I took the large torch in case I needed to thump someone or something with it and RAN for the shower block. We are parked reasonably far away, so this seemed an epic distance. Once in the loo, I needed to check for creepy crawlies. A sprint back to the tent and it was over. At least, that part was. Then I was totally fired up on adrenaline and couldn't fall back asleep until nearly 6am. These are travellers problems!!! Do not take them lightly.
I slept in until 8.45, which is the latest time I'm allowed before Elliot starts getting restless (like a dog), but with the prospect of the Koala Hospital to look forward to, I was excited to start the day. We made the short journey down the road to the hospital, which is free to visitors (donations appreciated) and saw our only wild koala of the day, helpfully pointed out by a sign reading "koala up tree". The koalas at the hospital stay for varying lengths. The ones who can survive and reproduce in the wild are rehabilitated until they can be released, while others are permanent residents at the hospital. We saw different ailments ranging from scoliosis, limb amputation, burns, eye loss and 'wet bottom', caused by chlamydial infection. The sanctuary offers them a safe and comfortable environment where they can be cared for around the clock. We even saw a little one that had only one leg and one eye remaining happily ensconced in a leafy part of her eucalyptus tree high up above. I wish we could live here so I could be a volunteer and bring home a joey! One of the best parts of information on offer was to people with pools: koalas can swim and in hot temperatures often cool off in a pool but cannot find purchase on the slippery edges. Therefore it is recommended to attach a sturdy rope to the fence and let it hang into the pool, allowing the koalas an escape route. These cute critters have definitely become my favourite animal.
Elly had been out fishing with some friends in Manly, and was keen to have another go. We headed off to buy some bait, and had a great chat with an old guy who runs a caravan park (and sells fishing related paraphernalia) at Settlement Point. He told us our best bet was prawns, so we bought a bag for $5.50. He moved up here from Sydney 20 years ago and never looked back. Retired from the air conditioning/refrigeration business, he told us how he was earning $500 a week in Sydney, but was offered $360 here in Port Macquarie for the same trade. He managed to negotiate himself a job and matching salary of $500 a week, and lived the highlife! Some great stories from him, and lovely to get a bit of local knowledge.
We stopped off briefly to buy a fishing licence ($6 for 3 days) and parked up by the Hastings River to cast off! I've never even held a fishing rod before, so wasn't expecting much. Elliot had been given a quick lesson in Manly by our friend Al; an all round fishing pro. This wisdom was passed on to me, and we cast our lines and waited. And waited. I thought I'd caught a whale but realise the reason my line wasn't coming up was due to it being tangled up in the river bed. Try again. Elly had a few nibbles and then a bite! We later used the chart at the waters edge to determine it as a luderick or blackfish.
We let the poor guy go and cast off again. My turn this time, and I caught my first ever fish! Another luderick. We had one more each (mine a yellowfin bream and Elly another luderick - hopefully not the same one all 3 times!) before we turned in for our sandwiches. The pelicans eyed us suspiciously the whole time - but got nothing from us.
We headed back to the campsite and went out for a run before it got dark. We took the same route as we did on Saturday, which I managed to do much faster without stopping to take photos! Elly was still lightyears ahead, but never mind.
A quick trip to Coles for some more prawns - for us to eat this time, not the crafty fish who kept stripping our hooks (only $3 for 14!) and back to make some food and look at the books again. Leaving Port Macquarie in the morning, heading towards Byron Bay.