From the Hunter Valley we drove east determined to see two things: the coast and a koala! Our first stop was at Myall Lakes National Park where we gazed at the Pacific, had a scenic drive through the forest, and cooled off with a quick dip in one of the several freshwater lakes in the area. Then we continued north up the coast to Port Macquarie to visit a well-known koala sanctuary. What funny little fellas! Every single koala except one was sleeping, apparently they sleep 20 hours a day. But Casper the koala put on a little show for us while he was munching on his eucalyptus.
We had one more inland destination before we would be committing the rest of our trip north to the coast. We headed for Dorrigo, a small town in the mountains nestled between two national parks. The drive up through the winding roads and small towns was beautiful. We were told we were lucky as they had only recently reopened the road after several days of heavy rains. The aftermath was evident with roaring waterfalls and flooded streets.
We loved our time in the mountains, but it was time to start exploring what Australia is really known for – the east coast! So after Dorrigo, we set off for the water. On our way to the next destination, we decided to stretch our legs with a little coastal hike at Noosa National Park. We enjoyed some beautiful views and met this massive freaky lizard monster!
We spent the next few days in Hervey Bay and Agnes Water, small beach towns, bouncing from beach walks, to ocean dips, to seafood dinners, then back to the refuge of our air conditioned room. The further north we drove, the more intense the heat and humidity got. And at this point, the days were hovering in the mid 90’s and the evenings in the mid 80’s with the humidity never letting up. We had planned to do more camping on our road trip but we decided the torture of the heat was not worth the savings in money. Air conditioning became a priority!
A noteworthy diversion from our coastal drive were the Capricorn Caves in Rockhampton. We figured caves would be a nice, temperature controlled activity for the middle of the day. And it was so cool! We explored the caves, crawled through tight corridors, saw tons of bats, and even spotted a cute little snake.
And we ended the day with some surprisingly delicious Thai food from a restaurant called “The Food Shop.” We loved the name.
Our next plan was to stay in a beach house for Alex’s birthday. This was quickly foiled by an impending cyclone that was supposed to hit land right where we intended to stay. In a beach house during a cyclone? No thanks! We made a last minute decision to drive 8 hours north to try to outrun the storm, so we headed to Townsville.
We checked into a super nice room on the 19th floor of a hotel downtown – we were relieved to be there. Over the next 24 hours, as we kept an eye on the news, the storm changed course and was heading STRAIGHT for Townsville! I was actually pretty terrified. The entire town went into prep mode and the atmosphere was eerie. Empty streets, everything closed down, sandbags and plastic along shop doors. The hotel also moved us down to the 7th floor for safety reasons (in case the windows blew out from the heavy winds), and there we sat… celebrating Alex’s 51st birthday in a hotel room waiting for a cyclone to hit. Through all of my anxiety, it was actually pretty interesting. And after a few beers, I actually enjoyed watching the storm roll in… especially once I realized the building wasn’t going to collapse on us.
The following day, we walked around and assessed all the damage. A pretty wild amount of trees came down and much of the town was without power – but no flooding! So I suppose they call that a success. And an unforgettable birthday, for sure!
Since the cyclone trapped us in the hotel, by the time it had passed we were a bit antsy to get out and do something. We thought a ferry ride to the nearby Magnetic Island and a short hike was the perfect remedy! Damn, were we wrong. I don’t think either of us has ever been so wildly unprepared for a hike in all our lives. We went at the hottest part of the day, hiked in the full sun, didn’t bring enough water, were not prepared for the elevation gain, hiked much farther than we anticipated, and we didn’t even check to see if the island had power after the storm! Which it did not. The hike was absolutely grueling. We finally finished the long, miserable hike drenched in sweat and covered in mosquito bites. We were both shocked at how stupid we had been. Like, was this our first hike ever? But lesson learned, I hope.
Wandering Between Meals 
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