Blue Mountains and Byron Bay

Bas Geertsema

Hi there mate! How are u doing?!

Well, one of the first things you’ll learn in Australia is to actually kinda ignore this question. No, they are not really interested in how you are _really _doing. Just trying to be nice. Which is allright, although at first I felt like I had to answer this question. Untill I found out most australian people actually do not even reply to this, so as one step further to become a real ozzie I neglect it too now. But don’t take this mistaken as being a weird or bad attitude. Actually the way Australians talk to each other is in a very amiable way. Always say ‘mate’ to somebody, even if you don’t know, or like the other person. Ask how it is going, and speak in a cheerful way!

After spendings two days in Central Sydney, and two days in King’s Cross area of Sydney (the sleezy drinking hole area), it was time to move out of town. So I went to the blue mountains, about 100km out of Sydney. This area is named after the blueish haze that is visible in the valleys. The vapor of the gumtrees below collide with the sunlight to create this color. It is a great place to do some hiking and jogging. The place I stayed at was a nice small hostel, with only about 10 guests present. Quite a difference compared to the huge hostels in Sydney, where I stayed over at the 11th floor! Here I did some hiking in the forrest, which is the home of many many different kinds of birds and parrots. And even for a unknowledgable biologist like myself, it is easy to spot the difference between the nature life here and in Europe. Ofcourse this is because Australia has been a seperate continent for millions of years, and in the course of time has developed it’s own unique nature life. Not only in the remote mountains, but also the birds in the streets of Sydney are very different from what I am used to see in Holland!

But hey, this is Australia, and it has coasts in every possible winddirection. So it doens’t take long before you end up on a beach. And I ended up in Byron Bay. Which is about a 14 hour busride north of Sydney. In this small town (about 17.000 inhabitants)you will find many tourists, families, backpackers and surfers! Actually there is not much to do here besides going to the beach and enjoy the waves. But hey, for many people that is all there should be to life! I have not yet done any surfing yet, but I am definitely going to. And this area is one of the best places to do it. (Or up north in Surfer’s Paradise, which is an hour ride from here)

A bit about the traveling. It is quite different from what I was used to in Asia. A big factor is the audience In most guesthouses in Asia where I stayed most people were travelling around and stayed at one spot for one up to three nights. Sometimes up to a week on the islands. In Australia, however, people tend to stay around much longer at the same spot. Some stay for weeks of months, enjoying life and ocassionally doing some work for the money. I have met people that have been in Australie for five months, but only been to Melbourne and Sydney.

Second, it is still high-season and very busy. This means that many hostels are fully booked when I enter a new town. This makes it harder to travel freely, since you have to pre-book accomodation via the internet. Ofcourse there are some that go around this problem by buying a car or a camper. Which is a good way of travelling around in Australia for a longer time. However, for the few weeks I will be in Australia, I think it is not worth the fuzz.

I will travel up north to Cairns from here. Next stop is Surfer’s Paradise, where I will be heading to tomorrow.

Cheers!

p.s. I put up some new pictures. And yes, I dyed my hair to black in Hong Kong :P

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