5.0 fun in Oz

Australia, that is.

It's so very odd how these past few weeks/months have come together.  As if a whole new realization of what simply "going with the flow” can mean.

A matter of weeks ago we thought we'd be listing the boat for sale and living aboard (but staying nearby to Tahiti in case she/we were needed for tours to interested buyers).  Our broker thought she had an interested buyer flying in and ready to buy their new boat, so we listed early and returned to Tahiti to ready Karma (and ourselves) for a potential sale.  That buyer never even made it to Tahiti, but a couple weeks in the Marina working to prep the boat made it clear to us - that waiting and wondering every week was NOT how we wanted to spend our time. 

A well timed email about our upcoming book launch and we found ourselves shifting gears, looking into flights to London for the launch party/event and eventually booking a flight using miles.  Certainly not a decision in terms of what our next chapter is - but at least a step forward… a plan/destination (and probably more importantly, a distraction).

We rapid-fire worked through our checklist, tried to figure out how in the world someone is supposed to pack or plan when they have no idea what their future holds and also clean/prep our living space at the same time.  Luckily, while it did feel like we had “expanded” to fill the boat over the last 6 years, we were able to sell or purge several items and get all of our possessions down to the space under our table (2cubic meters), just in case we ended up shipping it all somewhere.

Little did we know upon booking that our friend’s birthday was a few weeks earlier in Santa Barbara, and with our lay over already in LAX we simply shifted the dates to allow us to be there for his big day.  That all seemed like a plan, but just as we were starting to deeply feel the urge to get out of Tahiti, another friend sent us the agenda for his 5.0 birthday celebration in Australia a few weeks earlier… 

Okay, it's not exactly “on the way” to LAX and we had already given him a “hard no/not possible” a couple times over - but he sent it on the perfect day/time and somehow got us once again looking into mileage flight changes/extensions. 
Turns out it was easy enough to shift the flights a bit, add some more miles and add a stop in Sydney. 

We were immediately thrilled at the idea but also admittedly nervous about the contrast it would certainly be.  For us to go from spending all our time alone to getting off a plane and being at a 3day party with 30-40people we’d never met sounded extreme.

As it turns out - it was.  But it also turned out to be 30-40 of the calmest, chillest, most in tune, inviting and energetically inline people that we could have met.  Yes, the party was still over the top for us. 

It was like burning man lite - set in the hunter valley, but we had picked up a cheap camper van (which we quickly dubbed “el Cheapo” and had a tiny sanctuary to run away to.  Okay, sanctuary is also a bit kind… but we at least had a home/bed to crash in as our bodies tried to reset from our travel and the nonstop party/music/feasts.

Suffice to say, we believe we walked away with several new friends and an even deeper love for the friends that invited us - (who, its getting harder and harder to believe we’d only met in person one other time...when they flew in and stayed with us aboard svKarma for a couple weeks last year).

The vibrant fun of the festivities eventually came to an end and as the group scattered back to their lives we returned to Sydney, dropped of “El Cheapo” and traded in for an upgrade much more fitting of the term sanctuary. 

Wildling is a 4x4 sprintervan that we designed/built the interior for several years ago and we weren’t about to say no when Dan offered for us to take her out for a few weeks in AUS.  

I’m honestly not sure there could have been a more perfect and appropriate “transition” for us as we moved off the boat.  Not only were we suddenly exploring in a lovely camper van, but also one that looks and feels so much like our personal van (only with the steering wheel on the other side).  Leaving (or at least pausing) boatlife by slipping back into life on the road was not only all too familiar but also all too comfortable!

The only thing we had to worry about was slipping back into driving on the other side (right side) - really… driving at ALL (as it has been quite a while), and the undeniably colder temperatures.  Those things notwithstanding, it made for a very “gentle” re-immersion into life on land (or at least as gentle as possible for a couple of nomad merfolk such as ourselves).

With only a few weeks we knew we couldn’t go too far, but we also know ourselves well enough to know we couldn’t wander too far from the ocean.  We spent our first few nights hopping between NSW National park campgrounds and working our way up the coast. 

Fair to say that the water was colder and some adapting was needed from the tropical temps we’ve grown so used to - but things felt very “normal” indeed for a couple who just packed up their entire life and flew away with two carry-ons only.

Even a week in we started to realize/understand that differences between our past vanlife/overlanding days in North and Central America and here in AUS.  Our old habits of simply finding an old forestry/mining road to turn down or a beach to park on to get lost for a few days (or weeks) offered isn’t really possible here.  Instead we found ourselves hunting for established campgrounds and paying for a grassy spot to park and a bag of firewood. 

Don’t get me wrong, these campground prices are extremely reasonable, the beaches they sit next to are absolutely EPIC, and we had a lovely time… but we also weren’t able to park and look out at the ocean without a bit of a walk (except for one extraordinary site that we also timed with a massive swell, which made for some excellent surf-watching).

Much of our time was also spent with rainy/stormy weather, which meant being holed up inside the van quite a bit - but worked for us.  As you all know we are no stranger to small places, and being “stuck” inside the van meant a bit of much needed downtime as we transition and try to figure out whats next for us.

Probably could have used even more down time if I’m honest - I think as the days started to wane and we realized how short this trip is/was, we probably should have tried to cover a bit less ground and see less sites in exchange for longer stays.  The constant hopping/seeking out new sites and exploring new towns was awesome - but we’d far rather stay for several days (or weeks) in each as we're used to doing on the boat.

All in - we had a truly amazing experience.  The Aussie culture is no doubt one we fit into immediately and long term.  The connection to the ocean and nature, the constant bird and wildlife viewing and even the strong community and health-conscious focus of seemingly EVERY town we drove through was incredible.  Even as I type this it seems a near-miss that we didn’t know Dan was leaving for some extended travel of his own - if we hadn’t already made other commitments there is very little doubt in our minds that we would have begged him to keep Wildling for a 6month or more tour of AUS (doing the “great loop” is clearly on our list for some point in the future… even if we have to design and build our own vehicle to do so)!!

Downsides - though we feel guilty/spoiled for even bringing them up… are simply not being able to free camp in wild/remote areas, not being able to camp with a view or immediate connection to the ocean and/or sunrises and sunsets.  

Yes, I know - I already admitted that we have been VERY spoiled from the last 6years aboard svKarma!

Dan decided to have us drop the van in Brisbane for storage, so we got to meet some new friends as a result and just like that - we're hopping another flight and on our way.  Next stop (though we prefer to simply think of/call it an extended layover) - California.