April 4, 2001 - Wednesday - (national park north of Port McQuaries)
The Dingos howled eerily in the middle of the night. I was awake immediately and listen for more, but there were none to come. The night was cold and I woke up a few times shivering. One or two freak waves made thunderous sounds that also shook me from my sleep, but it was nevertheless nice to sleep on the beach.
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| Joerg juggling on the beach, Wyall National Park, New South Wales, Australia |
The morning broke and a glorious sunrise greeted us. There were fishermen on the beach already casting their lines into the rough crashing waves. Joerg got up first and then eventually Matt. I rolled out last at 6:30AM and joined them for breakfast. After we ate our powdered milk and cereal and warmed up with hot tea, we lounged around for a bit to soak up the sun.
Joerg practiced his juggling. He acquired the skill from doing public service instead of serving in the German Army.
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| Pelicans by the river crossing, Wyall National Park, New South Wales, Australia |
By 8 AM, it was already warm enough for just a t-shirt and shorts. We were off after that and headed toward Taree. To get out of the Wyall River National Park, we had to take a vehicle ferry that only crosses a 50-meter span of the river. There were pelicans nearby sunning and watching us with careful eyes. It only costs A$3 to cross and the ferry is more like a floating platform that is pulled along two cables that spans the river.
After the crossing, we were off again heading on a very poorly maintained unsealed road. Joerg tried to drive on the left side of the road with an automatic for the first time and he slammed on the break hard a few times, mistaking it for a clutch. After a while, he got a hang of it but we made slow progress due to the road condition.
We finally arrived in Taree around noon and got some supplies and more mozzie repellents and headed to a nearby park to eat lunch. We headed toward Port McQuaries on the scenic road and more unsealed road greeted us along with potholes-galore. The car fared well on the unsealed road.
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| Big 'roos, New South Wales, Australia |
We arrived at (missing national park name) just south of Port McQuaries by mid-afternoon and went to the camping area for some needed cold shower. There were many kangaroos hopping around the grounds and small green parrots squawking noisily in the trees. The two guys went splashing in the cold water while I checked out some tidal pools nearby.
We headed off again toward north and drove through some spectacular bush lands and coastal roads. The group was getting along fine because both Matt and Joerg were fairly extroverted so I mix in better with that. We listened to music and chatted along the way and stopped by a few lookouts and light houses before driving through Port McQuaries and headed to another vehicle ferry crossing to cross over to the (missing national park name) north of Port McQuaries.
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| Stretch of beach, New South Wales, Australia |
It was 5 by now and we were again pressed by the setting sun to find a campsite. After selecting one on one of the turnoffs from the road, we quickly moved our stuff to the beach because there seems to be a lot more mozzies this time around. It's not an exaggeration when I say that at least 50 of them were trapped in the car when we left it.
Joerg and Matt went to set up the tents and prepare the dinner while I scavenged for firewood. It was another yummy healthy meal of rice and veggies but I had a good dose of potato chips with that. The sun finally set and we sat by the campfire and chatted til 9. Mozzies were still bothering us though because the wind wasn't as strong as last night.
The various topics that were tossed around the campfire included personal and philosophical discussions. Joerg also talked about shitting and other disgusting stuff about it. Crazy Germans :).
The beach's been fairly lifeless here so far with the exception of some birds calling in the dark and some ghost crabs scurrying along the sand. No Dingos yet but I'm sure if they're out there, I'll hear them later tonight.
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