Yes, I’m ‘different’…

…and at no time is this more obvious than at breakfast time. It is rare that I find anything satisfactory. I’m learning to adjust and give up, finally! When we were in Thailand, all I wanted for breakfast was a banana. Well the bananas over there are actually plantains, a starchy banana that gets the barbeque treatment. But they don’t bring their barbeques out until the afternoon, because the Thais consider plantains to be an afternoon snack. So at first I took the man on wild banana chases…until it was finally afternoon and I could have my banana for breakfast! Poor man…

Today in Merimbula, I knew my choices were limited. I’ve already decided not to do a hotel breakfast again unless I’m desperate, or in a very high class establishment. Today I wasn’t and we weren’t. But there was a servo next door, so I held my breath that there might be a piece of fruit there for me. We went in…and walked back out pretty quickly. We decided not to bother walking into town, and therefore the man took to the hotel breakfast. I gave him the message to bring back a piece of fruit with him if there was any. When he came back, he carried nothing. By this time I was getting hungry, which also means I was at risk of getting grumpy too, so I purposely tempered my mood. It did take effort. The plane would have something for me… I just had to hold out until we got there.

“There was fruit…”

My brow furrowed.

“…but it was plastic.”

Life in rural Australia hey? Food must be animal, packaged, or plastic.

So we packed up, walked back to the plane (close to two kilometres), and FINALLY I could ease my growing hunger!

I had some of the awesome, home-made ‘tear and share’ basil and olive bread left over from yesterday’s lunch too:

All this while the man used the airport internet facilities:

Small airports seem to attract a lot of birds, which is quite enjoyable to hang out in:

We traveled up the coast. Wollongong was the first bit of major population on our trip, complete with heavy industry:

And the obligatory freight ships on the horizon:

On my to do list is to travel along the coastal road between Wollongong and Sydney, because this has to be so cool to travel over:

Flying along the cliffs, over the ocean is really cool though. It is actually the law that you have to fly over water, and reasonably low (depending on the restrictions on the day and at the time) along this section of coast! Closer inland is a restricted military zone. Not all pilots are happy to travel low, yet alone over water for any period of time. I guess they have to pass over on the other side of the military zone. But that would mean missing out on the most spectacular of scenery!

The pollution of Sydney makes it rather unappealing to visit though:

One sight that is pretty amazing from the plane is the ship wreck just north of Newcastle:

This beach is super long, and super wide. And there’s people living there! A bit like a mini Sahara desert!

Mid-afternoon we arrived at our destination: Old Bar. The man picked it for a few reasons: it is a very old airstrip, heritage listed even, because the local council wanted to close it, and the locals did the work to ensure it was kept. It’s also right by a surfing beach, and within very close reach of town (most airports in Australia require a taxi ride). So we’re staying at Lani’s on the Beach, which has the best location of accommodation in town – they’re right on the beach; no one else is! And if you really wanted, you can arrange to have the two gates opened between park and ’port, and park your plane next to your rented cabin! But we didn’t bother. Scout is over there waiting for another avian friend to join him.

We walked down the beach, which turns out to be quite pebbled:

Then we went into town, which didn’t have much. We contemplated eating out, but it looked pretty dismal, unless we wanted pizza, and so we opted for some groceries from Bi-Lo. I’m off to cook now.

Did I mention that I LOVE rocks?

~Katara Jade

Old Bar, 21/05/2011

A change is as good as a holiday…and so’s a holiday!

It is such a relief to go away, leaving certain things behind! A holiday really simplifies life: you only have a few clothes to choose from, you can only do whatever is available in your destination, which tends to depend on your knowledge of the place, and anything further to that is all just discovery. And what do you discover? Well, mostly it’s just seeking out the basic things that you’ve already worked out at home: where you’re going to sleep that night, and finding suitable food when you’re hungry, and doing all the usual stuff with a different scene about you.

This holiday is not an unusual one for me, just heading North with my man, part business (the man has training and a test in Port Macquarie) and then visiting our family and friends who are scattered between northern New South Wales and Brisbane. But it is close to a year since I have stepped off the little Island I live on (must be a record for me!), and so much has been going on, particularly ‘changes’ (some good, some not so good, and some mixed). I decided to use this impending holiday to as a clear cut change from one of the scenes I was in. They helped a lot in that decision though. Anyway, I quit it, I’m really happy that I did, and relieved! So it must be the right decision. Now back to enjoying life! And a holiday is such a good reminder of what there is to enjoy!

We left home at a leisurely hour, after filling the pet bowls full of biscuits to do them the day, until their ‘sitter’ arrives tomorrow. We drove the winding back roads through lush bush and green farmlands (not mentioning tree farms though!) to Sheffield, where we transferred to the Scout:

Then we enjoyed the aerial view over the same lands:

Marveled at the luxury of being ‘on top of the clouds’:

And ‘island-hopped’ across Bass Straight. Here is one patch of the wide expanse of freezing cold water:

Here’s Cape Barren Island looking very majestic in the cloud and mist:

And example of the fantastic cliffs and beaches in the Kent Group:

We traveled up the Victorian coastline, dipping our wing to the fishermen and children below on occasions. We reminisced about our short visit to the Lakes Entrance last year, when we sold the Cessna:

We had a short stop for tea/coffee and bread at Orbost. And then only an hour later we landed just before sunset in Merimbula to spend the night. We parked the plane (tied down of course!), walked to a motel nearby. Later we crossed the bridge into town and had a fantastic veggie (adapted to be vegan) dish at the Brasserie here, except that I could have eaten more! Wish I had brought the cherry-cacao raw balls with me from the plane. Well, that’s a lesson for tomorrow!

~Katara Jade

Merimbula, 20/05/2011