Author: Michael Eaton

After my day in the Tablelands I took a few more days to recharge the batteries in Cairns. My friends Simon, Kris, and Freddie arrived in town from Magnetic Island and I spent most of my time hanging out with them. They rented an AirBnB and it was a good spot to chill and get away from the hostel. For some reason, at that point in time, I wasn’t feeling comfortable in the hostel environment.

Anyway, I figured that my time in Cairns was coming to an end. I started thinking about taking a trip up to Daintree National Park. It’s the oldest rain forest in the world and one of the main reasons I wanted to come to Cairns in the first place.

I floated the idea to several friends but I didn’t find a situation that I felt totally comfortable with. Simon and the gang had a car and were keen to go. But they only wanted to take day trips into the forest, basing themselves in Port Douglas, a small town two hours north of the city. I was pretty dead set on camping but they weren’t really about it. Especially Freddie.

My German friends were excited to camp but after our trip to Windin Falls and our encounter with the cassowary, things got a bit weird between us. I won’t go into detail here. I just figured out that they weren’t the type of people I wanted to share this experience with anymore. And sometimes figuring that out earlier rather than later is a blessing.

My other friend Scott wanted to take a trip up there too but wasn’t exactly sure when he was going to go. He is a bit of a free spirit and he doesn’t really like to make detailed plans ahead of time.

I didn’t want to hang around Cairns for longer than I had to so at this point I was ready to rent a car and go by myself. It was an experience I really wanted to have and I didn’t feel like missing out on camping in the Daintree because I had no one else to go with.

Scott eventually came around to the idea of making a trip up there and I couldn’t have been happier about it. At that point in time, that was my number one option and I was stoked that it worked out. He met this other American girl while camping and she had some friends that also wanted to join in so we had a group of five of us. The more the merrier. Especially on a trip like this.

The drive up the coast was beautiful. Along the ocean most of the way. Literally all you can see is rainforest, beach, or the sea. We got a late start so we didn’t really have a chance to stop off at any particular place (or really talk to each other, to be honest). Just seeing the amazing views from the car got me excited about what was to come.

Before too long we were in Daintree, a small town on the appropriately named Daintree River. Alex, one of the French guys that joined the group, was pretty pumped to complete the CREB Track, which is a 4WD track through the Upper Daintree Forest. You could see why. His car was an absolute beast. A 2001 Toyota Hilux with everything you needed to take on a track like that. Emma was also pretty keen but Scott was on the fence.

We chatted up the lady behind the counter at the information center and she told us to go talk to her husband who was down on the dock. He drove the track consistently and would help us figure out if we were crazy or not.

He took a quick look over the car and said that we’d have no problem at all. Music to our ears. Being that it was the end of the dry season, the roads were as firm as they were ever going to be. He even pushed us to make a trip up to Cape York, the northernmost point of Australia. But we didn’t take him too seriously at the time. We said our goodbyes and made our way towards the start of the track.

So we’re driving up the road and we come across this Aussie guy (Ty) driving down the opposite way as we were. We figured he was finishing up the track so we flagged him down because we were curious to get another opinion on the conditions. Turns out he hadn’t even started yet. He had drove a half kilometre in to check it out for himself. But he was on his own so he was a bit wary of taking it on without any help.

We were a group of random people who didn’t know much about each other anyway. So we invited him to join and without hesitation, he accepted the invitation. The group grew to six just like that. Too easy.

To be honest, it felt like we were in Jurassic Park or Jumanji or something. The rainforest is so thick in this part of the country. And every so often you could see mountains poking through the tree line just totally covered in green vegetation. I was almost expecting a velociraptor to jump out at us.

The track was tough but not overly difficult. I felt that the roads on Fraser Island were a lot tougher. The first day all we did was drive. A car tour of the forest basically. There weren’t any places to swim along the track so we just tried to tackle as much of it as we could the first day.

A few hours into the drive we stumbled on a nice alcove in the forest. A great place to set up camp for the night. Especially because there wasn’t much daylight left. Not long after we set up camp a few other people pulled on in. Eventually, the campsite grew by a few more cars and in total there were twelve of us.

We were all pretty exhausted from a long day of driving so nothing much happened that night. We just enjoyed each other’s company and the warmth of the fire. I got to play some ukulele for my new friends. And yeah, it was just really cool to be camping in the oldest rainforest in the world.

The next day we didn’t have a long distance to drive. We covered about 75% of the track the first day. Which was unintentional. We just didn’t know how long the track really was to be fair. So we drove most of it the first day. Within an hour or an hour and a half, we were officially done with the track. We did pull off onto a really nice lookout point before we finished it up. But besides that just driving like the day before.

At this point, we were pretty desperate to find some water to swim in. And right on cue, a few kilometers down from the end of the trail, we saw the sign for The Roaring Meg. We turned right in, hoping to find somewhere to swim and wash ourselves.

We found the spot to be more than acceptable and decided to camp there for the day even though we hadn’t done much driving.

Soon after we arrived this guy drove by in his truck and starts chatting to us. He was an Aboriginal man and the caretaker of the land. He told us we could stay but asked us to keep out of the water at the waterfall. It was a holy site for women in the area and sacred to his culture. The beach up the river was fair game which we were relieved to hear. He told us to come around his place the next morning for some coffee and a chat.

The waterfall itself was fairly impressive but it was the view of the forest that was really the showstopper. We just stayed up there for a while taking everything in. Just wondering how things had changed since the Aboriginal people were taken off the land.

When we finally got to the beach I was pleasantly surprised. I thought I was hallucinating because it was this pure white sand beach, like something you would see in the Caribbean or the Whitsunday Islands, but next to a river. I think everyone was just so happy to be able to swim. Everyone just stripped down to nothing and jumped in there. It was quite liberating.

Again a pretty uneventful night. Had some dinner and relaxed. We did have an unexpected visitor. A black and white snake just slithered on up to us when we were hanging out around the fire. Zach, the other American in the group, is super interested in wildlife and he was trying to play with it and pick it up. We found out later that it was not venomous. But Zach getting a little too close to wild animals and freaking us out would become a consistent theme on this trip!

Surprise! More waterfalls!

This is going to be a constant theme so buckle up your seat belts and cue that song about chasing waterfalls and sticking to rivers and what not.

Just west of Cairns are these mountains and it separates the coastline from a plateau. The plateau is called the Atherton Tablelands, named after the largest town in this section of the country. The tablelands, as most people around here refer to them are absolutely stunning. Rolling hills and mountains. Tons of farms. And a shit ton of waterfalls.

Back in Airlie Beach, when I took the Whitsunday cruise, I met this Aussie bloke named Scott. Really cool guy and we hit it off from the beginning. He was travelling up the coast as well and he happened to be in Cairns the same time I was. We spent some time together in the city, just hanging out, and we decided to make a move to the tablelands to check out some of these waterfalls.

The drive in is about an hour or so and on the way we remembered that there was this tea estate that was supposed to have their own resident tree kangaroos. A tree kangaroo doesn’t really look like a kangaroo. It looks more like sloth or a red panda. But supposedly they are extremely rare in the wild. So making the detour ended up being a great decision for multiple reasons.

Not only did we see the tree kangaroos but we met this older couple while we were there. They came to see the tree kangaroos too but it was obvious they were looking for something more than that.

The woman was very attractive. They were both in their fifties I would say. She was very fit. A ginger with a bubbly personality. And she was wearing basically nothing. Overalls with no bra and I would assume no panties.

After about five minutes of chatting with them she just pulls out her breasts. And her husband just starts taking pictures. They asked us if we wanted to jump in the photos with her. They wanted to mark the occasion with some photo evidence. Certainly taking photos of her half naked would be a better way to mark the occasion than taking pictures of the actual animals themselves, right?

It was an odd experience but you just got to roll with it sometimes.

Anyway, when we finished up there we finished the rest of the drive to this small little town called Millaa Millaa. Here they have a beautiful waterfall, appropriately called the Millaa Millaa waterfall. It was a bit later in the day so it was pretty cold to swim in. But this waterfall is just a beauty. Like the perfect waterfall to look at in my opinion. If there was one waterfall perfect for a movie this would be it.

When we got done there we hopped back in the car and followed the waterfall circuit road. Around the town there are a number of different waterfalls. So they built a road that takes you to every single one. No long walks either. So if you’re super lazy and you want to see some beautiful spots this is definitely the place for you.

I don’t remember the names of all of them to be fair (I’ll look them up later) but I’ll just provide some pictures because trying to describe all of them would be impossible.

By the time we got done with the circuit, it was pretty late in the afternoon. So it was hard for us to make it out to the other waterfalls we wanted to see because the roads here take you in some pretty roundabout ways. A waterfall could be 10 kilometres away straight line but the drive will be 50 kilometres because of how the way the roads are built. So we stopped at a few smaller ones on the way back to Cairns.

All in all a pretty solid day waterfall hunting. Saw some tree kangaroos, got to chat with a few exhibitionist in the middle of the car park at the tea estate, and swam in some beautiful waterfalls. On to the next adventure!

Another day, another waterfall.

There are so many around here that it’s easy to find a new one to explore. The weather here is hot! And it gets hotter by the day as we approach summer. So finding a waterfall to swim in is top of the to-do list when you’re in Cairns.

Our adventure to Windin Falls the previous day took a bit more out of us than we were expecting. So the Crystal Cascades seemed like a great idea. It’s only a twenty-minute drive from the city. And the walk up to the falls is less than a kilometer. How wrong we were.

When we arrived at the falls we met this Aussie guy and we immediately hit it off. His name is Ben. He was a bit of a thrill-seeker and he convinced me to come up to the top of the falls with him to do some cliff jumping. To be fair that’s not usually my thing. But I was in the mood to push myself so I went for it.

Don’t get me wrong. I was pretty frightened. I think it’s less about the height of the jump (maybe 6 meters or so) and more about not knowing what’s beneath the water. Are there any rocks that I can hit down there? That thought goes through your mind naturally. Self-preservation is a thing.

It didn’t help that we stood up there for a few minutes talking. It definitely added to the tension. But I jumped. And I landed right on my ass! Thankfully I didn’t have any bruises the next day. I need to work on my form for next time.

The girls and I saw that there was another waterfall nearby and Ben seemed pretty keen to get over there and check it out. We weren’t sure where it was exactly but after some walking around we found a trail out near the back of the parking lot that seemed like it went in the right direction.

We soon got to a clearing with a creek but there were no waterfalls in sight. So we went a little further and we started climbing up hill. I don’t mean walking up a hill. I mean climbing. With your hands and everything. The roots of the trees provided plenty of hand and foot holes for us to use.

When we started on the climb we figured that it would only be a short one because the waterfall was supposed to be nearby. But we continued climbing and still, we found nothing. It got to a point where we had come so far along the trail that it made no sense to turn back. So we continued climbing some more.

After 30 or 45 minutes the girls were exhausted and ready to turn back. Ben and I couldn’t accept defeat so we continued on without them. Soon after splitting up, we heard the girls calling to us from below. They had found a trail down one of the hills and it looked like it led to the waterfall we were looking for.

This climb was super steep and to be honest I was a bit nervous. We got down in one piece but unfortunately, the waterfall was not much to look at. It had a great name. Fairy Falls. But all in all, it was a bit disappointing. We had a feeling that this wasn’t the right one. That we took a wrong turn somewhere. And in fact, we did. We just didn’t figure that out until the next day.

Not every adventure is going to have a tremendous payoff. This much is true. But that shouldn’t stop you from exploring in the first place. I’d rather be disappointed some of the time than not get out there and explore all this beautiful world has to offer.

Anyway, I was totally and utterly exhausted after the trip. The walk might have been only an hour and a half long but the climbing made it so strenuous. The plan called for a simple day of swimming at the Crystal Cascades. But we got so much more than that.

After finding some time to rest up in Cairns I was eager to explore the areas around the city. The rain forest is so dense in this part of Australia and there are so many waterfalls to see (and swim in). There is a mountain range to the west of Cairns and this is where most of the waterfalls can be found.

My German friend Anna had heard about a waterfall that almost functioned like an infinity pool. It wasn’t specifically listed on Google Maps like the other waterfalls around Cairns but her friend had been there before so we had the coordinates to get there.

The way there wasn’t as straightforward as we were hoping they would be. But we finally got to the entrance of the trail that led to the waterfall. Quickly the trail turned into a thick rain forest. There were points during the trail where we could see that a large fire had raged. It was pretty crazy to see how the forest had burned and the remnants of what remained. A lot of trees survived the fire and that was surprising to see. I wonder if the fire was naturally started or man made.

About halfway through the trail I heard someone scream towards me, “Hey, watch out!”. I quickly jumped out to the left and looked down to where I had been previously standing. Lying there, barely visible among the leaves and the sticks, was this brown snake. Had I stepped six more inches to the right I would have definitely stepped on it! If you don’t know brown snakes are the bad kind of snakes in Australia.

I felt extremely lucky and I was definitely more careful on the rest of the trail. Looking ahead and making sure that I wasn’t in the path of any more snakes.

About an hour and a half into the walk we made it to the waterfall and it definitely didn’t disappoint. The trail was pretty difficult, especially the last five-hundred meters or so. All the way up a hill and then all the way down a hill. The climb was quite steep.

The pool wasn’t nearly as big as I was expecting. The pictures online always look a bit better. But the views from the top were amazing. We were sitting on top of the cliff the waterfall flowed down. The drop was fairly large. It was hard to gauge the distance from the position we were in but I would imagine it was about one-hundred meters.

We got there a bit late in the day and that was a mistake because the waterfall was on the eastern side of the mountain. We were in the shade most of the time. It was quite windy so we were unexpectedly cold. Not a great day to forget a jumper at home.

Of course, I had to go into the water. But I didn’t last very long. The water was so cold! Everyone took turns getting in and getting some pictures and then we made our way out of there towards the car. We knew we had a long hike back and we didn’t want to drive through the mountains after the sunset.

When we got back to the car we were all hungry so we decided to make a big pot of noodles before we hit the road. We didn’t have enough bowls so we were all eating out of the pot placed on the ground. Then something extremely unexpected happened.

My friend Phil started to freak out. I looked to my right and this large bird had approached us. It must have been hungry because it was trying to eat the noodles we had placed on the floor. The girls started freaking out too and at first I wasn’t really sure what to do. Obviously we had to get the bird away from the car so we could at least pack everything up and leave the car park.

So I start intimidating the bird as best as I could. I started lunging at it like I was going to attack it. The bird seemed frightened and it started moving away from the car. I began to chase it and eventually it ran into the forest.

It came back several times though. And I had to repeat the process each time. I can’t lie, I was a little frightened myself. I remember looking at its beak and talons and thinking to myself “Wow, this thing could really fuck me up if it wanted to.”. But at this point I couldn’t show any fear so I stood my ground.

It wasn’t until after the fact that I found out that cassowarries are one of the most dangerous birds in the world. It’s talons are extremely sharp and it can jump and kick it’s legs at its enemies and do some serious damage. My intuition was right. But it wasn’t an especially large cassowary so I imgaine I got a bit lucky that day.

Sorry Mom!

I woke up early in the morning, broke down camp, and got my butt on the road. It was going to be a big day for me. My last with the car. And I still had a three-hour ride ahead of me, not including the waterfalls that I wanted to stop off at.

The first stop was Wallaman Falls. The tallest waterfall in Australia. I got there pretty early. So much so that I was the first person in the car park. I took a moment to admire the falls from the lookout point and I started off on the trek down into the valley.

I made the decision to walk the entire way down without any shoes. Just bare feet. The last few months I’ve been walking around bare foot and it’s been pretty liberating. I lost my shoes at the drum circle in Noosa and my sandals broke a few days later. So that really set me off on my bare foot adventure.

It’s a huge change for me. I was never really comfortable walking around bare foot as a child or a young adult. I was always fearful of stepping in something that I wasn’t supposed to. But now I feel extremely comfortable walking around without any shoes on. In nature or in the city.

Don’t get me wrong. The walk down without any shoes on was not easy. It was painful at points but I persevered. And when I finally got down to the bottom I was so proud of myself. About 3 kilometres downhill with little rocks all over to step on. It was a testament to my determination and will power.

I made my way towards the pool which required me to scramble over these large boulders. It took me several tries to find the right route. And I had to be extra careful because a lot of the rocks were wet with the mist coming off the waterfall.

I was down there all by myself and it was extremely peaceful. I just took some time to be in the present moment. Feeling the mist hitting my face as it came off the waterfall. I stayed around for about 10 minutes and then made the journey back. This time with shoes on.

I hadn’t any sandals with me as I had lost them in Airlie Beach. But while scrambling through the boulders towards the pool I found some sandals that were left behind by someone. And they fit me perfectly. Life didn’t want me to suffer on the way up I suppose.

By the time I got back to the car it was getting to be around lunchtime and I still had quite a bit of driving to do. My plan was to stop by two more waterfalls but I decided I only had enough time to get to one more. So I made my way to Josephine Falls because it was on the way to Cairns.

It ended up being a good choice. A really beautiful waterfall with a nice natural pool perfect for swimming. I met a few characters while I was there as well.

First, we had this Aussie woman who had a bird on a leash just sitting on her shoulder. I got to chatting with her and she had multiple tropical birds as pets. And every once in a while she would take them out into the forest for a walk.

The next man I saw but I didn’t talk to. Similar to most waterfalls there were a bunch of large boulders scattered around. Most people lie around on them soaking up the sun. But this guy got his mountain bike out and was hopping around on them.

It seemed like quite the exercise. But it was amazing how well he kept his balance on the bike. You could see he was exhausted but still he kept his focus and remained in balance. It was a really cool thing to see. I’m just curious how you even practice something like that enough to get good at it!

From there I just made the drive into Cairns and checked into my hostel. Finally, my journey to Cairns had come to an end. Two weeks and over a thousand kilometers covered. Countless nature explored and I even met a few friends along the way. Truly the road trip of a lifetime.

After my Whitsunday trip I stayed around in Airlie for a few more days. Just to relax. The trip up north was more exhausting than I was expecting it to be. Mostly because I had to do so much driving. Three or four hours a day is a lot, especially when there isn’t someone else in the car to talk to.

Not much happened in Airlie the last few days I was there. I played a ton of ukulele which has been my creative outlet lately. It’s nice to have something to do that gets those creative juices flowing. I met a few new people and I partied a bit with some of the friends I already made.

From Airlie I headed a few more hours north to a camping spot near Townsville. The last ‘major’ city before getting to Cairns. Big Crystal Creek was recommended to me by a variety of people I’ve met since I got into Queensland. So I decided I couldn’t miss it.

The German group I met was supposed to meet me there but they decided that they wanted to make the drive straight to Cairns. The forecast called for a chance of rain and that scared them off unfortunately. It’s a shame because it’s a beautiful campsite. And it didn’t even rain that much. A bit during the night but nothing that would cause a problem.

So I had to enjoy this beautiful place on my own. The creek itself is pristine. A great place to take a swim and find some peace and quiet. I arrived in the late afternoon and set up camp quickly. My tent was wet from the previous camping spot so I let it sit in the sun while I checked out the creek.

I was there by myself at first and took a short swim. The water was cool and there were fish and turtles swimming around in there. Hung out for a bit and then I decided that this would be the perfect place to play some ukulele. When I got back with it there were a few more people there. So I played for them and they seemed to really enjoy it.

It’s been such a transformation for me. When I was younger I used to be so nervous to perform in front of other people. I think it’s natural. But now I am playing the ukulele and even singing for people I don’t know all that well. It’s a liberating feeling to be fair.

I met this Australian couple at the creek and they were set up in the camping site right next to me. So we got to chatting and we built a fire together later in the evening. We just chatted about a plethora of topics. Traveling in Australia, politics, self-improvement, and spirituality to name a few. It was quite relaxing.

I find you always will meet some cool and down to earth people wherever you go. Sometimes you just need to be a little brave to get the conversation flowing.

After leaving Rockhampton these two German girls and I went for a drive along the beach in Yeppoon, a small beach town about an hours drive from the city. Their plan was to drive all the way up to Airlie Beach but the drive was too long to make in a day by myself. So I stopped outside of Mackay to camp for the night.

Just north of Mackay is this national park called Cape Hillsborough National Park. It’s very famous for it’s sunrises because kangaroos gather on the beach to forage for food early in the morning. So I had no choice but to pack up camp at 4 o’clock and make it there for sunrise.

It was a really cool experience to be fair. But it was a bit of a turn off because there were so many people standing around and taking pictures of the animals. I stayed there for a bit and walked further down the cape to catch the sunrise. It was just me out there and it was a very meditative experience. I really enjoyed the peacefulness of the situation.

From there I made the drive to Airlie Beach. It’s a small little town and it serves as the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands. Probably the most popular tourist attraction in all of Australia.

My friends from Byron were also in Airlie and hadn’t taken the tour yet. So we decided to do it together the day after I got into town. It doesn’t bother me to go on a tour like this on my own but it’s always nicer to have some friends to go along with.

The tour itself was two days and two nights. The first day we left at around 11 o’clock in the morning and spent most of the day just sailing out towards the islands. By the late afternoon we reached our destination and snorkeled for a bit.

The coral at the first snorkeling spot was not very colorful if I’m going to be honest. I guess it is true what they say about the coral being bleached because of the rising ocean temperatures. The captain mentioned that a huge cyclone hit the islands a few years back and it killed a lot of the coral. So that might have been a contributing factor.

The evening turned into a little boat party. We had about 25 people on the boat (besides the 3 crew) and almost half of them were French. A big group taking a holiday weekend away from the farm so they were ready to have a good time. We had a good time just drinking and dancing out on the water. But we ended the night early because we had an early day the next day.

In the morning we went over to the most popular destination on the islands – Whitehaven Beach. We got there very early in the morning and we beat all the crowds. Credit to the crew on that one. We had the whole beach to ourselves for an hour or so.

Of course we took a swim. The water was just so clear. And there were these huge sting rays swimming in the water. It was an unbelievably beautiful place. I would have to say it is the nicest beach I’ve ever been to.

From there we did two more snorkeling sessions. The first of the two was the best one of the entire trip. There were so many fish to see. All in different colors and patterns. Some of these fish were gigantic. Probably as big as I am.

It was cool because I had seen one of the types of fish in a documentary. I can’t remember the name off the top of my head but it has a large pump just above the eyes. And this fish can change genders if the situation calls for it. It’s cool to see something on television or read something in a book and then experience it for yourself.

All in all it was a great trip. It’s funny because had I done only 3 months in Australia like I was planning to I probably would not have made this stop. So in a way this coronavirus situation was a bit of a blessing for me because it allowed me to slow down and discover this country the way it should be explored.

I ended up staying at this really odd camping site the night I left Noosa Heads. It was basically a gas station with a grassy area to the side of it. Right off the side of the road. I didn’t mind too much because it was a free camp ground. And I had a fire pit to make a fire.

That’s one of the many things I’ve learned on my trip to Australia. How to make a fire. It’s not awfully hard to be honest. But God damn is it satisfying once you get it going.

I stopped off at Rainbow Beach the next morning. It’s a place I’ve been to before but only for an afternoon. We stopped off there on our way back to Noosa from Fraser Island.

I took a short walk along the coast and ended up at this sand blow which was actually pretty cool. It reminded me of the movie “Where The Wild Things Are”. There’s a scene where the main characters are walking through a desert and my mind immediately went there.

The sand dunes at Rainbow Beach are very famous and I was definitely impressed. Just these huge cliff faces made of sand and red stone. It’s possible to camp on the beach but you need a 4WD vehicle and the Yaris definitely doesn’t fit the bill. But it seems like a good time.

From there I moved along to Agnes Water which is just a small town a two hour drive away from Rainbow. After a few days of camping, I was happy to stay at a hostel and get a proper night’s sleep.

The hostel itself was pretty cool. Very chill and not too many people. Maybe 15 people were staying there and we had a little drinking session. We ended up going to the beach and drinking there for a bit but it wasn’t that serious. We wrapped everything up by midnight.

I met a German girl and a Swiss girl at the hostel and we went on a bit of a hike together the next morning. Not terribly long to be fair and it spit us out onto this small beach in 1770. Yes the town is called 1770. This is the year that Captain Cook discovered the place for the British.

Anyway, the beach was extremely beautiful and the water was just so blue. There wasn’t really anybody else there. We finished up the day with a BBQ in the park (there are public BBQs everywhere in Australia) and then we drove an hour and change to a campsite and we camped together. Very chill. Just drank some beers and chatted around the fire.

In the morning they headed to Rockhampton which was also my destination but I decided to go on a hike before starting the drive there. I found a mountain on the map and decided to hike up it.

It was fairly challenging but easily doable. There was some rock scrambling involved especially at the end there but the views from the top were extremely nice. I mediated on the peak and it was so peaceful.

Now I’m in Rockhampton and I’ll stay here for the night. Move on to this place called Yeepoon and then maybe Airlie Beach. But it’s a long drive so I will probably stop off an camp for the night.

My week and change in Brisbane was pretty run of the mill. Got to see some friends before moving north. And I even made some new ones too. 

I rented an AirBnB for a few days because I need to have some personal space. It’s been a while since I had my own bedroom. Even two days was enough of a breather to get me going again.

The hostel itself was very nice actually. Close by to one of the hostels I stayed at with Carter and Tobin. So similar views of the city skyline. But this hostel had three different levels of outdoor space which included a pool and a ping pong table. And that’s my ish. The ping pong I mean.

Now I’m back on the road. I rented a car for two weeks. A Toyota Yaris, which is one of the hybrid type mini cars but I don’t mind too much. It has enough space for all my things and it’s pretty good on gas which will make the trip north a little cheaper.

I picked it up at the airport yesterday and so far no problems driving on the wrong side of the road. It’s actually pretty easy seeing as I’ve been in New Zealand and Australia so long. I’m used to looking the way I need to and all of that.

I did some shopping and then I finally made it to the campsite at around 5 o’clock. I guess I arrived after the office was closed and I left pretty early in the morning so I ended up not paying for the reservation. Score one for the wallet.

The campsite is in this area an hour and a half north of Brisbane called the Glass House Mountains. It’s not a range. Just random mountains out on the plain. I read they were caused by volcanic activity millions of years ago. And they’re all oddly shaped.

I decided to climb up one of the easier ones. Not because I didn’t want a challenge. But because it offered the best views of the other mountains from the top. And it did not disappoint. Only took about an hour to climb so it was rather quick.

Today I stopped off in Noosa to say hello to a few friends. I think I might stay around here for the night. Maybe sleep in my car and head off early in the morning. 

What’s the next stop? I am thinking Rainbow Beach for the day and then I’ll continue driving north to a campsite. We will see.

So after a month plus in Noosa I’m back in Brisbane. I really enjoyed Noosa but it was time to move on and see something new. It’s beautiful there but it’s a bit too small for me. You start seeing the same people over and over. It was getting to be a bit redundant.

My plan now is to move north to Cairns. Making a few stops along the way of course. My original plan was to rent a car for a few weeks and make the drive up. That way I can do a bit of camping as well. But my friend Sal is leaving in a few weeks and she will be selling her car. It’s a good car and depending on price I might take it off her hands. We will see.

I’ve lost a few essential items in the last few months so coming back to Brisbane allowed me to stock up on a few things. I needed a new water bottle and some new sneakers. Picked up a ukulele as well. But I sliced my finger yesterday so might be a few weeks until I can play again unfortunately.

On another note, I’ve been having some odd conversations and interactions over the last few weeks. For some reason, some of the people that I’ve been meeting have been eager to give me unsolicited opinions on my character. This really hasn’t happened to me in the past and it’s a bit odd to be judged in this way by people that don’t even know me as a person.

I’ve been told that I’m overly sarcastic and this can make people feel odd or offended. This is something that I agree with. I need to be more careful about what I say to certain people. Especially people that don’t have English as a first language. At times I try to make a joke but they don’t understand that I am being sarcastic and they take offense to it. It’s understandable. If someone was being sarcastic to me in Spanish it would be difficult for me to recognize.

I do think that it’s a product of being from New York. All my friends and I are sarcastic with each other and it’s so usual for us that we don’t think twice about it. We understand when we are being sarcastic and not take it seriously. But that’s not something that most people I meet on my travels understand.

Some other remarks have bothered me a bit if I’m being totally honest. I’ve been told that I am arrogant and I make people feel unimportant. I’ve been told that I come off as judgmental. I’ve been told that I am “abusively smooth”. Whatever that means. And all of this in the last two weeks or less.

I like to think I’m a pretty self-aware person. Am I perfectly aware? Do I sometimes come across or act in ways that don’t align with what I want to portray? Absolutely. Everyone does. But to be told I come across as arrogant and judgmental is a bit surprising. Hearing that kind of shook me a bit if I’m being honest. Because it totally contradicts the way I want to treat other people.

It really made me think. Is this what I’m actually putting off? Or are the people that decided to offer this opinion confused or mis-perceiving certain situations?

And I came to the conclusion that these assessments are not valid and I reject them. First off, I trust my awareness enough to understand that this is not my intention and in most situations, I express myself well enough to get across my actual intentions. Can I sometimes come across as arrogant or judgmental? I am sure. But most of the time this isn’t the way I act towards others.

Secondly, having had known these people for a few weeks each and also observing them and understanding how they act towards me and others I can say that they are not as self-aware as they would like to believe themselves. I am not going to take their words as the truth. They are not able to understand how they are coming across to others so how can they understand my intentions and how others perceive me?

I love myself. I definitely understand that I have things to improve upon. But I am trying my best to be the best possible version of myself. I want to make people laugh. I want to make people feel comfortable around me. And I can’t buy into the fact that I make people feel judged or disregarded a majority of the time.

I trust myself and my understanding of who I am. Maybe a few years ago I would have changed myself and the way I acted based on what others said about me. But now I understand that what others say isn’t the truth all the time. I have the space to understand and make a choice for myself. It just goes to show how much I have grown as a person in the last few years.