Day 1: Byron Bay to Sydney

The day after my decision to go to Adelaide was made  I “accidently” crossed paths with a free spirited woman living in her van and ended up joining her all the way down to Sydney. We departed at 06 a.m from Byron Bay and picked up a french guy along the way (don’t remember any names unfortunately).

I wish I had documented our 8 hour road trip better (although it’s a positive sign I forgot all about my phone), it was filled with deep talks about life, love and festivals. The lady driving used to be a CEO for a company in Sydney, very successful with a high annual salary. She traded it all in for a life driving around Australia, working on farms where she had access to fresh vegetables and spring water and going to festivals. Very inspiring! 

The only photo I happen to have of our road trip is my abusively overly salted french fries leading me to leave my first and only online review to date.

We arrived at about 5 pm in Sydney. I said good bye and thank you to the lady who drove us and me and my new french friend took the train into the city. He used to live and work in Sydney and asked if I wanted a mini tour of his favorite area called New town. I was definitely down so we went to a hostel, dropped off our stuff and walked around for about 2 hours (made a detour to his former employer first) before stopping for dinner at “Lentil as Anything” where you “pay as you feel”. For more info about their humanitarian concept check out www.lentilasanything.com.  The place was fully packed which made me hesitant at first but it was very much my cup of tea: great food, good cause, meditation in the middle of dinner and a tarot reader present for those interested, I mean can it get any better?!

Day 2: Sydney to Adelaide

I started having a panicky feeling, perhaps I made a mistake, maybe I should have given Sydney more time. I told myself I could always return which made me feel better (little did I know the world would shutdown few months later). I spent my time berfore my flight running around taking mandatory photos before jumping on the plane to Adelaide.

I had been forewarned that Adelainde doesn’t have the same “backpacker” vibe as the east coast but little did I know, all hostels would be either closed or fully packed with people doing their farm work. This revelation at 9 pm led me to get ready for a “homeless in a park” experience. I decided to stay at a bar til closing and then make myself ready for an outdoorsy adventure. However by “chance” I got a number to a hostel called “My place” by the barmaid and got my own room walking distance from where I was located. The hostel was comfy, central and the owner was more than helpful.

Day 3, 4 and 5: Adelaide

Within 24 hours in Adelaide I had been offered two jobs. Through the hostel I got a weekend gig in Murray river, where I operated a small roller coaster for a mobile amusement park (don’t let your kids on those!). My attitude when accepting work is always to try out new things and this would definietly be an out of the ordinary experience. I was responsible for a small roller coaster and it was fun for about an hour then it turned very repetative. I wish I could say “seeing the smiles on the kids faces was enough” but I can’t. My job was to seat people, make sure they had seat belts on, press a button to start and finish then make sure everyone got out to let in those next in line. The good news was I got to cross off yet another random activity on my list and now I also have a clear understanding of the Australian term “bogan”.

Day 6: Adelaide to Cairns

I also landed a job at a country side hotel about 3 hours East of Adelaide. Before relocating and getting down to business, I made a quick visit to tropical Cairns to see my friend Nick.

Day 7 : Cairns

I spent about 4 months in Cairns two years prior so it was special to return to say the least (Cairns deserves a post if it’s own). I ended up having some quality time with Nick,  meeting his two adorable kids, ziplining over a crocodile (at cairnszoom) and doing what me and Nick seem to do best: eat and chillax.

Day 8: Cairns to Adelaide

After my short stay in Cairns I flew back to Adelaide and then took the bus over to Pinnaroo to settle down and try out the small town life. For those who are not Australian or haven’t been to Australia it might be tricky to grasp the extent of traveling I did during one week. So to get an idea, have a close look at the google maps picture below.

Day 9: Adelaide to Pinnaroo..

Needless to say I probably should have rested after speeding across the country but instead, I started my new job at Pinnaroo hotel immediately. How my Australian small town experience turned out next!

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