This morning (Wednesday) I woke in a super blue funk. Dont know why but it was a combination of depression and ennui. It took a while to get going. But fortunately I've got a couple of things to attenuate those shitty starts to the day. Morning time "Intention Meditation" and a morning journal. With those I was able to break the worst of it. Today was just a long drive.
I've been sort of puzzling over how things have been going. To date it's been interesting but kind of stressful. I've spent a lot of time and effort getting things ready and probably spent more time than really needed. Yesterday, as I was driving up the coast on kind of long spaces in between, it occurred to me that if I were to go camping and exploring in the States I would likely have to drive a day or two before the adventure started. Driving in Oz is a lot slower so driving for 3 or 4 days to start something isn't really that weird. That made me feel a bit better about the time between my arrival and now. And I think that I was kind of assuming that it would just be a day or two of buying stuff and then off. Well, it's been weeks. I'm finally feeling a little better about it.
It's been mostly highway driving. These are 2 lane highways with a speed limit of 100 kph in most cases. Going through towns or built up areas the speed drops to 60.
Monday, 30 Sept 2024
Trying to write this blog is kind of difficult. I feel like I don't have a clue about what I'm doing. So I'll add some stuff to this post and then try to make things a little more sensible and coherent in the next one. I've made it up the east coast to the town of Townsville. I had to come here because I need a medical exam for my one year Australian visa. Right now I'm on a temporary visa. Anyway, I guess I've learned a few things on the way. My main goal is to make it to the tip of Cape York, northernmost point in Australia. There's a lot to see on the way north of here and the weather is warming up so I'm kind of anxious to keep moving for a bit.
Looking back for a couple of days. I decided that the main thing is to get to a couple of destinations so not to worry much about where I stayed in the interim. Looking for a good cheap place to stay put me camped behind the General Gordon Hotel on a Friday night.
It wasn't bad. The pub food was good but seemed a little pricy to me. It was a popular place on a Friday, with live music. Had dinner and a couple of beers and I was tired enough and far enoough away from the amplifier that I didn't have any trouble sleeping.
Yeah, check out those nuts!! I guess they're right, wouldn't want one of those to fall on me.
At one point I started to head to Airlie Beach. Supposed to be one of the prettiest beach towns in the Whitsundays. But at the last minute I decided to pass. Yeah, there are lots of pretty towns but a hipster stop along the way seemed like a waste.
Added on 6 October
As of today, I spent several days at an AirBnB in Cairns. During that time I went out and did a dive on the Great Barrier Reef. It was only moderately successful but I'll do a whole blog about that trip. I spent some time getting a few last minute things to head to the tip of Cape York. And today I'm up near Port Douglas and Mossman gorge. I'm going to spend another day here and try to get in a hike or two in the gorge area. Today's main goals are to figure out plans for the next couple of weeks, to get a couple of blogs done, and to do a little reading. That's the story for now.