david taus

Pushing North

I’m under the gun again-only seven more minutes on this contraption and then I’m off.

It’s colder here than I would have expected; like Cape Cod in October. And still drizzling. I haven’t seen the sun in days. Bums me out, but these things are far from my control. Because of the crummy weather I decided to take a travel day and push North, ever closer to those fabled beaches and rainforests. I’m currently in Port MacQuarie but have an afternoon bus for Byron Bay. It’s touristy, I’m told, but I’ve come to realize that there is a reason why some places are touristy. Yosemite and the Grand Canyon are touristy as all getout but for very good reason: they are jaw-dropping. So might be the case with the sleepy town of Byron Bay. They do have surfing there so my mandate will still be filled (I understand the Reef breaks the waves to the point where you can only swim in the Queensland waters, barring jellyfish) and there are some daytrips to national parks from there that might be better. I’m sad to be pushing through NSW so quickly but this will mean more time up in the tropics, and the Red Centre in turn.

I’ve noticed a smell in virtually every hostel room I’ve been in, sort of like a compost bin, and through my brilliant powers of deduction it dawned on me that the smell is coming from my wet socks.