Getting out of a big comfortable bed is one of the most difficult tasks of any day. But being conscious of the fact that time in bed is time wasted on vacation, I forced my limp body up and swung around fighting the urge to just lie back down. Sinking my toes into the soft warm carpet, my body began to realize that I could still be comfortable in a place other than bed. Finally, I sprung myself upward and convinced myself that a nice shower would be just the thing I needed to get going for the day. Still relishing in every drop of hot water, I appreciated every opportunity to have a proper shower. Although we’ve become very accustomed to being without a shower in Japan, we certainly find it easy to appreciate one when we’ve access to it.After a short while, Sarah was out of bed and cleaned up as well. We made sure that we were in the lobby dining area in time for our complimentary breakfast. We weren’t going to miss a free meal! After we fueled up on cereal and toast for the day, we thanked the motel owner, game them some Texas memorabilia and hit the road again.
Since we had only spent a short time at One Mile Beach yesterday, we decided to go back to enjoy it more fully. But first, we went to the local McDonalds, as had become our habit when we required an internet connection! We found that we could almost always get a good, free internet connection on our laptop at McDonalds. (On a side note, the McDonalds in Australia all had soft serve ice cream cones for only thirty cents! Needless to say, we devoured one during many internet sessions). After getting a good connection on our laptop, we sent a few emails to our future couchsufing hosts and then we were quickly pointed back to our destination: One Mile Beach!
By the time we got there, we only had about forty-five minutes to spend before it would be time to leave for our scheduled lagoon horse ride excursion. The beach was just as beautiful as it had been yesterday and there were many more people at the earlier hour. Sarah had the great idea to buy some groceries the night before so that we could bring our own lunch to the beach. We spread out our towels, globbed on some sun block, and extracted our meal of turkey sandwiches, potato chips, and lemonade. We sat happily devouring our feast as we savored the beautiful summer day in one of the most extraordinary places we had ever seen.
We had just enough time to stroll out into the breaking waves and cool ourselves from the steadily warming rays of the sun. It was a dose of two extremes at once. Everything above the water was throbbing from the summer heat and everything below was stinging from the cold of the Pacific. It took a very long time before I could submerge my entire body into the water. I couldn’t believe how cold the water could be while the sun was so hot! Sarah made it only about knee deep before she decided to call it good enough. That makes her either the less adventurous one, or just the smarter of the two of us. I’m sure you are all leaning toward the latter!
Now that our time on the beach was up, we set off for the stables. Earlier that day, Sarah had made some calls and reserved for us a horseback riding expedition through a lagoon. Once we arrived, it was only a few minutes before we were enjoying our ride. First, though, they made us put on these ridiculous hairnets with riding helmets. No man can feel manly doing something like that! And the testosterone robbing only increased when they made me (by company policy) use a portable plastic staircase to climb on to the runt of a horse. And the final blow came when an 18 year old girl gave the orders and led us away. By this point, I felt like the castration was complete.
But once we were on the trail, we really did enjoy ourselves. It was only me and Sarah with our guide, Emily. She was a really sweet girl and quickly warmed up to us. We moseyed at a leisurely pace up the trail and just took in the pretty surroundings. The sun was beating down on us with ferocity, though, and our skin was cooking. At one point we saw a large komodo dragon-type lizard (I can’t remember what they said it was called). Sarah seemed to be a real pro at riding. I just sort of followed her from the back as Emily explained the necessary pecking order to us. Apparently (and I’m sure horse people know this already) horses should stay in a particular order according to dominance, called a pecking order. Toward the end of our ride we rounded a big lagoon. It looked just like the sort of place where a crocodile might lurk, but before I could offer the typical tourist question, Emily joked, “No…there aren’t any crocodiles in here. You wouldn’t believe how many goofy tourists ask that question!” I was glad I didn’t get the chance to ask.
Once our ride was over and we said goodbye to our new friend Emily, we were headed right back to One Mile Beach. By the time we returned, most of the people had apparently had enough of the sun and had already left. It was still very beautiful, even though the wind had picked up considerably. Sarah and I enjoyed a long walk down the beach together. Hand in hand with my beautiful wife, soft sand caressing our toes as we walked, surrounded by one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, I thought to myself, “It doesn’t get any better than this!”
Sarah brought the video camera this time and immediately jumped into reporter mode when she came across a kite surfer organizing his rig. She asked him questions about it and shot a little bit of footage. As we walked, we picked up many seashells thinking all the while that they might be neat little souvenirs to give people back home. It seemed like a good idea, and maybe it was, but I can’t help but wonder what someone would actually do with a seashell if we gave one to them. Regardless, we had a pocketful of them once we were done!
Sadly, evening was approaching and we knew that we must be getting on our way to Port Macquarie where our next couchsurfing hosts were awaiting our arrival. We hopped in the car and set off once again!
A car ride is like Nyquil for Sarah. Within about ten minutes she was out for the count. I always joke with her about that. I think she secretly wishes I would just leave her alone and let her sleep! But what kind of husband would I be to let her miss out on the scenic drive?
Somewhere around dusk, we pulled over at a very vintage looking café that would have suited a Norman Rockwell picture perfectly. I ordered another basket of fish and chips and Sarah opted for chicken. We sat down outside on the patio and popped open a couple of ice cold, glass bottled Cokes as we looked past the calm river and watched the sun set over the hills. We savored every bite of our feast and sat happy and content, talking about how wonderful our trip had been thus far.
More inclined to take a nap than return to driving, we compelled ourselves to suck it up and finish our short drive. Before long, we pulled into Port Macquarie and were eagerly welcomed at the front door of Brian’s home. Another perfect stranger, our new couchsurfing friend made us feel right at home as he helped carry in our (mostly Sarah’s) luggage. In no time at all he had poured us glasses of wine and was chatting with us in his comfortable living room. A short while later, his delightful wife Leslie arrived with their daughter, Donna, and their hilarious grandson Logan. Donna and Logan left a short while later. Sarah and I stayed up until about 2 a.m. just chatting away with our great new friends, Mr. and Mrs. Ross.
After our showers we headed to our room for bed. That’s right…we had our very own room! And it was so comfortable! It was like we were being put up at a bed and breakfast for free. With smiles on our faces we discussed how happy we were that we had given couchsurfing a chance. After all, it had taken considerable urging on my part to get Sarah to agree to try it in the first place. But now she was sold on it! We drifted off to sleep as we thought of what the next day might hold for us.
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