December 31, 2008: Bananas!

Tap, tap, tap. That was the sound on the door that woke Sarah and me from our deep sleep. “It’s swimming time,” hollered Sue from the other side. We swiftly got up, threw on our swimsuits, and were headed out for a brisk 7 am swim!

The beach was only about a mile from their house. It was very pretty (which was the case for all the beaches we had seen in Australia thus far). The four of us began walking out into the frigid morning surf. I followed Greg’s lead and dove right in and began paddling out. Sarah made to about knee deep and let her good senses tell her to turn around! To tell the truth, after a couple of minutes, the cold water felt very invigorating! Greg was showing me how to body surf by swimming in with a big wave at just the right time. What a way to start a day! A brisk swim at a beautiful beach in Australia!

After our swim, we went back to the house and had a nice breakfast of yogurt, granola, and fruit. It felt very healthy and seemed to go hand in hand with our swim. I could really see myself starting every day like this, just as Greg and Sue do, if only I lived in such a splendid location!

Next on the agenda was Sarah’s long awaited hair appointment in town. Sue had been kind enough to schedule the appointment on Sarah’s behalf long before we had ever met her or even arrived in Australia! It had been over six months since Sarah’s last haircut. In fact, her last one was sometime before our wedding in Mexico! She had always been a little cautious about getting it done in Japan, since she wasn’t sure how to communicate to a hairdresser exactly what she wanted done. Needless to say, she was excited to finally be getting it done in Australia. Sarah was greeted by her very friendly stylist and I was off to check out the charming town of Sawtell.

I began by grabbing coffee and a muffin at a great little coffee shop that Greg had recommended to me. I sat out on the sidewalk patio amongst cheery people in summer clothes and swimsuits. I love summer mornings so much, and this was an ideal one.

After perusing a few little shops and buying a can of spray-on sun block for myself, I rounded the corner of Main Street to check out the beach. At this point, there were people sunbathing and splashing in the surf all up and down the beach. I know Sarah would say that the Australian surfer guys were hot, so I feel safe saying that Australian surfer chicks were certainly easy on my eyes! Dang!

After a couple of hours wandering unattended to, I went back to find Sarah looking as beautiful as ever with her fresh haircut! She was very happy with it, so we decided to celebrate the occasion with cheeseburgers at a little eatery up the street. It seems that in Australia, a “supreme burger” or “the works burger” means: giant hamburger with fried egg and barbecue sauce. It is actually quite good! Sarah and I took our burgers down to a lookout over the beach and ate while we babe-watched…err…I mean people watched. The weather was still perfect. It was warm and sunny with a hint of a breeze to help cool us down a little.

We then ventured outside of town to a neighborhood reputed to have many kangaroos. Being the cheesy tourists that we are, we drove around and quickly found several to get some great pictures of. These kangaroos were different than the ones that we had seen in Port Mcquarie. These guys were huge and looked like they could inflict some serious damage! Apparently, these were “gray kangaroos” as opposed to their smaller brothers, the “brown kangaroos”. Once again, it was fun going into wildlife photographer mode!

Following our strict agenda…just kidding…following our “fly by” instincts, we decided to check out a landmark recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebook. It was the famed “Big Banana”. It’s hard to believe what simple, random thing can become a major tourist attraction! We took a few pictures with the gigantic piece of fruit and then went inside the attached restaurant to share a banana split. It was scrumptious! Of course there was a gift shop where you can buy just about anything banana-related…soaps, shirts, wall décor, silverware, candy…you name it! The place is situated on a banana plantation and one can learn anything they want to know about nature’s delectable treat!

The next stop was just across the road. I had stumbled across it in our Lonely Planet guidebook and thought I would “surprise” Sarah with it. Approaching, you see that Diggers Beach is another beautiful Australian beach. We kicked off our shoes and walked barefoot along the waters edge as we made our way to a rocky outcrop at the end of the beach. At the mass of rocks, there happens to be one little pathway between the boulders to what lies on the other side. We proceeded to find just what I had expected…a nude beach! For any of you guys reading this and getting excited, it’s probably not what you are thinking. There were about five naked dudes and three very large women strutting around in the buff at the far end of the secluded beach. Hardly what one would fantasize about! But since we were there… Yep. You guessed it. I ripped off my swimming trunks and joined the club. “When in Rome…” right? It was surprisingly easy to do. I didn’t even feel the least bit uncomfortable about it. Maybe it’s because I’ve become so used to it in Japan with the onsen. Or maybe it’s just because one can’t dress more relaxed than not being dressed at all! Whatever the reason, I can now say that I did it. At first it was humorous and I couldn’t wait to tell my friends about my little stunt. Then it just became natural (or should I say “au naturel”?). And, for those who might be wondering…no, Sarah did not follow suit by losing her own suit. Instead she took the part of photographer and snapped a few candid photos of me as evidence. I enjoyed my liberation for a short while and then put my trunks back on to return to the civilized world. As crazy as it sounds to most people, I recommend giving it a try. It’s nice to throw your inhibitions to the wind once in a while and enjoy being about as carefree as it gets!

Again familiarized to wearing clothes, we made our way on to Coffs Harbor Jetty. The jetty amounts to a very long dock jutting out into the ocean. We walked out on it and took in the views as well as a few pictures. We enjoyed a nice little stroll and talked about the nice, summer weather which we still appreciated so greatly. Soon, we made our way back to Greg and Sue’s house to get ready for the New Years Eve party we would be attending with them.

Greg and Sue were so gracious as to invite us out to their friends’ New Years Eve party. We arrived at the condominium and were welcomed by several friendly people. The condo had a spectacular view over the ocean below. There were all sorts of food and drinks to partake in as well. We enjoyed ourselves as we met several people and had many nice conversations. There was Al, an older man who has been to Texas Tech to do work for the cattle industry; Sarah & Hayze, who were two travelers our age and who were quite inspiring (they just got back from living in London for 3 years); and Paul (we were at his parent’s place) who was about our age and shared his tales of traveling and of landing a lucrative job in the UK (which we were envious of).

Sometime around 10 pm, we watched a nice fireworks display from the balcony. And at midnight, we all went indoors to see the amazing Sydney fireworks show on television. Soon after, we said goodbye to our hosts and headed back to Greg and Sue’s home where we quickly climbed into bed and fell asleep. It had been another amazing day. No doubt, we will not soon forget the New Years Eve of 2009!