Australia - Step 8.3: Coastal town life and roadtrippin

Long time no new chapter, as my life in Torquay was holding more routines and „settling down“ for me, than heaps off adventures to write stories about. Nevertheless I had my adventures, learnings, insights and experiences in these two months of coastal life.

The way the universe led me into this time and into this housesit, could look like a funny coincident, but who knows me, also knows that I don't believe in coincidents. I made a friend one year ago on a festival in south Africa and as life wants it to, our paths crossed in Bali again. Talking about travel plans there, he said „if you go to australia, visit us in Torquay as I will have a housesit there for one year.“

I didn't knew if and at what time I will accept this offer to visit, but after I reached a point of not knowing if I want to stay in Sydney, I thought it could be a good option to go there. Obviously the opportunity of being able to stay somewhere rent-free and also having friends there was tempting, so I went for that.

The first two weeks I was looking for any kind of job, journaling a lot everyday, doing yoga, going to the gym and spending a lot of time with the doggies. I wouldn't have imagined how much I fell in love with these dogs, as they are just amazing. Morning strolls through a nature reserve and afternoon walks at the beach made my life dreamy. Seeing the happiness in the faces (and the whole body wiggling out of happy excitement) of the doggos gave me so much peace, bliss and gratitude.

So I was there living with these two dogs and the two guys that helped me so much, having a soft landing in Australia. Over time we developed not only a good dynamic in the house with its tasks and the dogs, but also a friendship. We had heaps of curry-nights, sweaty pilates mornings, evenings with friends, music and drinks, conversations, hot crossed buns, scenic beach walks and intense cuddles with Blue and Pip (the puppers).

Torquay is a very beautiful surftown which definitely offers a good lifestyle. At some point I got a job as a promoter and a second one as a waitress. My daily routine was mostly pilates, walking the pups, gym, work, woolies and having enough time to enjoy the coastal life.

I learned a lot of Aussie slang and life rules living with locals and feel like I got warm with the OZ life at some point. As I dont have a car, I couldn't attend as much exploration as I wished to in that area, because thats also where the great ocean road starts.

The good part about the universe is, that it will send you the experiences in life that are meant for you and with that being said; I made a friend towards the end off the stay who was willing to show this vegan german hippie girl around the great ocean road. I dreamt about doing a van trip in aussieland, but my imagination couldn't grasp how remarkable such a trip can be.

So one day this friend picked me up in his cool as vintage toyota van with his pupper and we started our trip. A plan was only there for the first two nights, as it was a bit uncertain how long we are going. The drive to our first destination in the Otway National Park was mesmerising. The road along the oceanside with cliffs and long beachbreaks in all colours of blue, turquoise and white.

We ended up parking the van in the middle of the forests and green lushery, a 15mins walk from a waterfall away. The pupper was excited and happy and so was I. For dinner we made vegan burger, drank beer and my friend even brought his DJ deck, which led me into enjoying his talent of creating art in the middle of nature. Worth mentioning the cup of tea to share after that and then going for sleep; my first night in a campervan.

I started the next day with a short dip in the freezing cold water at the waterfalls before our route led us to another astonishing place next to a river. This time it was an actual place to camp, which means, later that day we weren't the only people there.

Just being in nature, without any reception, no shower, nothing to distract the garrulous mind, you come back to your inner peace within and get reminded of the simple beauty of life. Which was one of the reasons I was craving a nature escape like that so much.

The third day was the first where we didn't had a plan, so we just went with whatever came to our mind. We first went back to Apollo Bay to get some groceries and have reception to check out what we want to do. In the end we kept on going on the great ocean road direction Port Campbell and to the Twelve Apostels. This was where the doggo (Dukha) decided to spice things up by jumping out of the van and run away on the great ocean road like a lunatic, until he stopped traffic and we could luckily catch him again.

After this involuntary adventure, we looked for a place to camp the night. First we made it to Shelly beach and the walking way down there is also something you could describe as adventurous. The beach itself is beautiful and without another soul on it. Despite the fact that Dukha already had a little run, he could run even more around this beach and go fully on his zoomies. As the luck was on our side this day, we managed to get the leash washed away by the high tide. Meaning going back to the van with the pulling beast on shoelaces and after that we used a sarong to tie him up.

As the carpark at that beach was to windy, we drove around a little bit lost for a while, until these efforts got rewarded by finding a nice good spot. Again, we have been totally alone there. As the universe had a good run giving us unexpected circumstances to deal with, the gas of our grill went out which led us to do a little fire to finish cooking our pasta.

Besides Pasta and wine, we had another evening of DJ-ing in the wild and watching the moon. This place had some impressive views a short walk away where you could sit on some rocks and watch the rough ocean crashing into the landscape.

Day four we initially wanted to go back home as the water and gas was empty, we didn't showered since days and had no idea where to camp next, BUT I wanted to go one more night and so we both agreed on that. I got the gas for the grill in Port Campbell and we refilled the water in Apollo Bay.

My morning felt melancholic for some reasons but later on, sitting at the beach and having hot crossed buns with coffee, I was very happy again. We found a very good spot back in the greens, this time close by Lorne. This place was surrounded by some nice hikes to different waterfalls. So in the afternoon I wanted to go to one of the waterfalls that was not to far away. My friend wanted to come after me but chose another hike trail and ended up doing a 6km hike while I was long back at the van waiting for him lol. In the end we both had our waterfall experience even if not as planned and did pasta with vino again. It was close to a full moon and we heard some crazy, scary animal sounds in the forest.

The next day was the day to end our journey and go back home. It was such a nice experience and now writing about it, it fills my heart with so much love and gratitude.

The chapter Torquay is now closed, as I am sitting in the State Library in Sydney right now, writing this. I had a time to slow down and really arrive on this huge, stunning continent that offers so many opportunities to discover the unlimited beauty of nature.

Being grateful for this chapter I am heading to my next one in Brisbane in a couple of days. I am only in Sydney for a easter cat sit, but it also feels nice being back, as I think I really like Sydney.

Anyways, ciaoooo see you in the next chapters off life and travels.