Loka: Stop 2: Spot X

We had a five hour drive ahead of us, split into two with a stop at Port Macquarie included. Elle was DJ again and played a few good tunes to keep us awake. I didn't last that long though and did squeeze in a nap.

We arrived at Port Macquarie about 1 o'clock and headed straight to the Koala Hospital. This was such a sweet place, totally committed to treating sick koalas and getting them ready to go back to the wild. They had a few permanent residents, and it was sad to read their stories. One had been so badly burned in a bush fire that she'd lost the ability to grip with her paws and was blind in one eye. One koala has been a repeat offender, he'd had a few car accidents, and on release day fell out of his tree so can't leave the hospital just yet. My favourite story was of a male who thought he'd have access to all the ladies if he was admitted.. sadly this wasn't the case.

Once we'd visited each patient, the gift shop, and the information centre, it was back on the bus. Isabella was going to visit a family friend, so she hopped off and we all wished her well. Lunch was eaten and we were on the final stretch to Spot X. Driving through Coffs Harbour, I got my first sighting of a "Big Thing". Apparently Coffs started the trend.. and built a giant banana to represent the trade of the town. It was great; big and yellow.

Pulling into Spot X it was like nothing had changed. We were met off the bus by our guide, an Englishman called Richard, or Rick, or Big Dick. We were then given the tour of the camp and shown to our accommodation. This time round I'd be staying in a tipi. Expecting sleeping bags on the floor, we were far too excited to see beds. I was sharing with Guro, Celine and Julia.

We had stopped at Aldi to buy some bits for a BBQ and, with Wes promising to cook, it was looking to be a good night. We organised our things in the tipi and took a quick stroll on the beach before dinner time. We had sausages, dips, and salad, it was most enjoyable.

The weather hadn't been too bad, a few drops of rain, but widespread cloud. That was until after we'd eaten, huddled around the camp table, we could hear the pitter patters getting louder. Before we knew it, it was absolutely chucking it down. Luckily, it was a quick downpour, but we decided to escape before it started again.

We headed to the "social area" as apparently there had been multiple complaints from residents this year. One more and they had a case to shut Mojo Surf down! Somehow managed to lose half of the group quite quickly, it was very busy. We finally found them, huddled around one of the benches dealing out cards.

We played a game called "Bus Driver", I paired with Mike to help him remember his cards. It wasn't that fun a game to observe, although it was funny to watch the guys get gradually more drunk. Myself, Sofia, Naomi, Guro and Celine decided to head to the beach for a twilight walk.

We grabbed our torches and covered ourselves in insect repellent, ready for the beach. We must have walked about 100m before we decided it was a ridiculous idea. It was terribly dark, we couldn't see the sand let alone the sea, and we were probably being bitten to death.

We made our way back, over the ropes and across the bridge. It was here that we spotted a fellow adventurer. I had a feeling he was possibly a little bit tipsy though. He had no shoes, no torch and yet off he trotted, over the bridge to the beach. The other girls were all very concerned and decided to follow and save him. I stayed, it was no use us all getting lost! They reappeared confused and alone 5mins later.. we never did find out what happened to that guy.

Back to the sweat room, and Forrest Gump was on the telly box! Me and Guro settled down to watch, it wasn't too far in and I forgot what a classic it is. A great way to end the night before settling into our tipi.

~

I woke up relatively early, just before 7am. Went straight to the bridge to see if I was in time for the sunrise. I caught the last few moments of the sun creeping through the clouds and across the beach. Took a few photos and tiptoed back into the tipi. Guro was up, she had a surf lesson this morning, I was excited for her! I'd opted not to surf here this time, it was too expensive and to be honest I was too lazy.

A bacon breakfast was being cooked for us, and I was one of the first in the camp kitchen. This meant dibs on the doorstep, perfect for my bacon butty. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten a delightfully greasy breakfast. It was most enjoyable.

The earlybirds amongst us; Mike, Naomi, Celine and Mieke included, watched and waited as the others gradually appeared. I kept trying to get more bacon, but wasn't allowed until everyone had eaten. I nursed a cuppa instead and wished all those off to catch some waves luck. We were meant to be heading to the River Retreat later on for a night of star gazing and campfires. Somehow we had a feeling that wouldn't be going ahead.

For something to do, a few of us clambered into the bus with Wes and Richard to assess the camp. As soon as we pulled alongside the river I knew we wouldn't be staying the night. And I wouldn't want to. The ground was soggy and the water levels of the river, ponds and even the puddles was ridiculous. No River Retreat for us, this rain was determined to mess up our plans. I am glad we got to see it for ourselves though.

Richard had told us of a lookout 10mins down the beach and so we decided to check it out on our return. The four of us (Bart, Mike, Naomi and me) had fun trying to cross the river to the right side of the beach. In the end we found a shallowish part to wade through and managed to keep dry. After about 10-15mins walking along the sand, we found a collection of rocks and a group of school children. This must be the lookout, you could see all the way down the bay to the surfers and beyond.

On our way back to camp, we crossed one section of the river successfully but then couldn't remember how to cross the main one. Naomi and Mike had gone ahead and climbed up the side of the bridge. I didn't feel flexible enough to do this so attempted to splash my way across instead. The current was a tad strong, so I favoured pulling a muscle over getting pulled out to sea.

Made it up and over the bridge and met a few of the others who had finished breakfast/surfing/sleeping and were looking for something to do. We chatted and caught up with those who had been out in the waves, everyone seemed to do relatively well.

Wes organised a drive to Woolworths for lunch supplies. I didn't want anything too heavy, I knew we were in for a workout with kayaking at 1.30. I tucked into a pork roll and a few satsumas in the kitchen, and rushed to get changed.

Kayaking would be along the Corindi River, part of a marine reserve. We not only had to be wary of wildlife and marine life, but fellow boats and swimmers/fishers etc too. It was three to a kayak and I would be with Naomi and Debby. The person in the front was the muscle, the person in the back was the brains, and the one in the middle got a free ride.

After much deliberation, our order was decided. Naomi paddling in front, Debby hitching a ride, and me steering from the back. This worked for a while, but Naomi didn't quite trust me to steer us in the right direction and so began to steer too. Not part of the plan. Our communication was terrible I have to admit. What we didn't then expect was to be banked on sand. Stupid low tide.

One of the Mojo guys, Adam, found our predicament hilarious and refused to help. Between us we just couldn't be bothered to get out of the kayak to push, and work out how to get back in... so we bum shuffled. We must have looked ridiculous. It didn't completely work, we may have moved an inch or two before Adam finally took pity on us(ish).

Unfortunately, our bum shuffling and flimsy paddling skills caused a slight issue. The kayak was gradually filling with water. Basically, we were sinking. Being in the back, I was practically swimming in the river, trying my hardest to keep paddling and following Adam to where the others had already parked up. A few metres from the shore and we were stuck again, we were simply carrying too much water. Fed up, we climbed out and waded across to meet the others.

We chilled out on the side of the river for a while and a few of the guys tried out the stand-up paddle boards. No-one fell off, much to our disappointment. It didn't take us long to notice the crazy amount of sandflies and mozzies in the area. Not looking forward to counting those bites! Back into the kayaks, once we'd emptied ours, we were last to set off. This did mean there was no-one to push us.. Naomi volunteered and dragged the boat into the water.

We made it back without too much drama. Although we did nearly get banked again, we weren't the only ones this time. I honestly think there was something seriously wrong with our kayak, not too far from the finish and I could feel myself lowering into the water again. I was already soaked from earlier so it didnt bother me too much, but it was most peculiar.

The race was on once we'd returned to camp, Wes had given us 30mins to shower/change before we left for a kangaroo walk. With four showers and thirteen dirty, sweaty girls this could be interesting. No worries. We worked out a pretty good system, with orderly queuing and the quickest showers of our lives.

I had been expecting a repeat visit to the kangaroo infested driving range, so was excited to see us drive further down the coast to Moonee Beach Nature Reserve. 

Here, kangaroos roamed freely all over the coastal walk, chomping grass on the clifftops. I got some great photos of the view and a fair few of the kangaroos. Maybe soon I'll be used to it, but for now I still get excited spotting them.

Our elevated position looking over Emerald and Safety Beaches gave us a great view of the surfers... and dolphins playing in the surf! It was a great spot, and the swell was good. We saw a few pros out there on the green waves, going sideways and switching legs and all that fancy stuff.

Dinner was provided by the same Mojo guys from breakfast. This we had preordered yesterday, I was looking forward to my first ever stuffed pepper. Our timing couldn't have been better, as soon as we arrived back, food was ready. Alongside our main, there was a baked potato each, salad and pesto pasta. I missed the meals here! I thoroughly enjoyed my pepper, though at first I didn't really know how best to approach it. The rice and bean filling kept falling out, so I just cut and scooped and shovelled the best I could.

Turns out it wasn't stuffed with beans.. but olives. And I had eaten all of them and liked them. Just goes to show, sometimes it's best not to know what you're eating!

We were back on the cards again after dinner, playing a few rounds of Go Fish and plenty of 21. I had gone all out and bought myself a bottle of lemonade... It was going to be a wild night! We discovered Elle's talent for shuffling, Sofia's love for Abba, Bart's tenderness towards goon and Naomi's love of playing banker, amongst many other quirks of the group.

There was a limbo competition announced, the girls entered in the hope of winning goon, but came back empty handed. I was getting a numb bum and running low on imaginary money, so when a high-jump competition was next, I jumped at the chance (no pun intended). Obviously I wouldn't be participating, just watching.

Guro was amazing, and made it to the third round before knocking down the bamboo.. and taking a plastic wine glass with her. Some of the guys were insanely good.. I don't see how they can jump so high with such a small run up! It barely looked like they were putting any effort in. A few times I felt a little too close to the action, and with the last men standing both favouring a forward flip over the bar, we all leant back and breathed in.

After so much excitement, I was pooped and returned to the table to play a few more rounds. Before I knew it I was yawning like a trooper, must be bedtime.

~

Up early again this morning, I made myself a cuppa and took a few last shots of the beach. We were leaving slightly later than planned today, a new Loka Bus was heading to get stickered up and we were to take it.

We had a lazy morning, focussed primarily on making sure everyone was in our WhatsApp group so we could stay in contact. We were leaving Mike at Surf Camp and over the next few days would all be going separate ways. But we didn't have to worry about that just yet, as we finally boarded the bus, waving goodbye, ready for our next stop in Byron Bay.