Day 33: A Comedy of Errors Kinda Day
After tossing and turning, flipping and flopping, I awoke from a restless sleep.
I find I have a sensitivity to sheet textures and air flow that I simply never had before. I tend to get hotter at night if you know what I mean. A lot hotter. Hello FIFTY.
I was certain it must be close to daylight. I had rustled for far too long . I quietly got my phone to look at the time and immediately Richard asked, “What are you doing?”
Guess I wasn’t being so quiet after all. Now both of us were wide awake. I glanced at my clock and was shocked. I was certain it was almost morning but my phone told me differently. 12:30 it read. Nooooooooooo.
Sleep was no where to be found so we decided to take a Valerian/Melatonin mix should knock us right out. We know a solid six undisturbed hours are ahead. YES.
Richard popped open his ipad and turned on Netflix to help accelerate the process. Just the sound of a movie helps lull me to slumber land.
But wait a second. His clock reads 5:30 am. Oh no. we just took our concoction. My iPhone is seriously grounded.
Snafu #1
So much for a sunrise hike. We surrender to the fact that we will be sleeping in and soon enough we are both out like a light.
We wake not six, but a few hours later feeling quite groggy and force ourselves to get out and enjoy the beautiful morning. We have a long beach walk and enjoy the crashing waves, the sunshine, and the fresh ocean air.
We decide we should move on from Byron Bay rather than spending the extra night we had intended, as tomorrow we fly to New Zealand and our planning is way off. If we stay, we will need to be on the road at 4 am. Unfortunately we prepaid for our room and a refund is out of the question.
Snafu #2
Before heading out we enjoy a delicious farewell lunch at our favorite discovery. Rae’s. If you visit Byron Bay it’s a must. Perfectly tucked at the base of Wategos beach this spot is a mix of the Mediterranean, France, and St Bart's all rolled into an Aussie flair. Massive hotel envy on our end.
Richard has a business friend staying about an hour North on the Gold Coast so we book a room at his hotel and plan to have an evening get together. Only one problem, his friend has already left the area and we will miss him.
Snafu #3
We begin our drive up the coast and I google to check on a conversation I overheard as I was shopping earlier. I type in “is there a cyclone headed to the Gold Coast?”
Yup. My eavesdropping ears heard right. Cyclone Linda is on her way and headed right to this area.
Snafu #4
We’ve now got 2 hotel rooms booked and paid for and we won’t be sleeping at either of them as we decide to high tale it out of the area and catch a flight to Sydney tonight.
Snafu #5
Thanks to our amazing, on the ground support back home, Kari, we are able to hop on the next flight out, and we safely arrive in Sydney.
End Snafus. Hooray.
We check in to the Rydges, a hotel within the Sydney International Terminal and get a kick out of our view. I think it’s a first for both of us.
We have loved our time Down Unda. Perth, Melbourne, Noosa, Brisbane, Byron Bay and everywhere in between. Flat whites, Chai lattes, Dukkah, rocket, roasted toe-mah-toes, pinot gris at sunset with many new mates.
We will hold memories of this trip in our hearts forever.
Even better, we will be back before we know it with our own toes on the nose like these sheilas here.
Until then, Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!
Cheers to being Fifty Fit and Fabulous!
