When Things Aren’t Great

There were a few things working against me as I got to Bryon Bay. I was fresh off back to back 10+ hour overnight Greyhound buses (from Melbourne to Sydney, then Sydney to Bryon). I got there the day after a cyclone ran through the town. And, I had just lost my prescription glasses.

Going In Blind

I realized I couldn’t find my glasses when I took out my contacts in the hostel lobby bathroom 20 minutes before my bus was leaving for the 11 hour drive to Bryon Bay.

I was soaking in the last few hours I had with some friends from Melbourne. We watched the sunset over Sydney’s skyline and then were beckoned into our hostel’s bar with a free drink and mechanic bull. We of course had to redeem the free drink. A free glass of wine couldn’t make an 11 hour bus ride worse, right? We ended up dancing and singing for a few hours because Australian hostel bars only play throwbacks that are the easiest things to dance and sing to. I’m talking Justin Bieber Beauty and a Beat, Natasha Bedingfield Unwritten, and any ABBA.

The bus was scheduled to leave at 10:30 PM. I was keeping my eye on the time as we were having our fun and at 10:00 PM I made a motion and screamed into my friend’s ear so she could hear that I was going to get ready to leave. I had already packed everything up since I had to check out of the room at 10:00 AM, so all I had to do was brush my teeth, wash my face, and take out my contacts.

Then, I couldn’t find my glasses. I remember distinctly holding their case as I was packing and thinking oh I need to put these somewhere safe where they won’t get crushed so I can put them on for the bus. Which I think meant I didn’t pack them at all and they may still be sitting somewhere in the hostel room in Sydney. I frantically asked the person at the front desk if they could go check the room for me. They agreed and headed to the elevator at a pace that was not fast enough.

My friends had come up from the bar with me to say goodbye. We sat and joked around until it was about 10:20 PM. That was when it hit me that I really needed to go. My friends agreed. Two of them stayed in the lobby to see if the front desk person came back with glasses. One of them grabbed my roller bag and the two of us ran across the street to the bus station. I am so grateful that they were with me. Especially because as we got to the station, I realized without corrective lenses, I couldn’t read the buses’s labels as to where they were going. My friend had to point out which bus was the right one. I think I got there at exactly 10:30 PM.

“By getting on this bus you acknowledge that you are entering an area impacted by a natural disaster and Greyhound is not responsible for anything that happens to you there.” The bus driver read off a piece of paper before letting me board. I honestly knew pretty little about Cyclone Alfred other than that my hostel in Byron Bay was just outside of the evacuation zone. I had been using the bus as a sort of barometer. If they canceled the bus then I knew it was serious and I’d figure out how to stay in Sydney. But, they didn’t cancel.

I made it to Bryon the day after the cyclone reached landfall. Bryon Bay itself wasn’t too impacted but further north unfortunately was with one person dead, a few missing, and several injured. The Gold Coast beaches were also severely eroded.

Rainy bus ride into Bryon Bay, a tree down on a walking path, and me at the most easterly point of Australia’s mainland

Alone Post Cyclone

Understandably, the vibe was low when I got to Bryon Bay. The people in the hostel I was staying in had been stuck there sheltering and everyone’s travel plans had been impacted. Most people were not interested in making friends. They just wanted to go to their next stop.

I chatted up a girl while waiting for the hostel’s morning yoga and we grabbed a coffee together afterwards, but she was leaving the next day. I got chatted up by an overly enthusiastic Quicksilver employee who thought it was so cool I was from “Cali where weed’s legal.” I kept running into one of my roommates in passing who always seemed to have something already planned. I joined a musical bingo night where I was the only person who didn’t have a premade team. The social aspect never really clicked for me in Bryon.

The Bryon Bay dueling piano bar was the first bar I’ve gone to alone. I’m pretty comfortable doing things on my own, but going to a bar felt different. It’s such a social atmosphere and everyone there seemed to be in a group. It was easy enough to join in with the crowd, but it never felt quite right. After about an hour, I recognized my roommate from across the pianos. I made my way over to her and her group of friends and had a decent night dancing and singing with them.

The thing is one of my favorite things is dancing and singing with people who I know well enough to be silly around. When solo traveling, you can have a lot of amazing experiences on your own, but you miss out on some moments that just are better shared with friends.

Regardless, I’m grateful the only impact Cyclone Alfred had on my life was making a couple of days feel lonely.

Work and Holiday Visa

For anyone curious about the visa, details are here.