Week 32: Sept 18th – Sept 24th, 2023 // Back to the Ocean & Disconnecting Once Again
Alright! Before I dive into this week’s updates, just wanted to let you all know that I will be offline for 3 weeks from Sept 27th-Oct 17th (AEST). Finally heading off for the campaign with Sea Shepherd, and we will be predominately working in areas without service – so I’ll be taking this time to disconnect again and keep my phone on airplane mode for the duration of the campaign.
Now for the good stuff! Man this week has been SO good. It’s been great getting a taste of road life again and all the excitement, challenges, and peace that come with it. Waking up next to beautiful waterfalls, swimming in lakes, finding parks to work in. I still truly can’t believe this is my life. This week was finally the end to the never-ending straight roads of the Outback, and a jump back into luscious greenery, fresh water sources, and winding roads.
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Monday was pretty much the last big monotonous driving day. I ended up at the Undara Volcanic National Park, and unfortunately you needed to pay for a tour to get down to it. Since I got to experience some crazy cool lava tubes in Maui last year, I wasn’t super inclined to pay $70. So I took advantage of the parks free wifi and cool café to get some blogging + admin work done, and had a catch up call with Kennedy. The café/restaurant was MASSIVE and so cool! They were using old train-cars for the bar+seating+kitchen+gift shop area, which surround the perimeter of the massive open “arena” space below, which was all open-air, facing out to the forest. It was such a great space to spend a few hours. They ended up having live music in the early evening too which was such a treat.
It was $40 for a night, so I decided to hit the road again after making some dinner to find the next truck stop 30min out for the night.
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Tuesday turned out to be a really beautiful day. It started out kinda frustrating – having issues with devices, storage, dealing with calls for the break-in + learning I wasn’t actually getting as much financial support as I was expecting, and having issues with accessing various accounts due to no longer having a Canadian number (which is a note for many people: change your numbers on your emails + banks +paypals etc. before actually cancelling your numbers. Will make your life 1000x easier). I was feeling pretty de-motivated and a bit stressed, and just reached a point where I needed a reset on my day.
Which is when I reminded myself of this phrase: “you can start your day at any time.”
It was some Instagram post I came across last year, that basically just showed how our days can be broken up into chunks, and that just because you have a bad morning, or a late start, or a shitty afternoon, doesn’t mean the rest of your day has to carry that same energy or trajectory. Ever since, it’s stuck with me. I no longer feel bad if I spend the entire day on my phone. If dinner time comes, and I find the sudden desire to work through some of my checklist, I’ll spend the next few hours doing whatever I have the energy to do. It’s taught me a lot on how to shift my mindset in a day, and how to not let the bad moments create a “bad day” or “bad life.”
So in saying all that, I found myself finally finding a free + warm shower at a truck stop, and then adventuring towards some waterfalls! First one (Mill Stream Falls) wasn’t too interesting, but had a little 1km loop walk showing the training sites for some of the military in WWII, so that felt good to get a bit of movement in.
But then the real magic happened!! I found myself driving on a winding road through rolling hills, beautiful farmland/properties, and dense, jungle-like forests. I could not stop smiling the entire drive. It was SO beautiful and everything I felt I had been missing. I was just in absolute awe of the beauty. The road took me to Tully Falls, which turned into another hike through what felt like the Amazon Rainforest. It was after 3pm, so the light through the trees was stunning, and I ended up at the top of where the waterfall usually flows (it’s dammed further up to provide energy for large areas of Queensland)! The views were INCREDIBLE and I was so happy I made the decision to go just that little bit further.
Got out a little bit later and found it becoming quite difficult to find a spot for the night. The whole area is just farmland on winding roads, with no real truck spots to just pull off to. So… I tried my luck parking at a waterfall parking lot.
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Which honestly turned out to be the best decision! I woke up Thursday morning having the entire falls to myself. I moved to the lower park site which was RIGHT in front of Millaa Millaa falls! Went for a little swim, made some breakfast to enjoy the view, and then did a bit of painting/doodling.
Spent the next few hours driving to different waterfalls, before ending up at Henrietta Creek for the rest of the day! Got here to see Nandroya Falls, which I learned was a 4.5km hike to get to. I was looking more for just a relaxing day + a swim, so I decided to stay at the creek to swim + read, and do the hike first thing in the morning. I ended up making a friends with a Belgium guy who was also staying for the night! We met back up at the creek after he did the hike, and ate our dinners together + shared some beers. It’s the unexpected connections that make travelling solo so enjoyable.
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Saving the hike for the morning was such a great decision! I was on the trail just before 8am and ended up having the whole place to myself! The trail itself was pretty easy, had a couple waterfalls, and beautiful lighting through the dense forest. But the waterfall. Oh my goodness I think this is one of my favourites I’ve ever spent time at. It was so secluded, peaceful, and the water was so inviting. I hadn’t brought my bathing suit, so I took advantage of the seclusion and went for a nude swim! 10/10 recommend nude swimming in remote places. It’s a whole new way of really experiencing and connecting with the environment and yourself.
I ended up back in Millaa Millaa town for the afternoon to deal with more admin + call stuff, and also finally started filming for a new series that will be releasing on my Instagram account (hunterbergen) this Wednesday AEST! Called Waste-Less Wednesdays, I’ll be sharing weekly tips for reducing your waste while traveling + living on the road.
Since I had been there for a while, I decided to head back down to Millaa Millaa falls to sleep another night.
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The next few days were so wonderful. On my way in search for a lake to swim in, I stopped at the Curtain Fig, which is this incredible tree! I spent a good while just admiring it. I eventually found myself at Tinaroo Lake (Tinnaburra Park) just after lunch, where I stayed for a few nights. My days were spent rotating between reading, working on personal projects, writing, crafting, scrolling the internet, cozying up through the rain, catching up with some friends. It felt really nice to just stay in one place for a few days, waking up with a lake right outside my door.
My week ended with the most beautiful sunset, and one of the biggest, and brightest rainbows I’ve experienced, framing Peg perfectly!
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Now since I won’t be getting anymore updates out for the next few weeks, a few things to add! This Monday + Tuesday I finally reached Cairns and got to see the ocean!!! I realized it had been 5months to the date since I’d last seen the ocean, and it felt amazing to just sit on a beach, and watch the sunset. I also finally got to have a FaceTime call with my PenPal I’ve been writing with the past few months. My days are now spent getting together the last of my organizing before my flight Wednesday (tomorrow!!!) afternoon – cleaning, packing, responding to messages, getting content scheduled, etc. I also bought myself a new toy… I finally got a GoPro! I’ve been wanting one for YEARS, but just never pulled the trigger… I’ve been looking more in depth the past month and finally picked one up yesterday. I’m so stoked to play around with it more and see what type of footage I get!
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Whelp! That’s all from me for now.
See you in 3 weeks!
Stay passionate and curious.
Hunter💛
