Here’s a brief account of one of the thousands of days I’ve had the pleasure of living on our pale blue dot. This particular day was had on April 9th 2016 during my travels living in a campervan and on the remote roads of eastern Victoria headed toward New South Wales.
*Presses play to Nina Simone – Feeling Good*
It’s a new dawn, the sun peeking through the infinite trees of the forest camp site.
It’s a new day, full of prospect and possibility, headed on a journey if not a destination.
I’m feeling good, a sleep amongst the black of nature at night time with animals singing their sweet lullabies had me grasped tight in sleep and dreams.
So we(my girlfriend is my wandering partner, co-owner of The Batvan) pressed on and left the forest outside of the shimmering Lakes Entrance that had sheltered us for the two nights passed. The only plan was to head upward toward the border of Victoria and New South Wales as we need to get there toward April’s end to hopefully start our farm work as the citrus season kicks off. After driving for fifteen minutes on the lonely road flanked by looming trees stood at attention, we pit stopped at a toilet in Nowa Nowa – a small town with just over one hundred denizens and a general store-cum-petrol station-cum information point. Realizing from the signage just outside the toilet block, there were a few hikes to be had around Nowa Nowa. After chatting to the friendly owner(?) of the multi-faceted general store for advice on hikes we set off on the riverside walk.
A small hike sticking to the upper banks of the Boggy Creek river allowed us a scenic view of this peaceful pocket of East Gippsland. We spotted an old bridge made of seasoned wood that used to bear the weight of trains but looked as if it would now struggle to hold a toy train set. After coming back on ourselves we ended up beneath a newer, shinier metal bridge which supported the weight of the patch of Princess Highway that ran through Nowa Nowa. Beneath the sturdy metal structure hung rope swings, a classic tool in the fun lives of the young and adventurous. They held an aura about them, almost portal-like in their ability to summon images of children swinging and laughing and splashing on a warm day like the one I was currently living. The sight made me think of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and their vigorous adventures.
After walking back past the general store to scout out the rest of Nowa Nowa, we spotted Mingling Waters cafe and caravan park. Attached to it is a gallery of wood sculptures artfully crafted. Beneath a tetrahedronal roof was the grandest of the sculptures: Ra the great root that grew laterally to beautiful effect. As I walked past Mingling Waters cafe and peered inside the windows I spotted something that made my eyes and smile grow wide. A cabinet full of the best collection of geeky memorabilia I have ever seen. Lightsabers, Flux Capacitors, He-Men and Nazi Gold lined this monolithic cabinet of uber-passion – something which I adore and respect. Before I knew it I was inside with a Boba Fett helmet on and a blaster in hand standing beside Han frozen in carbonite. Anyone who truly knows me would know this is a pivotal moment in my life and quest for all things geeky.
The owners of the cafe; Steven and Riley, were gentlemanly in their courtesy of letting me pose and ask a million questions of how such a hoard of awesome happens to be here in this sleepy town of Nowa Nowa. Turns out Steven is an avid fan of seemingly everything there is to be a fan of in pop culture, and like myself is a shade extrovert in his passion. After a half hour of chatting and totally fanboying I remembered that I had a girlfriend and a life to attend to. So I bid bitter farewells to my brethren of the Jedi Order and set off on a recommended walk around a slice of Lake Tyers.
During the walk around the glistening twisting river/lake my girlfriend and I assessed our lot in life and agreed that we are living gloriously. Each new dawn heralds a new day and often it does leave us feeling good. The walk took us through Gippsland’s omnipresent forest as with the winding river on our left, walk against the calm current of life. After sitting at a picnic table (minus the picnic damn it!) we could do no less than smile and rejoice in our lifes decisions leading us to this point. We have ultimate freedom to do as we please and take in whatever our earthen mother offers. Freedom is indeed a mindset. It is also an ideal, a place, a moment. All of the above applying to how we view our life, travelling indefinitely, meeting gorgeous folk the world over, learning from distant cultures, breathing in fresher airs, sleeping beneath the stars that grace us all perchance we raise our gaze.
Throughout travelling there have been many gorgeous souls we have met and unmet just as speedily. That adds to the bliss. Whilst always moving nothing is permanent, there are no constants in travelling. This is never more stark than when I make a friend that is a best friend within six minutes flat. An understanding of ideals and ethics, a common interest, a meeting of the souls. It’s always so fleeting however as is the nature of never stopping. I felt however that I needed to have some sort of lasting contact with Steven and Riley, my kin in fandom and passion. How often does one get to discuss the intricacies of classic movie posters? So on our way back to The Batvan to head onward and leave Nowa Nowa in the rear view I thought I’d chance popping back in to get contact details, especially as they want to open a comic book shop which I’d be so interested in seeing its development. Steven seemed as happy as I that I was back in the cafe, so after I spoke of keeping in touch serendipity happened as it so often does when your life is a journey. Steven offered us the chance to park up The Batvan and stay awhile here in Nowa Nowa (I had earlier spoken of my love for small-town Australia) at the exchange of doing some cleaning here at the campsite. The Batvan was parked up in such a hurry I may have acquired whiplash (not the Iron-Man villain or frankly brilliant movie but the bane of necks and insurance companies alike).
So it was that the day followed with more impassioned conversations and some cleaning of toilets. Steven even bequeathed me with some double ups from his substantial comic collection and allowed me to read some of his Ghost Rider collection after discussing how cool the character is, flaming skull and all. After warm showers (imagine Andy Dufresne having just escaped Shawshank, arms akimbo) Becky cooked homemade burgers in the camp kitchen and I washed up. Thats the deal. She cooks, I clean. During the mass ingestion and scrubbing, we were chatting to another travelling couple. They had been travelling New Zealand, now Australia and then onto Canada and the US. There was a stipulation however. They were doing all this on bicycles. It opened my eyes certainly to a whole new plane of travelling. To work for your destination, each day pedalling your way to someplace new all the while carrying your clothes, tent and food. I immediately had respect for them. Hell, I’ve seen more campervan travellers in Australia than I have kangaroos or shrimps on barbays. This was refreshing. So after sharing travelling tales and life stories and lending Phillipa and Adam our spare quilt as these autumn nights are cold in a campervan let alone tent, we called it a night. We had a cuppa, mostly to satisfy a craving but partly to use the gas hob as a source of heat to warm the cold innards of The Batvan.
We again recollected our awesome lives. Living how we want, where we want. Each day a discovery of knowledge and beauty, of people and nature. Serene in the knowledge that we are the makers of our destiny. We wanted our lives to be this and by no power or drive other than our own we are living our dreams. Our spirits often met with serendipity and superlatives. We ended the day as we do every other. Diving into our books. Westeros and its clash of kings awaited me. Hogwarts welcomed Becky back. Who knew what the new dawn and the new day would bring?
There you have it kindly readers. A day in my life, perpetually moving, forever searching for discovery. I hope you enjoyed reading and if you ever need a giant sized, ice cream infused coffee milkshake and to see the greatest horde of memorabilia ever assembled and just so happen to be in Nowa Nowa, then do pop into Mingling Waters.
To all a good day and a good day to all.
Aaron Farrell – The Wandering Wonderer.