28 days ago I packed my stuff up, got in my car, and headed off on a somewhat planned but relatively up in the air adventure. I had this idea before I left. I would set my car up so that I could sleep in it, bring a battery powered pedal board and amp, and play music in random outdoor places. There’s no real point to this trip. There’s no challenge. I thought about a challenge being that I had to play music every day but when I saw how wet it was, I changed my mind. This isn’t about putting my pedals into mud for no reason, this is about making music in amazing locations. If I wanted to just do a bunch of songs, there was no need to leave home.
For a while now I’ve had itchy feet. I was talking to my mate Marcus and I said how the scariest thing I can imagine doing is living in a van with some music gear making noise in random outdoor places and filming it. With no real plan I began looking into what gear I would need. The list grew and the weeks passed. A chance chat with another mate Harry brought up an offer for travel to Darwin and I thought why not. We spent a few weeks planning but really we were just catching up. Our plans would change by the day as our brains went into pew pew pew overdrive. We set the date for the first week of June.
With the help of my friend Marcus and my dad I managed to build a bed in the back of my Honda Jazz made out of an old pallet. It’s not the most glamorous of beds, and your typical instagramers would sneer at my poverty attempt at #vanlyf, but it’s perfect for me. It’s functional and it cost me nothing. Once I had the bed set up, then I had to see how much music gear I could fit in. I love and hate limitations. I often find that boundaries and limitations make me think creatively. I can’t rely on equipment so much and have to choose carefully what to take and what not to take. The flip side is when a song is going ok but you know that if you had the space for one more pedal it would open up so many other possibilities. Once I had my bed and music gear set up, I kind of stopped the travel momentum and began diving into writing this novel that I’m still trudging through, when I wasn’t smashing out shifts at work in a mad rush to save before I left.
The week before June hit, we went into Covid lockdown. That meant that we couldn’t leave our homes outside of a 5 K radius. On the one hand, shit, I can’t leave for the trip. On the other hand I had been graced with a window of time to try and finish this novel. I smashed out a lot of words but I still wasn’t done when my mum and dad spoke to me on the phone about helping my grandpa with a doctors appointment. Long story short, rather than heading up to start my trip with Pa in late June after I had finished writing the story and gotten all of my shit organised, I had an opportunity to start it in 2 days time. On the 14th of June I headed off to Bairnsdale, half cocked but somewhat ready.
While I could go to Bairnsdale and beyond as I live in Geelong, a lot of my mates in Melbourne couldn’t leave their suburbs due to the lockdowns. It was a condition of entry to every shop in Victoria that you had to scan in with a QR code and tell them when you had entered the shop so that they could track your location for contact tracing. I had intended to spend some time being social and seeing my friends, having beers and all of that, but something told me I couldn’t sit around for too long as mumblings of Covid infections began to start in NSW, specifically Sydney. After about a week with my pa I decided to head north, and not fuck around in the process.
I headed off that first morning excited and unsure what to expect. I had a vague aim, head to a friend, Mandi, in Mulloway. It’s up near Coffs Harbour so covid safe, so long as I was smart with my stops. I didn’t know where I would be sleeping, eating, or doing, but I was moving so that was good. I was still on Victorian soil when I pulled over randomly on the side of the highway amidst the trees burnt from a huge bushfire in 2019, set up my gear, and played some music for the first time. I was absolutely shitting myself.
I know, it’s weird to be nervous. There was no audience there. Oh sure, there were cars driving past, but no one actually stopped. Still, I was exhilarated by the experience. I got back into my car and was whooping as I drove. It wasn’t the quality of the song and the recording, as my zoom had fucked up and frozen so I only had camera audio. It wasn’t the fact anyone stopped to listen, because no one did for which I was relieved. I was happy that I had done it. After months of talking about it, I had finally set up my shit and done an outdoor improv.
Inspired, I drove on. I was listening to Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic and feeling incredibly inspired. But something was gnawing at me still, and not just the shit recording. It was the story I had been writing. I felt bad for not having finished it. I know what happens with stories, if I sit it down for too long, it will never get finished. I had started my adventure true, but I hadn’t finished my story. When I pulled off into a rest stop late that night I felt this cognitive dissonance stronger. I felt somewhat guilty about enjoying the music so much. This adventure was new but it was at the cost of something I had been working on for 5 months or more.
My view while I ate breakfast after taking a wrong turn somewhere.
My second attempt. I should really check to see if my head is in shot before recording.
I found myself enjoying the solitude. Not that I want to be the weird loner all the time, but there was something nice about rocking up to a rest stop and slowing down. I think I stopped at every rest stop for a few 100 k’s, comparing them to each other. I didn’t do anything in particular, and I wasn’t playing music at them, but just stopping and stretching my legs or having a coffee or balancing my laptop on the steering wheel and typing with a keyboard on a stable table across my lap. I realised within a day that the idea of writing the story as I drove was not going to work. I could smash out 1000 words but that was about the limit before I started getting cramps and things like that.
When I got to Mandi’s, it was great. I hadn’t seen her in months and together with her husband Adam, we went walking each morning along the beach and spent our days relaxing, chatting, and catching up. One morning we were lucky enough to see whales off the coast, a literal 5 minute walk from her house! The lifestyle up there is fantastic.
I took the time while I wasn’t living out of my car to rejig my pedal set up as I realised that it was not ideal and it could be put into a better order. Not only that but I had gotten an Sdrum a couple of days before I had left Geelong and I quickly discovered that I didn’t know how to use it. Without the internet on hand it can be difficult to get things done on the road, and I had been without internet for a week or so by this stage.
While this was happening to me, Harry was exploring parts of NSW. Each day as Mandi, Adam, and I watched the news, the chances of the Queensland borders shutting grew. Harry decided to send it and head up to us after he had caught up with some friends so once he got to Mandi’s we pretty much headed off after lunch.
We drove to Queensland that day. It was a far more intense process than any other state crossing. Vic to NSW was literally a sign saying how you’re in NSW. There was no line or anything, just a sign saying it was coming up and another to say you were past it. And another bit of graffiti calling Covid a hoax. The whole attitude to Covid, back then at least, was that it wasn’t anything to worry about. No one had masks on in the shops. I checked in when I walked into shops but no one else was doing it. The attitude was so different! I remember talking to a man while I was getting some food at a rest stop and we had no masks on and he was actively approaching me to talk. This is normally something I go on trips for! But the fear of covid, not for me but for me accidentally passing something on to him, made me reserved and hesitant to talk to strangers. I didn’t realise that this attitude was in me until I hit nsw.
Then when I hit Queensland, I was surprised again.
Harry and I had to download and print out a QR code. It was the size of an A4 piece of paper and it sat in my left side on the dash. That was a declaration I had signed online saying I hadn’t been to any hot spots. When we went under a bridge there was a sign saying covid checkpoint or something. we didn’t get stopped but I think they used traffic cameras to scan the QR codes. A lot different to NSW, and a tad scary to think about too much. We weren’t wanted men but had we been, crossing a border was now akin to something from a handmaids tale.
Our first night was a bit of a catch up and a celebration for Harry and I. We had done it. We had spoken about it for months but we were finally on the road and 2 states away from home. We had some beers to celebrate and the next day headed to the Sunshine Coast with vague plans to check it out and find somewhere to camp.
As it turns out, there isn’t a whole lot of camping in busy Mooloolaba. In fact, it is very much the opposite to that. I had gotten in touch with my mate Josh and as it happened, while Harry and I stood there in the rain contemplating where we would be able to free camp, Josh offered us a bed for a few days. It was totally unexpected and I couldn’t believe our luck, as Josh had made it pretty clear in the past that he might need a few weeks notice as he gets busy with work. Typically, I gave him a few hours.
Nothing like catching up with old friends playing Tony Hawk in some random bar.
We only got one night actually with Josh as he had a busy weekend planned. I’m glad we made the most of it and got to spend some time together, going out for dinner and then on to a bar for a bit. It appears that both Josh and I have grown up somewhat as we pulled up stumps at a somewhat reasonable hour. I fear that the same cannot be said for Josh the next night, going by the state I saw him in the next day, but that is not my story to tell.
After a couple of nights at Josh’s place, things changed. The QLD government backdated some suburbs on their list. This meant that as Harry had been in the region of the Blue Mountains, he had to find some accomodation and stay there for a week or so. He got in touch with his cousin’s boyfriend in Airlie beach. I got in touch with my mate Rosie (the lionheart or el Corazon de Leon) and took up an offer to house sit his place and look after his animals. We were looking at roughly a 12 hour mission each. We thanked Josh for letting us stay and hit the road. I had wanted to do something nice for Josh to pay him back for being an awesome mate with such late notice, but the opportunity passed my by as we had to leave town so quickly.
Harry getting learned on the road under cover of darkness.
We crashed somewhere random along the road after we passed one too many dead wallabies on the road. This one was fresh and while a truck could go through it, it would have cleaned up the jazz. We car camped near 1770 then headed onwards, parting ways around Rockhampton. I love travelling with people but likewise I am comfortable being by myself so I really took my time and stopped along the way, eventually gathering up enough courage to do another roadside jam.
This is something I have noticed. Sometimes I’m open to doing random stuff. Other times, I feel incredibly shy and uncomfortable. This jam was when I realised that I can be comfortable doing uncomfortable things so long as I take my time setting up. It’s when I rush that stage that things don’t feel good. I also realised that my set up was once again fucked and not recording sound properly.
I headed onwards after this without really stopping. Now I needed to get to Moranbah before it got dark so I could look after the animals. I got here and met Gravy the dog and Suki the cat. I had 10 days to spend here, and I think I used them pretty well. Sure, I drank a bit. And a really good window to stop smoking wasn’t used. I did however finish ‘part 2’ of the story! I wrote 18,000 words in 5 days and did nothing but read and write and play with the animals. I had intended to do more, but I’m happy with that.
I had a great time alone but I looked forwards to my friends returning. They had gotten married since I had seen them last, something I had only witnessed on Zoom due to covid lockdowns. So in anticipation of their arrival, and seeing as Queensland is the liberal heart of Australia, I decided to cover Rosie’s bedroom wall with Dan Andrews.
Hurricane Catrina loves it
I think it was worth it. I also dressed up for the occasion so that Al and I could finally celebrate his wedding.
I’ve spent the last few days with Al and Alex and it has been amazing. Lots of laughs, gin, and good food, with some Mario Kart and randomness thrown in too. I’m filled with so many emotions at the thought of moving on, which means it’s probably high time I did.
So here I sit 14 days later. I need to get back on the road but I wanted to smash this blog post out while I had a chance. It’s 2 PM. The sun goes down at 6 PM and I want to be somewhere else by then, and if I can sneak in another outdoor jam, that would be fantastic as I’ll be catching up with Harry tomorrow and the trip continues so I need to use these solo windows if I want to make some roadside noise.
I am so grateful to my friends who have helped me out along the way so far. I have spent more time house sitting my mates place than travelling, but smashing out that story was such a big mental step that I am so thankful to Al and Alex for giving me that time, space, and the opportunity to do this. Plus play with their pets, I think I’m going to miss them too.
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