Day 300! Today’s a big day! Not only is it day 3 freaking hundred, but I finally got a working bicycle. Which means… I can now easily go to the grocery store. I also ended my day watching the sunset in my new sunset spot.

I woke up this morning at 8:30am. I didn’t have any work scheduled today, hopefully I’ll get some more shifts in soon!

After getting ready for my day, I set out on my first adventure. One of the people in the community that offered a bike to me was wanting to meet this morning. She was going to sell the bike to me for $20 but based on my last bike interaction, I was skeptical that it was going to be a working bike.

I walked around 35 minutes to this ladies house. She had gotten her bike out of the shed for me and it looked promising. The wheels were of course flat, but she did have a pump! Buttt after pumping up the tires, I took it for a test ride and I could tell the back wheel was no good. I probably could get a replacement tire… but I didn’t want to have to walk the bike all the way back home and risk the bike shop not having the correct tire on hand.

So I thanked the lady for her offer and trying to help out, but declined to take the bike.

I started my walk home and then had a realization that I was nearby a guys place that was selling a surfboard. So I gave him a ring to ask if he was available to meet up. He was, so I changed my route to go to his storage shed.

Kevin was a super helpful surf enthusiast. He had a number of longboards in his shed that were very nice. He was very game to give me information about what I should be looking for as a new surfer, the big thing is a board with a higher liter. This will make it more stable and easier to catch waves as I’m staring out.

The original board I messaged him about, he said wouldn’t suit me at my experience. He had two others he suggested would work better. An 8ft board that was around 55 liters and a 8 or 9ft soft topped board that was 90 liters. Now these boards were a little pricier than I was hoping to spend. But unfortunately there is a shortage of longboards for sale in Yamba and a lot more short-mid length boards which I should not be hopping on anytime soon.

I thanked him for his time and said I’d think about getting one of them. He highly suggested the 8ft 55 liter board and thought that would suit me well. So I’ll think on it for a bit and see if anything else pops up.

I started my walk back and then saw an op shop, so I went inside to see what they had. I was semi hoping they’d have a bike but I didn’t think they actually would. But what I did find was a $1 Wheat-Bix corduroy hat, which I plan to use as potentially a work hat or for the beach. If nothing else, to brighten up my room.

I then started my walk home again and I guess by that time, Kevin had finished putting the surfboards away and was starting his drive. He pulled up next to me and asked if I was heading back into town and I said yes. He told me to hop in and he drove me the rest of the way!!

Just another example of the kindness in this town. We chit chatted about surfing and Yamba for the remainder of the ride.

When I finally got home, I made myself a couple PB&Js for a late breakfast.

After I ate, I decided to go back to the Yamba bike shop and actually chat with them this time. I obviously wasn’t having much luck with the free/cheap bikes… so maybe the new one might have to be the option.

When I walked in though, I asked if they happened to have any used bikes. And lo and behold… they had one! They said they practically never have any used bikes but someone recently bought a new one and left their old one for them to sell.

It was exactly what I was looking for. Cheap price for a bike, but in working condition!

The bike ended up being $150 AUD, and I’ll hopefully be able to sell it on the backend of my time in Yamba. I bought a helmet and lock as well because A. I want to protect my noggin and B. Because there’s been a number of bike thefts over the few days I’ve been here!

Thankfully I have a good spot to put it around my house that is out of the eyes of most people and I’m still able to lock it.

Not only did I get a bike from the bike shop. But the lady helping me out told me about a friend of hers that has backpackers help with the ski/snowboard season in Nozawa Onsen, Japan. She gave me their number too and suggested to contact them for the next season (around this time next year)!

Because I now had a bike… it was time for my first grocery trip!

The bike seat wasn’t the most comfortable, which is unfortunate. Hopefully I’ll work up the right muscles to get used to it. But the ride was doable! I definitely chose a tough time to do it with the hot sun overhead, but I made it to Coles and K-mart.

I brought my backpack along to help carry my groceries home. But I also needed to get a small reusable bag as well. I was able to get the reusable bag over my shoulder and under my backpack strap so it wouldn’t move.

After a successful grocery trip, I started my hot journey back home.

This ride was pretty dang exhausting… but just like walking up the hill to work, it’s another way to keep me in shape!

Coles was unfortunately more expensive than Aldi and there’s no Aldi nearby, so I’m stuck with it. I ended up getting a bunch of groceries though and I was excited to get back to making my own meals.

I hadn’t locked my bike up yet, so I went back outside to do that. At this moment, I realized that the three wheel bike had a bell on it that I could remove. So I grabbed my roommate’s screwdriver and switched it over to my new bike.

I then went back inside to make myself lunch! I made myself a tuna sandwich with Vegemite, cheddar cheese, and a bunch of tomato. It was very tasty.

I was originally planning on heading to one of the beaches I hadn’t been to yet, because I now had a means to get there. But just as I finished up eating a huge thunderstorm rolled in!

So instead I jammed out on the guitar for a bit and then started reading the appendices of Dune.

I actually ended up chatting with one of my roommates for a bit as well! I don’t think they’re as “keep to themselves” as they led on to be. They both definitely like their alone time, but they both love to chat as well! So I’m sure I’ll be having some fun and interesting conversations with the two of them while I’m living here.

Becuase of the storm, there were some thicker clouds left in the sky and I could tell it was going to make for a beautiful sunset. So I hopped on my bike and made my way up the hill to try and find a spot to watch it.

I ended up finding a tiny cul-de-sac that had a gorgeous view over the Clarence River (that feeds into the Coral Sea/North Pacific Ocean).

It was nice to finally watch a sunset again. I miss the evenings of watching them in Koh Tao on the abandoned building near Taco Shack.

My stomach started grumbling and I went back home to make some dinner. It was a lot more fun going down the steep hill than going up it.

With the groceries I had just got, I made myself pasta and chicken. I cut up a tomato and threw some pesto sauce on it as well (nowhere near as good as my families homemade pesto, but it’ll do for now).

I decided to crawl into bed early. All the bike riding wore me out! I’m looking forward to plenty more of it though!

I got my schedule for the week just as I got into bed… I currently only have two days scheduled, but I texted a coworker and they said I should get more and the schedule is constantly changing (pretty much daily). So hopefully I’ll be able to have a full weeks worth of work, or near to!

If not, I guess more time for beachin!

– Elie