It’s amazing how big Australia is. Big and empty. We rode for hours down the Sapphire Coast the next day without ever seeing another soul, topless or otherwise. Not once did we see a car, no trucks, no cops… nothing but twisty roads, bright sunshine, and… our first kangaroo!

Fiona and I were positively giddy, because we were convinced there was no way we’d see a kangaroo during this trip, and very early into the second day, we did. Sure, our first one was dead on the side of the road, kinda smashed in, fly covered and a little gross looking, but hey, it was a kangaroo, and for us that was really something.

When we pulled over, Fiona and I were practically squealing, we were so excited. Maxine, a real, veteran Aussie, was much less impressed. “Kangaroos?” She shrugged, “Ehh… Back on the farm we used to shoot kangaroos all the time. They’re pests!”

Pests or not, dead or alive, kangaroos are cool.

Seeing one of these bunny-pigs would be cool too.

We followed the Sapphire Coast road all the way to the town of Eden, stopping only once to give man, woman and machine a well deserved rest by a very deserted beach.

Then, onward to Eden.

Eden: 25 Kilometers or 124.274 Furlongs Away

Another thing I learned about Australia is it is incredibly green and lush, at least along the coast. Don’t know about the outback, because we never got there, but the places we rode were surprisingly green.

Green, except for the places the leaves were changing.

May is the beginning of Fall down here, and that’s just the beginning of the differences between the Kingdom of Rhode Island and Opposite World. That’s right, Oz is Opposite World. Why do I call it that? For example, unlike home, the toilet water does swirl down counter-clockwise Down Under, thanks to a little something called the Coriolis Effect (I present this fact to you for free. Now you’ve learned something too!) There are other differences between lands, such as the friendly natives that came up to us wherever we stopped to offer route advice. Actually, I guess that happens all over the world, but anyway, these places are pretty different.

If you can’t tell, I really am hating my time in Opposite World!

At Eden we turned west, and started heading inland.

My Hair Only LOOKS Grey.

The entire second day was spent in blissful wonder, winding through sublime, deserted roads, admiring the scenery, and Sleeping Beauty and I started to slip into what almost felt like… vacation mode!

The inland town of Cooma became our home on Day Two, after the obligatory toast we went to bed anticipating what the next day would bring; mountain roads, snow, and a unique marsupial encounter of the very best kind.

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Author: frenchy