But I’m getting off track here. On this
Sunday it happened to be a full moon and some people I’d just met (which is
pretty much everyone) told me there was a party on the beach with a big fire. I
envisioned an enormous bon fire on a deserted beach, people dancing to the beat
of a djembe and guitar someone brought and knows how to play. We would party
till the early hours until the sun came up whilst Humpback Whales did their
amazing jumps just a few meters from shore. Unfortunately it didn’t exactly
work out like that.
The full moon super-duper beach party was
close to where I was staying. So instead of walking with my new found friends I
told them, “Go ahead. I’ll put my bike away at home and follow this trail I
know to the beach and walk down till I see you guys.” It sounded like a proper
plan at the time.
So I parked my bike and followed this sandy
trail that cuts through Arakwal National park. It is a beautiful densely grown
forest that forms a natural barrier which protects the inland from the ocean.
It is filled with birds, snakes, possums, rats, bats and god knows what other
kind of animals. I’m pretty sure the park ranger knows as well, but I neglected
to ask him. Armed with just a flashlight I reached the beach only to find the
tide super high (damn full moon) and there was no way for me to walk down the
beach without being swiped away into the dark pacific ocean.
I back tracked a bit till I noticed another
trail parallel to the beach. I thought to myself: ‘if I follow this one I’m
sure to find the others’. I was still under the assumption there would be a
huge fire and lots of sound and laughter, which is generally easy to locate.
Turned out that trail I noticed was probably an old trail they stopped
maintaining. After 10 minutes of walking
through this jungle I hit a dead end. I was completely alone. I could hear the
ocean and some birds, but no voices or djembe sounds. I stopped to listen. That
was a mistake. Instead of hearing humans all I heard was the sound of ‘bigger’
animals rummaging through the bush around me. I told myself: “You’re the
biggest animal around here, they are afraid of you.” I know I’m probably right,
but In Australia where everything is either poisonous or deadly in some way it
was hard to convince myself.
I found my way back to where I had started
without getting killed and decided to go back where I had parted from the rest
of the crew and try form there. Since we’ve just met I didn’t have anyone phone
number I could call for directions. After walking up and down streets for 45
minutes and repeating the ‘take the wrong trail into nowhere trick’ for a
second time I bumped into three Spaniards that looked like they new where they
were going. Nouria, Mariana and Bruno became my best friends the instant I
learned they were heading to this full moon party on the beach. It felt like
they saved me from the clutches of the dark Arakwal forest out to confuse lone
hikers in the middle of the night and make them disappear forever.
Turned out the party turned out to be a
random gathering of random people around a fire constantly fighting the
moisture in the drift wood it was feeding on and the strong winds blowing in
from the ocean. It was pretty overcast too, so the full moon was to be seen
exactly three times when clouds parted briefly. Luckily I had an adventure not
that long ago.
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