Agnes Water and Town of 1770
(May 10 – 17)
So I know I haven’t posted in over a week, but we’re alive and well! For the past week or so, we’ve been taking it easy in Agnes Water while waiting for our Whitsundays Trip to become available. Last I posted, we were talking with the hostel owner about making them a website and they ended up agreeing! In exchange for creating a new website for them, they put us up for eight nights in their private queen room. It was pretty luxurious compared to our normal sparse backpacker bunk beds–complete with a sofa and memory foam pillows. We were living the high life in quaint little Agnes Water, enjoying the sunshine and palm trees while designing websites from the porch.
Since we were here for a few days, we talked to the local businesses in town to see if we could pick up a few more website clients. A cute little cafe named Madonnas and a surf shop run by a long haired surfer named Grom said yes! It seems with every website we build, I learn more and more. We’ve never had any formal training, but just Google search when we hit a road block and somehow get through it and gain more skills every time.
Other than websites, we had to take care of re-registering one of the motorcycles since it was about to expire. This turned out to be no small task. Every vehicle needs a safety inspection “pink slip”, but because our tail light is held up by string and duct tape, we were worried it wouldn’t be deemed road worthy. We took the bike to the only licensed mechanic in town, situated along a small dirt road. The two brothers that ran the garage were easy going and had no dramas about the taillight as long as we *wink* “promised” to get it fixed. The drama only started a few moments later.
Matt the Mechanic: “Where’s the tag?”
Us: “What tag?”
Matt: “The Australian Compliance tag that’s required on every single vehicle. I can’t submit this inspection without it.”
Us: “Ahh…right…”, as we search nervously around the bike parts.
It turns out, the people that had the bike before us put after-market pegs into the frame, right on top of the tag. The only way to see the tag was to remove the entire right fairing (the plastic frame of the bike for the non-bikies out there). None of us were pleased with the situation, but without any options, we sat around while the mechanic took out every last screw. We killed the time chatting with them about their favorite roads to ride. They had a bit of a laugh when they called Byron over saying there was something wrong. Matt pulled up a big red ALERT on his screen and tried to keep a straight face until Byron figured out he was pulling his leg. The guys cleared the inspection sent us on our way.
We explored town each morning going for jogs along the beach, along the neighborhood cul de sacs, down to the marina, and through the only street running through Agnes Water. We also enjoyed a few more sunset barbecues, swimming in the warm ocean water, exploring the local hippie market, and hiking along the coastal foot paths. The wifi in the private room was astonishingly good enough for streaming Netflix, which hadn’t happened since Sydney. Instead of partying (which we’d been doing plenty of this entire trip) we took advantage of the wifi and caught up on our favorite shows. We also spent some time around the hostel picnic tables and fire circle playing charades and meeting other travellers, but Netflix was really a treat.
One of the highlights of the week was visiting the Kangaroo Sanctuary. Every day at 3:30pm, dozens of kangaroos show up in this one man’s backyard since he’s been feeding them there for over 15 years. Before this, I’d only seen kangaroos from the side of the road in the distance, so to feel the soft fur under my hand and put my arm around one was pretty exciting. They weren’t even phased by all the people gathered to touch them and shove sweet potatoes in their face. There were even a few mama kangaroos that had little joeys peeking their tiny faces out of the pouch. One of them was pretty bold and would dangle from the pouch when mom was distracted and try to nibble on the blades of grass within reach. After an abundance of selfies and cuddles, the man that started the sanctuary shared some facts about kangaroos, such as how the entire species is disease free, or that they can suspend a pregnancy for up to a whole year. He took an abruptly dark turn and began ranting about how Australia is being ruined by the Chinese coming in and soon the Australians will be refugees in their own country and that we should all feel guilty for every bite of beef we’ve ever eaten. We have no tolerance for xenophobia like that, so we walked away frustrated. The kangaroos were still incredible, but the man behind it would’ve been better off keeping his mouth shut about his views.
By the end of our time in Agnes Water, we had grown used to the simple way of living, and the comfort of the private room. That being said, we were definitely antsy to hit the road again and looked forward to continuing the journey–a few more websites in our portfolio and a few shades darker from the sunshine.
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Costs:
I think over the past week we’ve spent around $125 each on food, nothing on accommodation (because of the website), and around $19 for gas. The motorcycle inspection was $97. We also MADE $500 from our website for the surf shop and will soon be finishing up on the cafe for an additional $500.
PS. If anyone knows of a small business that needs a website, feel free to send them our way at backpackerbiz.com! 😉