Seeing an old bridge as we drove along the new Grafton Bridge towards the place we were staying at, my mother immediately wanted to find a way to get close and snap a photo. Put upon by my mother’s disappointment that she hadn’t been able to do it when we arrived, I made sure that, as we packed our bags ready for the next leg of our trip around northern New South Wales, to find a way to get underneath the rickety, single lane death trap for an opportunity with the camera. And as we greeted the morning joggers, it wasn’t long before we were back in the car to take a gander at the park that my grandmother visited a year and a half ago, when COVID-19 was still just a tickle in someone’s throat.

As it was not quite the season, the treas were mostly bare of the iconic purple flowers. My grandmother was quick to reminiscence about her time there, spent with a gaggle of other elderly ladies such as herself. Looking around, she was surprised to see a new playground that had recently popped up. True to form, both my mother and grandmother regressed to their childhood years as they swung on the swings and tried to make music out of colourful xylophones. Being the only adult there, I snapped a few shots and was eager to leave within minutes of arriving. After all, there was still a lengthy drive ahead of us and I wanted to get a good head start.

Our next stop on the tour of northern New South Wales was Armidale. The reason why? Because my mother was eager to take photos of the university campus. Along the way, we rested briefly at a lookout for the Guy Fawkes river. Terrified of the huge flying wasp-like insects, it took me a good long while to sit my tush down on the toilet seat. But I did! By the time I left the compost toilet, my mother had already scoped out the area and was heading down a nearby track to take a look at the scenery. She was followed by my grandmother, who admired the nearby waterfall that she felt was much more admirable than the one at Natural Bridge.

Once I had safely herded the two children back to the car, we were back on the road, winding through several road work projects, before we finally arrived at Armidale at noon. By now, we were hungry and so I, being a faithful navigator, searched up a few local restaurants. With a lot of choices vetoed, I decided to try Paper Tiger – a fusion of West and East. To my surprise, both my mother and grandmother were open to the choices and we had an excellent meal before we headed to the University of New England.

Driving around campus, my mother admitted that she had not taken a photo with the Hogwarts-esque building at the University of Sydney. As an alumni of the University of New South Wales, I was disheartened to hear her say how superior the architecture was at the rival university and tried to point out many of its flaws. Still, it did not deter her and there’s every possibility that one of these days, she’ll go visit the University of Sydney campus just to play Chinese tourist.

Most of the buildings around the University of New England was less than impressive. We did, however, stop by a Museum of Natural History. It had a tortoise display near the front and what appeared to be a dinosaur behind it. Unfortunately, it was closed. And so, we resumed our impromptu look around UNE. Satisfied that we had taken photos of the most prominent buildings, we started on the long journey to Tamworth: the home of Australian country music.

We arrived quite early. After checking in, summoning what little energy remained, we headed to the Golden Guitar. After snapping a shot of the sculpture outside the visitor information centre, my mother was adamant about seeing the Australian Standing Stones. To her dismay, she learned that they were NOT in Tamworth, but actually in Glen Innes.

In the end, she settled for the busts of many music greats at the Botanical Gardens of Tamworth, though she wasn’t very happy about it.

Our last day of travel was really a mad dash back to Sydney. Knowing that my friend had returned from Western Australia and was temporarily staying at Muswellbrook as they looked for more permanent lodgings due to the nature of her husband’s job, I also determined to drop by and say ‘hello.’ This we did. As we caught up, chatting about life and future career choices, we also looked out on the horde of bats that had set up home in the trees behind her hotel. It made me a little uneasy, wondering if there was a possibility of new diseases springing forth from the Australian country. 

COVID-19, while contained and subdued in Australia, was still threatening the livelihoods of many people around the world. Still reeling from the disaster of the pandemic, it was very easy to see the spread of more deadlier viruses. All trapped in those blind flying mammals.

An hour passed in quiet chatter before we were on the road again, reinvigorated for the last part of our journey home. In many ways, it was a mad dash. Three hours it took (trapped due to traffic once we had finally arrived in Sydney because of school zones), for us to finally arrive at our front door. But it was all worth it in the end as we unpacked and unloaded and I finally got to go back on my computer.

The trip around northern New South Wales had its ups and downs. After all, it wouldn’t have been a family trip if we didn’t have a few arguments along the way. While I didn’t get to spy on the Hemsworth family or stalk Zac Efron, I did get to see a few interesting things on my trip, as well as sneak in a bit of gaming. And while I don’t think I’ll ever feel a hundred percent comfortable in the country towns of Australia – I know that I’m no stranger to this country. Small pockets of diversity exist, even in the most far-flung places. True, Sydney probably has them all beat in terms of quality and authenticity of multicultural food, but it’s also nice to see friendly faces everywhere.

My second day at Byron Bay, unfortunately, also went by without a sighting of any celebrities. Even after I’d asked the staff at reception about the Hemsworth family and knew that they liked to frequent a frozen yoghurt place nearby. I suppose, though, that there were plenty of reasons for not being able to spy on Chris or Liam Hemsworth during my stay. First and foremost being the fact that my mother wanted to go sightseeing rather than celebrity stalking.

And so, reluctantly, I hopped into the car on Saturday and headed north. Our destination? Crystal Castle and Shambhala Gardens. A perfect place for gurus of all sorts and believers of the healing power of crystals. Now, I won’t say I’m a sceptic, since I actually wear a jade bracelet, but I’m basically a sceptic. It didn’t help that it also felt like the people running it had appropriated various religions and cultures and melded it into a hodgepodge of Asia. 

Honestly, when we first entered, I felt like I was stepping into a Western interpretation of the Oriental. There were torii gates (Japanese Shinto) mixed in with statues of Buddha (Buddhism) and Ganesh (Hinduism). It felt weird, to be sure, and I was very uncomfortable during my time there. I was also disappointed that none of the staff there asked about my jade bracelet.

But I suppose if you sniff a few sticks of incense, channel your chakra and open up your third eye, it’s just spiritual guidance. Find your INNER PEACE. MEDITATION!

After taking plenty of photos with crystal lodes filled with quartz and amethysts, we finally decided to head back to Byron Bay for lunch. 

Hearing a good review from a friend, my mother opted to have fish and chips at HunkyDory. Stuffed to the gills with fish and chips and salad and rice, I decided to walk back to the place we were staying while my mum drove. Along the way, I took in the sights and sounds of the local scene – feeling a little out of place because I’d basically been in Sydney all my life. Did they think us foreigners?

I even stopped at a local bookstore and browsed the shelves. There were plenty of books on offer and I was tempted to buy a few. A little self-restraint meant that I walked away empty-handed, though my heart was lightened looking at the titles held within. And if I had a choice of browsing a video game or book store, I’d definitely defer to books. So many worlds to explore. So many characters to embody and witness their lives.

A quiet afternoon soon followed, where I started on Bravely Default II. At five, my mother and I decided to set out and have a look at Main Beach. After coming all this way, it seemed a little inappropriate to have come all this way and NOT take a look at the beaches that make Australia such a treat for visitors. Even if I hate sand. Why? Because it’s coarse, rough, irritating and gets everywhere.

I’ll admit, it was nice to take in the ambiance. To soak in the fact that people were lazing out on the grass, listening to music and drinking a beer. The perfect Saturday to rest. Normalcy had returned after a frightful year of disease and my family were contributing, a little, to the revitalisation of the Australian economy.

While I would have preferred to continue gaming after dinner, my mother had other plans. Once again, I served as the chauffeur to drive her out to the lighthouse so she could see the full moon. I tried to steer her away, citing the heavy cloud cover and the fact that she would be barely be able to see anything. It was in vain. Adamant, just like her zodiac sign, she harangued me up the hill and I dropped her at the top so she could stare at a blood-red line that was quickly obscured.

The next day, we set out bright and early. Since we were so close to the border, we saw fit to visit Tweed Heads. To my surprise, it was a sizeable city, bustling with traffic. Considering how close it is to the Gold Coast, and by extension Brisbane, it made sense. 

We stopped briefly at the visitors information centre, chatting with the two lovely ladies there. Eager to talk, they spoke about the border controls when Queensland had closed the border with New South Wales and how police had diverted residents and visitors through tight checkpoints. They were also kind enough to tell us of a few good places to take a gander at.

Following their advice, we took photos of the State Border Monument before we headed towards our next stop on our tour of northern New South Wales. Along the way, we detoured again to Queensland to witness a waterfall at Natural Bridge.

That done, we were on the road again, stopping briefly at a town called Casino, before we arrived at the place where we would be staying the night: the Jacaranda Capital Grafton.