About 10 minutes north of Hardy’s Bay is the city of Woy Woy. With a population a little over 10,000 people, it is seemed like one of the biggest cities in the Central Coast outside of the metropolitan Sydney area. There wasn’t any cities close to Hardy’s Bay that had a Target or KMart, so we drove through the country a bit to find one in Woy Woy.
While Killcare and Hardy’s Bay seemed about bit upscale and posh, in spite of the fact that they didn’t have a grocery store, Woy Woy had that lower middle class feel to it, especially when we made it to the KMart Strip Mall. I hadn’t seen a KMart in a number of years, and I didn’t even realize that they existed outside of the US. I thought they went bankrupt in the US as well, so I was surprised to see one in Woy Woy, NSW.
The entrance to the KMart store was inside what felt a bit like a small mall. The entrance was in the hallway and there were for or five other stores in the building. Like I said it had been a while since I went into a KMart, so I was slightly surprised at how similar it was to the ones that I had gone to in the past. They had a lot of same items that you’d find in a Walmart, but something about the store just seemed a little disjointed and strange.
We found some bath towels that we could use at the beach, but then we started just looking around to see what they had in the different sections. Elizabeth looked at maybe getting a new bathing suit or a sun hat, while I walked over to the men’s clothing section and looked at some interesting graphic t-shirts. There was one that said Stockton, California, in a way that was making it seem like an incredibly cool place to live. And another t-shirt that said, “San Diego County: Another Day in Paradise” which is a slogan that I don’t think that I have ever heard…and people just say “San Diego”. There were other shirts that said Newport Beach, Los Angeles, and Hollywood, but those didn’t seem as odd, because it seems like everyone around the world thinks that those places are way cooler than you might think if you actually lived near them.
We found out way out of the KMart with just some towels and a few toiletries, which we left in the rental car, while we looked for something to eat. Just down the way was a Thai restaurant and where Elizabeth and I shared a pad thai platter that was larger enough that we both had plenty of food. It was one of the two places that were open in the shopping area, the other being Subway Sandwiches, and I think that we made the right choice. The restaurant was fairly small as it probably caters mostly to take out business. There was one booth and a bar with stools facing out the front window, only a few feet from the open kitchen and small counter where a middle aged white guy took our order, while his son sat on a stool next to him playing games on his gameboy.
The food was really good and filling, which makes me feel like it’s probably hard to make this food poorly. But by the same token, Thailand is closer to Australia than the US, so it should theoretically be better, right?
I had mentioned earlier in the day to Elizabeth, that we should check out the “townie” bar, The Killcare Pub and get some drinks with the locals, but after driving back that way, Elizabeth thought we should go back to Frank’s place for a little while before going back out or drinks. We even considered walking down the hill from his place to “downtown” Hardy’s Bay, Elizabeth wasn’t feeling well and wanted to lay down.
On our way in, we ran into Frank, who was right outside the house doing something with his car. We talked a little while about the race and he talked about his kids and the house. We mentioned all the bird calls that we heard in the morning and he told us that his wife had feeds the parrots and macaws at 7am, every morning, if we wanted to come out and join her.
His wife came out with the dog, who seemed to be wandering aimlessly in the driveway and over into the side of the house. His wife mentioned that the dog wasn’t acting right today. They said that they were going to be driving into Sydney in the morning, and that we would check out on our own. He told us to just lock up and leave the key on the counter and go out the back door.
We wished them a good night and went into settle in a bit and then go out for a few drinks later on. We started watching Australian television, while I packed up my clothes and things into my backpack for our drive to Bondi Beach the next day. After packing up, Elizabeth said that she was going to lay down, but eventually fell asleep for the night. I waited for her for a little while, to get those drinks, but she didn’t wake back up and I joined her in the bedroom.