Australia - Step 8.6: first couch surfing experience lasts for 11 days in South Golden Beach

Within the 2 days in that dogsit I came to the decision to just go on a bus to Byron and see what happens.

I had applied for a house-sitting gig in Lennox, just 20 minutes from Byron Bay, and they confirmed it right away. However, I had 10 days with no plans and no accommodation before the sit was set to begin. As I need to learn to embrace the flow of life, I reached out to a woman on Couchsurfing, hoping to secure a place to stay for the first few nights.

She responded warmly, mentioning that she could use some help with her home and other projects. She accepted my request, and when I arrived in the evening, her daughter showed me around. The house was a modern and vibey beach house, with the ground floor still under renovation. She usually rented out the first floor on Airbnb, but with few bookings, she and her daughter were living there.

This woman was an incredible artist, hippie, traveler, and all-around free spirit. The atmosphere was chaotic and lively, which suited me perfectly as I brought a sense of order and structure to the place. I was happy to contribute and bring some organization into the house.

For the first few days, I had the entire ground floor to myself since there were no Airbnb bookings. I stayed in the daughter's room and spent my time cleaning and organizing the downstairs area. My host also took me around, and we visited the farmers' market in Mullumbimby.

She was very spiritual in a way I hadn't expected, which added to the experience. Although it rained for a few days, limiting our activities, the first sunny morning I went for a long walk on the beach. This beach felt otherworldly—endlessly long, wide, and flat, with vast stretches of solitude beyond the dog beach.

My host generously told me I could stay as long as I wanted. One day, before heading out with her daughter, she casually mentioned that another Couchsurfer was arriving and asked if I could show him around. It was such a spontaneous and trusting gesture.

The new arrival was an Italian guy traveling from Cairns to Sydney. He pitched in by cleaning up the car park and even made us pizza—he was a pizza chef. Another random yet delightful experience was meeting a girl from Austria who was parked in her campervan near the house. We invited her over for coffee, and she ended up planning a retreat with my host at the beach house.

When the Airbnb finally got a booking, the Italian guy and I tackled the deep cleaning and preparation. What normally took my host six hours, we finished in three, and even fixed the terrace floor. Before leaving for Sydney with her daughter, my host entrusted us with the house and Airbnb responsibilities. We stayed alone, prepped the house, cooked some pasta, and then I caught the bus to Lennox for my cat-sitting.