Some Saturdays you plan. Others just happen. This one was a bit of both.
I set out with my mum and grandma for a full day road trip to Bulli and Wollongong — to personally deliver a CityEvoke order, shoot content at some of the most scenic spots on the NSW coast, and just see where the day took us. What followed was one of the most memorable days I've had building this brand.
I also made a TikTok about the whole trip — watch it here:
Why We Were Going to Bulli
A little while back, a customer named Lincon placed an order. He'd previously bought the Manifest T-Shirt and the Betrayal T-Shirt, and this time he came back for the The Bloom Never Begs T-Shirt and the Consumed By The City T-Shirt.
After placing the order, he emailed me. He'd accidentally selected the wrong size and wanted to know if it could be fixed. But what stood out wasn't the size issue — it was the rest of the message. He told me he loved the designs and that I had gained a loyal customer.
I fixed the order straight away. But I also thought — why just ship it? Lincon lives in Bulli, about an hour and a half from me. I reached out and asked if he'd be open to a personal delivery and a short interview for CityEvoke. He said yes.
The Drive Down: Bulli Pass & Trucks in the Rain
I drove the whole way — getting hours up for my L's. The route took us through Bulli Pass, which is steep, winding, and not exactly forgiving if you're still building confidence behind the wheel.
At one point, a truck came past and sent a wave of water straight across the windshield. Visibility dropped to almost nothing for a few seconds. My mum and grandma were calm about it. I was less calm. But we made it through, and honestly, moments like that are the ones you remember.
Delivering to Lincon
When we arrived at Lincon's place, he was welcoming and easy to talk to. We filmed a short interview and had a proper conversation about the brand, the tees, and how he found CityEvoke.
What he told me was something I didn't expect. He found the brand by searching "oversized anime t-shirts" on Google — and my website came up.
That hit differently. It's one thing to grow through TikTok or word of mouth. It's another to have someone find you organically through search, with no prior connection to the brand. It means CityEvoke is being indexed, being discovered, and reaching people who are genuinely looking for what we make.
We also brought him pretzel sticks as a small gift. He'd been recovering from food poisoning and couldn't have anything sweet — so pretzels it was. Small gesture, but it felt right.
Bulli Beach & Bulli Beach Cafe
After the delivery, we headed to Bulli Beach. I was wearing the Consumed By The City T-Shirt — graffiti-meets-editorial energy that felt right against the coast. Real light, real environment, no studio.
Bulli Beach is the kind of place that makes you remember why the NSW coast is genuinely one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the country. We grabbed a quick break at the Bulli Beach Cafe before moving on — still in the Consumed By The City tee, still shooting wherever the light was good.
Sea Cliff Bridge
Next stop: Sea Cliff Bridge. I switched into the Neon Dreams: Hiro T-Shirt for this one. The bold anime-inspired graphic against the bridge curving out over the ocean — it just worked. One of those locations that looks almost too good to be real, and the Hiro tee held its own against it.
We parked up and shot as much as we could. The kind of content that doesn't happen in a studio.
Wollongong Lighthouse
From Sea Cliff Bridge we drove into Wollongong and headed to Flagstaff Point — home of the Wollongong Lighthouse. Still wearing the Neon Dreams: Hiro T-Shirt. The lighthouse, the ocean, the open sky — clean and striking. A completely different feel to the bridge but just as strong for content.
Wollongong Beach & Art Gallery
We walked along Wollongong Beach and then made our way to the Wollongong Art Gallery. For these I was wearing the Neon Dreams: Opposite T-Shirt — bold contrast design that suited both the open beach and the gallery setting.
There's something fitting about taking a brand built on original hand-illustrated artwork — every character drawn on iPad using Procreate — into an art gallery. It felt like the right kind of energy for the day.
Nan Tien Temple
The last stop before heading home was Nan Tien Temple, and for this one I wore The Bloom Never Begs T-Shirt. The temple is one of those places that slows you down in the best way — peaceful, considered, and completely different from everything else we'd seen that day. The Bloom Never Begs felt like the right tee for it. We had lunch there too, and the food was genuinely really good.
By this point we'd covered a lot of ground — and four different tees across five locations.
The Storm on the Way Home
We got back to the car as the sky started to change. Within minutes, a storm rolled in — heavy rain, low visibility, and lightning striking close enough to make everyone in the car go quiet.
It was one of those moments where you just focus on getting home. And we did.
What Happened When We Got Back
When we finally got home, we were greeted by something unexpected — loud crying coming from inside the house. That's a story for another post. But if you follow CityEvoke closely, you might already know what — or who — that was.
What This Day Meant for CityEvoke
Days like this are what building a brand actually looks like. It's not always content schedules and drop announcements. Sometimes it's driving an hour and a half through a mountain pass to hand-deliver a tee to someone who found you on Google.
Lincon didn't find CityEvoke through an ad. He wasn't referred by a friend. He searched for something specific — oversized anime t-shirts — and the brand showed up. That's the kind of growth that compounds. And it's the kind of moment that makes every hour put into this worth it.
Shop the Tees From This Trip
- Consumed By The City T-Shirt — worn at Bulli Beach. Graffiti-meets-editorial, a core piece of the brand.
- Neon Dreams: Hiro T-Shirt — worn at Sea Cliff Bridge and the Lighthouse. Bold anime-inspired graphic that holds its own anywhere.
- Neon Dreams: Opposite T-Shirt — worn at Wollongong Beach and the Art Gallery. High contrast design from the Neon Dreams series.
- The Bloom Never Begs T-Shirt — worn at Nan Tien Temple. One of the most talked-about pieces in the collection.
- Manifest T-Shirt — intentional design for people who move with purpose.
- Betrayal T-Shirt — raw emotion, premium execution.
→ Shop the full CityEvoke collection — Australia-wide shipping