Wednesday - Gold Coast to Mount Cotton (Brisbane)

Today was an exciting day…as tonight a real bed beckoned!!!

We got up and checked out of our campsite, driving the short length up and into the Tamborine Mountain Range.

We spent the morning doing a hike to Witches Falls, 3.1 km in length and winding down through tropical rainforests.

In the afternoon we drove to The Knoll and did the Cedar Creek Circuit hike, walking down through brooks and rainforest to Cameron Falls.

After some cheese and biscuits at a picnic spot we drove back to the highway and headed a short distance north, stopping for a quick browse at a shopping mall before driving onwards to Mount Cotton, and Elaine and Rob’s humble abode.

Strangely enough the larger area where they live is called Carbrook (minus one ‘r’ from the one we all know), and the lovely estate is a quiet retreat after the Gold Coast.

We arrived at 4pm and sat chatting for the evening, catching up and sharing stories.

Tuesday - The Gold Coast (4kms)

As you may or may not know the Gold Coast is also famous for it’s abundance of theme parks, and we all know who loves theme parks!? So, Ben managed to twist Nicola’s arm and we both spent the day at ‘Movie World’!!

We did all the rides; Scooby Doo Spooky Coaster.

Wild West Falls River Adventure.

Hollywood Stunt Driver (not a ride as such, but more a live stunt show).

Batwing Space Shot, and Batman Adventure ride 2.

And, last but by no means least (as we went on every ride at least 2 times) Superman Escape…by far our favourite!!

Once the park closed we headed back to the campsite with heads spinning and sat in the camp kitchen watching Australia’s Got Talent…Hmmm?!

Monday - Byron Bay to the Gold Coast (156kms) Happy Birthday Grandad Chorley!!

Back on the road today…we had a 6:30am alarm, which meant we were up bright and early, packed up and on the road by 7:30am.

We drove to Cape Byron, which was named after the Grandfather of Lord Byron (the poet), as he was a renowned navigator in the 1760s. We climbed up to the lighthouse, which was built in 1901 and is the most easterly and powerful lighthouse in Australia. Ben walked down to the point, and Nicola stayed at the top watching a small and very cute wallaby in the bushes below.

Next stop on today’s drive north was Brunswick Heads, a small fishing village along the coast from Byron Bay. Once back in the van and driving onwards we stopped in the twin towns of Tweed Heads (in New South Wales) and Coolangatta (Queensland), where we had a stroll around and caught our first glimpse of the glitzy Surfers Paradise….with it’s high rises protruding from the picturesque beach front on the horizon.

We toured along the length of the Gold Coast, where one beach and town merged with the next, all the time the high rises getting higher, and the tackiness getting ever so slightly tackier! We made a pit stop at Miami Beach for a walked along the white sand beach, before doing the inevitable and going to Surfers Paradise.

It was everything we thought it would be…Blackpool, but with sun! We had a walk around though and checked out it’s ‘sights’, and then got back on the road and called in at Paradise Point for lunch.

Our campsite for the next two nights is at a place called Helensvale, right adjacent to the Gold Coast, but far enough away to avoid the noise and prices. We parked up and chilled out for the evening.

Sunday - Byron Bay (0kms)

After having over a week in the van, and not really having a day off we decided that we were going to make the most of a lovely sunny day and rather than driving out to sight see, or walking out to sight see, we would just sit and relax at the campsite.

As the wind had really picked up in the early evening we decided it was not weather to sit outside tonight, so we jumped in the van and listened to some music.

Saturday - Byron Bay (Day trip to Nimbin) 179kms

Today we decided to have a day trip out, seeing as we had 3 nights in total at the campsite in Byron Bay.  We drove West through a petite town called Bangalow, a larger town called Lismore and onwards to Nimbin.

Now, to give you some insight into this crazy little town in the hills; in 1973 the Australian Union of Students staged an experimental 'Aquarius Festival' in  the Nimbin Valley, hippies travelled from all over, and from the looks of Nimbin, they never left.  As we parked up and wandered around the town we had never seen so much tie dye, hippies or been offered so many illegal substances (don't worry we refused politely!).

The most insane part of the whole experience was the Nimbin Museum where we went on a whirlwind tour through the history of the place; seeing everything from the story of the local Aboriginals to crashed Kombis.

After we had seen enough we touched back down on planet sane and drove through the beautiful valleys, stopping at Rocky Creek Dam for lunch - seeing a huge Goanna whilst doing so.

On our drive back to the coast we stopped at Bangalow for an icecream, and then headed back to the caravan site - having kangaroo steaks for dinner - yum!!

Friday - Coffs Harbour to Cape Byron (269kms)

Today we had a big drive ahead of us, so an early start at 6:30am, packed up and on the road by 8am.  Before we left Coffs Harbour though we de-toured slightly to take in our next 'Big Thing'...the Big Banana!

Back on the Pacific Highway we passed through the town of Mclean - The Scottish Town in Australia (their line not ours!), where all the lamp posts have different clan tartans painted on, and yes there is a real Scottish feel to the place!

Heading North we stopped at the Razorback lookout, which offered superb views of the Goanna Headland; and then continued onwards to Ballina (which is just South of Cape Byron).  We stopped in this busy little town for lunch alongside the river, and stocked up with provisions.

Rather than drive straight to Cape Byron we did the tourist drive along the coast, stopping at the famous surfers town of Lennox Head (where Ben brought a frisbee!).

Arriving in Cape Byron we felt like we had walked into teenage tourist trap; complete with shops, bars and funky restaurants (complete with several hundred teenagers).  We made a bee-line instead for the 'Beaches of Byron' campsite which was just outside of town.

We pulled up on site and decided to enjoy the rest of the days sun with a cold beer, after which we walked to the beach at the back of the campsite and played frisbee.

Thursday - Coffs Harbour (0kms)

Today was a day off from driving as we had booked two nights at the Park Beach Caravan Park. After a lay in we cooked bacon sandwiches in the camp kitchen and deliberated what to do for the day.

As it was a lovely day and the showers that had plagued us for the past few days showed no signs of appearing we walked out along Park Beach.

The beach was empty and as we crossed Coffs Harbour Creek we met our first people! We walked along the international mariner to Muttonbird Island and saw our first Muttonbird chick on the ground (quite a treat as they don't normally come out until night).

After a quick stop for refreshments we headed back to the campervan, where we spent the afternoon by the pool.

The icing on the cake was treating ourselves to take away fish and chips that evening!!


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Wednesday - Nambucca Heads to Coffs Harbour (172 kms)

After an early start we packed up the van and headed out of the campsite at 7:30am.

The reason behind the early start was because we wanted to detour on route to Coffs Harbour and take the Waterfall Way to Dorrigo. Once off highway 1 and heading west the landscape changed, the stretching farmlands went all the way to the foot of the mountains.

First stop was a town called Bellingen; an 1840s timber town with all of it's old high street buildings still intact.

As we set off out of Belligen the road started twisting and turning higher and higher into the mountains. We stopped for a quick look at Newell Falls and drove past Sherrard Falls on route to Griffiths lookout where we had a brew and biccies.

When we got to Dorrigo we drove straight through to Dangar Falls, the jewel in the Waterfall Way crown. After a stroll down to the bottom of the falls we headed back in to Dorrigo for a browse.

As we had reached our last stop before pulling a U-ey and heading back for the coast we made one last stop at the Rainforest Centre, where Ben treated himself to a half price talking Steve Urwin action figure.

A short drive later and we were back on the coast at a town called Sawtell where we stopped for lunch.

After packing up we made the short drive to Coffs Harbour, and after stocking up on groceries we checked in at Park Beach Holiday Park.

We pulled up onto our pitch; went for a swim, played with some friendly lorikeets, had a beer and ate dinner.

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Tuesday - Nambucca Heads (0kms)

Today we woke up to brilliant sunshine and had a lovely morning sitting at the site reading up on our next destinations from our tourist books (we seem to have been piled high with them from all the helpful ladies at the tourist information offices).

We took the opportunity to do our laundry at the camp site (they have a launderette) and had a leisurely lunch in the sun watching the fishermen going by.

As the showers moved in this afternoon we headed out with our ponchos for a walk along the boardwalk to the point, and wandered along the vee wall (similar to the one in Port Macqaurie where anyone is free to leave their mark).

Tonight we spend another night at the Foreshore Caravan Park before leaving early tomorrow for a scenic drive up the coast to Coffs Harbour via the Waterfall Way.

Monday - Port Macquarie to Nambucca Heads (168kms)

After a good sleep we woke up at 7:30am and had a quick breakfast before packing up just in time to avoid the shower that had appeared over us.  By 8:30 we were on the highway heading north; we had a Mc-wifi stop at Kempsey Mcdonalds before jumping back on the highway.

First official tourist stop of the day was at the infamous Fredo pies in Fredrickton; they have 160 recipes in their books, and bake 50 varieties each day.  We decided on 1 kangaroo and 1 pork, chilli, honey and garlic pie, which we split both in 2 to have half each - delicious!

Back on the road we made a slight detour off the highway to the pictureque South West Rocks, and Laggers Point, which housed the impressive Trial Bay Gaol.  Opened in 1886 it was a station prison constructed to carry out a public work - the contruction of the seawall by prison labour, which never got finished, and the gaol closed in 1903.  It was opened back up again in 1915 as a enemy alien internment camp, for 500 elite German men.  They were held there until the end of the war and then deported back to Germany.

Next stop was Nambucca Heads for lunch and to stop in at the visitors information for accomodation options.  The lovely lady in there called a local camping ground and we were soon checked in at Foreshore Caravan Park.  Our pitch was overlooking the inner harbour along the Nambucca River.

We walked into town, browsed the shops and visited the library.  Back to the campervan and we had a nice cold beer and cooked dinner.  A lovely evening spent drinking, watching the birds over the water and chatting by candle light!

Sunday-Goodbye Pacific Palms, Hello Port Macquarie, (207 kms)

This morning we got up, had breakfast and packed up the van. While Nicola was brushing her teeth Ben did a film tour of the van - hopefully if we get Internet with a quick connection we can post it on the blog!

We said a fond farewell to Pacific Palms Caravan Park and hit the road going north. It was Nicola's turn at driving today and luckily the weather looked clear and the roads fairly empty.

We stopped for fuel in Forster, and after about an hour of driving were back on the Pacific Highway 1 heading north. We made a pit stop at a town called Taree for a local map and Mc-Wifi, and also took a picture of out first 'big thing'.

The big oyster stands on top of a car sales room and looks an odd sight! For anyone in the dark Australians appear to have an obsession with 'big things' and there are over 100 across the country, the most famous being the big banana in Coffs Harbour.

Back on the highway we drove up to our next stop Port Macquarie, a larger town on the coast with many picturesque beaches, bays and inlets. Founded in the 1840s for the Sydney convicts who found life too easy down South, there were some signs of the earlier days with historical buildings lining the main street.

We had lunch overlooking the town beach and then went for a walk along the breakwall, where all the rocks had been painted by various people over the years.

Before we left Port we stopped in at the Koala hospital, and visited the injured patients.

The last drive of the day was the Coastal route south past Cathy Lake and up to the 3 Brothers mountain for the spectacular views.

Our rest stop for the evening was the unglamorous roadside layby outside of Kew - a freebe before our stint further up the coast in proper caravan parks. Ear plugs in and we were soon in the land of nod!!


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Saturday - Day trip to Forster (54kms)

This morning we said goodbye to our lovely neighbours, who were leaving to go back to Sydney. We packed up the van and drove the 30kms north to a town called Forster (the biggest town in the Lakes area).

On the drive up we stopped at a spectacular viewpoint called Hawks Point, where we had 360 degree views of the whole region.

Once in Forster we stopped for a 50 cent icecream at McDonalds and a chance to check our emails! Then drove to the information office to ask about Internet access. We went on a bit of a wild goose chase around the town, before arriving at Club Forster - a huge Aussie equivalent to a Working Mens Club. After becoming temporary members we huddled around the only PC in the building amongst the 100 odd silver tops who were playing bingo. The only problem is the computer is so old that we cannot load pictures, so they will follow shortly (hopefully by Tuesday when we get to Nambucca Heads, our next big town).

Lunch is at the beach in Forster before heading back to Pacific Palms for our last night at the Caravan Park before leaving tomorrow, destination Port MacQuarie.

Lunch was at a picturesque spot next to the beach, and after which we drove back to the caravan park and walked across to Elizabeth Beach for sunset. We sat watching the waves lap on the shore, read our books and enjoyed the last hour on sunshine.

On returning to the van we fired up the site BBQ and Ben (camp chef) did hotdogs.

Our last night at Pacific Palms was lovely, and finally the possums came out to play and posed for photos!!

Last but not least we would like to wish Adele and Nan Chorley Happy Birthday!!!

Friday - Pacific Palms (0kms)

After a very good sleep - (maybe the wine helped) we got up and had a leisurely breakfast at the van.  As we had a couple of nights in one place we decided to let the Stranger have a rest today and go out on foot.

We walked along Elizabeth Beach round the headland to Boomerang Beach, where we sat and watched the surfers.  We then headed into the small town centre to buy some crackers (for our brie) and visited the informtaion office, where we were shown a nice hike for the afternoon.

After lunch at the van we put on our hiking boots and headed up towards Booti Booti National Park for our 7km hike.  The climb upto the headland at the top of Elizabeth Beach was long and tough, but the views from the top did not disappoint.  The next 2 kms were through thick bush, the entire distance spent looking out for snakes and spiders!

Then we rounded the headland to drop down onto Seven Mile Beach, and the Ruins Camp site.  After a little rest and some photos we walked across the road to the Green Cathedral (an outside church) and then joined the trail that led us along the shores of Lake Wallis.  On the way back to our camp ground Ben spotted an Echidna, but unfortunately it was camera shy.

Back at the van we made pasta, ricotta, spinach and mushrooms, and for dessert had cheese and crackers!