New South Wales

Haven’t managed to locate a reasonably priced internet café this time round, in fact, I’ve only just managed to locate an internet café! They have become few and far between ever since Sydney so I need to undertake a comprehensive update now….

11/1/07
After finishing the BLOG entry last time round we went to the cinema (the weather hadn’t improved) and watched ‘Pursuit of Happyness’ (Will Smith), which I thought was pretty good. We then caught the ferry to Kangaroo Point (residential area of Brisbane) and viewed the bright city skyline by night.

12/1/07 – 350km
Retraced our steps BACK up the highway to Australia Zoo (the late Steve Irwin’s), but were a bit disappointed as it was a lot of money and nowhere near as good as the Singapore Zoo. We did however see and touch some Koala’s (who were always asleep) and Kangaroos (free ranging). We also saw a humungous Giant Tortoise and the infamous live Croc Show (where they paid tribute to Steve Irwin’s work.) After a few hours we got fed up and headed back down the highway past Brisbane and through the Gold Coast to Byron Bay. Manic!! This place was so busy: all of the hotels had ‘no vacancy’ signs hanging up outside and the first campsite we stopped at was charging $40/night! We therefore backtracked out of town to a $24/night camping spot: let’s just say battery chickens are kept in better conditions (2000 places, kitchen for 10).

13/1/07
Rose early and wondered around Byron Bay: a really pretty coastal town with loads of boutique shops. The beach was also beautiful and the sea was choppy, offering massive waves for surfers to ride (not good conditions for bikini wearers!) Spend about 5 hours on the beach and then returned to our cramped quarters to do our laundry. Cooked dinner and ate by the lake.

14/1/07– 320km
Decided to venture up to Cape Byron via the pretty 4km coastal walk (a very popular running route). Walked past the most easterly point on mainland Australia and then up to the lighthouse: gorgeous views. From here we continued around the circular track and wondered through the rainforest where, in the middle of nowhere, Wayne was stung on his foot (whilst wearing walking flip-flops) and proceeded to hop around on one leg in agony. At the time we didn’t know if he’d been bitten or stung and so we stopped for a few minutes to assess his condition (there was no swelling or obvious marking but we checked for any other symptoms…) Fortunately nothing seemed to come of it and the pain receded after about 10 minutes (I was getting worried that I’d have to drive that day!!!) We returned to the van and continued on down…destination = the unknown. See how far we can get before dark.

Arrived at Monnee Beach (near Coffs Harbour) early evening and decided to stay one night and move on the next day. Weather was appalling: it rained all evening and all night so we sat in the camp kitchen and went to bed early: boring when it rains! That evening we realised that we had possibly been travelling around for days with a warped concept of time. The office at Byron Bay seemed to always be open ahead of time and our receipts were always wrong. We now realise that on crossing the New South Wales border we lost an hour (so we are now 11 hours ahead of you lot) due to their daylight summer saving…and we though we were doing well: getting up and going to bed early!

15/1/07 – 220km
Back on the road for a few hours and parked up in Port Macquarie (the 3rd town to be established on mainland Oz (1818), by 1821 it was a Penal Colony.) The Lonely Planet believes it has a ‘touch of cosmopolitan about it’ and this does deem true (for once!) We wondered around the coastal town which boasts numerous tree-lined avenues and beautiful beaches. Sunbathed and then went to a local rundown cinema for 3GBP. Beans on toast for dinner – hard times!

16/1/07
Returned to the beach in the morning and then visited the Koala Hospital (main complaints: dehydration, conjunctivitis and road accident/bushfire injuries). Although you couldn’t go inside the hospital (had to wonder around the fenced off enclosures) we did see a lot of Koalas and at feeding time we saw little joeys being hand fed milk by volunteers – ahhhh.

17/1/07 – 330km
Left Port Macquarie and headed south again, diverting off the highway to follow the tourist drive through stunning lake lined road networks. Paused for a break in ‘Seal Rocks’; a magnificent little fishing village. We walked up to the lighthouse to get a better view of the ‘seal rocks’ but unfortunately (as anticipated) didn’t spot any of the summer breeding seals. It was well worth the drive though as the rock formations and gorge were beautiful. We continued down to Newcastle and got a bit frustrated upon arrival as there were no campsites anywhere! The information office was shut, but a notice on the window stated that the only campsite in the area was back out of town in Stockton (Wayne = fuming! I did offer to drive but this was declined – I tried!) We were pleasantly surprised by our drive through Newcastle as the city offers the best architecture we have seen in Australia so far (not much competition to be honest!) Whilst driving along the coast we pulled over to admire the ocean liners dotted across the horizon – it was an amazing sight as they were all heading in the same direction down the South Pacific Ocean – total count: 33!

Finally found the caravan site, which had a beach front position, so we ended the day with a stroll down the beach to the pier (which doubled as a memorial to the numerous shipwrecks that had occurred in the surrounding seas.) Cooked dinner in the camp kitchen whilst Bingo was in full swing – highlight of our night life!! Its surprising how many Australians live permanently in campsites: many of the mobile homes have mature gardens surrounding the perimeter.

18/1/07
Spent the day in Newcastle (caught the passenger ferry over from Stockton). Found a second hand book shop, visited the internet and then wondered down the river to Noby Head Beach.

19/1/07
Since we’d spent most of the day in the car driving down to Sydney we thought we’d try and save some money by staying outside the centre and then move on to the city early morning. Diverted off the highway at Gilford and headed through Brisbane Waters and Woy Woy to Etalong Beach. The campsite cost $44/night!! Not saving at all! When the friendly couple at the desk saw our horrified reaction they proceeded to help us find a cheaper site, which ended up to be only 10km from Sydney city centre ($30/night)! We therefore drove back through Brisbane Waters to Lane Cove National Park (Greater Sydney). We were really pleased with the campsite as it was a great sanctuary to return to after a hectic day in the city and our site was right next to all the amenities for once!

20/1/07
Following a 20 minute walk to the stop we caught the bus into Sydney (over the harbour bridge). The city has a great atmosphere and contrary to standard reputation we found the people of Sydney to be really friendly (if anyone saw us looking lost with the Lonely Planet at hand, they’d come up to us and ask if we needed any help!) Probably quicker if I just run through where we went:
• Fleet Park – excellent view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
• The Rocks – 1st European Settlement where convicts, prostitutes and street gangs resided, but now a beautifully restored ‘tourist precinct’ (1970’s redevelopment) comprising of narrow cobbled lanes, mock-colonial buildings and a fantastic market.
• Circular Quay – on shores of Sydney Cove and basically a transport hub which leads round the harbour to the Opera House.
• Royal Botanical Gardens – fantastic green space full of humungous fig trees and numerous walking tracks. We spotted 1000s of fruit bats hanging upside down (in the middle of the day!) off the trees towards the northern end of the park – amazing sight.
• Main shopping streets: George Street, York Street etc. where we found an internet café to check our mail before heading back to the campsite.

Wayne has been leading us down the path of poverty as he keeps feeding the damn ducks and beautiful rainbow lorikeets all our bread! There are loads of birds in our campsite and at night we have spotted numerous wild possums and bandicoots. Wayne has also been feeding the possums and managed to stoke one the other day….’Nature Boy’ returns! He has been bitten on the odd occasion though – never learns.

To be continued.....