Dorrigo

We parked at a truck stop last night. A little sketchy but no issues. We have found that freedom camping isn’t as good as New Zealand. Fewer spots and less signage. On route to Byron Bay we took a detour to Dorrigo Rainforest Centre for a 7km walk. The walk was way better than expected. The forest is a UNSECO world heritage site and the 3rd biggest rainforest in Australia. The trail wound around giant trees with vines hanging in every which way. It looked like perfect setting for Tarzan. We also say lots of wildlife from birds to kangaroos. Would you believe these were the first Kangaroos we have seen after 3 weeks in Australia? To top it off, the trail took us past two large waterfalls.

Heading back we stopped at the small town Bellingen to stroll the streets. It’s a well-kept old town with lots of character. As the guide book said, it was hippy without the dippy. The food at some of the restaurants looks so good it was hard not stop for a bite. We continued on to Coffs Harbour for a short walk to Mutton Island. Outside of July and August this island would been chalk full of birds but none were to be seen on our visit. We actually preferred our visit to Port McQuarrie. Coffs Harbour was a little underwhelming. On the way out of town we drove up to a Skywalk lookout which took us past banana central. Grooves and grooves of banana plantation fill the area.

Back on the road we continued on to the next rest stop for the night. We stayed at an interesting rest stop called New Italia which had a museum and a group of Italian immigrants that settled here. It was still basically a truck stop as we were meters away from the highway.Okumaya devam et