Australia
Yamba

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    • Day 12

      Moving on to Yamba

      March 14 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      7am start to go for a walk along the Newcastle sea front along the Memorial Walkway dedicated to those who lost their lives during the 1st and 2nd world wars. Then onto the Newcastle Ocean Baths where there were two outside seawater swimming pools, one 75ft, the other 25ft. Great to have an early morning swim but not like home in Donegal. So many swimming up and down the pools while surfers surfed on the open sea that roared! Not my cup of tea!

      We were treated to coffee and banana bread afterwards and then the walk back home. We then packed up and set off after saying our goodbyes. Great to meet more of George’s Aussie family!

      After some discussion, we decided to aim for Yamba, 520km away, so we could have more time along the Gold Coast before heading to Brisbane in 2 days time. So the first part of our journey, I studied the campsites that we could stay in Yamba (recommended by Sharron) and see if I could book online an unpowered site to stay the night. Found Blue Dolphin Holiday Resort along the Clarence River in Yamba. All booked, we coasted along the Pacific Highway. We drove past many creeks and bypassed many towns though the highway runs right through Coffs Harbour, so everyone slows down for a time. It was very busy so glad we didn’t choose that town 😄

      We stopped off at a few places for lunch, to get petrol and a pit stop. We arrived at Yamba at 16:45 surprised that we didn’t feel worn out but I guess after Sydney traffic jams that we’d experienced the drive up was a breeze 😄

      We familiarized ourselves with all the amenities and then came back to the van to have our first cuppa using the kettle and the van’s gas stove. Not bad! 😀

      We went for a walk looking for somewhere to eat. Half an hour later, we called into a Mexican restaurant only to be greeted with “we don’t serve food after 8pm”. It was 8:02pm. So went across the road to Sassafran, an Italian restaurant. Pizzas only since it’s after 8pm. It did the trick 😋
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    • Day 13

      Planning Friday’s stopover

      March 15 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 23 °C

      We were hoping for an early start to explore Yamba… yes, we’d walked into town from the camp site last night but it was all in the dark 🙄 But I came back from the showers, George was working away. Then we started to plan our next stop.

      Learning how it can be hard to get a good camp site near the sea, we wanted to plan ahead. It’s the weekend so knew Byron Bay may be difficult to find somewhere. We were right so we decided to book a camp site little further on up the coast at Wooyung Holiday Park. That done we headed on…
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    • Day 13

      Yamba’s coastline

      March 15 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 26 °C

      We drove to the Yamba lighthouse and walked around it to view the beaches below on either side of it…. Yamba beach on the south side of the lighthouse, looking back at Clarence River before it meets the sea, beach on the north side that has a ocean sea swimming pool, and lastly, Pippa Beach with the wind picking up.Read more

    • Day 45

      Bye bye Byron Bay

      November 1, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      Sad to leave Byron Bay and our lovely cabin but the road and Matty beckons (I was not sad to leave the large eight legged lodger in the cupboard, however 😳)

      Going inland for a couple of days to see the jacaranda trees in Grafton, the ‘jacaranda capital’. We’ve seen purple candy floss looking trees dotted around in our travels, but there is a concentration of them in Grafton each spring, so they hold an annual festival.

      We stopped off for a cuppa and walk about in Yamba. The town was quiet, chilled and ordered, exactly right for a Monday morning. Or perhaps it was simply a contrast with bustling and boisterous Byron Bay?

      We stayed longer than expected, due to a lovely rocky, coastal arrangement, a bonus lighthouse and a great breakwater walk.

      We spotted many lizards, a sea eagle and two dolphins just mooching about in the bay.

      We eventually arrived at our site in Grafton, our home for two nights. Oddly, we found ourselves reversing into a very small enclosed dark area. That was bearable, but not great, but sadly the ‘amenities’ really weren’t great and not bearable.

      They were very dilapidated, uncared for and generally on the bad end of the grim scale. Prob the worst example we’ve seen in all 15 sites we’ve stayed on - quite an accolade.

      After dinner we booked our last few campsites on this trip. Just a small reminder that our days were slowly diminishing….
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    • Day 11

      Coffs Harbour og Yamba

      September 4, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      I dag har været køredag, fra Newcastle over Coffs Harbour til Yamba. Jeg sov det meste af tiden og hostede når jeg var vågen... Fed tur!
      I Coffs Harbour kørte vi kun forbi en strand og gik en lille tur fordi jeg ikke orkede særlig meget. Morten så en kænguru i krattet men den nåede desværre at hoppe væk før jeg kunne se den.
      Da vi kom til Yamba fik vi gjort klar med bilen og så gik vi tur til stranden. Virkelig flot udsigt både med strand og klipper. Efter den lille gåtur var jeg, igen, helt færdig. Så jeg satte mig ved bilen og holdt en lille pause før vi gik op i byen og spiste en pizza. Morten handlede til morgenmad og så sad vi og slappede af med stjernerne over os og havet i ørene.
      Det er første gang vi prøver det her camper liv, det bliver spændende at se hvordan det går i nat!
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    • Day 92

      Yamba

      January 11, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

      Great night”s sleep. Drove to Yamba hoping to catch the 9:30 ferry back across the Clarence River to Iluka. The Clarence River is probably over 1,000m wide at its mouth and Apart from the Murray River, it is the largest river in mainland Australia south of the Tropic of Capricorn,” that’s big.

      The ferry was a very gentle affair that took about 45 mins against the tide. The journey is not as straightforward as it could be because, early in the 1900s, they built a stone structure that runs approx a mile from the mouth in,and to direct the river along its north bank and keep it clear for ships. There is a gap along the structure that allows the boats and ferries to cross the river.

      What is there to do in Iluka ... not a great deal. We looked around their museum that was very Iluka focused. It’s worrying to see items in museums that I had in our house when I was young, it makes me feel old. Good museum, but not much else. Had a coffee at the ferry terminal ... cafe, not really a terminal, and made friends with a small water dragon that wanted to be fed. Caught the 1:00 ferry back with the tide.

      Drove around to Yamba town beach that has a sea-filled swimming pool. Walked to the lighthouse and then to the Pacific Hotel for a beer, but opted for an iced coffee instead.

      Drove around to Angourie to see the blue and green pools that were created from mining stone next to the sea. Good spots for cliff jumping. Disappointing that the Blue Pool had warning signs about algae blooms ... not that it deterred everyone. Great seeing the jumpers. Obviously Bun and I did a jump from the top, but no one around to video us - shame.

      Found a campsite down the road in Woolgoolga. Despite being almost full, it was well laid out and didn’t feel too crowded.
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    • Day 12–14

      Yamba

      February 23 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      Quaint Town with lots of lovely beaches. Good workout for the thighs as the hotel was at the top of the town, up a very steep hill. Dinner on night 1 in the Pacific Hotel with a magnificent view out to sea and live music.
      Up early on day 2 for a canoe safari around the nature reserve. First thing we spotted was 2 Kangaroos on the waters edge having breakfast and a drink! Lots of birds and 2 large sea Eagles before the rain started. A quick swim in the Pacific dodging the rollers before exploreing the town and bars later, in between the rain.
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    • Day 120

      Ganz viel Wasser (aber kein Regen :))

      March 19, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      Von Coffs Harbour, wo wir die letzten zwei Tage verbracht haben gibt es keine Bilder, aber wir hatteb auch dort eine sehr coole Zeit :)
      Das Wetter ist viel besser geworden und da waren wir natürlich viel draußen. Am ersten Tag, als wir angekommen sind waren wir in einer Bücherei, wo man sich beim rein und rausgehen die Hände desinfizieren, sowie einen Mindestabstand von 1,5m zu anderen Leuten einhalten musste. Selbst das ist natürlich schon ungewohnt, aber ich kann mir gar nicht vorstellen, wie komisch und ungewohnt die Situation in Europa ist.

      Dann waren wir natürlich am Hafen in Coffs Harbour und am Strand und obwohl wir gutes Wetter hatten und einen tollen Schlafplatz (man warum haben wir keine Bilder gemacht😅😪) hat uns Coffs Harbour nicht von den Socken gehauen😁

      Deshalb ging es dann heute nach Yamba, ein Kaff im Vergleich zu Coffs Harbour aber viel schöner! Der Strand hat tolle Wellen, da müssen wir auf jeden Fall morgen an unseren Surfingskills arbeiten😄😊, und die Natur ist sehr schön.
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    • Day 131

      MANGO-Saison endet

      March 10, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

      In den Supermärkten, auch bei ALDI, gibt's keine MANGOs mehr. Die Saison ist abgelaufen. Nur bei einem kleinen Obsthändler haben wir noch nicht ganz schrumplige Früchte ergattert...
      Wenn es unsere Lieblingsfrucht hier nicht mehr gibt, da können wir auch langsam den 5. Kontinent verlassen!
      Nur noch 2 Wo, dann geht's weiter nach BALI!
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    • Day 377

      Yamba

      January 8, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      After spending half of the day surfing and strolling around the beach market in Byron, we decided to drive for a while and made a barbecue-dinner-stop in Yamba. It’s a small town with a nice beach, rocks and an ocean-pool. Recommended!
      *****
      Nachdem wir den Tag surfend und über den Strandmarkt schlendernd in Byron verbrachten, ging es noch ein wenig mit dem Auto weiter. Wir hielten in Yamba für ein Grill-Abendessen-Stopp. Yamba ist ein niedlicher, kleiner Ort mit schönem Strand, Ozean-Pool, Felsen. Es lohnt sich, hier mal vorbeizuschauen.
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