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East Coast Australia

февраля - мая 2019
Travelling up the East Coast of Australia with our Campervan in tow. Читать далее
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  • East Coast Australia
    День 21

    Trumpet Fish at High Tide

    8 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Local advice, snorkel Fly Point at high tide. So, quick breakfast and back to our dive site for a new underwater discovery.

    We look like professionals already as we pushed past a novice tour group awaiting instructions and stepped into the deep blue sea.

    Jen was “blown away” as she spotted a number of Trumpet Fish catching the morning sun breaking through the aqua and a baby ray passed us by.

    Snorkelling is our new found past time as it’s so much fun and we look forward to finding new dive sites on our travels.

    Nelson Bay Marina has a number of good cafes and restaurants so brunch was a latte and an iced chocolate at Blueys. There are also a number of fresh seafood shops so we bought sand whiting for dinner and a dozen oysters.

    Keen to get the kayaks out, we went back to Soldiers point Marina and set off through the shallows to find ourselves almost stuck on an oyster bed... heaven!

    Not quite, there is $275,000 fine if you are caught taking the oysters so we settled for on $14.95 dozen we bought at the seafood shop.

    All good.    Читать далее

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  • East Coast Australia
    День 22

    From One Port To Another

    9 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    DRIVE: Port Stephens to Port Macquarie (246km). Straight up the Pacific Highway although we could have taken the scenic route through Blueys Beach and Seal Rocks... next time. Steve would have missed out on cherry pie at Andy’s Cherry Pie Cafe (aka shed) if we’d detoured...

    CAMPSITE: NRMA Port Macquarie Breakwall Holiday Park. We’re on sixteenth avenue - just how big is this park? Right on the river and next door to Town Beach. Lovely big grassy sites with mature Cypress Pines, an esplanade full of painted rocks and walking distance to town.

    Once set up, we took off on the bikes for a bit of exploration. Some great history in Port Macquarie with buildings and sites dating back to the 1800s. Ventured up to Flagstaff Hill via Mrs York’s gardens. Bertha York started her work on the garden in 1963 as a labour of love. She wanted to tidy up and beautify the space. Five years later, the area was officially named Mrs York's Garden.

    A flagstaff was one of the first installations when the 48th Regiment of Foot arrived under the command of Captain Allman in 1821. Captain Allman's orders included the establishment of a signalling station adjacent to the new settlement due to the known dangerous bar across the entry to the Hastings River. Lights were used to signal the condition of the bar to the fort on Gaol Point and to passing ships at sea with a beacon fire burned constantly through the night.

    Just as we got back, we got an SMS warning of severe thunderstorms and large hailstones. The advice was get under cover (including your car). Hmmm - how do you do that in the middle of a caravan park? We batoned down the hatches - literally - and sat it out indoors. No hailstones but lots of rain. We love the sound of rain on our roof.

    WILDLIFE
    None to mention    Читать далее

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  • East Coast Australia
    День 23

    Lighthouse Walk and a Port Sunset

    10 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We woke up this morning to the sound of pounding feet as the Port Macquarie Running Festival was on. There’s the 21.1km, the 10km and 5km and if you do all three, you qualify as a Treble Buster. It was stinky hot and humid.

    We took ourselves off in the high humidity to do part of a great walk that runs 9km south along the coast from Port Macquarie. We walked the bit from Shelly Beach to Tacking Point Lighthouse through Sea Acres National Park; crossing 4 or 5 beaches and up and down. Absolutely beautiful (well, except for the nudist bloke). Little Nippers were out training on Lighthouse Beach and on our return to Shelly Beach, we spotted a number of leisurely goannas who seemed friendly enough.

    In the afternoon, we took a stroll around the neat and tidy town and ended up at the Royal Hotel for a drink and a bite to eat. The 1881 hotel sits right on the foreshore of the river with beautiful Norfolk pines and water views towards Pelican Point. We wandered down to the jetty to watch a spectacular sunset and take in the serenity.

    And bats!!! We have never seen so many flying foxes. Where are they coming from? There were thousands crossing the foreshore and heading to a distant point in search of food.. I suspected they were circling back and flying over again but maybe not. The odd one was flying back and had obviously left the light on at home.

    Sitting out back at the van; the temperature is perfect, a glorious evening. Port Macquarie is a definite “come back again’ place.

    WILDLIFE: Lizard, Goannas, Flying Foxes (Bats)

    .    Читать далее

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  • East Coast Australia
    День 24

    Trial Bay Gaol & South West Rocks Creek

    11 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    After leaving the serenity of Port Macquarie, we headed up the coast, final destination, Coffs Harbour. We were recommended to visit South West Rocks on the trip up so we detoured through the lush green cattle country on a pleasant drive.

    DRIVE: Port Macquarie to Coffs Harvour via South West Rocks (187km).

    South West Rocks is indeed a beautiful spot and the Horseshoe Bay Holiday Park is beachside camping at its best. We had decided to just spend the day here and head up for 3 nights at Coffs so best make the most of it.

    First, we stopped at Tasty Treats, a cute little cafe overlooking South West Rocks creek and ordered toasties for lunch.

    After lunch we headed just a few km to Arakoon National Park and Trial Bay Gaol. Set on the peninsular, Trial Bay Gaol was established in the late 19th century as a Public Works Prison to house end of term prisoners brought to build the breakwater. In 1903 the project was abandoned and the prison closed until Wolrd War 1 when the prison was reopened as an internment camp for "Enemy Aliens" (Germans). Since the 1960's the Gaol has been actively conserved for history and forms part of the NSW National Park Estate.

    The current custodians of the Gaol are the big Red Kangaroos who lurk in the dark shadows of the old stone walls for respite from the sun.

    A couple of escapees got caught doing "a runner" from the Gaol and ended up interned, one of which was bound to the flogging machine for eating chocolate during Lent...

    Its sticky, hot and humid so after our prison release, we headed back to South West Rocks Creek for a blissful cooling off where the beautiful crystal clear sandy waters meet the deeper aqua waters. The creek is an inlet from the sea and is absolutely the best bathing spot we have been to so far. After following the old wooded bridge crossing, we came to a nice jetty to access the creek. We dived straight in...not quite!, the tide was out and the shallows were less than a foot deep so we waddled in and just sat in the pristine waters. The temperature is perfect and the 360 degrees panoramic from the creek is picture perfect.

    We rejoined the Pacific Highway to Coffs Harbour and arrived at our camping spot in the late afternoon.

    CAMP: Big 4 Park Beach Holiday Park / Coffs Harbour / 3N
    We are on a powered site / 491 at the far end of the park so very peaceful but not too far from the big play pools.

    Jen was in charge of backing the camper van into our spot today and nailed it first go so she was happy with that.    Читать далее

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  • East Coast Australia
    1
    День 25

    Laundry Day And A Drive to Sawtell Beach

    12 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Just in case you were thinking by now that life’s one great big holiday, we have chores to do. That’s right, it’s officially. LAUNDRY DAY + a trip to Bunnings Warehouse for supplies.

    After hanging out the washing and wrapping the campervan in it, we got on our bikes and followed the bike trail to Coffs Harbour Marina. The jetty stretches out across the Breakwall and a group of teenage school kids were out doing their PE class. Unlike school sport “when I was a lad” (cross country or running the oval), these guys had snorkels, flippers and cozzies ready to buddy up and jump into the deep blue sea. How cool is that ehh?

    Undeterred as we didn’t have our snorkelling gear on us, we opted for the next best thing, Fish N Chips at the Marina Fish Shop.

    The town of Coffs Harbour is quite big but the foreshore and Oceanside have been maintained in pristine condition with great recreational facilities, bike paths, board walks and rows of mature trees.

    On our return to the BIG 4, we cooled off in the adventure play pool. I think its made for kids but this time of the year, the grown ups have it to themselves and we’re kids too, just bigger.

    We then ventured down the coast 8km to a seaside escape called Sawtell. There is a popular surf beach which wraps around a typical Aussie saltwater beach pool. The locals have this everyday.

    Sawtell has a neat and trendy Main Street, impeccably landscaped by giant fig trees and palms. The street has a host of boutique shops, cafes and of course the local pub.

    For dinner, i cooked a chicken schnitzel the size of Australia. That’s right, the red arrow points to just about where we are on the map.    Читать далее

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  • East Coast Australia
    1
    День 26

    The Big B

    13 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Slow down, not too quick or we will miss the “Big B”. Whoops, too late, passed it by already.

    Recognised as Australia’s original and first “BIG” tourist attraction, before the likes of the big pineapple, the big prawn and the big koala, The Big Banana takes pride of place in Australia’s folklore.

    We are not quite sure what goes on past the gates of The Big Banana but it is indeed a theme park and you can have any flavoured milk shake you like as long as it’s...?

    Coffs Harbour is banana country and the first bananas were introduced into the area from Fiji in 1881.

    We are travelling a few km up north to Forest Sky Pier at Sealy Lookout which has panoramic views overlooking Coffs Harbour and the sub tropical canopy below. On the drive up, you will find many banana plantations with the banana trees literally clinging onto the under soil on steep fertile slopes. They must have been harvested already as we didn’t actually see any bananas.

    The afternoon was spent at the botanical garden and a visit to the local cemetery, a past time of Jen’s. Only one adventure activity today. We had planned to run, snorkel, bike ride, kayak, surf and do a big hike, but in the end we settled on a lethargic return to the Big 4 adventure pool.

    WILDLIFE
    Ibis (birds)    Читать далее

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  • East Coast Australia
    2
    День 27

    Coffs to Byron

    14 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Can you see the lighthouse on the most eastern point of Australia ? Look closely to where my feet are pointing...

    DRIVE: Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay (232km). The Pacific Highway is getting a $4.9b rebuild from Woolgoolga to Ballina so 186 of our 232km was done through roadworks and reduced speed limits!!!

    Despite that, the drive was very scenic; closely following the Clarence and Richmond Rivers. Beautiful wide rivers - we can only imagine they received some of the north’s monsoon rain from January. Lots of irrigation for the cattle and sugar cane.

    We drove through lots of small country towns, some with only a scattering of houses, and one with a huge sugar mill (Broadwater). One had one of those brown tourist signs saying 1860s historic port and a ferry to help the 446 locals cross the river (Ulmarra). Makes you wonder about all the places people live... At one point we thought we’d made a wrong turn as we passed Kentucky!!! We think it’s a blueberry farm.

    CAMPSITE: We had decided to stay a bit out of Byron Bay itself so we’re just down the road at Suffolk Beachfront Holiday Park; right on Tallow Beach. A small park with a mixture of hippy-type residents, backpackers, ‘glampers’ and us. Bike path or beach all the way into Byron... and a really good set of shops/cafes at the end of the street.

    By the time we set up and had the requisite afternoon rest, there was really only time for a stroll on the beach before a big thunderstorm hit. Love being tucked up in our campervan when outside it’s all thunder, lightning and rain.

    WILDLIFE: Road runners everywhere!! (aka bush turkeys).    Читать далее

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  • East Coast Australia
    1
    День 28

    Sunrise at Cape Byron Lighthouse

    15 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    So you know that lighthouse Jen’s feet were pointing at yesterday... Today we got up early to see the sunrise from Cape Byron, the most easterly point in Australia and home to a very famous lighthouse. Built in 1901, it was operated by resident keepers until 1989 when it became fully automated. It is Australia’s most powerful lighthouse, being visible from a distance of 27 nautical miles (50km). Amazingly it still uses the original lens; 2m in diameter and 780 pieces of highly polished prismatic glass.

    Even though we’ve been able to see sunrises all up and down the east coast, it was really quite exciting being on Cape Byron as the sun came up. Something about being the first piece of Australia the sun touches maybe?? The morning was glorious. And not too many people...
    I imagine it is chaotic in peak season.

    Tip: the gates don’t open until 8am so you need to park in one of the car parks (they fill up quickly & cost $4/hour) and walk the 500m or so up to the lighthouse.

    Having hung out at the lighthouse for a while, we took ourselves off to a local cafe for breakfast; appropriately named (for Steve), Espressohead.

    Next stop: a swim and a boogie board (their first outing) at Tallow Beach to finish a great morning.

    Now if that was not enough highlights in one day, this afternoon was one of Jen’s. Catching her first wave in the kayak & looking totally professional all the way in to shore. Unfortunately there’s no photographic evidence but it was the best wave of the day and even the surfers watched in awe...
    Steve’s kayak seat came unattached and he fell off backwards on the very same wave... blame the equipment.    Читать далее

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  • East Coast Australia
    1
    День 29

    In Two Places At Once

    16 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    Remember that trip to pick up an Apple at Pearson Street a while back; well, Steve went a bit further this time and flew back home to Melbourne for 24 hours to attempt to recover his back up files to his new MacBook. Notice the findpenguins maps have him flying there and back out of Coolangatta Airport in the Gold Coast.

    The bonus was that he could catch up with Jaime and go out for dinner, of course it’s steak on the menu at the Meat & Wine Company in Camberwell.

    Leaving me at Byron Bay, my mission - to discover where all the hippies went when the backpackers moved into Byron.

    Mullumbimby would be the answer. On my way back from dropping Steve off at Coolangatta airport, I dropped in to this little hinterland town. Mooched around a bit, checking out the locals who I suspect had moved the 21km to put some distance between them and the “fake” Byron interlopers. Some nice artisan shops and cafes...

    On my way back into Byron, I discovered the Byron Bay Railroad which runs a little train from North Beach to Byron and back. Little being applicable to both the train (circa 1961) and the length of the ride. Not really worth it unless you’re planning to spend more than 2 hours in Byron Bay and don’t want to pay for parking. In that case, park at North Beach for free and pay the $8.00 return for the train ride.

    WILDLIFE: Hippies!!    Читать далее

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  • East Coast Australia
    День 30

    Binna Burra and Gondwana Rainforests

    17 марта 2019 г., Австралия ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Ok, Jen is in Byron Bay and I have just been dropped off at Melbourne airport by Possum for 11.00 hours rendezvous at Coolangatta.

    Jen is charged with packing up the campervan and luckily the rain stopped at 5.00am and she did a top job.

    DRIVE: Byron Bay to Binna Burra, Lamington National Park via Coolangatta Airport (137km).

    The drive up to Binna Burra, Lamington National Park is sealed road all the way but quite steep and windy. Rain had set in so slow and steady climbing 800m above sea level to our camping destination.

    CAMP: Binna Burra Rainforest Lodge and Campground / 3N

    Binna Burra is located on the eastern side of Lamington National Park with Green Mountains to the west. Our campsite is basically in the middle of a rainforest (part of the ancient global Gondwana rainforest) with tall Flame trees, eucalyptus trees reaching for the misty sky and Antarctic Bech trees interspersed with tropical plants and palms, each species competing for sunlight.

    It’s a quick set up of the campervan as the mist and fog is surrounding us and we are heading for a big storm. I think we picked up a Bush Turkey at the start of our trip and every time we move to a new camp, the same Bush Turkey reappears... it’s like the Road Runner... beep beep.

    After setup, we did a a short hike to Bellbird lookout and followed the Cliff Track. The lookout would have gifted magnificent views on other days, but today, it’s a sheer drop and then white eerie mist ahead. Still it gave a great feeling of remoteness and being surrounded by ancient forest. We started off dry but the humidity eventually caught up on us and by the end of the hike, we were quite saturated.

    We tracked back to base camp just in time before the clouds turned a dark purple and thunder and lightning was overhead. In rainforests, when it rains, it pours, so we huddled into the van and even though it’s not a cold climate, we made hot water bottles for comfort. The rain continued throughout the night and was nice to fall asleep to.

    WILDLIFE: Bush Turkey, Red Necked Pademelon (little Wallaby)    Читать далее

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