Day 168 - 170 - September 28 - 30 Port Macquarie

Friday - came through to Port Macquarie and booked in at the Melaleuca Caravan Park.  We set up then rang Carol and Mark who we had met last year in Mildura when we picked up the caravan.  They came round here and we spent the afternoon catching up with them.  We then went out to dinner to a Thai restaurant with them in the evening.  

Saturday - after a late start to the day we did a bit of shopping then we went round to Carol and Mark's to watch the AFL Grand Final.  Well what a nail biter - of course we were thrilled when the Sydney Swans won and had quite a few text messages from different people - Colin and Laura just to name a few.  We then had a BBQ with Carol and Mark.  

Sunday - we went to Dubogan to see where Bev and Paul had bought their block of land.  It was about a half an hour drive from here.  It is a really nice area with a river running through the town and where their block is you can walk over the sand dunes to a really pretty beach.  On the way back we called at a winery and tasted a few wines.  Graham bought a Tawny Port.  We then came back to Port Macquarie and had a look at a display home which is similar to the one that Paul and Bev are building - very nice.  We came back to the caravan for lunch and hung around here for a few hours.  We then got a call from Carol and Mark to invite us round to watch the NRL final which we did and once again were very pleased when the Storm won.  

The Beach at Dunbogan

Black Boy growing in somebody's garden

River at Dubogan

We haven't really seen much of Port Macquarie but it has been great to catch up with Carol and Mark.  We will probably come back here one day and have a better look around.

Day 167 - September 27 - South West Rocks

Well are we glad that we put South West Rocks on the itinery - what a great place.  We are only sorry that we are staying for just one night - we have booked in at Port Macquarrie for the next two nights.  Anyway we got here quite early and as soon as we had set up we went for a look round. 

First stop was Akaroon National Parks which is home to the historic Trial Bay Gaol - the gaol was opened in 1886 as a works prison and it was utilised in WW1 as a German internment camp, closed in 1918.  The gaol was built using local quarried pink granite, which is exceptionally hard.  The walls that are still standing are a testament to this.  It is built overlooking the headland with incredible views from the watch tower.  There is also a caravan and camp ground there.  

Entrance to gaol

Concrete Baths

Rows of individual cells

View from the watch tower

We then went to Hat Head National park where Smoky Cape lighthouse sits.  The walk up to the lighthouse from the car park was quite steep but once up there the view were maginificent and we were once again treated to some whales breaching.    There are plenty of walks around the national park and if more time was available you could spend a day there.  

Lighthouse from car park

View from lighthouse

At the top

After lunch we went to Horseshoe Bay - a safe swimming beach with crystal clear water and white sand.  We sat for a while looking out to sea watching about 15 whales frolicking around.  We have been quite lucky on this trip and have seen lots of whales.  It is so hard to get photographs though, they are so quick.  

Whale at Horseshoe Bay

Whale at Horseshoe Bay

Off Horseshoe Bay

River from Caravan Park

Day 166 - September 26 - Nambucca Heads

We were going to stay in Nambucca Heads for two nights but decided on just one.  We stayed at the Headlands Tourist Park and because we arrived quite early we did the tourist thing in the afternoon and felt that as we hadn't factored in South West Rocks we would go there tomorrow.  We were amazed just how hilly Nambucca Heads is.  You would have to be very fit to live there or have a car with very reliable breaks.  The only flat part to the whole area is when you are driving out of the town.  Once again the beaches were beautiful.  The breakwall at the heads has been open to grafitti and some of the messages on there were very interesting.  There were a few vintage cars around the town, all of which were in very good condition.  Apparently they were on a rally to Byron Bay.

Just one of the many cars

The breakwall

Day 164 & 165 - September 24 & 25 - Yamba

Monday - left Ballina and drove through to Yamba another town that is on the coast though it does not have the miles of beaches the other towns do.  However it does have some nice beaches but what we have noticed more than anything is the river system.  It is huge.  We had a look around the town before lunch then after lunch we were going to go to Maclean but the weather had other ideas.  Once again the heavens opened and we had torrential rain and really strong winds so we decided we would go tomorrow.  It did fine up again late in the afternoon so we just had a walk around the park which is on a salt water lagoon. 

One of the Yamba Beaches

Lighthouse Yamba

Tuesday - drove through to Maclean which is about 15 kms from here.  Maclean is a Scottish Town and is quite interesting.  It was named in 1862 after the NSW Surveyor General Alistair Maclean.  There are a few old historic buildings.  They use the Scottish Tartans all over the town, including in the school uniform and on the power poles where they have different tartans on the bottom of lots of the poles.  Some of the street signs have dual names in English and Gaelic.  It is a very interesting town to look around and is built on the Clarence River.  There is a Scottish Shop which sells lots of tartan things.  

Just one of the street signs

One of the poles with tartan  painted on it

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View from the lookout

Day 163 - September 23 - Ballina

We decided to go to Evans Head today and were pleasantly surprised.  The population here is only 2,600 but it was a much bigger place than we expected for such a small population.  It was very busy with families there for school holidays and the caravan park was packed.  Once again there was endless coastline and beautiful beaches.  We were surprised to see a couple of blue bottle jellyfish in the water near the heads as we didn't think they came down this far south.  There were loads of people in the water and they didn't seemed worried about them.  We had morning tea here then we came back to the van and had a quiet afternoon reading our books.  

Evans River

Evans River 

Evans Head

Caravan Park

Day 161 - 162 September 21 - 22 - Ballina

Friday - drove to Ballina.  It has been strange the last few days we have actually been driving on Motorways instead freeways.  Don't know that I like all the traffic but it certainly makes getting from A to B a bit easier.  We did want to drive down the coast road to Ballina - it didn't quite turn out as we had planned.  We are staying at the Ballina Central Holiday Park - it is a Big4 but very basic.  No pool or playground but it is okay for us.   We are now in school holidays so it is hard to get on parks in some places.  We had a walk into the town in the afternoon and were surprised just how big it is.  When we got back to the van we had an almighty thunder storm but it only lasted about 20 minutes.   We watched the footy (Swans and Collingwood) - of course Graham was very pleased when they won.  We were receiving text messages throughout the game from Laura, Colin and David.  Laura is very excited that the Swans are in the finals.

Saturday - we had a big day.   We went to Cape Byron.  We drove up to the Lighthouse and paid our $7 to park for an hour.  The lighthouse stands 22 metres high and is 94 metres above sea level.  It was built in 1901 from pre-cast concrete blocks.  Looking over the edge was incredible with coastline and beaches as far as the eye could see.  There were whales everywhere must have been at least 20 if not more.  Whilst we were sitting having a cuppa at the top we were talking to a lady from Byron Bay when she spotted a snake slithering across the grass.  There was a tourist (yes a Japanese man) trying to get close to get a photograph - she told him to get back as it was dangerous.  We got one of the rangers and she just cleared the area of tourists and let the snake make its way back over the edge.  They then put out a sign that a snake had been seen in the area.  It was a 3 foot long baby brown snake.  We then walked down the path that leads to the most eastern point of Australia.  After we had finished here we had a drive around Byron Bay.  We drove back to Ballina via the coast and called into Lennox Heads where we had our lunch.  What a beautiful spot - once again miles of coastline and beautiful beaches.  

Ballina Manor

View along Byron Bay

Snake

Whose the snake

Hand gliders at Cape Byron

Cape Byron Lighthouse

Most eastern point of Australia

Lennox Heads - what a place for lunch

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Day 159 - 160 September 19 - 20 - Helensvale

Wednesday - We came to Helensvale for one reason and that was to see the Outback Spectacular.  Well we certainly were not disappointed.  We had a great night and the meal was really nice.  It is amazing how organised they are with the meals - there would have to have been at least 700 people there and we were all served really quickly.  The show was amazing with a tribute to Phar Lap. Cameras were not allowed in the show but Graham managed to sneak one photograph of the arena.  As you can see everybody gets given a big hat.   We are staying at The Gold Coast Holiday Park which is only about 2km from the place where the show is held.  We were given some negative comments about this park but have to say we have found it okay.  We asked for a site away from the road and have been given quite a big grassed site.  The pool on the park is incredible with a water slide for the kids and lots of outdoor furniture.

Thursday - We went and had a look at the Harbour Town factory outlet.  It was massive in fact too big for me.  We spent probably an hour or so wandering around and having a look.  After this we had a look at Sanctuary Cove - some beautiful houses and apartments around the golf course.  We then came back to the park for lunch and we had a couple of hours around the pool.  

Pool at the caravan park

Day 155 - 158 September 15 - 18 - Tewantin/Noosa

Saturday - left Rainbow Beach early so that we could get to Noosa in time to set up and then go to the market at Eumundi.  Had a good few hours on the market - still a good market we were there previously in 2007.  After the market we came back to the van had some lunch then we decided to go to the Bowls Club for dinner.  Other than that we had a few hours around the pool.  We are staying at the Bouganvillia Caravan Park in Tewantin - the same park as we stayed on last time.  We can certainly feel it getting cooler now that we are coming down.

Sunday - caught up with the laundry, read our books and spent sometime around the pool.  Another exciting day.

Monday - well did it rain overnight we had about 7ml  of rain and it was very heavy.  I went for my walk this morning and then the heavens opened again .  We have had rain on and off all day.  We did go for a drive around and had a look at Noosa River and also another caravan park at Munna Point which is in a great setting but very expensive at $55 a night.  Not much else we could do today as it has been very wet and in fact much cooler than we are used to.  Hopefully it will clear tomorrow.

Tuesday  - we had more rain today.  We both had our haircut this morning and then we decided to have a drive down to Hastings Street in Noosaville.  Well we no sooner got there than the heavens opened once again.  We got the umbrella out and had a walk along the street and a look at the beach.  What a shame the weather was so bad because it is a really nice beach but looked quite miserable and grey.  The sun came out late afternoon and apparently the weather is on the improve as of tomorrow - too late for us we move down to Surfer's Paradise tomorrow for a couple of nights.

Noosa River

Noosa River

A dreary day at the beach

Day 154 September 14 - Rainbow Beach

The journey to Rainbow Beach was much longer than it should have been - road works, road works and more b----y road works, it seemed that every kilometre we were stopped for at least five minutes or so.  The roads were all dusty and the van and car got covered in dirt.  Graham cleaned the van when we got here but we are going to leave the car for a few days.

We drove into Tin Can Bay and had a quick look around, not much there so we decided to come direct to Rainbow Beach.  We are booked in at Rainbow Waters Holiday Park, only staying one night.  The park is massive but very dry and dusty.  We had a drive around the area this afternoon the beaches once again are really nice and there are some lovely houses built up on the hills.  

Day 153 September 13 - Bundaberg/Bargara

Well it was very overcast this morning when we got up with very dark clouds.  I went for my walk and just got back before the heavens opened and we had rain for about half an hour which spoilt our plans.  We were going to ride to Burnett Heads but instead finished up ironing and doing housework.  The rain stopped late morning and the skies cleared so after lunch we decided to go for a ride - it was a 20km round trip to Burnett Heads but what a great ride it was.  The bike path is right along the beach and not too hard, very few hills to ride up.  We sat on a bench at one point looking out to sea and we saw a couple of whales frolicking.  There wasn't much at Burnett Heads but it was a good ride and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  What we didn't realise the other day was that Mon Repo Turtle Rookery had an information centre, which we passed on our ride and thought we would call in on the way back - well it closed at 3-30 and we did not get back till 4pm.  

Historical Lighthouse at Burnett Heads

Lily Pond

Beach from bike path

Day 151 & 152 September 11 & 12 - Bundaberg/Bargara

Tuesday - We decided to stay at Bargara rather than Bundaberg so we are staying at the Beach Caravan Park.  As per the name the park is right on the beach and it is really nice.  After setting up we went for a walk to Mon Repos loggerhead turtle rookery - about a 5km return trip through some forest and salt flats.  Mon Repos is the largest loggerhead turtle rookery in the South Pacific and has seen a stead increase in turtle number due to conservation efforts. Unfortunately it is not turtle breeding season (November to March) - but it was a good walk and there is a really nice beach by the sanctuary.

Wednesday - Up early to do the 10am tour of the Bundaberg Rum Distillery.  We got a really good deal booking the tour through the caravan park.  We did the tour that takes you through the factory showing the different stages of how the rum is produced right from the molasses to the bottling.  We went through one building that had a massive open vat that contained millions of litres of molasses - it was bigger than an olympic size swimming pool - then we had a taste of molasses (to me it tasted like treacle).  We were very lucky as yesterday they opened a new Barrel House where they will store small barrels to the maturing and aging process.  Unfortunately no cameras were allowed so we could not gets photos of the production process.   At the end of the tour we went to the bar were each person was allowed 2 drinks of their choice.  Graham chose Gold Reserve and I had a white rum with lemonade both very nice.  We are not really Bundy drinkers but it was good to try.  

We then went to have a look at the Schmeider's Cooperage Complex, unfortunately there we not coopers at work but we did see some Oak Barrels.

Then onto the Bundaberg Barrel - where Bundaberg Ginger Beer is brewed.

We then drove to Elliott Heads which is about 18km outside of Bundaberg where we had lunch.  Nothing much here but a caravan park and a very nice beach.  

We had a really big day after leaving the caravan at 9-15am we did not get back here until about 3-30pm.  All in all a really good day.

Ginger Beer Place

Elliott Heads