After picking up our designer lime green Hyundai we began our trip by driving inland through the Blue Mountains National Park, a beautiful scenic route although sadly Lorraine and Amelia struggled to keep theirs eyes open! Stopped for a bit to eat in Singleton and then drove further than planned, bypassing intented Tamworth - the home of Country Music (thankfully!). Spent our first night in Glen Innes and we're lucky enough to absorb some of the local culture over dinner in the RSL (Retired Servicemens League) - a real experience that was let me tell you! Next on to Byron Bay where we struggled to find accomodation as it's peak season and is full of Aussie's and Brits. Eventually got a room at the Dolphin Motel, slightly out of our budget but very nice as a result. Headed straight to the beach after a nice lunch and no sooner than we were settled a storm arrived and the heavens opened! Rain stayed with us for most of our time in Byron but we enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere and lifestyle. Took a trip to the lighthouse and stood on the most Easterley point of Australia. Spent the evening in the Beach Bar, watching and dancing to a very good band, PTY Limited. After a couple of nights we moved on to Coffs Harbour desperate to find a bit of sun! Lorraine heard that her friends Hannah and James had got engaged so Congratulations to them! Not much going on in Coffs Harbour - visited Emerald Beach and Sapphire Beach but still no sun so we barely left the car! Went to the the cinema twice - there really is nothing to do in CH! Most of the towns we pass through are very small, with only a population of a few thousand. Had a brief stop at the Candy Factory and Big Banana, a huge concrete statue honouring the town's favourite fruit which it grows in abbundance! Quickly moved on to Port Macquarie, a beautiful little seaside town with lots of character (although not hard after CH!). Stayed in a very nice motel and enjoyed PM so much we stayed 3 nights, a record so far! We finally found the sun so attempted to sunbathe on the beach but ended up in a mild sand storm with very high winds! Finally found a good city pool and topped up our flailing tans! Treated ourselves to a very special ice-cream, Cold Rock, which was so good it has earnt itself a mention! Other things we did in Port Maquarie include:- * A Visit to Roto House - a restored 18th Century family home * Koala Hospital - we were just dying to see our first ones! * Have been absorbed in the new Neighbours and Home & Away! * Nice walk up the coast * Lots of sunbathing * Nice meals at the waterfront * Rainforest - long walk through the towering trees, flying fox almost took Amelia's head off! Lorraine learnt lots of very interesting facts here! (Amelia left the video early!) * North Brother Lookout - Amazing views across the coast, really breath-taking. Our next stop took us to Newcastle where we found a nice hotel that didn't break the bank. Spent the night out on the town with the locals! Newcastle is the 6th largest city in Oz and heavily popluated with ... students! Didn't realise how old we felt until we were thrown back into student life - found a quiet spot in the corner of a kareoke bar with a more mature crowd!! Amelia made every one have slush puppies in frostbites as they had 20 different flavours, sadly though no one liked them! (Still Amelia forced them to drink!) Spent the next day lazing on the beach and achieved our longest session yet! The last day of the roadtrip was soon upon us and we headed back to Sydney, stopping at Gosford on the Central Coast enroute. Had a lovely lunch on the waterfront, a perfect way to end the trip. Thanks Meg for being our chauffeur, tour-guide and teacher. We had a brilliant time.