Nov 24th 2011

Still RAINING - -not stopped since we arrived - how depressing. We're here for the scenery which is just hidden by rain & fog - - -weired combination. Perhaps it's low cloud & rain. Thank goodness there was a cheerie msg from Beth this morning to say that she had really good feedback from her observed lesson. Just the tonic we needed!! We decided that we would do the trip to the temperate rain forest & Katumba Falls anyway. The funicula railway is the steepest in the world - 52 degree slope. Pete was terrified & I wasn't too happy either but we're still here to tell the tale!! Anyway after all the rain we've had the falls were quite spectacular! We must have been walking for about 2 hours & it poured down the whole time - we were v v wet apart for the bits covered by our Kagoules!!

We then set off in the car. BTW Pete loves this car! All I know is that it's bright red & sporty & has a spoiler on the back. Really nice car actually but here's Pete with the technical info!!

The car is a Holden Commodore SV6 3.6 litre V6. Double overhead cam engine putting out 220nm . It goes v well with a nice exhaust note. Acceleration is brisque but not quite Jaguar XJR standard! It's a much nicer car to drive than the Toyota Camry Altise we had before.

Left Katoomba heading for Mt Victoria on the Great Western Highway. Turned off at Mt Vic onto Darling Causeway to Bell. (Causeway over what is a mystery!!) Beautiful scenery - -mountains & forest, but unfortunately v foggy. From Bell headed towards Richmond /Windsor then got on road towards Singleton & Pokolbin. Gradually left mountains behind for rolling hills & wine country. Hunter Valley is a major wine producing region. Quite a few wild kangaroos & kookaburras spotted on route. Eventually arrived at accommodation at Hunter Resort, Pokolbin. Immediately went off for our complimentary wine tasting session, fortuitously there is a winery attached to the hotel - good planning eh! Had some very acceptable Shiraz & Merlot. Later had v pleasant meal in Italian Restaurant on site.

Going up to Newcastle tomorrow for lunch with Ginette & Paul her new hubby.

Nov 25th 2011

And still it rains!!!!Left our accommodation around 9.30am & headed out for Ginnette & Paul's. Saw some kangaroos grazing otherwise pretty uneventful drive really. Got to Mannering Park just after 11am. It was so good to see Ginnette & meet Paul. We can now 'imagine them in their surroundins' as Grandma would have said! Their house is in a wonderful location backing right onto a huge see inlet/lake. They could swim directly off the bottom of the garden. There were Rainbow Loreketes on the lawn & Paul gave us fresh fish to throw to attract Pelicans. One came!!! They are such amazing birds! We had a delicious roast (lamb) dinner & the wine flowed very freely!! Philipa, Ginnette's cousin was there too so G, P & P were able to reminisce about their youth in Folkestone. (We still feel so sad that Alan was taken so young.) Pippa's daughter Emma lives in Sydney. (That's 3 Emmas - ours, Pippa's and Alan & Diana's daughter is also an Emma!) We left around 4.30pm to drive to Solder's Point in Port Stephens and our All Seasons accommodation. Nice room but bathroom needed upgrading. We had a balcony overlooking the sea - - -WONDERFUL!!! - BUT the rain kept falling! Some chips cheese & bacon in bar for supper.

Nov 26th 2011

Peeped out of the curtains this morning (still raining) to find 2 Rainbow Lorakeets peeking back at me! The were cuddled up & very wet. They let me take a photo of them! They were soon joined by 5 more plus a Mynah all equally drenched & seeking shelter from the rain. Free full breakfast today & now we're off to have a quick look round Port Stephens before we head off. We have 400 km to do today. Lovely harbour at Port stephens with 3 very tame pelicans to say 'Hello'. Drove back towards mainland alongside the Port Stephens inlet. Rejoined the Pacific Highway and soon turned off to visit the Myall Lakes National Park. Drove down towards Mungo Brush on the shores of Myall Lake. Then drove on to the Hawk's Nest and then continued on to the Boombah Point Ferry to cross the Myall Lake up to Buladelah & a gravel road to the Pacific Highway. Soon turned off again onto the scenic Lake's Way heading for Forster- Tuncurry. However, saw a turning on a gravel road signposted Seal Rocks & after 12Km found a beautiful beach where we saw 2 brush turkeys & had lunch (no not an early Xmas one!!!) Saw 2 huge Raptors riding the thermals from the forrest across the bay. We were also joined by a Kookaburra. We then drove back to the Lakes Way and continued through the Booti Booti National Park where we sae a wedge tailed eagle swooping around. We then rejoined the Pacific Highway. Time was getting on so we motored up past Taree & Port MacQuarrie. Turned off the PH again at Nambucca Head - a famous surfers beach which turned out to be quite rocky. Strange thing was that the atmosphere was so humid that the windscreen kept misting up on the OUTSIDE!! That's never happened to us before!

Returned to PH up to Coff's Harbour & our accommodation at Opel Cove Resort. Lovely room. Had a room service dinner & relaxed with TV.

Nov 27th 2011

Woo Hoo! The sun is shining and it is v hot!! On with the shorts! Had a look around Coff's Harbour. They have a pier -- wrongly labelled 'Jetty'!! I shall have to write and correct them! Lovely beaches for swimming and surfing also a marine park. Found out that porpoises and dolphins are the same thing!

Onto Pacific Hwy . After about an hour we travel through the Bom Bom State Forest. Turned into Grafton on the huge Clarence River. In fact there seem to be a lot of huge rivers in this area - -might have something to do with all the rain we've been having. Colonial style buildings and bungalows with the decorative wrought iron work & covered verandas. Cathedral not v impressive -no tower or spire/steeple. City knon as the Jacaranda city (after the beautiful lilac/blue flowering trees. Sadly the flowers were just about finished otherwise the Jacaranda lined street and avenues would have looked absolutely stunning. As we drive on the land becomes quite marshy beside the river as we drive to catch the ferry. . Fields of sugar cane and corn on the cob. We drive over a little bridge into Lawrence. We stopped at a lovely quiet spot by the river to have our lunch. We watched a bpy throwing a ball into the river for 3 collies one of which kept launching itself in after the ball. There were Ibis around being chased by gulls. In fact this area is a favourite for Ibis - -we saw several perching in trees as well as wading searching for food. Oh dear when we got to the ferry it was closed so one of the locals told us to follow her to another ferry crossing. Sadly that was closed too - apparently due to the high water levels after all the rain we've had. So we then had to detour back on to the Pacific Hwy. Next we visited MacLean - the Scottish town in Australia. On the approach roads & in the town the lamp posts were covered in tartan depicting hundreds of different tartans and identifying which clans they belonged to. Some street names included a Gaelic translation. Banners with recipes for Haggis and shortbread hung from poles as were clan crests. They have Highland Gatherings - tossing the caber, Scottish bands & sportsmen from throughout Australia come for an explosion of colour, sight and sound. We saw a frilled/crested lizard on the river bank whose name was Hamish!

Drove into Yamba. Beautiful sandy beaches again & a big harbour full of expensive looking boats as well as quite sizable fishing vessels. The Australians are so lucky not having to endure months of grey skies, darkness, gloom and doom! Then we moved on to another amazing beach. I wish we had time to stop and relax in some of these wonderful places.

Back onto the Pacific Hwy. Through Bundjalong National Park. Past a sugar mill. Still lots of sugar cane growing going on. Rivers are all v full with some signs of flooding. Passed the original home of tea tree oil! Up now and out into the high country again farmland and lots of horses - -quite a well to do area with beautiful views to the coast and the hills. Arrived at Byron Bay and our accommodation at the Lord Byron Resort. (I used to love his poetry and studied it as part of English O Levels!!!Accommodation on the small side but nice and lovely and clean. We have a microwave and also a balcony so we've been sitting out tonight eating our ready meals along with delicious wine from our box!!! Trying to Skype Ben & Annie but so far with no success.

Nov 28th 2011

Woken by & then 'serenaded' by a Noisy friar bird' this morning that lived up too its name right through breakfast! Phew!! almost too hot for breakfast on the balcony this morning but we coped! Had a drive around Byron Bay (named after the poet's Grandfather BTW). Absolutely beautiful unspoilt beaches again everywhere we went. Settled on one not at all crowded - Belongil beach. Got in the sea- quite big waves. Pete went further in than me I've not yet recovered from being somersaulted by a wave in Greece!! Then sat for a bit of a chill out in the sun - really nice break from sightseeing! Back to the apt for lunch on the balcony which, thankfully, was in the shade by then! Then we went down to the pool - - really quiet with lovely tropical vegetation all around - for a read. Pizza from local Pizzaria for dinner on balcony. Lovely!!