We decided it was time to get off our coastal route and head inland.You can have a bit of a plan set out but it isn't until you are in the car that the decisions are made.Factors like, weather, kid's behaviour and if we could really be bothered travelling more than 100km for the day all are factors we consider.On this day we had thought of a stopover at Lismore.As we approached Lismore our whole plan copped a big red line through it right from the first wet roundabout we slid through!This is a warts and all account so this little moment is definitely worth mentioning.The weather had turned a bit with some heavy showers making driving conditions less then ideal. We had passed through the first couple of roundabouts with no incident, however the next one was a different story!Wet weather, a big load, downhill and one too many cars wanting the roundabout, lead to a little lock up and slide, holy s***! I was able to get off the brakes and drive through the roundabout with the other traffic probably not realising how close we had come to a very ugly incident! (the colour of my jocks would tell the full story I'm sure if you asked Kylz after she washed em!) Two things probably saved us that day.Travelling at a much reduced speed, and the fact that the intersection had clear visibility for on-coming traffic. (Mind you if you miss us coming you need to get your eyes tested).This had got the heart racing a bit (Kylz probably more than mine!) the kids in the back were still happily watching the DVD.

As we continued on Tom Tom also managed to send us up a no through road!This provided some interesting new caravan reversing techniques as we managed to get ourselves back on track! With Kylz out in the middle of the road flapping her arms madly at traffic, we provided the locals with some good laughs! Finally we were good to go, nothing like a bit of adventure. At this stage Tom's name was mud and patients was a virtue neither Kylz or I had much of left in the tank. We just wanted to get pulled up and sit down with a drink! Then there it was, the caravan park that we had decided to stay at.Looked more like a caravan wrecking yard!

So after these few little hiccups, and a glimpse of the park, we decided that The Bostocks on Tour had seen enough of Lismore.So we continued to drive until we made our free stop 10km east of Tabulam, West of The Range Rest Area. Now this is where the morale of the story will start to become clearer to all and maybe help any future travellers.Our plan B was to stop at this free camp and it turned out to be a nice little rest area. As we were setting up for the night we were joined by an old bloke and his dog. Fellow caravan travellers and a real good old chap Don (and his dog Chloe), who as we found out did not mind a yarn.The stop had a toilet, and you could have a fire.The kids were out collecting firewood before you could blink an eyelid. They have become very keen for camping out with a fire going after their first little taste at Queen Mary Falls.

Our drive into Tenterfield started out at a very leisurely pace thanks to a good night's sleep and not being able to break away from some of Don's ripper yarns!The tree lined streets welcome you into Tenterfield and as you step out of the car you get a fresh almost cool sensation thatI assume has something to do with being a fair bit higher above sea-level then we are normally used to!?Needless to say Kylz noticed it straight up!

Feeling still pretty relaxed after our late start and early finish, we decided that cooking dinner on this fine day would be a terrible way to see it out.With that in mind we scanned the various leaflets we had and settled on a night out at the Tenterfield Tavern to ease us into our New England Tour.The newly renovated tavern was a perfect choice and was given a big thumbs up from the kids as they raced headlong into a well stocked kids room with little thought for dinner!(considering they were both starving to death before we got there!)We both enjoyed a nice night out and retired to the van with two worn out kids to enjoy a nice cuppa and make some plans for the next day.

Our first stop on our day trip saw us enter one of Captain Thunderbolt's hideouts. Apparently he had quite a few in the area and probably with good reason with the sad story of his demise seeing him left gutshot on a river bank to bleed out by the wallopers!Not a nice ending for Australia's own version of Robin Hood! (sort of, nearly, maybe)

Leaving the car park at Bald Rock on the trail towards the largest exposed lump of granite in the southern hemisphere had me wondering how we were going to go getting to the top with both the girls in tow?We had seen some wonderful pictures taken from the top and both were keen to get there.Maybe it was this determination that rubbed off on the girls but they both powered to top and even overtook to elderly German Tourists on our way!( hey, a wins a win!)It was definitely worth the effort and despite some tears and grumbling from our smallest mountain climber on the way down I think we all enjoyed the climb for the magnificent views it offered as well as spectacular rock formations.

Boonoo Boonoo falls ( Bunna Boonoo) was our pick for a late lunch stop and a swim.Unfortunately for us the track to the swimming pools had been washed out in the recent floods and was tagged out as being unsuitable for use.However the viewing platform gives a great view of the falls and the valley downstream.You could get an idea of the amount of water that would have been powering over the falls during the flood when you look around and see the amount of debris still left high and dry many metres up in the surrounding trees!

With Kylz at the wheel for this day trip the kids and I were in for a little treat on our return to Tenterfield.Kylz had sought out one of the highlights of our trip to Tenterfield!A drive into the town to find the remarkable and some say amazing "Cork Tree"!!? WTF Any way after that we got onto the more serious task of finding and photographing the truly famous (no I mean it this time!) Tenterfield Saddler.No boy from Oz present but we did get the obligatory shop front photo for the collection.

With the sight seen (even the cork tree?) and the big silver Datsun fuelled and champing at the bit we left Tenterfield the next day and headed down the New England Highway towards Glen Innes.After a sometimes wet and very windy drive back down the Great Dividing Range we arrived at our small overnight rest area stay about 45Km west of Grafton, beside the Mann River Bridge.This was a quiet little rest area where we once again laid waste to the ozone layer, cooking our snags and chicken on a stick with some half wet wood (on a BBQ plate with enough bacteria on it to cure cancer) which set off smoke alarms a mile away!Ahh the serenity.Next time we head into the tourist Mecca of Yamba and discover a kid's paradise!