So we left anna and david's (sydney) on 26th june to start our journey in the pikey van;

first stop hunter valley. we left super early to pick up the van which involved two buses to reach our destination of botnay. we spent a little while checking over the van. during our check we noticed one of the camping chairs was broken and caitlin was extemly excited the replacement was pink! Our drive back to narrabeen went pretty smoothly apart from the frist attempt at reversing in a tiny petrol station!!

After packing and saying our goodbyes we set off leaving ourselves in sat-navs hands. although we're very gratful for rob liking gadgets, when sat nav tells you to turn left on to "unpaved" as we slowly approached we realise the road was actually a dirt track and we now maybe lost in the Hinterland.....luckily a nice farmer directed us back onto the road we turned off from 10k ago and we arrved in Cessnock in one piece.

We were very luckily that for our first night in the van we found a sports ground with toilets and even hot running water!! On the second morning cait decided that since we had access to hot water she would wash her hair. As she was doing so, in the sink of the public toilet a lady bought her small daughter in to use the toilet, who asked "mummy what is she doing"? The mother replied "i'll explain in the car". Cait had a silent giggle to herself but was also embarased. We spentthe rest of day 2 driving around the Vinyards of the hunter valley samplying mainly Moscatos and Shiraz' also many smelly cheeses. although the days were sunny it was pretty chilly at night.

Next stop Nelson's Bay. once again we found a parking spot with public toilets but this time only cold water. we got up early on the 3rd morning to visit the local lighthouse and drive to the near by sand dunes at anna bay. here we saw our first whale from the shore which made our day. from here we drove to Port Macquarie; when we woke up in the morning there were 6 campervans all lined up. again today we had a very early start to get to the Koala santuary for feeding time. here we saw what is thought to be the worlds oldest koala who is 22.

we stopped for lunch at crescent head where we had read in the lonely planet you can get a douzen oysters for $6. So we drove to the address given in the lonely planet. Rob dubiously went to the door only to be met by an old lady who knew all about "that book". She told rob the correct address but unfortunatley on arrival in was closed!

Next stop Coffs Harbour.