10/5/08

The morning was spent seeing the sights of Byron Bay. We drove up towards the lighthouse and walked up to the top for a stunning view out over the sea and the bay. Watched some surfers for a while before walking down to an outcrop, which is apparently the furthest East point in Australia and saw some dolphins swimming around the surfers!

Drove to Nimbin which pretty dead apart from a few old hippies! We visited the Hemp Embassy which was really interesting. Decided Nimbin wasn't really our kind of place so instead we headed south and drove to a little campsite near Grafton.

11/5/08

Set off to Coffs harbour where was watched some people surfing before wandering around very quaint little market. it was Australia's Mothers day today so a lot of the things they were selling were aimed at that. We got some delicious Nachos for lunch and chatted to a few of the local people. Next stop was Bellingen, a sweet little town with old fashioned shops where we stopped off for a drink. We spent the night at Port Macquerie where we made a few friends with some other English couples in the camp kitchin and spent a few hours calling home!

12/5/08

We visited a Koala hospital with Nicky and Tom, who we had met the night before. Some very sad stories about koalas who had been hit by cars, and a lot of them had Chlamidia! Drove down the Pacific Highway until we reached a turnoff for Forster-Tuncurry, which the guide-book recommended as a good drive. It was very beautiful, as we drove past some amazing huge lakes surrounded by dense woodland. We also went up to the Cape Hawke view point for an amazing 360 view over the sea and national parks. Stopped off at Buladelah for a coffee in a tiny coffee/sweet shop. Found a campsite at Stockton, near Newcastle, which was right on the beach next to a pretty little white lighthouse. We had bought a travel monopoly game that morning, so we spent the evening playing it!

13/5/08

Got up early and drove to Anna Bay where we walked up into the sand dunes. A lady at our campsite had told us to get some cardboard to slide down the dunes on, so we had visited a supermarket that morning and asked them for some! Unfortunately the sand was wet with dew and we just stuck and didn't slide! Instead we walked over to a ridge of sand dunes that stretched along the beach edge as far as we could see. These ones had no vegetation growing on them and it felt like we were at a desert in the middle of nowhere! Spent a while running around a jumping off them while taking photos and videos.

The afternoon was spent in the Hunter Valley tasting wines! Alex volunteered to drive so i was able to taste a few more than him. We visited a total of 6 wineries, only a fraction of the total number there in the valley! We also went to a couple of cheese places and a chocolate factory. We bought a bottle from a few of the places we visited and then found a place which was selling off slightly older wine cheaply as cooking wine. We subtly asked if you could actually drink this wine or just use it for cooking... and ended up walking out with a box of 12 for 15 dollars (about 7 pounds!). We camped in a park for free in Broke.

14/5/08

Had a beautiful drive to Sydney this morning through trees covered with autumn colours, and a blue sky making it look even nicer! Found a campsite near Paramatta thinking it wasn't too far from Sydney city centre (our campsite guide book said it was a short train ride away!). We ended up walking for 25 mins before we reached the train station then had to wait 15mins for a train which took 50 mins to get to the centre!! Spent the afternoon exploring the Darling Harbour area. When it got dark, we went to the Sydney Aquarium which was very impressive. Managed to spot a platypus - harder than you might think! And went through a huge underwater walkway through a shark tank. Walked around Darling Harbour a bit more and down through China Town, before catching a train and walking back to our campsite.

15/5/08

Another walk to the station and long train ride into the city where we saw Sydney harbour for the 1st time. It was slightly misty which made the Bridge and Opera House even more impressive. Visited Cadman's cottage - the oldest private house in Sydney where we learnt a bit about Sydney's history. Then visited the Museum of Contemporary Art - some good but very strange exhibitions on! Walked up to Campbells Cove and Dawes Point for lots of photos of the bridge and opera house, before we walked halfway across the bridge. Up to the Observatory Park, then ate lunch overlooking the harbour. After lunch we wandered around the opera house, visited Mrs Macquarie's chair and walked around the Botanical gardens. We then watched the sunset over Sydney from the top of the Sky Tower.