Road Trip Number 3 has begun...so Monday morning I woke up to the sound of the sea and looked out to see the sunrise - it was beautiful...you will see one photo of the sunrise in my Sydney album...I took from my bed J The surfers were also up in the sea catching the waves...yes they are bonkers! 6am and they are feeling energetic enough to jump into the sea, paddle out and surf! Although hey, I did manage to get myself out of bed and went for another jog. Laura showed me where I could jog for some good views and I'm so glad I did as I could see the coast for miles; it really was stunning, especially as the sun was still rising. It was a perfect temperature to run. I returned to Davina (of course) and then packed my stuff, had some breakfast and then went to catch the bus. I eventually made it to Glebe where I was meeting Lisa (German girl I found on gumtree & met up with) and the two other German girls who I hadn't met before to start our road trip up to Brisbane. They seemed cool. Lisa has everything you can imagine - let's start with the car...she has a big 4X4 that she bought in Perth for just $3,000. So I turn up to the car and it is stacked with stuff from rucksacks to pillows, tents, sleeping mats, boxes of food, cooking utensils, pots & pans, a cool box, and even a charger to plug into the car so you can charge phones, laptops, ipods etc. Take a look at the photo of the boot - it was jam packed but somehow we managed to fit in my little bags. We went food shopping which came to about $60 and filled up on petrol before we set off. Our first destination was Newcastle. When we arrived we were all shocked how industrial the town was. It was full of buildings and cars, we hardly saw any people walking about and the place had a very odd vibe. So anyway, our first point of call is always head to the "Information Centre", which happened to be closed. Yes it was Monday (we double checked), and it was only 3pm in the afternoon, but for some crazy reason, an office decides to be open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday...and close of Monday?!?! WHAT! So anyway we managed to drive a bit out of the city and found an unpowered camp site for just $20 for all 4 of us. Bargain! We set up the two tents and the girls cooked a really healthy and tasty couscous with vegetables and a chicken schnitzel. You can't go hungry with the amount they cooked, we could have fed 20 people, not 4. I think they have a bigger appetite than I, and that is saying something. I'm trying to cut down on how much I eat because I am eating as much as I was back home but not doing half the amount of exercise as I was...hence I'm getting fatter! We had showers, chatted and went to bed. I was in luck as 2 of the girls who Lisa previously camped with left their camping mats in the car, so I ended up with 3 mats J so my sleep wasn't too bad after all. I was in a 3 man tent with Lisa so it was much more comfortable than the past camping experience with the 2 other German girls in a 2 man tent.

Tuesday morning we were up at about 8am, had muesli for breakfast and packed our car - it rained a fair bit during the night but luckily Lisa and I managed to stay dry. The other girls, Julia and Krissy weren't so lucky - they woke up with puddles in the tent. Not so fun! We set off towards Port Ferry and Port Mar - the weather wasn't great at all, but somehow we managed to time it perfectly so that when we arrived in Seal Rocks, the sun was up. We went to a lighthouse, took a few photos and had lunch on the picnic benches just off the beach. The scenery was great and so was the food! As soon as we got back in the car the rain started and didn't stop all night. When we arrived in Port Macquarie, we drove around trying to find a caravan park in the rain. We managed to find one for $30 for three of us as Lisa had organised to meet up with Adam, a 22 year old bald friend she met in Perth. She wasn't having a great day as she dropped her phone in the toilet, which she hadn't flushed, but somehow it was still working! I think Adam felt sorry for us when he came to pick Lisa up...the grass area where our tent was meant to go was basically a massive puddle of water and it was still pouring with rain so we were discussing how we were going to arrange ourselves to sleep in the car - so LUCKILY he invited us all back to his! YEY. We jumped at the opportunity, even though it was an hour and a half away in the town that we had just come from, but it was better than attempting to sleep in a car. So we arrived at his (parents were not in!) set up our sleeping areas (the 2 German girls were put in his mothers bed and I jumped on the sofa in the living room which was rather comfortable).

The next morning we were up at about 8am as we planned to leave when Adam left for work, but he called in sick! So we slept a little bit more, had a lovely long breakfast with a nice cup of tea, he tried making pancakes from a ready-made mixture which was disgusting and then we went to the beach! White sand and blue sea and it was just the 5 of us! We were having a great time enjoying the beach to ourselves, walked along the sea and watched the big waves. Krissy is a real artist when it comes to taking photos and she will jump at every opportunity to take a good photo. So there she was sitting on the sand taking some shots of Lisa paddling in the sea, until a big wave knocked her over and completely drenched her and the camera that she so desperately tried to keep up out of the water. Then the mood dampened...the camera was broken and everyone was trying to say positive things whilst Julia was cleaning it. We headed back to the house, had showers, lunch and by that time it was 3pm, so Adam invited us to stay another night. It was great to chill for the day on his balcony- we had a massive magpie come and greet us and a kookaburra that came to sit right next to us so that Adam was literally stroking it! It was incredible J We ended up making our own pizza that night as Lisa is a bit of a pro when it comes to cooking so she knew exactly how to make the dough. Pizza was delicious! And then we treated ourselves to a girly film called "The Vow" whilst tucking into some sweet popcorn that Julia cooked for us! A great girly night, with Adam just going with the flow J We literally took over his house for the day, you should have seen our stuff was everywhere, food, clothes, sleeping stuff, our tents were drying on the balcony outside, our towels, my underwear...he must have been pulling his hair out, oh just as well he didn't have any! Haha.

Thursday 18 April, the sun was shining, the birds were tweeting, what a glorious morning! We were up at 6am, had breakfast and re-packed the car. We managed to leave by 9am J and Lisa let me drive her 4X4...how exciting! So we headed back to Port Macquarie, the town we actually drove to the day before. We took a stroll, had a picnic outside and went shopping for cameras so that Krissy could buy Julia a new camera! We drove through Nambucca Heads which had some great views and then drove on to Coffs Harbour to find a campsite. The first one was $50, but the second was only $35..oh maybe because they only thought there was 2 of us! Hehe. So we paid for two people in an unpowered site for $35, but the kitchen was clean, well equipped with a hob, microwave, kettle AND oven and it was an actual building! We cooked a glorious rice dish with vegetables and soy sauce and now here I am typing away keeping up to date with my blog! It's starting to get chilly now but we have just been kicked out the kitchen, they are closing!! BED TIME. It's 10pm!

Night xx