[We realise that we've missed out a section of our journey and this blog for Bellingen may therefore missing some details, such as names, places, events.]

Headed off from Lennox Heads down the coast via Ulmarra where we had stopped earlier on our way north and found a really interesting wee shop (Jackadandy) and had a good chat with the owner, who himself had done a lot of world travelling from which he sourced his wide range of artefacts.We'd bought a couple of presents for Jean and Tam and returned to pick them up. The owner also gave us really helpful suggestions for a more picturesque route to our next destination, Bellingen.We therefore wended our way south and at Grafton headed inland to take us up through the hills and rain forest, through Dorrigo to Bellingen.This route had a considerable section of unsealed road but was very beautiful with huge fern and tall trees and, as we headed up a steep section of the road we had to brake quickly when we came across a huge carpet python stretched across nearly the whole width of the road.Luckily there was little or no traffic and we had time to take a few photos and admire this wonderful specimen. The blighter wouldn't budge so it took some careful manoeuvring to get around it.But back on the way we eventually came to higher level meadows and farmland before hitting Dorrigo - a tidy small town with a bit of Art Deco style to it.From there it was an easy run downhill following the course of the Bellinger River (the name of the town Bellingen results from a spelling mistake on a map some time in the past) to Bellingen.This is certainly a lovely part of the country and Bellingen itself is graced with many fine old preserved buildings, for instance the youth hostel overlooking the river, the Federal Hotel (which is famed as the 'local' of David Helfgott around whom the 1996 film 'Shine' was based) and some really fine old shops.

Once again we were hostelling and we had a splendid corner room upstairs with a terrace and fine views over the river. As with the hostel in Murwillumbah, it was good to be amongst friendly hosts and guests, but we particularly enjoyed the 'funky chooks' which provided the occasional very fresh egg.The hostel runs some trips and we took advantage of one the following day to Dorrigo National Park.Our companions on the trip were a couple of young Danish girls and one Dutch girl.We had a really good time on a walk through the impressive and beautiful National Park where we had a close encounter with a beautiful red bellied black snake. The Park is famed for its waterfalls and at the end of the afternoon we headed outside the Park to another waterfall and pool where all the girls, including M, had a refreshing swim in the cool mountain water. Naturally we frequented the Federal Hotel, which is very stylish inside and is renowned for its beer and food.We also enjoyed a good round of golf on Bellingen's challenging 9 hole course, where once again a number of balls were left for other golfers to find. We continued to struggle to trim down our belongings from our time in Annie but did sell a few DVDs to the youth hostel and donated some food to a few grateful hostellers. Bellingen threw us yet another coincidence: Vicky Muir who works at the hostel spent part of her childhood at St Cyrus and her grandfather was a solicitor in Montrose.We are trying to find out more background information. It was good to have a chat with somebody who has links with home.

E M xxx