Port Macquarie, Coff's Harbour, Byron Bay and Burleigh Heads - 5th to 8th July

After our day of wine tasting we were (somewhat surprisingly) up bright and early and on the road heading north in search of warmer climates. We were heading for Port Macquarie and decided to take the scenic drive to see some of the beautiful eastern coastline of Australia and catch our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.

We decided to drive through Myall Lakes National Park and whilst we didn't really see much of the lakes we did stop at a lovely scenic spot by the beach at Seal Rocks for lunch. The sun was shining and finally we started to understand why we thought campervans were a good idea! It was such a treat to pull up in the small parking area overlooking the ocean and let mum make us all tea and sandwiches whilst Dan prepared some fresh pineapple – very nice!

After lunch we were back on the road and after a small detour to climb the lookout over at Cape Hawke in Booti Booti National Park we arrived in Port Macquarie where we found a campsite for the night just a few steps from the beach near the breakwaters.

Next morning we walked along the breakwater whilst basking in the sun and spotted some dolphins which was a bit of a surprise. At the end of the promenade we stopped for tea and cake whilst Dad modelled for photos under a tree he particularly liked (!!!). Next stop was the Koala Hospital which was a really nice place to visit. The area has a strong wild Koala population, so the hospital receives frequent patients from road-crossing injuries to bush-fires. The Koala's were very cute and there was a mixture of some permanent residents who for various reasons could not be released back into the wild and some recovering casualties. They are adorable little things which curl up into little balls and perch atop tree branches. They don't really do much but are fascinating to watch and it was lovely to hear some of their stories from the volunteers at the hospital. We were also treated to a sighting of a wild Koala up in the trees next to the hospital. Named 'Randy' by the staff, he apparently makes frequent visitors to the lady Koalas during their convalescence.

Next stop, lunch at another lovely beach on the road towards Coff's Harbour. After a few more miles followed by some shopping for provisions we stopped in a campsite in Coffs Harbour for the night. It was dark when we arrived (it's really dark by 6pm here) and already getting cold (damn it) but we decided it was about time we had our first Aussie BBQ so Dan lit the (gas) BBQ and cooked the steak, sausages and burgers (well it was a bit of a combined effort really) before we all retreated into the camp kitchen to eat our lovely grub where it was slightly less cold and dark than outside.

Mum and Dad needed to be in Cairns 1 ½ weeks earlier than us so had to leave us at some point on route. Lots of people that we have spoken to have told them that they have a long drive ahead of them and its starting to worry them a bit, so after dinner they looked into the possibility of dropping of their van in Brisbane and flying to Cairns instead of driving all the way or indeed abandoning the idea of Cairns completely as their flight home leaves from Brisbane anyway. Its a good 1,700km from Brisbane to Cairns and we are still 400km south of Brisbane and the roads are not that fast so a flight might not be a bad idea.

Well, after a bit of research on the internet they decided to push ahead with the drive as originally planned but leave us a day or two earlier than expected. Not ideal but I was pleased they decided not to abandon Cairns as they were both really looking forward to the Great Barrier Reef. So, decision made and it was off to bed for another night of freezing in our vans! I am so pleased we decided not to send our thermals home with the rest of our snow gear after the Trans-Siberian leg of our trip!

The following morning (and 6 months into our trip!) we woke up to yet another beautifully sunny day. We headed out to the harbour to book ourselves onto a whale watching tour and managed to get a booking for 1pm that afternoon so we spent the morning wandering around the harbour and Mutton Bird Island. We got lucky and actually spotted some Humpback Whales from the shore on their annual migration from the South Pacific to breed near the Great Barrier Reef - an incredible sight.

After lunch at the beach (yes another one) we headed out on our trip to try and see the whales a bit closer up and were not disappointed. We caught sight of some pretty impressive tail-slapping and some large sprays from the water as the whales blew through their blow holes and even had a couple ride side by side next to our boat. There were lots of ooohs and ahhhs from everyone on board and lots of camera's clicking desperately trying to get a shot of these amazing creatures as they surfaced in the water.

After our whale watching and another 250km on the road we stopped in at a nice little campsite in Lennox Heads for the night, just south of Byron Bay which was our first stop the following day. Byron Bay is a very popular town for surfers and holiday makers and has a nice beach but the town itself was a little over commercial. After a mooch around the shops we drove the short distance to Burleigh Heads where we dumped the vans and headed out for dinner. As this was our last night with Big John and Bernie we decided to treat ourselves to dinner in one of the local hotels where we sat outside under a patio heater and enjoyed eating our meals from china plates and drinking our beer and wine from proper glasses! Its true what they say about the simpler things in life (sometimes!). Oh yes, the food was pretty good too!

So, a few drinks later and it was bedtime again. We slept pretty well after our big meal and drinks and woke up at 6.30am with mum and dad all ready to hit the road. It had been great to see them and was sad to see them leave, the time we had with them flew by so quickly. Thank you both for coming all this way to see us, it really means a lot.

So, now we are looking forward to the rest of our time in Australia and can't wait to see the photos of Big John in his wetsuit at the Reef!

Happy trucking.
Sue & Dan xxx

PS Thanks for all the messages on the blog asking for an update – it is so good to know we haven't been forgotten and we are thrilled that you are still enjoying hearing all about our antics. We miss you all very much. Take care.