It was sadly quite exciting to be getting our hair done. We hadn’t been in one place for long enough to get an appointment which had been driving Matt mad as his hair had been getting longer and longer, so he had started growing a beard in protest. By lunchtime I left with lovely sleek, smooth hair, and he looked smart and clean at last (apart from his dodgy beard which he promised to shave off ). We decided to avoid spending any more money so went to the beach to enjoy the sun. The sand was busy compared with other [View Full Entry]

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The problem we’ve found with Oz campsites is that you have to be out by 10am otherwise you get locked in behind the boom gate. NZ had a 10am check out rule but it didn’t really matter if you left a bit later. It means by 9.30am we’re in a mad rush trying to pack our bed away, lock up the cupboards and move all of our stuff off the worktops before we get going. This morning was no exception and we were rushing to the gate with only five minutes to spare. After spending a few minutes dodging the rain [View Full Entry]

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Matt had broken his sunglasses so our first port of call was to go into Port Macquarie town to try to find him a new pair. I was so tempted to go clothes shopping but I managed to restrain myself. I did however, pick us out a five bedrooms house close to the beach with pool and massive garage for about the same value as our house while being nosey in estate agent windows! When he’d finally picked some new sunnies we drove to some of the nearby beaches until we finally found a near deserted golden sandy bay. Perfect for [View Full Entry]

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We had no definite plans for the day so spent the morning driving around beaches in the Port Stevens area. Shoal Bay was a lovely big stretch of white sand, so bright that I had to put my sunglasses on. The bay was sheltered so it looked good for swimming, and the water was a lovely fresh blue. The houses around the bay all had great views from their first floor sundecks - I could just imagine sitting on one of those enjoying a glass of wine. Next we stopped briefly at Zenith Beach - it wasn’t mentioned in any guides [View Full Entry]

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After a cooked breakfast (we’re making the most of having tasty bacon again now we’re in Oz) we drove inland so that we could head up the coast. First we stopped at a deserted Stockton Beach. In the distance were the large sand dunes tempting us over, but unfortunately without taking a tour we couldn’t get to them. The surf was looking good and I took off my sandals and went for a paddle, only to get drenched when a big wave caught me. It was a great feeling to be back in a hot country again after being in NZ [View Full Entry]

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We decided to be good with our money and not go on an organised wine trail, although it was so tempting. Instead we took ourselves on an art and food trail using the regional brochure as a guide. First stop was a winery that had an indoor gallery and sculpture gardens. There were some beautiful large metal sculptures. We tried some of the wine there too and I was impressed that I persuaded Matt not to buy any even though we wanted to. After taking a break for some lunch in our van we went to the Hunter Valley Gardens. There [View Full Entry]

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The weather was still poor when we got up but we decided to make our way over to the main attractions in the Blue Mountains anyway. We started off at Echo Point where we had an uninterrupted view of the three sisters; three rocks standing side by side. In the background we could see the distant mountains and they really were tinged with a bluey purple haze. Unfortunately it started to pour down and within minutes the mountains were hidden under a shroud of mist. I was pleased to have my coat as all of the tourists wearing their shorts and [View Full Entry]

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We had preordered a breakfast through room service the night before. It seemed like a good idea to eat before leaving to pick up the van, so that when we did our first food shop we wouldn’t go into the supermarket starving and spend a fortune. We’d carefully picked a filling but cheap breakfast of eggs on toast from the menu. When it arrived we took the lids of the plates to reveal a massive full fry up with hash browns, bacon, sausages, tomatoes toast and eggs! The receipt said we’d only paid for the eggs and toast at around £4, [View Full Entry]

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I literally had to drag Matt out of bed as we’d planned to do the beach leg of the hop on hop off bus tour. The weather was glorious and a couple of minutes after leaving the hotel we had to turn back to get our hats as we suddenly realised how strong the sun was. The bus stop was next to a famous pie stall (it had sole pies to lots of celebrities and had photos on the side of the van to prove it) so Matt ended up eating a steak pie for his breakfast as the smell was [View Full Entry]

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I managed to drag Matt out of the room fairly early (by our standards) to buy a hop on hop off bus ticket to take us around the city sights. We jumped off after a couple of stops at a viewing platform of the bridge and opera house. Like NZ‘s mountains, it almost didn’t feel real as it’s one of those shots you’ve seen on the tv so many times before. After taking a lot pf photos we walked around the harbour side through the Botanical Gardens, towards the Opera House. The gardens were pretty, and there was a striking purple [View Full Entry]

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