Collected Claire and JP from the airport and after getting quite lost in the cities suburbs we eventually found the road to take us to Katoomba and the Blue Mountains. As we ended up on some Toll roads (we think) I had to ring up and get us an e-pass but at least that means that if we go through another toll on our way back into the city its not a problem. The Blue Mountain area gets its name from the blue mist that rises from the thousands of eucalyptus trees on the valley floor and hangs in the air [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Ryde just outside Sydney as we pick up Claire and JP the day after tomorrow and plan to head into the blue mountains with them for a little while. We haven't yet ventured into the city as we plan to book an apartment for a few days when the camper van goes back and will explore the city then. Having arrived at Lane Cove river tourist park we had a walk around the national park - we're turning into twitchers I think and are really enjoying the wildlife over here. Not really like the other walks we've done in [View Full Entry]

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Having spent a night in Forster and passing through myall lakes we made what was scheduled to be a sightseeing stop at Seal Rocks (didnt see any seals!) - and decided to stay for the weekend as its a lovely secluded tranquil beach. Having not planned on stopping the night let alone the weekend we had few supplies left so enquired as to the location of the nearest shop - that would be the general store just down the road (15km away) - that shop was actually a garage with a few bits that would suffice for the weekend...The next one [View Full Entry]

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As we headed further South down the coast we stopped at one of the tourist attractions we had been told we must visit - the big banana - what can i say - it was highly entertaining when we realised that the whole thing centred on a huge concrete banana! Its part of a banana plantation and we walked around the area, enjoying the sky walk and candy making demonstration (with free tasters). The most entertaining thing however was the trip to the gift shop - how many novelty banana items can a company make - thousands is the answer - [View Full Entry]

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A short drive a little further down the coast we spent a couple of nights at Moonee Beach in a camp site on the estuary. The weather has taken another turn for the worse so we're all waterproofed up again. The wildlife is amazing and Pete's becoming quite the Dr Doolittle particularly with the Lorikeets and other birds getting very friendly....We caught our first glimpse of kangaroo's in the wild as a couple bounced passed us whilst in Arrawarra. While in the area we visited Red rock, Corindi beach, Arrawara, Woolgoolga and Emerald beach and look at me now headland. I [View Full Entry]

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Set off early this morning heading for Broken Head just South of Byron Bay. I am continually amazed at the beauty of the beaches here and each one I see I think is just a little more perfect than the last with Broken Head being no exception. Despite the grey clouds and gusting winds on our first day here we walked regularly up and down the golden sands. On our second day the sun shone so we decided to stay a little longer in this beautiful spot - along with the small crowd of weekenders who had decided to head for [View Full Entry]

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A brief detour from our coastal drive into the hinterland and Nightcap national park. We stayed in Nimbin, the site of the famed Aquarius festival that apparently launched the Australian hippie culture when it took place in 1973 - apparently some of those that came for the festival never left and thus Nimbin developed - famous for its new age therapies, music and crafts among other things! It really is like taking a step back in time...proper hippie apart from all the camper vans and gawping tourists like us! We visited the living museum where there's a Kombi van stuck in [View Full Entry]

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Having left the mountains we headed back to the coast...This is where our Australia beach trip begins as we plan to make our way slowly down the coast to Sydney. Our first stop was at Kirra beach in Coolangatta - south of surfers paradise. We decided to give surfers a miss as its described as 'aggressively superficial' and somewhere to avoid if you looking for peace and quiet. While in the area we did take in Snappers rock and Danger point, enjoying a walk at each (but no sunbathing as the weather's taken a turn for the worse!). I enjoyed watching [View Full Entry]

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Having picked up the campervan (with a broken speedo!) we headed South to Tamborine Mountain, a volcanic plateau about 40km from the Goldcoast. The areas forests were declared Queenslands first national park in 1908 and provide great short (ish) jungle walks and stunning views. We'd been told about the area by Marcus and Eliza and were really pleased we spent a couple of days there. There arent many places to take a van but we stayed at the Thunderbird Park which was fine for the couple of days. We donned our walking boots and after our first nights sleep in the [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Brisbane on 4th February and spent a few days relaxing at Michael and Debbie's home in Berkdale. It was lovely to be in a house / home after spending so much time in guesthouses / homestays and hotels! Debbie and Mike were lovely to us - they couldn't do enough and as such our arrival in Australia was enjoyable and stress free. Thanks guys! We visited Wellington point, did some preparations for setting off in the campervan and enjoyed relaxing around the pool. Stewart made us a lovely meal and we also enjoyed an aussie BBQ. We borrowed the [View Full Entry]

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