FINALLY IN NSW

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We made the first stop of the day in Brunswick Heads. This small town reminded us a bit of the outback with its wooden hand painted shop signs and country feel. As we drove a little further we soon came to the long wooden bridge which stretches across the estuary. On this hot day many people were taking advantage of the cool clear waters. Some people snorkelled, some people were swimming and young lads were jumping off the bridge in ever increasingly unsafe ways to impress the girls. We couldn’t resist a dip. The water was so refreshing it made a pleasant change to the hot sea in Queensland. The added bonus was that we didn’t get sand stuck to us when we got out. After our dip in the estuary we wandered across to the beach. Lovely as it was, it was very busy. So after a quick dip in the sea we continued on our way.

Further along the coast we came to Byron Bay. This is another popular place that many people talk about. It was far better then Surfers Paradise. Any sign of high rise building had disappeared. Instead there were quaint little shops, seaside houses and funky looking bars and cafes. We managed to get parked right in front of the beach - something that would never happen back home. We were also surprised to find that the parking was free - another thing that would never happen at home! After a picnic on the seafront we spent some time on the beach. We spent most of the time in the sea being knocked over by the force of the waves and trying to stop the waves from embarrassing us as they kept pulling our shorts down!

I was looking forward to our next stop at Lenox Head. I had read about a large swimming lake which has traces of tea tree oil and thought this sounded like a nice place to spend the afternoon. A lot of other people also thought it was a good place to spend the afternoon. There were so many people there that it was difficult to space to get to the waters edge. I couldn’t convince Andy to come in with me. The waters were fairly clear but were brown in colour with lots of plant life to wade through. I managed to paddle, but I didn’t get too far from the edge. The mud felt horrible as it squelched between my toes and I couldn’t tell if it was weeds brushing past my legs or something else. We walked across the road and went in the sea instead. Three beaches in one day - I think I could get used to this beach hopping business!

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