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Published: October 21st 2008
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Aussie Adventure Part V and final chapter😊
October 9-12
Arrived in Byron Bay at around 9pm on the 8th. After we got settled in our hotel, Syd and I went out for a walk around town and to get some groceries . I think Syd was wishing she was in Byron Bay with a bunch of friends instead of her family. It is a town full of young backpackers. In the morning Sydney and I went shopping, Gregg rented a surf board and a boggie board and took the boys to the beach. We hooked up with them around noon. Everyone surfed for a few hours and enjoyed another warm day at the beach. At 2pm Gregg wanted to go to Lenox Head to check on windsurfing at a lake. As usual with windsurfing, we got there and there was not enough wind. But it was fun to see another beach community, esp. one with lake 150 yards from the ocean. We had a nice lunch at the beach and headed back to Byron Bay. Gregg rented another longer surf board for Syd to use and stayed at the beach until after 6pm with the kids.
I made use
On the Beach in Byron Bay
Notice Avery buried in the sand in the back! of the laundry facilities in our room so that we wouldn't have to go home with all dirty, sandy clothes. For dinner, Gregg, Syd and I went to a vegetarian restaurant in our hotel complex. The boys were exhausted and wanted no part of vegetarian food in a nice restaurant. We had a wonderful meal at Casa Pepe.
On Friday, the weather was overcast but still warm. Gregg took the kids to the beach for one last surf before we had to return the surf boards. We left Byron Bay around 10:30am and headed leisurely to Nambucca Heads. Outside of Lenox Head we stopped to watch some humpback whales just off the beach - that was very cool to see. I had spotted some whales the day before, but I was the only one who saw them and I'm not sure anyone believed me. This time they got to see them for themselves. We made a few more stops along the way in Bellina (for lunch), Grafton (to appease Gregg - not much there, it was like stepping back into the 50's) and in Coffs Harbor (to visit a Target). Arrived at the Miramar Hotel in Nambucca Heads around
A Dad and his Daughter
Gregg and Syd - sufer dudes! 5pm. It is beautiful and we were sorry we didn't get there sooner. It was sunny and gorgeous! Our hotel balcony had a lovely view of the tropical gardens, river, bay and ocean. We took a long walk along the breakwater and to the beach. A tradition in Nambucca Heads is to paint a rock along the beach-very cool to look at all the art work. We wished we'd had some paints with us. The weather was too cold and windy to swim, but the kids had fun climbing on the rocks at the beach. That night we had an amazing seafood dinner at a restaurant called Matilda's. In addition to great seafood, Gregg and I tried kangaroo - we had to give it a try even though the kids were very much opposed to us doing so. It was very much like steak, or sort of like sweet venison. I will say that once was enough however and all night could not stop thinking about the cute kangaroos we'd seen at the Australia Zoo and those in the wild jumping along the road. Still, there are those that feel that Aussies should eat more kangaroo and less beef, as
the environmental impact of grazing roos is much less than cattle.
Saturday, our last day, was an interesting one... We knew we were going to have a long drive to get to the Hunter Valley. We left fairly early and spent a lot more time in the car than we expected due to heavy road construction. We arrived at Wyndham in time to have a wine tasting before lunch. The kids did a great job of entertaining themselves while Gregg and I had fun trying all the Wyndham red wines. We could not believe that after drinking Bin 555 for 20 years we were actually at the vineyard. The Shiraz Bin 555 is award winning. We knew we had good taste, even though it is a fairly inexpensive wine. In fact, it costs less in the US than in Australia or New Zealand. We bought a bottle of a reserve that we wouldn't be able to purchase anywhere else, had a lovely lunch, walked around the old estate house and headed to our hotel. This was the only mishap of the whole trip. The hotel was 2 1/2 hours from the Sydney airport, we had to be at the
Next Stop...
Nambucca Heads beach path with rock paintings. airport by 7am for a 9am flight, which meant we would have to leave by 4am. The hotel was quite expensive and looked like an old brothel. Since we hadn't cancelled our reservation early enough, we were obligated to pay a portion of the room cost. After much negotiating, we paid them half the room rate and moved on closer towards Sydney. We found a nice, reasonably priced motel in Gosford for the night that made getting up the next morning much more palatable. We had an easy drive Sunday morning to Kingsford Smith Airport (Sydney), named for the Aussie aviator who made the first flight across the Pacific Ocean in 1928. We had another chance to see the opera house as we drove across the harbor bridge. It was sad leaving Australia, but we vowed that we would return some day. Our flight home on Emerates was great. A three course meal, in seat personal entertainment system, good leg room and professional and accomodating staff made for a very pleasant flight. We really liked this airline and hope to fly with them again.
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Jack
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Wow
You guys are awesome. What an adventure for the five of you, and what a bonding experience!!!