Bondi to Coffs Harbour

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I spent my last day in Bondi sunbathing on "The Grassy Knole" at the north end of the beach. I much prefer sunning it on a nice piece of maintained grass than I do on sand although I like to be next to the beach. I had taken a little pack lunch with me which kept me full all day. Newy came up and sat with me from 3.30 until 6pm. We people watched and checked out all the beautiful people that Bondi has to offer, and there were loads! At 6ish I headed back to my hostel as I needed to pack up and get my laundry done. That night I was the only one in the dorm which was a nice end to my 7 day stint in there. Met Mikesh from the Netherlands, Jodie from Essex, Ben from France, a Ben from Melbourne and Anz and Louiza from Belgium. All in all whilst I hate staying in Hostels I did enjoy my time here and would definitely go back.

8am the following morning, 24th March, I got up, got ready and got the 333 bus to Oxford Street in Sydney. At the bottom of Oxford Street just before Hyde Park I got off and walked 5 minutes to Elizabeth Street to catch the 309 bus to Botany. The whole journey took about an hour and a half but it was easy. The bus stopped right outside the Spaceships Rental Depot which was ideal. Shaun greeted me and we went through all the paperwork and he showed me how the van worked. First impressions were, its a bit worn but after all I did pay peanuts for it.... It was all pretty compact but seemed to work efficiently. I headed off on my journey up the east coast.

First stop and about 4 hours later was Port Stephens/Nelsons Bay. I found a campsite in Taylors Beach area where I stayed my first night in my camper. I kind of threw everything in when I left Botany so I struggled to get everything to work for me. I cooked Spag Bowl and pasta on the little portable gas stoves which were provided with the van. I had to phone Shaun at Botany as the fridge wasn't working. He talked me though a few scenarios and established that the fuse had blown. I got a new fuse the next morning. The first night sleep was "ok"... New surroundings and new noises etc. Once I had got a new fuse and sorted the fridge I drove up to Nelsons Bay and filmed some pelicans eating fish guts fresh from the fishermen. It was cool to see how they all waited patiently apart from one which snatched 1 whole fish off the work top. They were massive too, first time I have ever seen a wild pelican/s and I was really shocked at their size. I looked around for Koalas but didn't see any. I moved on and went to Taylors Beach which is a secluded selection of small beaches and meandering calm waters. This is also where Denise stayed over Christmas and NY this year so it was great to know that someone I am really close to had also been here. I left here and headed about 40km to Stockton. I had read the night before about sand dunes that resembled being in the Sahara Desert. I spotted them to my left as I was driving along but unfortunately you cant get close to them in a car. Even from the distance of the road which was about 1km away they were huge, towering in the distance and shimmering in the dim sunlight.

From Stockton I drove through the coal works of Newcastle, mega machines working and mega industrial infrastructures drawft everything around it. From there I headed north to Port Macquarie. I had planned to stop at a free campsite in Port Macquarie however when I arrived it was just a layby on the side of the road with no facilities so I looked in my map book and found another free campsite in a place called Ellenborough which was 30km west of Port Macquarie. While driving to Ellenborough I started to become a little worried about how isolated it would be because during the drive from the layby I had only past 1 car. I arrived 45 minutes later. It was grey, raining and the rain was evaporating off the trees on the mountains. When I pulled into the campsite there were 3 or 4 caravans or tin sheds on wheels, with what I can only describe as hill billies sat outside them. One of them had a MASSIVE pair of stained white long johns hanging in front of his van.. I parked up, looked around and thought sod this... Me in a bright orange camper in the middle of nowhere surrounded by hill billies, na, I don't think so, so I headed back to Port Macquarie. So this took me an hour to get into the centre. I saw my first wild kangaroo troop too but didn't get chance to get a picture. I stayed at a campsite directly on the marina and luckily they had an undercover BBQ where I cooked myself sausage and mash. It rained all night I think, it was rather wet underfoot when I woke up.
Once I had showered and got myself sorted and packed the van up I headed to the beaches of Port Macquarie. There was a small rest bite from the rain and I managed to get out walk along one of the beaches. The sea was crazy, really choppy and the tide was going out so fast. I watched a floating palm leave being dragged out to sea so rapidly. I bumped into a couple from Sydney and chatted to them about my travels. They had been to England a few years ago and loved it as much as I was loving Australia. I also met a woman who moved from Liverpool in 1979 to Sydney and she was telling me that she's just moved to Port Macquarie and that how moving to Oz was the best decision she has ever made. The rain started to come in so I hopped in the van and intended to go to the koala hospital but once I got there I convinced myself that I didn't want to see them being handled and wanted to see wild ones in their natural habitat so I sat looking for campsites in Coffs Harbour (next destination) for pretty much an hour. I left, filled the tank and headed north to Coffs Harbour. On the way there I passed another traveller in an orange spaceships camper van, they were frantically flashing their lights and waving which was cool although I had a fresh mug of tea in my hand so when I went to flash my lights my window wipers decided to give them a wave instead as the stalks are on the opposite side from the cars in the UK. Thoughts went through my head "I wonder where they are going, must be Sydney, I wonder where they have been, I wonder if they wonder how amazing my journey has been, I wonder how long they have had their van and how they've been getting on with it, I wonder if they want to hear all my stories"... It then dawned on me that my journey wasn't any better and probably no more significant than theirs or anyone else's. Its easy to get caught up in travelling, is it to feed to my ego or is it to gain a better understanding of life and fulfil my needs etc.

I eventually made it to Coffs Harbour. I parked up in the town centre and googled some campsites. First one I called, Koala Villas, had pitches available so I rocked up there. Rosie, the owner was lovely but the campsite was a tad worn. She said "have you got any mozzy spray" I kinda laughed and said "yeah why" and she replied "They are out with a vengeance because of the rain"... She wasn't wrong. Within the first 10 mins of being there I had been bitten about 4 times so I got back in the van and drove back into town to Big W Store to get extra spray and some outside repellent as I wanted to have my door open due to the humidity. When I got back I cooked myself pasta and sausages in a Nandos Peri Peri sauce which was lovely. I finished off my box of wine and got into bed concerned as to whether I would wake up eaten alive or not but luckily I didn't. I woke up a bit groggy from the wine and thought gheeze, how much did I drink but as soon as I was up and showered I felt right as rein again. I decided that I wasn't going to have breakfast there due to the mozzys so I went to a rest area at the beach which was lovely. Had cornflakes and a nice cup of tea on top of the cliffs overlooking the stormy ocean.
After breakfast I headed to the Botanical Gardens, I was still searching for a Koala. The gardens were great, loads of fresh smelling flowers and pine and cool mangrove walks. I nearly walked, face first, into a massive spiders web with a huge orange and brown spider in the middle. While I was trying to take a picture of this beast I noticed a bright orange bug thing on the floor by me. I thought that's cool and tried to get a photo but then it came at me.... I shat my pants as I was also conscious that if I turn and run I'm going to run face first Into that spiders web which I was already in fear of so I didnt know which way to run... I felt like a right dick as I did propa shit myself and ran like a right faggot but man, everything in Oz is bloody supersize! I still didnt see a koala! I left the gardens with the intension of going to a surf board museum but I couldn't find it so I headed north on another 2 hour road trip to Yamba. Before Yamba I got off the pacific high way to locate a free campsite in a place called Lawrence, 13km outside of Grafton. I got lost and was aided by an Aussie police man who had been following me for the last 15 minutes. He told me that I had to turn around and get the ferry across the river in order to get to Lawrence. The ferry was a cable car track and was free. When I got to Lawrence I found the so called "free campsite" but to my dissatisfaction there was a sign saying "camping strictly prohibited".... Damn you Camps 7 campsite guide book.... Everytime you have been wrong! I was getting board of driving now as I had been on the road for over 2 hours so I headed further north to Yamba.... But, about 50km later I thought "where the bloody hell is the turn off for Yamba"... It turns out I had driven past it and was about 25km past it so I checked on my sat nav (obviously my sat nav wasnt on before) how far Byron Bay was from my current position and luckily it was only 1 hour away so I trecked on. Got to Byron Bay about 4pm. Rocked up at Nomads Art Factory campsite. Its not a campsite at all. Its a carpark.... I get a discount apparently, $10 a night... "Oh no sorry sir as you are on your own you still have to pay the full rate of $20" "What, why" I asked in frustration... It seems that solo travelers always get mugged off. I then had to pay a deposit. I asked "why do you need a deposit when im only parking in your carpark"... "Incase you check out late sir" Oh and we need a credit card as a deposit just incase you stay longer and dont pay"... Gosh, what a ball ache, anyone would have thought I was checking into the ritz but as it happens Im not and im currently in a carpark rammed with campervans. I didn't fancy cooking my dinner here so I drove to the beach carpark which was quieter and set up my cookers out the back of the van with the tailgate up. I cooked Chunky Veg spaghetti Bolognese, 3 plates later I felt sick as a dog! I cheekily washed my dishes in the beach wash areas, went to the bottle shop and got 6 Coronas and headed back to the site. Its now 21.55pm, raining hard again and I still haven't seen a Koala! My search continues.......

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Photos

Lighthouse Look Out Point at Byron Bay
Gash Gash Gash Weather