Surfs Up

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My first stop after Sydney was Port Macquarie which is an eight hour bus ride north and a must see on the backpacker route. On my first day there I borrowed a bike from the hostel & cycled for several hours along the pacific coastline. Every five minutes I came across another idyllic beach which was usually deserted, Oz just has so much space that there’s just no need for crowds. That afternoon I cycled over to the Koala Hospital where sick and injured koalas are nursed back to health, needless to say it was quite cool.
The following morning I signed up for my first surf lesson at Port Macquarie surf school. To start with they put you on a very stable long wide board and teach you how to paddle and catch a wave as it comes in. Once I got the jist of that I was shown how to stand up, its more like jumping to your feet up, after a lot of trial and error I managed to stand up for a few seconds without looking like a complete fool. It’s such a great sport I really can’t wait to have another go, only problem is I’m still knackered two days afterwards.
I stopped of briefly at Coffs Harbour a bit further up the coast with the intention of carrying on to Byron’s Bay but a combination of school holidays, a blues festival and Easter meant Byron’s was chocker. I’ve ended up in a small inland town called Bellingen which only has a population of a couple of thousand and is surrounded by gorgeous countryside known as New England. It’s so nice here I plan to spend the next few days chilling out by the river and having a good look around. This morning I went on a 7km hike through the rainforest at the nearby Dorrigo National Park, the views were fantastic and we must have walked past or under ten waterfalls along the way. The best thing in the forest was a tree called the strangler fig which uses a large host tree as a climbing frame eventually killing it, once the host tree has rotted away all that’s left is a completely hollow fig 100ft+ high.
Happy Easter

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Comments

[Clem]

Strangler Fig
Yes! I saw them too last year - isn't it awesome!! happy easter darling will, sending you loads of love xxxx

[Victoria]

Happy Easter Will!
Hey Will, I hope that you are having a chocolate-packed Easter down under?! It's been great to receive postcards from you and to read your blog entries- keep them coming! I have had a lovely 4-day weekend off work and been to visit the Nottingham crew for a night out. Also seen Alice briefly and she is fine too. My parents are on holiday in Portugal, so we've had the run of the house for 2 weeks over Easter! Great! Where are you planning on going next? Be sure to fit in Fraser Island and the Whitsundays - both are fantastic parts of the world! Take care, love Vic x

[Liz Wagstaff]

It all sounds too good to be true! Love Liz