Pushing North

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Louise's Section

Ahh sitting in the sunshine, with a cool breeze and contemplating a glass of wine...this is the life.

We are now midway between Sydney and Brisbane in a place called Harrington.

We haven't done much apart from strolling about and looking at the local sights except going on a dolphin/whale watching cruse. It was nice to get out but my god the weather was shit!! I got to see the back of a dolphin and a baby whale and 3 fur seals, all for $60!! I know they cannot guarantee good sightings but I was still a bit disappointed. Oh well, hopefully more whales to come in New Zealand.

I have further clarified to myself that I do not like Pelicans, they have evil eyes (see picture to demonstrate said evilness).

We had a lovely time in the Blue Mountains and as much as Jo and Robyn probably can't believe it, the vertical train is still there in Katoomba and yes it still plays the Indiana Jones music on the way down.

By the way Gill, I finally had a Dominos!! Wished I hadn't, for some reason they do a deal for about £4 to have square pizza of about 12 inches, this sounds great until you get it and it turns out to be made of puff pastry!!! I nearly cried and haven't quite forgiven them so I am sticking to other pizza suppliers at the mo (oh and I swear it is only the UK that has garlic and herb dip!!!).

We've been in Port Macquarie for the past few days. We have done some walking along the beach, whale spotting (I saw one) and our favourite thing was visiting the Koala hospital which is free and gets no funding at all from the government which is a disgrace. It is the only Koala hospital of its kind in the country. We read some sad stories about some patients and some funny ones of recurring patients that keep getting into mischief. The best part was that we timed it perfectly for a new patient to be brought back out into the hospital vet room for blood tests. We could see this really cute fella just sitting there through the glass not looking at all scared of the needle or the staff helping him. This was possibly the cutest Koala we had seen yet and I happily donated some money.

We're now in Southwest Rocks, heading up to Nambuca Heads (I keep calling it Sambuca Heads) and then onto Bellingen to see if the poor residents have finally got over the leaving of my ickle sis.

Chris's Section

Hello readers. When we left you we were about to hit the Blue Mountains. They acquired this name due to the blue hue covering the hills and valleys, which is produced (apparently) by eucalyptus oil evaporating. I've always wanted to use the word 'hue' in a sentence - another ambition fulfilled! The views were pretty spectacular. Lou persuaded me to visit Scenic World, which is essentially more views combined with vertical trains and cable cars. It was ok I suppose. I'm not sure how much scenery I could take in a day, but it was a lot of 'scenic' for the money. We were looking forward to some pretty roads through the mountains, but we were disappointed. It's more like the M25. We skirted past Sydney, which was a strange feeling. We're returning in about 5 weeks to drop off the van and stay with my friends Paul & Rita. Should be cool.

We then headed to the lovely Wisemans Ferry and then onto Port Stephens. As Lou mentioned, we went on a Whale Spotting cruise. It was quite pricey and just our luck that the weather turned shitty. Who'd have thought whales don't like the rain?!! We did see a couple, but it was more a case of 'there she doesn't blow' and we were left a bit deflated. The only enjoyable part of the day was watching Japanese tourists being horrendously sea sick. Life's small pleasures.

We're now spending our time moving slowly up the coast - no more than about 60k (40 miles) a day. We're really enjoying the small beach towns. They're really pretty and the people who live here are bloody lucky. You can find mile after mile of pristine golden beaches, which are virtually deserted. In terms of action, not a lot to report really, just a chilled-out time. The campsites we're staying in are a little better though. Most have camp kitchens, laundry rooms and even swimming pools. Strangely, many of them play music in the toilets. It's a little off-putting trying to squeeze one out to Elton John's candle in the wind.

As we head further north the weather gradually improves. It's about 22c at the moment, but it feels hotter. The sun is really strong here and I've already caught it a bit. In a week or so we should be approaching Queensland, so I'll have to start slapping on the sun block. In over 6 months in Asia & Oz I've used sun oil about 3 times. This will definitely change here. As I get older, the bigger my forehead becomes. I have to be careful.

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Photos

Poorly Koala
Has got to be the cutest thing ever!

Look how easy...
...I make it look!

Blue Mountains
The Three Sisters

View at Hat Head
This beach is amazing!

Comments

[Mark]

Coffs
If my memory serves me right you should be arriving in Coffs Harbour soon, make sure you get a picture outside the Big Banana - it really is very big!