More driving

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Spent the day driving from Tweed Head in the Gold Coast to Port Macquarie. Stopped briefly in Ulmarra which and a wonderful old pub/hotel.

Monday we spent the day in Port Macquarie. Had a wonderful start to the day... found brewed coffee and in a place that we thought we'd never find a great cup of java, Starbucks! We know that when we leave North Amercan soil that the brewed coffee that we've become accustom to may not be available. But latte, cappuccino, espresso, and therefore, tall blacks are widely available.

This could be seen as an example of quality over quantity. N.A. culture tends towards quantity. One of the first things that we noticed when we arrived in Cairns was how few obese people there are. Over time we noticed that Aussies just don't in general terms consume as much as we in N.A. We've noticed a difference in the grocery stores from the serving sizes to the selection. Rarely do you see jumbo size offered and the junk food aisle is a lot smaller with much less selection. The price of groceries could be a factor. For the most part fruit, veggies, and protein are less expensive compared to junk food; e.g. chocolate bar cost between $2.30 and $2.80; a jumbo bag of chips is about $8.40; and a 2l of coke is about $3.20.

We are thinking that there might be a health tax on junk food like there is a SIN tax on alcohol and cigarettes back home in Canada.

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Photos

Ulmarra Hotel
Love the architecture of the old hotels/pubs.

Port Macquarie
Overlooking the Hastings River flowing into the Pacific Ocean. It is also our campervan site.

Port Macquarie
Overlooking the Hastings River flowing into the Pacific Ocean. It is also our campervan site.

Very common type of home
I love how many of the older homes in Australia have porches. Another place to enjoy a wobbly and chat with friends and neighbors.

Harbour at Port Maquarie
Just north of our campervan site was this harbour walk which led us to our morning fresh coffee house.