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Published: October 30th 2006
Wednesday 18th October Laura - A refreshing cold shower started the day. Did I say refreshing? I meant torturous. We drove through some random little towns called Grafton and Woolgoolga (wouldn't you just love to live there?!) before stopping at 'The Big Banana' for a photo. I don't think that needs any explanation.
We pulled into the seaside town of Coffs Harbour for lunch and parked up near the marina. Connected to the marina is a tiny island with lookout points over the sea. From there we saw whales in the far distance blowing up puffs of water. The island is supposed to be home to thousands of mutton birds too, who bury their nests under ground. We didn't so much as catch a glimpse of them though. 'Coffs' town itself was nothing to write home about, but we did have a little poke around there for a while too.
Our scenic rest stop for the night was at yet another BP truckers stop! How romantic. We cooked some pasta in the forecourt and let out a huge sigh of relief that the place didn't blow up during tea!
Thursday 19th October Laura -
Got up bright and early and said a tearful adieu to the picturesque BP garage. Our first stop for the day was at Port Macquarie, another seaside town. We didn't really have that much interest in the town itself but had made the journey because we'd read that there was a koala hospital there. It wasn't a conventional hospital, and not at all what I'd expected, but then I've never been to an animal hospital before, let alone a koala hospital! Instead of wards or hospital rooms there were fenced off areas in a grassy 'yard', each housing one or more poorly cuties. Their maladies ranged from chlamydia to bush fire burns, with alot also injured from dog attacks and traffic accidents. You couldn't get very close to them for obvious reasons but there was a huge window to the 'operating theatre' where we saw one having it's blood taken. I almost expected Rolf Harris to jump out at any moment and give a sympathetic running commentary on the procedure!
After that we went on a wild goose chase to find 'The Big Bull', which wasn't in the place located on the map. Disappointed by the lack of bull,
we drove on to Myall Great Lakes National Park. These consist of a series of massive lakes near the coast. We took the designated scenic drive around the lakes, stopping for lunch near the towns of Forster and Tuncurry, where dolphins are often seen playing under a bridge on their way out to sea (we didn't spot any). It was really lovely and down one of the roads we found a long stretch of golden beach that was completely deserted. It was perfect! If we'd have known about it beforehand we would have planned to spend some time there, but we wanted to make it to Sydney before it got dark.
Driving through rush hour traffic we made it to the Harbour Bridge as the sun was setting. It felt quite strange being back in Sydney, driving past the place we worked briefly. It would have been nice really to pop back to the hostel and see some of the familiar faces there but we needed to find somewhere to park up for the night. No prizes for guessing where we ended up. Yes it was the old favorite, a BP truckers stop! We made some friends with a
group of hilarious truckers who tried to convince us that they ride kangaroos like horses and that there are dangerous bears that live in trees called 'dropbears' (because they jump out of trees and scratch at your face). We cooked in the forecourt again, with no regards for safety whatsoever as our stomachs were rumbling!
Friday 20th October Paul - Today we drove onto the Blue Mountains, about 100km outside Sydney. It was a wonderful day, clear blue skies and boiling hot. We stopped at Glenbrook to pick up some information from the tourist office there and ended up going on a 8km hike to see some Aboriginal caves!
The walk through the bush was pretty overgrown, and when we arrived at 'Red Hand Caves' we were startled to see a couple with a small baby! They had hiked all this way too! Secretly hiding our wheezes and panting for breath we made light conversation with them before viewing the caves themselves. They were very interesting to look at, lots of red hand prints and drawings.
Wentworth Falls was our next breathtaking stop off. It had incredible views over Jamison valley and beyond. We did
another few walks as we were feeling energetic, taking in the amazing views, with trees of every shade of green. Drove on to Sublime Point and there's no point in telling you how spectacular the views were from here. The whole day was full of breathtaking moments. Finally we made it to Echo Point to view the famous 3 sisters which were definately worth the drive up here. It's a wonderful rock formation with fantastic views over Jamison valley!
You're probably all bored with our amazing views but one last one was a SPECTACULAR, every colour you can think of, sunset over the valley. It was perfect.
Ended up sleeping at the side of the road, near a place called Gordon Falls, it was probably illegal but we're cool like that now.
Saturday 21st October Paul - Up bright and very early as I was slightly concerned (Laura would say VERY concerned) that we would be done for illegal camping. Screeched away from our camp for the night and went for one last look at the amazing views at Echo Point. It was incredibly misty this morning so we decided, quite randomly, that
we'd drive to Canberra. Now bear in mind that we had no idea what was in Canberra, or even if we could drive there in a day, but off we went.
Four hours later and after much singing along to Meat Loaf and The Beatles we pulled into Canberra, the capital of Australia, giving us just enough time to see a couple of sights. First up was the National Museum of Australia, soon to be renamed the Propaganda Centre for the racists in Oz. It was ridiculous. I've never seen such yawn worthy exhibits in my life, coupled with being told every two exhibits that we should help to integrate those bloody foreigners. Too right.
Parliament House wasn't much better although it was fun to walk around inside and pretend to walk into the Primeminister's office (even though we have no idea what he looks like). Said goodbye to Canberra and headed off towards the Snowy Mountains and Kosciuszko National Park.
Laura was pleading for a shower at this point so happy to oblige we pulled into a village (population 32, honestly) and asked at the very weird local shop if there were showers we could use
round here. He nodded and pointed to the back. After asking if hot water was available ("course we bloody 'ave mate") we hopped in. Fearing a scene out of Psycho, I was made to stand guard whilst Laura showered before I had my turn. Hurried out of there sharpish, rather afraid that Mr Old Man Freaky would cook us for dinner on the 'barby' and had a stunningly beautiful drive towards Cooma and rested for the night.
Laura - Paul forgot to mention the freaky cockatoo outside the shop who kept on screeching "hello" at us. What was freaky about it was that he only did it when your back was turned!
Sunday 22nd October Paul - Let me just say the Snowy Mountains are amazing. Some of the best scenery we have seen in Australia so far. The Alpine Way winds it's way slowly through the mountains and we drove through there today.
After a wonderful drive to Jindabye we stopped for some awe inspiring views from a lookout over a lake below. It's the coldest we'd been in Australia (about 5 degrees) and Laura was feeling it. As many layers on
as possible and having a good whinge about the temperature seemed to keep her going.
After stopping at Scammell's Lookout (closed but Laura sneaked in a photo), Geehi Rest Area and a couple of other lookouts we arrived at the end of this breath taking road and drove through even more amazing countryside, alongside the Murray River, until we reached Albury.
A little side note here that we did turn off for an amazing lookout on the way to Albury and saw deer running through the forest and a kangeroo bounded beside our car for about 200 metres as well!
Had a quick nose around Albury and after a big BBQ we parked up at the BP rest stop and went to sleep.
Monday 23rd October Laura - Today we drove all the way to Melbourne, which wasn't incredibly exciting. We did make a few random stops on the way though, and they amused us as much as usual.
The first stop was at a tiny little town (I forget the name) where the famous Ozzy outlaw Ned Kelly held up a bank. We had only pulled up for some petrol and so
Paul could stretch his long legs. The petrol station doubled up as the tourist info though. We knew we must be in for a treat in this town because there was an excited looking bus load of old pensioners pottering around the place. A few handy tourist leaflets later and we were racing the bus to the site of the famous bank. Unfortunately we couldn't find it (which is a remarkable feat really, considering the size of the 'town').
Unphased by our disappointing stop we drove on to find The Ned Kelly Hedge Maze. Paul thought it would be fun to get ourselves lost in a maze in the middle of nowhere. We finally found the place down a quiet road a few Kms off the highway. Although it said 'open' outside, a barking dog and the grumbling of a man inside the office asking "who is it?" told us that they didn't get too many visitors. We didn't actually go in because it was too pricey for our meagre budget.
We arrived in Melbourne as the sun was setting and pulled up into a trusty old BP station. We watched Neighbours on the fuzzy portable TV that
came with the van, then cooked tea as the sun set. It was a glorious setting - the petrol pumps, the garage itself, and the train station next door. Aaaaaahhhhhh.....
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Auntie Maree
non-member comment
Halloween
Its Halloween night here. Remember when you, Lisa and Michael did the rounds. Do they have it in Aussie, wear the mask and away you go for an easy bob or two, especially if they are as generous as uncle derek. Like BB King (not sure its exactly what I'd like to travel in though) but what a wonderful experience and likewise the driving. Love the photos (some lovely ones of you both), the cute koalas, whales and the scenic views. Lovely to be part of your travels and keep up the good work. Take care with lots of love to you both xx