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Published: February 3rd 2010
We have started the road trip - Australia is so big - many miles or kilometres between each place! We were sad to leave Sydney - it was a great place and I would recommend it to anyone heading over this way! I dont know if we will come back though, as there are so many other places to see! Melbourne and Perth have been highly recommended to us by people we have met.
Our first stop was Port McQuarrie -we stayed a couple of nights and the highlight there, was a visit to the Koala Hospital. We were shown around by a very knowledgable man and saw lots of Koalas who had been rescued due to being abandoned, being in road accidents or having been in a fight with a dog.
The hospital look after them until they are better then take them back to the wild. We saw 2 'babies' in home care where they live with a volunteer 24/7, and are fed every 2 hours until they weigh over 3 Kilos then they are gradually naturalised. Rob decided he would be a home carer if he lived in Australia!!
We had a good evening meal in a tapas bar 'The Boardwalk' in Port Mc Quarrie - it was cooked by a Scottish chef - Ian -who had come to Oz with his Mum on a 10pound passage but things had not worked out and he was taken into care and had to look after his younger brother. His brother is now doing well with a lovely family and Ian, because of his training as a chef ,has been all over the world. He frequently cooks in London and goes back to see family occasionally in Edinburgh. While in this restaurant there was a huge tropical storm with incessant thunder and lightening. We stayed put!! and when it eventualy went off Ian kindly gave us a lift back to our little hotel!
As we drove North, the countryside was very like Scotland and sometimes it even rained, though the rain was warm and we had to have AC on in the car!!
Often the road gave us glimpses of the Pacific Ocean and sometimes we would take a detour and go on to the beach. The beaches are truly magnificent and go on for miles with the white rollers and lots of surfers looking for the best wave. Where do these people get all their holidays from? I ve decided they all must work flexitime! Rob thinks they might be on the dole and have chosen this surfing life!
It would seem that the recession has not really struck here yet although there are a few articles in the papers which suggest that it may be beginning to have an impact now. Perhaps all these people on the beach are out of work but I doubt it! they have such beautiful surfboards!!
After Port McQuarrie we drove to Bellingen and from there we explored the surrounding country side which was diverse! We walked in the rainforests, spent time at the beaches and visited "historic" towns. Australias history is very recent as the European settlers did not arrive until the late 1700's so things did not get going until the eary 1800's with the convicts! There were different varieties! of convicts and the ones who behaved got dispensations and were able to setlle with families etc. There were also artisan and artist convicts who helped to build some of the few victorian buildings and craftman houses.
Why is Australia a commonwealth country?, indeed why was Britain so presumptous as to append countries in the way they did. Australia seems to be tolerant of the Royal Family and there is usually a picture of one or other of them in any newspaper you pick up. William seems to feature rather a lot. Surely the time has come to give Australia back to the Australians ?
It was interesting on Australia Day that the Prime Mininister offered an apology to the aboriginal people for the way they were treated- Im sure many people , Australians too, will agree that this apology is too little too late.
We stayed in Bellingen for 3 nights in the Federal Hotel and our room, clean and nice, our room was above the bar - as it was the weekend, the bar was noisy, however luckily, on Saturday night there was good music which of course Rob joined in with, so we stayed in the bar, until the end! Whose surprised?!
Bellingen like most of the little towns around about was a 'two bit' town, the kind of town you used to see on TV Westerns that my father likedto watch in the 60's!
One main street, a few shops (about 8) all selling all manner of things, and looking like Charity Shops with peculiar unfashionable clothes in the windows, and a few household artifacts in the back! It had one supermarket and one pharmacy so I suppose it was just as well we werent there for long!
We arrived in Byron Bay yesterday and it is very different again. We are staying at the Amigos Guest house which is lovely- very friendly owners, with a mexican feel to it as Anny the owner is Mexican. Its a lovely wooden house in a garden with hammocks and garden furniture. The room has a deck and there are bikes for us to use. Byron Bay is nice and flat to cycle around and has a magnificent beach which is safe for swimming so thats what we are going.
The town itself is New Age hippy with lots of wonderful shops all smelling of Patchouli and incense and offering Body cleansing therapies and Soul enhancing workshops as well as lots of lovely jewellry, clothes, candles, soaps and cards and much more. Catriona, my sister and Kathleen my neice would just adore it!! We will have to come back with them sometime with lots of money!!Lots of music every night too!!!
We are here for another couple of days then going to Noosa for 5 days. We have a town house there and I think it is slightly more sophisticated (not so many young backpackers) - we may not be the oldest kids on the block there for a change!! I hope not , anyway!!
Sorry to say it but the weather is beautiful - sunny and warm but it is Australia's summer and it does rain occasionally!!
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penny
non-member comment
wow
wow i want to be there too! love the sound of byron bay - sounds like glastonbury-on-the-pacific not too much happening here during the week - still spending lots of energy tryng to keep warm - off to see your cats at the w/e as have tickets for rugby (Scot v France), pictures and glass to collect plus a couple of flats to view (my accountant pressing me to buy-to-let) plus we need another dose of civilisation- its proving quite a lifeline for us. big thank you. your sister tricia popped into the gallery the other day to say hello - do keep an eye out forany australian artefacts you think we might like for the galleria - and enjoy, you deserve it - love panda ps do you want to go and see mark knopfler in glasgow may 21?