Sanantone TOURING OZ.

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After finally getting a transfer case from US for the GMC Sierra from Performax Motors at Gympie, we headed off & spent the first two nights of our trip at Esk Caravan Park. Very nice park with a resident koala nestled in a tree above our van. It's the first time in 40 odd years in Oz that we've seen a koala that isn't in a zoo.Esk is a friendly town and had nice warm weather. The next night we spent in a rest area just outside Glen Innes in NSW, gale force winds all night then a thunderstorm but the morning was clear & cold, 9 degrees!!!! We've been to Glen Innes before so wanted to move on.As we drove through the area we commented how much it reminded us of the Salisbury Plains area where Stonehenge is in UK & how the bone chilling wind was the same, & on the southern approaches to Glen Innes we came across a stone monument on Stonehenge Creek, seems like others thought the same!! We headed down the Ne England Highway then turned onto the Oxley Highway towards Port Macquarie. Very windy road, many hairpin bends for 50 klms, glad when we got to the coast.We could see why Captain Thunderbolt a famous bushranger had picked the area for a hideout.Nice scenery, lots of trees & caves. Stayed overnight at a rest area at Blacksmiths Inn near Taree, a nice pub where you can stay in a large area adjacent to the pub as long as you spend a gold coin at the pub. Next morning our friends Ken & Julie who hail from Victoria & we met on the road at Groper Creek in Qld. Ken had seen a caravan park on Smiths Lake on the NSW central coast which is where we are for the next week or longer.

Been here almost a week, lovely scenery along the coast & Seal Rocks Lighthouse has awesome views out across the ocea, we did'nt see any whales but apparently its a well know whale watching area.We're looking at where to move on to next but where we wanted to go is where the bushfires have been & still are burning. Unfortunately its bushfire season so wherever we go we have to be watchful as the winds are very strong atm. The fishing has'nt been good because of the strong winds though the guys have headed out today & the wind has just come up so they'll likely be back soon.

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