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Published: August 6th 2007
After a couple of weeks it was time to leave Sydney in search of golden sandy beaches and sunshine (especially after the weather we had in Sydney). Road trip time.
You know, we belong together, me and the Hyundai Getz. After the very unmanly car from the last trip I upgraded to a Silver Hyundai Getz. Grrrr. Oh well, next time maybe. But for now it's
you and I for ever and ever Getzy.
Picked up our shiny car in South Sydney and made it to the northside fine but it took 40 minutes and a lot of wrong turns to get to the Reid's gaff before we could set off. You would think that
no matter where you are that if you're heading off on a 3000km road trip you would take a map. Not us. I said to Mrs Deane "
You're my guiding star" and we headed off into the sunshine. Needless to say, we stopped after an hour to get a map or two.
The other thing with our road trip was our accomodation. I said to Mrs Deane "
And from the very first moment I saw you" I knew you were a classy lady
so it was back out with our classy A$13 tent. Now less than a dollar a night.
First stop on the road trip? Where else but Ettalong Beach for the ferry across the water to Palm Beach. This is one of the greatest beaches in the world. Not only is it beautiful but it is where the second best Aussie soap is filmed - not Prisoner Cell Block H but Home & Away. Superstars such as Tug, Shane, Angel, Damo (who went on to star in The Matrix), Alf Stewart (flaming gallah), Pippa, Shannon (Isla Fisher) and best of all the V-Man himself Vinny all plyed their trade here on the hallowed sands. When I first saw Alf's name above the surf club,
I never felt such emotion. All fantastic and I can now say I've swam at Summer Bay.
The ferry back was very choppy despite the sunshine -
like walking on air. And then it was back on the road and heading north through some beautiful scenery.
At this point in time I would like to say a big thankyou to all our loyal blog readers out there wherever you may be. Your support and
fine comments mean everything to us. I mean,
just to know, just to know, you are there means so much. Keep up the good work. You'll be glad to know that we have had over 5000 hits on the blog since we started - you're the real stars.
Anyway, I digress. Landed at Budgewoi (a little place) for our first night of camping. Put up the tent, still looking fine (and colourful). A touch nippy on the first night and Mrs Deane kept badgering me saying "
hold me in your arms, don't let me go". I was fine though - must be my internal temperature settings.
The whole way up the coast there are a lot of familiar places. We passed signs for Wyoming, Wisconsin, Niagara, Swansea, Toronto, Copacobana and Newcastle which also had suburbs of Jesmond, Stockton and Wallsend. All very familiar.
After Budgewoi we were back on the road early and heading on our way to Nelson Bay. Stopped off in a little place and grabbed some essential camping supplies and also had my second hair cut of the trip. You'll have to let me know if you like it or if you want the
coifferred, buoffant style back again - bear in mind it will take a while to grow. Still working on my beard though.
Nelson Bay is a stunning, beautiful place. Beaches galore, sunshine, warm waters, everything you could possibly want.
I want to stay forever. We started with a picnic at Soldiers Point on an isolated gorgeous beach with the gentle lapping of the waves and then headed past Salamander Bay to Shoal Bay to sort out our camp site. Plenty of time left in the day to have a decent snorkel and swim in the sea and chill in the sunshine. The new health regime continued with a quick jog up and down the beach.
In the evening we headed out to the cinema, our first trip to the flicks on our entire journey. Not too much on so we settled for Shooter with Mark Wahlberg, famous for being Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and brother of Donny, of NKOTB fame, a favourite of Sara's I'm sure. Lots of guns, shooting and action and wasn't too bad. The cinema was one of these one-horse-town places and the three staff there looked thoroughly bored as they served the
8 people who watched the film. Our one trailer was for the new Will Ferrell film. Will. Not. Be. Watching. That. Rubbish. The man is just not funny. I would rather watch Billy Crystal.
In the morning we headed over for a gander at One Mile Beach and then over to Stockton Beach which has the largest shifting coastal sand dune system in the Southern hemisphere. This is where I tried out my new toy - a bodyboard. I'm a sucker for a bargain and at 6 quid this was almost as good value as our tent. I'm still working on the technique but should have it nailed shortly. I've even started teaching Mrs Deane and passing on my vast amount of knowledge.
Next up was Toboggan Park Hill with a nifty toboggan ride obviously. And a maze. We had a couple of go's on the ride and then headed to the maze. We decided to do it seperately and it wasn't long before Mrs Deane got lost. She claims she finished before me and only headed back in to do a longer route round. Needless to say, the good knight, Dave had to go into rescue mode
and I followed Mrs Deane's voice and a stick she held in the air to save her.
After that... Time to head north again. It seems like our Oz trip is flying past. Our last stop is Cairns and we seem to be getting
closer each day. Our next stop was Port Macquarie, another stunning place. I was still in a bit of a mood after the football result. If only we could have just played them at home instead of both
home & away. Oh well, just the title and FA Cup to play for. I don't think I'll watch the final but I will be supporting Milan (can't have those Mickeys winning another one). Forza Milano.
Got to Port Macquarie around 4pm and had enough sunshine to pitch our tent and then head out to Flynn's beach to watch the sunset. Having bought an eskie earlier in the day we now had chilled wine and beer at our convenience and to celebrate I cooked us some steak, spuds and beans (with a side salad for health reasons). Chatted to a crazy Aussie couple and chilled for the rest of the evening.
Up very early this
morning for one of Mrs Deane's highlights or must-dos. The Koala Hospital. It's the only one in New South Wales and they look after up to 90 injured koalas at any one time. Over 100 volunteers work there and there's no funding from the government. They start off the morning with a feeding session at 8am so we were there (the only tourists) to have a watch. All very sweet with injuries and illnesses ranging from blindness, chlamydia, broken bones, bush fire burns to RTA koalas. Sterling work done by everyone there. Mr Strangewood, you would have liked it here.
More exercise after that as we did a 4km walk along the coast taking in the views and some of the beaches. This was where I gave Mrs Deane her first bodyboard lesson and I had my second go at it. Loads of nice beaches - Town beach, Shelley beach, Lighthouse beach, the list goes on. In the afternoon we went to the coastal rainforest national park for a walk through the trees and ended a fine day watching the sun go down at Lighthouse Beach, under the lighthouse obviously.
Road trip is going well so far.
Keep the faith,
The Deanes
P.S. There are a few extra photos to go on in the next couple of days.
P.P.S. There was no mention of it but hopefully you picked up on the fact that the last blog was written by Mrs Deane. Hopefully the shopping at Cotton On gave it away.
P.P.P.S. No new beers due to the health kick.
P.P.P.P.S. There were some new salad leaves but the packet just said mixed asian greens and didn't elaborate so we are unable to judge them.
P.P.P.P.P.S. Off to the supermarket next so will look for some new salad leaves
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Jan
non-member comment
Hi David and Cathy You seem to be having a lot of fun. The North coast of Australia is our favourite road trip. The toboggan ride reminds me of when Rebecca and Gemma would have been about 8 and 9 years old. My cousins from England were visiting us and Rebecca went with Sue and Gem with Barry. It was the same toboggans as the ones in the photo and Gem kept telling Barry to go faster so that they would bang into Sue and Rebecca who were in the toboggan in front of them. Even at that age she was a little daredevil. Enjoy the rest of the trip up to Cairns and keep on writing with all the news. Take care. Jan and Peter