Australia

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It was sadly quite exciting to be getting our hair done. We hadn’t been in one place for long enough to get an appointment which had been driving Matt mad as his hair had been getting longer and longer, so he had started growing a beard in protest.

By lunchtime I left with lovely sleek, smooth hair, and he looked smart and clean at last (apart from his dodgy beard which he promised to shave off ).

We decided to avoid spending any more money so went to the beach to enjoy the sun. The sand was busy compared with other beaches we’d seen but the atmosphere was amazing. It had the vibe of Peranporth but the sun was hotter, the sea was a more intense blue and the waves much higher. It definitely looked like the place to be seen, but not in a shallow LA way if that makes sense. It felt friendly, young and hip.

We were both falling in love with the place.

I had a paddle in the ocean, wishing we had a bit more time so I could hire some surfing gear and jump in. The water was lovely and cool compared to the temperature of the sun and I was tempted to just lay down in the water and stay there for the afternoon but we’d (reluctantly) decided move on up the coast after looking at the map and seeing how much further we still had to travel.

It was mid afternoon when we went back to the van and set off on the coastal route recommended by our hairdresser. We stopped off at a place called Hastings Point where a tangle of creeks met the ocean, banked by sandy shores. We had a walk around the calm lagoon, which was almost empty apart from a few families with young kids enjoying it as a shallow paddling pool. The beach was empty, and there were no lifeguards on patrol. Gven that there were raging waves, it didn‘t look a safe place to swim. It was amazing to be in a place so beautiful on a hot sunny day and see it almost deserted.

We got back in the van, with our feet covered in sand, and drove a bit further up the coast to Tweed where we settled on a campsite at the side of a billabong.

The weather was still lovely so we grabbed a beer and sat outside making the most of it. We enjoyed a romantic meal sitting under a shady tree next to our van, while watching the birds around us. We saw some kookaburras and heard all kinds of weird and wonderful sounds. As night fell we saw large bats flying overheard and heard the noisy hum of the beetles.

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