Days travelling from Byron Bay to Sydney

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Leaving Byron Bay on Thursday 21st December quite early, we set off south - our final destination in 3 days time, Sydney.

We tried as best as possible to stay off the major highways to see the 'real Australia.' We tried on each day to find picturesque places to have lunch and stay for the night, Thursday lunch was in Coffs Harbour, after a recommendation from a friend, although we couldnt really see what the fuss was all about really just any old harbour you would find anywhere, but it was a beautiful hot day and our sandwich out of our cool box in the boot went down ok! We had a wander around the marina and a nature reserve and decided to head off.

Continuing south, we rested our heads in a small place called South West Rocks, not far from Kempsey. This was pretty much a deserted town after 5.00pm and had only 1 high street in the whole place! We only had to spend a small amount of time looking around before we had covered the place, one location we found was an old abandoned prison which appeared to have been taken over by wild kangaroos, they were amazing, and so much bigger then we expected, over 6ft tall. The best part about the site was the fact we parked Big Jim virtually on the beach! It meant Dan could get straight out of bed and go swim in the sea at 7am!

At this particular camp site we were staying, we received a number of odd reactions to 'Jim': two young boys maybe 12 years old, questioning us as to 'what a Brazillian was?' to which Dan tactfully informed them it was a South American Tourist Company! The second reaction was directed at Dan, unfortunately while in the middle of brushing his teeth 'So, your a muff diver too' this guy proclaimed quite cheerfully, but as Dan had a tooth brush and foam in his mouth, he didnt have a chance to respond!

After South West Rocks we continued travelling down the coast - stopping to swim in a brilliant river inlet near Forster where there were wild Bottle Nosed Dolphins in the Water!

After a short stop and being very concious of the amount of milage we had yet to cover, we set off to get closer to Sydney for the night.

We reached our next target late in the afternoon - Port Stephens. Our bed for the night was a camp site close to some amazing sand dunes simliar to the ones we had sand boarded back on Morton Island, but not as tall. Watching the sun set and the last of the surfers leave the beach was beautiful. The Sand Dunes are called Stockton Dunes - and are the largest and longest moving coastal mass in the world - it's like looking across a desert. Many scenes from Mad Max were filmed here.

Back at the camp site, we were lucky enough to spot a wild Koala in a tall tree. They camouflage so well, they are very difficult to spot and being so shy, Dan's eye sight was definately proved to be well honed!

Our final day on the road was spent heading down through Newcastle to the Northern suburbs of Sydney. We spent our last night of the road trip just north of Sydney in a place called Narabeen not far from Manly beach. At this particular camp site the fashion for men with families seemed to be tight speedos with a nice detailed pattern on, matched with a fetching T-shirt, not a good look.

Driving along many of the straight empty roads down the coast, its amazing how everything starts to look the same. The other thing to mention is the lack of other cars on the roads! Writing this now sat in a city, its so weird to be around so much traffic again.

The other thing to menton is the great Guilliatt/ Barbary team work over the road trip, Clare at the helm of 'Jim' and Dan 'The Navigator' with maps and leaflets to hand. Dan does get disgusted he doesn't get to drive enough though!

Since leaving Brisbane, we covered over 1,000 miles and managed to plot our route down into the Sydney CBD by crossing over the Sydney Harbour Bridge at dawn.

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