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Published: April 22nd 2010
31 March to 7 April So we had set up our little camp in the rain at Seal Rocks and were waiting to see who else was going to arrive. We knew that Holly, Matt, Freya (5) and Hunter (3) were coming but little did we know that there was also going to be:
Verity, Ben, Ellouise (5) and Byron (2)
Mark and Oliver (5)
Dave, Jamison (5) and Marcus (3)
Juliete, Ian, Ben (5) and Jake (3)
Cherry, Fred, Cally (5) and Siera (3)
Debs
Dave's wife Ari and their baby daughter Jeanevive (can't spell it!)!
Luckily the weather really picked up and we had a madcap but lovely week of BBQ breakfasts, crazy lunches and BBQ dinners (mainly sausages or raw chicken I have to add!) broken up by kids running around, the boys playing golf, kids running round, the girls going for pedicures and kids running round!!! After a day of being petrified we soon got used to it, and we are now not quite so scared of kids ha!
Everyone packed up and left on the 6 April but we stayed for a little longer and left on the 7 April
and guess what...it rained again...bah.
8 April to 22 April We drove north as far as Port Macquarie for lunch and had a look around. Quite a nice little city/big town. Drove on to Coffs Harbour (home of the big banana and the clog barn!) where we had dinner by the beach and slept in the car! Coffs is really lovely and has some great beaches. We got up pretty early (5.30am) and had breakfast on the beach watching a load of surfers and people going for very early morning jogs. And I thought surfers were lazy!!
Drove up to Byron Bay where we stayed in Byron Beaches campsite. It was only $12 per person per night and the facilities were good, but sadly it was still Easter holidays and it was full of 18yr olds partying. The campsite did have some redeming features, unlimited hot showers, very close to a quiet beach and an organic shop on the premises. Much nicer when there are fewer teenagers staying! We stayed in Byron for a few days, very relaxing, and finally VERY HOT! The couple in the site next to us had a dog called pickles
and came over for a chat. They live in Brighton in Brisbane and gave us their contact details so we could visit them on our way past. So nice!
When we headed off and back up north past Brisbane and Surfers Paradise (the Miami of Australia - all highrises and craziness) and took a little detour to Deception Bay where I used to live. It is so tiny! Drove all over trying to find my old house but found it in the end, still there and still with the verandah that Ian built - fantastic!! We made it to Caloundra but didn't arrange anywhere to stay and so slept in the car down by a lake. Gorgeous location but sadly worst nights sleep ever in the history of ever. WHat we normally do is put the seats back as far as possible (almost horizontal which is good) and just sleep! But now we were in Queensland it was HOT. And I mean HOTTTTT. Within minutes we were sweating from everywhere and had to open a window. Within seconds the car was full of evil mosquitos. So we shut the windows, squished them, and tried to sleep again. Too hot,
open windows, mozzies, close windows...ARRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! And whenever I did manage to get to sleep Duncan would then wake me up as I was snoring. Apparently. Growl. As such we were up at about 5am and went for a cold shower in the beachside toilets to cool down and chill out!!
Not the best start to our day at Australia Zoo! But hey. We got to the zoo at 7am and had two hours to wait before it even opened so we settled in and had breakfast and a cuppa while we waited. Lovely weather though thankfully! Australia Zoo was amazing. I stroked an aligator, a koala and a kangaroo. Sooo soft. We were lucky as Bindi and Terri Irwin were at the zoo and did a croc show. Nuts. Those things are huge and very scary! They also did a bird show which was great, they let loose some rainbow lorikeets and they went screeching round the crocosarium like total hooligans! I would highly recommend it if anyone came to Australia and were up in QLD. Fabulous.
When we left the zoo we checked into a Big4 (more expensive) caravan park in Noosa and guess what IT RAINED!!!
Luckily enough though it cleared up in the morning and at 6am we were picked up in a 4x4 minibus and driven off to Fraser Island. Weird being driven onto the beach to get the ferry, but you soon get used to being driven on sand as Fraser Island is all sand and can only be reached by 4x4's. The highlight was swimming in the freshwater lake in the centre, the water was so clear and blue, it looked like you were in a huge turquoise pool! The trip we did was well worth it as we didnt have to negotiate the rough roads ourselves, but given the chance again we would risk it and go ourselves and camp. A day is just not enough and out of the 12 hours we were on the trip I think we were being driven for about 8.
The following day was not so good as we woke up in the tipping down rain (aggggaaaaiiiin) and Duncan had developed a cold. The joy of camping is the freedom, but most of the time people know that they have a nice warm and dry home to get back to so it does not
matter if things get a bit damp. We, however, did not, and we spent a lot of this day discussing what we wanted to do, carry on up north or head back to Sydney and start getting on with our lives. We were loving seeing Qld, but at the same time didnt want to spend too much money as we needed our cash to get set up. Also we kept discussing what we would do when we got back to Sydney, so it felt like half of our hearts were still in the northern beaches. So decision made, we were going to head back south! We could always come back up in our holidays, we are lucky in that we dont have any time restrictions in seeing the sights. I got the computer out and applied for a couple of jobs and had two telephone interviews that same day - crazy!
Made it back to Byron Bay and checked back into a much quieter Beaches campsite and relaxed in the sun for a bit before being rained off and discovering that the car has sprung a leak. Which would be fine except IT NEVER STOPS RAINING!!! HUMBUG! It was
still raining in the morning and we decided to treat ourselves to a night in a motel when we next stopped. Which was in Taree, not far from Sydney at all.
Staying in a motel was soooo nice, especially as it was raining yet again. Stupid weather. We treated ourselves to a thai takeaway and relaxed on a real bed. The simple things eh...! It is very sad that we have got so old that we cant just throw ourselves into camping life. I think had we had somewhere to go back to, and the weather was better, we would have stayed out longer. Enough excuses, we are just pathetic ha!!
I am glad we made it back when we did though, the weather forecast for the whole of the Qld coast has been rain this whole last week, and back here in Sydney it has been amazing! We also got back in time to go to Hunter's third birthday on Newport beach!
On Monday and Tuesday this week I had interviews and am just waiting to see what is going to come of them. Yesterday we engaged in the very stressful Aussie form of flat hunting
where a flat only has one time to go and see it, and loads of people all arrive at once then scrabble for the application forms and hope that the landlord chooses them to rent the flat. Bizarre and very pressured. We are going to be at a disadvantage as we have no jobs, rental references or rental history. But we just have to keep applying! We are looking in the north of Sydney around Manly and Fairlight so Duncan can work somewhere in the northern beaches and I can catch the Manly ferry into the city. Bliss! We are staying with Vic and Stu in their AMAZING flat in Fairlight from which you can walk along the coast to the ferry. So lovely! So will keep you updated as to how we get on!
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Charlie
non-member comment
Well we think you are very hardcore for camping for so long!! We only camped out 3 nights on Fraser Island and that was enough for us - plus that was in the hot sunshine! Can't wait to catch up on skype and hear all about your life in Manly, it's looking good guys, congratulations. Big loves xxx