Motorhome 03/03/14 - Brisbane
We wake yet again to no rain! We make the decision to stay here at Coffs Harbour, another night as it's probably better than any where we'll get further up the coast, especially as they don't seem to have pools at the sites there. Having decided we need to do something more than beaches and playgrounds Jim discovered Dorrigo National Park rainforest. So after some time on the air cushion and swimming we manage to leave the site by 10:15 and make our way through some amazing countryside to the national park. The countryside was so green and bright, impressive as we are now approaching Autumn now in Australia and we can't maintain that kind of colour green through an English summer in our garden. We really enjoyed the drive, we passed through a town called Bellingen which was great to look at, real Wild West style building frontages, I tried to get a photo but the camera blurred and the problem doing this with two kids is that they had just settled, Joey was asleep and he gets so little in the day time at the moment, we couldn't wake him to go and have a look around unfortunately. Anyway, we get to the National park and had some lunch in the canapé cafe admiring the rainforest below. After, we take a walk on their sky walk which takes you out over the rainforest to admire the view, as we walked out, Jim said "don't get any ideas of any proposals on here" as if I was bothered, you ask me, he thinks about it more than me! It was stunning there, the kids had a good look around, it even had a specific camera mount that you could screw your camera to and take selfies of yourselves over the view! My mum would love that!
Back in the gift shop they can lend you a baby backpack (forgot to buy my very kind friend Lucy's before we left - sorry Lucy if you're still reading x) with your driving licence as security. It was great, we popped Joey in, he was so relaxed in it, he just lent on Jim's back and gazed quietly at the view the whole time. We took about a 1km walk along a really well maintained pathway through the forest, it was great, we saw some birds - Turkies and a lizard, but nothing like our campsite friend the monitor lizard. I'm really glad we went, we all really enjoyed it and has restored faith in this trip! We got back, played on the air pillow, went swimming and then it was the time I'd been dreading... Elie's hair. I hadn't washed it for a couple of days as there's never any bloomin time before dinner (apparently) and it is now starting to resemble a sheep's tail (without sheep poo), it had matted into a plait and is becoming a real struggle to deal with, it knots so easily, I'm really getting tempted to cut it. I did manage to get it clear but it took 1/4 of my conditioner bottle, her spray in conditioner and about 15 minutes. Another bar b q on the park provided bar b qs for tea.
Well today,Tuesday 4th, was the day we were goring to brave it and move on, we'd been told there was very little to see between Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay so we had a three hour journey ahead. After some morning exercise on the air pillow we headed off and took a picture of the big banana on the way. This apparently is very famous, I don't get it, it's just a large plastic banana above of a shop front but have taken the picture just in case anyone ever asks me! We had a great drive, the sun was out, the kids didn't cry that much, the countryside was beautiful and we'd stocked up in Coffs Harbour so I knew we had a fridge full of Caramelo Koalas! The road does get very small at some points, the main Sydney to Brisbane highway is like driving down Walwyn Road in Colwall in parts then it grows into motorway size. For lunch it was more like I had imagined we'd be ding, we stopped in a really small old town called Ulmarra, traditional roads you imagine to be sandy with horses riding up and down! We parked by the river, Clarence River, I made sandwiches and we had a nice half hour rest from the trip, a really scenic beautiful spot, well done Jim for finding it! We continued the drive north to Ballina, about 20 minutes south of Byron Bay, the site was nice, next to a lake and about 500 meters from the beach. It had a lovely pool, a toddlers water play area with lots of little pools and tiny water slides, a park, a jumping air pillow and baby and toddler soft play! Fantastic for all of us. Needless to say we made the most out of all the facilities while we were there, another very quiet site though.
Wed 5th March, a bit of crazy golf for Jim and Ellie and soft play for Joey and myself (and his new mate Clayton who is four days older) we headed off again. One of Suzy's recommendations had been Lennox Head and we went to the view point which looked right out over it, huge waves, loads of surfers (quick point, why such long hair? I have to tie mine back in the heat and the sea as it drives me mad, how do they get away with it?) a really beautiful beach. We then drove on to Byron passed some land that had been in bush fire, which is talked about a lot on the roads, there are signs saying the risk factors and I'm always quite conscious of it as we drive along looking at the trees. We get to the outskirts of Byron with some trepidation, everyone has said it's not the best place to visit... As we drive in you can tell by the plants we are getting nearer the tropics, the houses are a but shabby chic and everything's a bit higaltypigalty. All kinds of different shops (critically, not tyre shops, mechanics, etc) and I kind of loved it! All the relaxed chaos reminds me a bit of Thailand! Just a bunch of scruffs walking towards the sea. It was a big surprise, very different to Bondi which is what I was expecting. We parked up, and headed towards town, had some smoothies (we are building up to green juice but one drink instead of a burger at a time!) and walked passed all the different little shops down to the beautiful Byron bay and it's big waves! It is busy, but not row after row of sunbeds busy like I've seen in all the other countries I've been to busy, just Australian standards busy. But that's good, you can people watch. We had some fun in the surf, I wore the wrong bikini so having to regularly make decisions on whether to save Joey or my decency, I came out! Joey walked around, trying to grab the life guards' surf boards and making friends with all of the ladies (weirdly, it seems to be the ones with big boobies!) After time on the beach, which I'm still not convinced I have enough fun in the sea to balance the stress of dealing with Joey whilst on the beach aimlessly wandering to he doesn't know where and eating sand as he goes, then getting myself dry and sand free, two kids dry and sand free and then hauling it all off the beach! Jim fetched us Dominos pizzas for lunch! What a treat, it was delicious yet stressful as we had a lot of birds stalking us trying to get at anything we dropped but we got to watch the beach and sea AND eat the pizza so I think we won! After scoring some free falafel from a kind falafel lady who loved Ellie we headed back to the van and on to Hastings point where we'd planned to go. The campsite is great. They are actually getting better the further north we go unlike our previous expectations. It has a water area that I think the dads enjoy more than the kids, four slides,water, squirting and tipping at you from all angles and the main event, a huge "cup" at the top that fills up over about 8 minutes and then tips over spilling maybe 100 litres (not sure if that's a huge under or over exaggeration) over everyone. So much so we need to try and grab hold of the kids so they aren't washed away! It also has indoor play to rival cheeky monkies in Worcester and this one is empty! Also, an outdoor park and an adults lap pool and spa. We played in the waterpark and indoor play area for the rest of the day before eating at the on site restaurant which was great because a. The food was great and b. it wasn't in our van! We haven't managed to eat with the camping table and chairs as the table's too high to reach from the low chairs! Also, I should mention the restaurant seemed to have a pet water dragon which was pretty cool? After the big drive that day we clicked that the windscreen isn't filled with bugs, unlike and English road trip where they would be well and truly welded on.
Thursday 6th we did nothing! Played on the camp site, didn't move the vehicle, we walked over to the beach and back, again, another totally beautiful deserted undeveloped beach with just us on! We are a couple of nights away from leaving so decided to finish off the alcohol content in our fridge, god knows why when we have two nights left. That meant drinking about 4 of our new found favourite vodka diet tonics each and then we decided to get a bottle of wine with dinner as we could take the leftovers back and put it in the fridge, obviously all brain function gone by then with that reasoning, also, obviously, there was none left in the bottle after dinner! It was a restless night as I was viciously attacked by mossies and kept waking up and seeing the net that stops me falling off our bunk to the seats below and it was freaking me and my saw head out!
Friday 7th and unfortunately we were woken with a Joey bang falling out of bed :( poor bubba, he has a nasty little bruise on his cheek. Ellie and I try and cheer him up as best we can, a biscuit did it in the end. Due to my super organised motor homing skills I have developed we were up,dressed, fed, washed up and ready for the off at 8:15! So we went and played in the indoor play area, met an amazing lady who started doing yoga in the middle of the room, I kind of wanted to bring her along! We headed up to the Gold Coast, tracked along the highway and stopped at surfers paradise, it's all a bit meh... The beach is beautiful but all the high rises behind and naff shops let it down, it's busy in a very different way to Byron or Bondi. I got some lovely pictures though and we spent a couple of hours looking up and down a bit. We then checked into the camp site which is much like the previous with facilities; a water park, tennis courts, this has four pools, you can rent pedal go carts which Ellie and I did, weirdly, when I went to rent the go cart, the lady said "we don't rent them after 4pm" I looked at my watch and it said 16:51, result, I could finish my lager! Then she said "you're in Queensland now love, it's 15:51" I couldn't believe it! I wasn't ready for that! A whole extra hour, I'm still not sure if I'm happy with that or not. We have a nice pitch with tiger turf meaning Joey can stroll around easily without getting too dirty. It's very busy here though, I think there's a football or rugby tour of sorts, not professionals, maybe weekend players, there are a fair few and their families all taking over, it's pretty busy. I think if we were here earlier in the week it would have been fantastic! Probably the best site but busy and loud which we just aren't used to! We had our last dinner in the caravan, after all of the crap from earlier in the week I think Ellie summed up our thoughts best... "Will you miss the van Ellie?" "Nah, not really.. Maybe a little bit though, we could come again."
Joey woke up at sodding 5:30 (stupid extra hour) Jim packed up the van whilst me and the kids played around whatever was available and open at 8 am - after a long dragged out breakfast. We headed off at 10 and took the tourist route off the highway towards Victoria Point where we had a pit stop at a park and then on to Brisbane where we dropped the van off. They agreed to a two day refund and refund of the tyre repair due to the fact we hadn't notified them of the flood damage, "they weren't given the opportunity to fix it which is why they wouldn't refund three days" which I found a total cop out, it's not like the wheels had fallen off preventing us moving it, they could have fixed the leak but the leak had already happened so whether or not they dragged themselves out to us (which they wouldn't do to jump start us 5km up the road let alone 200km up the road in torrential rain) the damage to the trip was already done... Anyway, we left, got a cab to our 22nd floor apartment in Brisbane and all is better with the world! What a wonderful place, we are all looking forward to a great night's sleep. We wondered along Eagle street at 17:30 hoping we could tuck into one of the river front restaurants for dinner before the night owls came out but it seems everyone is out and about early doors! Everyone looked great, dressed up to the nines and I was in my shorts and tee short from the caravan park this morning! Gutted! We got some food at a more relaxed restaurant, Joey was slightly Psychotic but we just kept feeding him crackers every time he kicked off until his food came! We had a wander home, a fairly miserable attempt at skyping people with our thirty minutes per day allowance and watched the cinematic treat that is Taken with the lovely Liam Neeson (apparently a friend of mine at uni's dad was best friends with him and he used to see him all the time, a little treat for the fact fans out there)
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