Orange is the New Stan: The Journey to the End of Adventures Unknown.
After our grand harbour bridge crossing departure, we were firmly waving Sydney goodbye and making strides towards Brisbane. There were fewer stops that we wanted to make but much longer drives to get to them. We'd accepted that we were much further ahead than "schedule" and began discussing plans to head further north than Brisbane to make the most of having our own transport but needed to work out how to make it as economical as possible.
We arrived in Newcastle at completely the wrong time. They were setting up a city race track for the impending supercars event being held that weekend. It was busy and we were mostly led around a one way diverted traffic route that went completely against our satnav suggestions! Our visit was more purposeful than most- during our stay out of Sydney, Kjel had managed to damage his eye whilst trying to protect us from a spider making a home in our curtains (which he inadvertently brushed onto himself) and we needed to make a quick (I wish!) trip to the optician. It transpired that he'd managed to scratch his eye in the frantic minutes that followed his discovery of the spider on his top! Unfortunately, we couldn't see an awful lot of Newcastle (Kjel even less with blurry vision from his eye cream) so we decided to leave as soon as possible.
The stops past Sydney were far less researched than those more south so while the names were familiar and seemed recommended, we knew little about them and what to do there. Port Stephens was one of those places. As we drove closer, we could see sandy peaks in the distance, which was highly exciting, yet somehow we decided to drive to the much more pedestrian north of Port Stephen. Whilst eating our lunch in the company of pelicans was great, I couldn't help but share my "This is pretty boring" frustration with Kjel and we promptly drove away.
This was a good move. As we drove past Anna Bay, we made the steep climb up to the viewing point overlooking the entire port. In the distance, we could make out the dunes that captured our interest and decided to make an attempt to visit. The dunes were the Worimi sand dunes, attracting many a 4x4 with slightly deflated tyres that, with a permit, could enjoy a drive on the sandy terrain. Our van was no 4x4, so we found the regular entrance and went for a wander. It wasn't long before a train of long legged creatures took our attention: camels.
Fact of the day: there are more camels in Australia than anywhere else in the world.
The dunes were novel but as we didn't have a snow tube or sled, we couldn't make much use of them (and weren't about to fork out an arm and a leg to pay for it!).
There wasn't too much that we really wanted to do when we reached Port Macquarie. We visited Lighthouse Beach, which was lovely once the downpours cleared but the main reason for visiting was to make a stop at the Koala Hospital.
The hospital was small and quaint; it made no fuss but was very interesting. No more than 5 minutes after our arrival, the vets appeared in the viewing window holding a small koala joey that was due to be weighed. It attracted many photographs and cooing but seeing the poor bundle on the scales was saddening. Most likely, it's mother was killed in an RTA and it would have struggled to fend for itself in the wild.
A huge whiteboard showed us the extent of the issues presented with their current patients. A whole host of chlamydia related illnesses, RTA damage and burns injuries were described, along with treatments prescribed. We were allowed to wander around the "wards" of the koalas' whose injuries resulted in them being permanent residents, and the stories shared with us were sad. Blindness was the main issue as a result of aggressive chlamydia infections that were too severe to improve. The hospital have clearly tried very hard to do what they can to help get as many unwell patients back into the wild but sadly there are still so many that can't ever go back.
As mentioned in previous posts, we began to question the places we wanted to visit as sometimes they felt underwhelming for the effort taken to get there. Nambucca Heads is not one of those places. It is stunning. The most gorgeous coloured waters from every viewing spot. From our first stop, we spotted a large pod of dolphins playing around so decided to drive to the foreshore for a closer look. This area is well known for its painted/decorated rocks that line the shore. We waited patiently for them to move closer and were rewarded with amazing breaches and close encounters- and even caught a brief glimpse of a turtle too!
The bays in Coffs Harbour are again stunning. We didn't spend too much time there but did manage to find time to squeeze in a few photos with the Harbour's infamous giant Banana!
The journey towards Byron was hugely significant to us. It was the last place we stopped before our journey across NSW towards SA and marked the end of adventures unknown. We spent 2 and a half days there and was glad we made the stop off. I managed to get some more "surfing" in on the first day (helped by a kindly Aussie who gave me a slight push!), spent the second day chilling and tried to see the views from the Lighthouse (with little success as it was so busy) on the third, along with wandering around the small but highly enjoyable Japanese market. It was all that we'd wanted, and while we were sad to probably not return, satisfied with our stay.
Opmerkingen