Aussie Road Trip Day Twenty One Sunday 4th August

As far East as we can go....

The weather continues to hold. There is not a cloud in the sky and finally we can put away our winter coats and dig through the bag for our thongs. Hooray!

Last night Ailsa and David had driven into Lennox Heads to go out to dinner. John and I had bailed out and stayed at our motel for dinner as I was still suffering the remnants of a headache (note to self: do NOT try to read a book whilst being driven on bumpy roads in the car). They were fortunate to get a table at Quattro on the seafront at Lennox Heads. The place was swarming with the over-flow of the Byron Bay writer's festival. Both of them were very impressed with the ambience of the place, the service and the food and so they checked out the breakfast menu too.

Thus we found ourselves in Lennox Heads this morning seated in Quattro, which was somewhat less busy at this early hour, sipping freshly squeezed orange juice and watching baby boomer surfers competing in a surf competition across the road. The breakfast was indeed worth coming back for, and the waitresses just as cheery as last night.

David and Ailsa at Quattro cafe

The beach at Lennox

Ailsa and David enjoying the sunshine

Feeling sated and up for a walk, we headed towards Byron Bay lighthouse. It is the most easterly point on the eastern Australian coast. I had fond memories of being there at dawn on the first of January 2001 to witness the wedding of my childhood  good friend Kim to Doug. It was a magical place to get married (and yes they still are!).

Byron Bay lighthouse

Today was the perfect day to be here early. The hoardes had not yet arisen, so we were able to easily find a park. The sun was sparkling and dancing on the sea when we walked to the lookout. Some of the people already there were pointing excitedly to something in the ocean below us. I thought it would be dolphins and  there were indeed a few pods of dolphins happily swimming close to the rocks. The real excitement however was caused by some whales and their babies which were just a bit further out but still close enough to see clearly without binoculars. Wow! Wow! Wow! Who needs a whale watching tour when they come to you?

We were delighted and watched this for some time, never quite timing it right to actually get a good photo. Never mind...the memory is there.
The lighthouse looked magnificent today, rising in white majesty above us against the backdrop of an impossibly blue sky. There are not enough superlatives to properly describe this. Nor do photos do it justice. Suffice it to say it was spectacular.

Byron Bay

John and Barb at the lighthouse

John drove us into Byron Bay shopping precinct to look around the eclectic mix of shops there. We had really not done any shopping or even browsing in shops this trip and I was in severe withdrawals. Well not really...but you can't go to Byron Bay and not buy something can you?

Ailsa and I broused happily feeling fabrics and admiring interesting clothes, the boys trailing us somewhat less enthusiastically. David entertained himself photographing everything and everyone that caught his artistic eye. We eventually wandered into a shop called Tusa Jura near the beachfront where Ailsa and I both found dresses to our liking. Out came the credit cards.

Shopping at Byron

Coolangatta seemed like a good destination for lunch. Back in Queensland at last! We had a relaxed lunch before pushing on to Maleny. We were keen to get home before my daughter Jess arrived there at five to meet us.
We're home!

Aussie Road Trip Day Twenty Saturday 3rd August

When best-laid plans go wrong......

Ha! This was supposed to be an easy travel day. We'll be in Lennox Heads for lunch we thought, when we carefully planned our route. Easy peasy! We might even have time to explore Byron Bay after lunch ....

Well that didn't happen!

The day started off well enough. The temperature was a balmy 11 degrees when we left our overnight lodgings this morning, and with a forecast of fine sunny weather it was a promising day to be heading towards Byron Bay.

I (Barb) took the wheel for the first stretch until we reached Coffs Harbour where we filled up with petrol and then went in search of a likely breakfast cafe. The Happy Frog caught our eye. Not only for its catchy name, but also the fresh organic produce on display on the pavement outside indicated that there might at least be some nice freshly squeezed juice on offer inside, and we weren't disappointed. The breakfast menu was organic and largely vegetarian and turned out to be very tasty also. And yes the juice was also good. In fact ridiculously amazing.

Coffs Harbour deserved more detailed exploration, so we drove towards the beach and found a parking spot at Gallows Beach. There was a rocky cliff accessed by a loose stony path offering better views of the harbour on one side and a beach on the other. Ailsa and David immediately scampered up the path, being followed at a more sedate pace by me and John. I almost slipped on the loose stones right at the start and decided to take a paved lower walking path instead. John and the others got better views and photos from atop, but I was satisfied with a nice promenade with the local dog owners and their best pals enjoying some off-leash time.

Ailsa chose to drive after our break as we headed northwards on the Pacific Highway. We were cruising along nicely when our progress came to a jarring halt. A long queue of traffic was stopped on the road ahead of us. Some drivers were out of their cars trying to see what was wrong, cars ahead of us were pulling out to turn back the way we'd come. We moved up the queue and a truck driver told us that there'd been a serious accident that was blocking the Pacific Highway in both directions. The police and emergency services were in attendance. We later found out on the news that it was a single vehicle accident with one fatality. The other occupant was trapped in the car and had to be airlifted to hospital.

With possibly up to four hours wait ahead of us on the roadside, we took the option to turn around and seek an alternative route. This was easier said than done. The mighty Clarence River that we had crossed via a huge long bridge back near Grafton barred our way. We drove back to Maclean, a very picturesque small town which was protected by a high levee bank on the river side. The Scottish heritage of this town was emphasised by the decoration of its light poles with painted tartans of all the various scottish clans. More importantly, David had spotted an information centre so we stopped to ask the elderly lady in there for advice on how to proceed to Casino without having to back track all the way to Grafton.

She obviously was well prepared for such questions, having been in recent touch with the police. Lots of other tourists were seeking the same information as we were and she had a pile of maps in front of her already pre-marked.


The Lawrence ferry on our diversion to Casino

Closer to the Lawrence ferry

We ended up going back towards Maclean, then going over a smally rickety bridge to an island in the river from where we were to catch the Lawrence ferry across the river. The two car ferries operating here were furiously going back and forth across the river laden with about twelve cars at a time, so we didn't have to wait long for our turn. Then we headed to Casino in convoy.



At this point, mid afternoon, we STILL hadn't had lunch, so we trawled around Casino hoping to find somewhere suitable open. No luck. It was Saturday afternoon after all and the only thing open was Woolworths, so we bought rolls, deli meat, muffins and drinks and headed to the riverbank to eat.

Lunch al fresco at Casino

The unlovely picnic table where we ate had probably never recovered from its recent inundation in the floods. It was intact, but grubby and the whole area had a derelict rundown air. Nice!

David took over the driving as we turned the car towards Lismore on our way to Ballina. We eventually made it to our motel just before five. It was a relief to finally be able to stand under the energising spray of a hot shower and revive somewhat.


John at Coffs Harbour

Barb at Coffs Harbour



Ailsa and David at Coffs Harbour



At Sandy Beach near Coffs Harbour,
having taken a wrong turning.

Aussie Road Trip Day Nineteen Friday 2nd August

Heading to the beach

Today was our last really long leg of the journey, driving from Katoomba to Port Macquarie on the central NSW coast. John and I were chauffered while first Ailsa and then David took turns with the driving. We left Katoomba around 7am and tried our best to avoid the worst of the commuter traffic heading Sydneywards. Instead we skirted around the perimeter of the city via Windsor and Hornsby, eventually gaining the highway headed towards Newcastle.

This strategy worked well, and apart from being held up by roadworks - which could happen anywhere - and slowed down by school zones in a few places, we made very good time to our breakfast destination at The Entrance near Gosford.

David Ailsa and John .... guess where?

Not Cottontree .....

The Entrance is a gorgeous holiday town very reminiscent of Cottontree on the Sunshine Coast. We had a bit of a look around this very pretty area, and thought it would be a great family holiday destination with its interesting and colourful children's playground and water feature in the park beside the beach and its safe swimming areas. It wasn't terribly busy, being winter and not school holidays. I imagine in summer it is heaving with happy noisy children.

The colourful water feature at the Entrance

A lovely holiday spot

By contrast, Old Bar (where we stopped for lunch) had a beach that looked quite UNsafe! We watched large dumping waves roll onto the shore, which from the safety of the walkway to the beach appeared to have sandbars and rips in abundance. It was clear they've suffered the same recent beach erosion as the Gold and Sunshine Coasts .... it was a bit of a drop from the walkway to the actual beach. We dined at a local eatery called Bon Appetit. They were displaying some artwork from a local artist called Peter Schouten, whose very detailed wildlife and landscapes appealed to me way more than some of the art on display at the National Gallery that we saw in Canberra. The food wasn't bad either. David's track record of choosing good places remains unblemished.


Now that's a sandwhich



The beach at Old Bar

We arrived at Port Macquarie just before 4pm and headed straight to the beach for a walk while the sun still shone.

We parked at Gaol lookout and were surprised by just how much of a salt spray haze surrounded the entrance to the harbour. There was a pretty decent surf happening off the point, so we walked along the beachside path for a closer look. We walked around to the Flagstaff lookout which dates back to 1821 when Port Macquarie first became a penal settlement.

We got a very good view of the (obligatory) lone brave surfer and were very relieverd to identify that the fin we'd noticed not far from him was actually a pod of dolphins and not a shark. Phew!

Port MacQuarie

Salt haze over the harboour entrance

Beach at Port Macquarie

Watching the surf

Oh goodie! more steps



Spot the surfer

We've made it to the Aston Hill Motor Lodge where we'll spend the night tonight. Now it's off to get ready for dinner.

Aussie Road Trip Day Eighteen Thursday 1st August

The grandeur of the Blue Mountains

We had a lovely evening last night out at dinner in Canberra with our hosts Penelope and Stephen, Ailsa and David and their friend Diana.

Trees without leaves lit up by night

At Diana's suggestion, we went to SuJo Girl, a newish restaurant in the centre of the city. Canberra at night  was lit up (presumably for Christmas in July) with a myriad of fairy lights strung through the branches of the bare wintry trees. It looked quite magical ... but then I'm a sucker for fairy lights.The restaurant was obviously very popular with the locals and was almost packed to capacity. We ordered a variety of choices from the menu which were brought to the table at intervals for us all to share. The food was tasty and presented beautifully, but it did end up being a rather late night considering we all had early starts the next morning. Still it was convivial company and it was good to spend time getting to know our new friends.



Ailsa and David outside the Magpie Cafe

Somehow we all managed to get up at the required time this morning. It was registering 0 degrees on the car thermometer, and John had to clean the windows of ice before we left. There was heavy fog and heavy frosts were evident on the outside landscape almost all the way to our breakfast stop at Berrimer.

Penelope had given us advice about a quaint establishment called the Magpie Cafe in Berrimer, so we had high hopes of a good feed. She was not wrong. It was delightful, and we loved the shabby-chic decor. Thank you Penelope!

We continued on the freeway towards the Blue Mountains, our desdtination for ther day. Oh boy, has that road changed from the winding, scarily narrow track I remember of old with its "falling out side"! It's worth paying the several tolls to cruise up the mountain with ease.

Lunch in Leura and
Barb gets her longed
for sticky date pudding

We stopped at Leura for lunch. This is a small town packed with tourists and had many interesting little shops which we sadly didn't have time to explore. We found the Leura Gourmet Cafe & Deli, another of Penelope's little gems; she rivals David's ability to sniff out good dining venues. The cafe has magnificent views and does a darn decent sticky date pudding!

After lunch we drove along to see the magnificent views at the Three Sisters lookout. Again, this has changed a lot from  what I remember. The view is the same as ever of course, and we had glorious clear skies in which to see it. However the actual viewing area of the lookout has been developed into a huge concourse and information centre/gift shop, along with several tiers of viewing platforms to cope with the vast volume of tourists who go there daily to photograph this famous site.



The Three Sisters in all their glory



Swing right a little and you see this

The Three Sisters and the concourse

Seeking even better photos of the Three Sisters, and a bit of an adrenaline experience, we went down the giant staircase which clings to side of a steep cliff face (John: giant in length and steepness, miniscule in narrowness) and then walked across a small bridge to the first of the Three Sisters. I can't believe I did it! I am terrified of edges, and here I was doing what I feared most. David and Ailsa on the other hand are completely fearless, having in the past hiked the Anapurna Circuit in Nepal and trekked to Machu Pichu in South America. I think they were mystified by my terror over something so tame. John is fully aware of my fears and knew to hold on tight to my hand, and in the car to drive very carefully and sedately through the terrific (and terrifying) scenic mountain drive.



Not Barb, but looking down the staircase to the
bridge over to the Three Sisters

That really is Barb on the other side!

On the way back up.
Woo hoo! She did it!

















The helpful lady in the Three Sisters information kiosk had directed us to some further viewing lookouts. One was a little further up the hill, a place called Evans Lookout and at last we'd found somewhere not overrun by other tourists.

The views looked over the other side of a ridge we'd seen at the Three Sisters to a river in a deep valley and gorge. It was in a way as spectacular as the more popular Three Sisters, and the walk to the lookout through flowering acacia and scribbly gum native forest was sublime. Without a panoramic camera it's impossible to do justice to this beautiful region. You really do just have to come and see it for yourself!

Acacia in bloom

Another bit of  Evans Gap

Tonight we are staying at the historic Carrington Hotel in Katoomba in a heritage room. This magnificently grand old building takes you back to a bygone era of elegant oppulence. OK, so there is no ensuite in the bedroom, and we have to walk a few metres down the hall to the ladies (or gentleman's) communal bathrooms. I think that small inconvenience is far outweighed by this opportunity to stay somewhere so unique. (John: at least it wasn't the bottom deck of the Titanic!).

About to enter The Carrington

John adds:
This evening Barb and I bailed out on a formal dining experience at the Carrington, seeking simpler fare and an early night. After walking up one side of Katoomba Street and back along the other, we settled on a pizzeria which had its pizza oven in the shop window. The chef was heavily tattooed, the waitress had a wooden pin through her vivid red hair and wore woollen stockings - they both had a distinctly alternative air about them. They were great! They were amiable and smiled appropriately at my silly questions AND the pizzas (we, um, had more than one - but they were small) were very, very good.

We had been unable to find the Katoomba Mountain Lodge while walking around. Barb, Pam, their dad and the three children had stayed there years ago and Barb wanted to see it for nostalgia's sake. So we Googled it, found it, and set off to look at it.  Oh no! We turned into the street and were confronted by dark and gloom, and a decidedly uninviting atmosphere. Barb turned back (as did I) - it might have been ok for dad and the kids 20 years ago, but not for Barb and me now! It has to be said that in daylight Katoomba is a pleasant, bustling tourist town.