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.