Sydney, Australia

January 19th - January 24th 2012

After driving to the Top Tourist Park closest to the city we decided to try Lane Cove Tourist Park in North Ryde as it had much better transport links to the city and was surprisingly affordable too. We parked up and walked the 20 minutes to the subway station where we purchased a transport pass for $51 each for a week. It allows access on buses, trains and boats in the Sydney area. We got the train to the city and decided to get off at Milsons Point so that we could walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The views were spectacular and we got our first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House. Once on the other side we explored The Rocks and went to the free Rocks Discovery museum which was well laid out and informative.

Sydney Opera House

We left the Rocks and walked to Circular Quay to the Sydney Opera House for a close up look. The white tiles glistened in the sun and we sat and people watched on the steps whilst nibbling on some biscuits. We then went for a walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens and had a peek in the grounds of Government House just before closing time. We walked back to Circular Quay and had a look at Customs House which has a model of Sydney under its glass floor in the lobby. Upon exiting some strangers asked to have a photo with us for a work challenge that they were doing and we gladly obliged. We had our first ice cream in Australia from Hungry Jacks and caught the train home.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The following day we caught the train to Circular Quay and walked to the Museum of Contemporary Art which was undergoing extensive renovation so we didn't get to see the usual work on display. Instead we saw an amazing interactive exhibition by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer called Recorders. The exhibition contained pieces which needed complete audience participation to work including a piece where you hold on to a metal bar and it records your pulse rate, a light bulb in front of you then mimics your pulse rate by flashing in time to it, when the next person has a turn, your light moves to another bulb and so on and so forth. the room must of had hundreds of bulbs in it all pulsating at different rates.

View to the bridge

After the art gallery we walked through Argle Cut to Argle Place and the Garrison Church. We then walked up the hill and sat on a little bench eating apples with an amazing view over The Rocks and the Harbour Bridge. We went in to the Sydney Observatory and walked around the free museum which houses a giant telescope and space memorabilia. We had lunch on the green and walked to Circular Quay where we caught a ferry to Manly. From the ferry we caught some lovely views of the harbour and bridge. Once at Manly we went for a walk on the ferry terminal side of Manly in the hot sun before walking through the town and grabbing some chips for dinner to eat overlooking Manly beach. A seagull stole one chip right out of my hand which I wasn't impressed with! After our dinner we caught the ferry back to Sydney and made our way home to North Ryde.

Boats in Manly

The next day the rain scuppered our plans as it was really coming down. We relaxed in the camper for the morning and once the rain had passed we went in to the city. We walked through Paddington to the Saturday Paddington Market which was full of lots of arts and crafts, clothes and food as well as Bonsai trees. We wandered around and then caught the bus to the Queen Victoria Building which we walked through as well as the historic Strand Arcade. We had the sandwiches that we had made for tea and then went on the internet which was only $5 for five hours, a real bargain. We called home using Skype and I had a good two hour chat with mum as we hadn't spoken in what felt like ages. I also managed to write two blogs and once we had caught up on everything from home we caught the train back to the camper, it was pretty late by this time so we went straight to bed.

Paddington Market

The next day we wandered through Chinatown which made us reminisce about the start of our travels nearly five months ago. It feels like a long time since we were in Beijing now, we've seen and done so much since then. We then went to Darling Harbour and watched a street performer who was pretty good before walking on to the boats in the harbour. We strolled to the other side of the harbour where we had our lunch and then walked to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It's a very impressive building which houses a large collection of paintings and sculpture including Aboriginal art and Torres Strait Islander art. There was a special exhibition on Picasso happening and we watched a video of Picasso drawing on glass which was fascinating. I found the gallery to be very inspiring as it covered so many styles and artists. After the gallery we sat in the park in peace before walking to the tube stop.

Darling Harbour

Cy Twombly in the Art Gallery of New South Wales

The following day we got off the train at Milsons Point and walked down to Luna Park where we walked through the carnival to Lavender Bay. Lavender Bay provided some lovely views out to the harbour bridge so we took some photos before making our way back to the subway to catch a train to Circular Quay. We then caught the bus to Bondi which took us through Paddington. It was a bright sunny day and we walked along the beach front to the far end where the waves crashed in to the rocks. We climbed to a little viewpoint and people watched for a while before catching the bus back in to the city where we explored Kings Cross. We watched from a bench as loads of birds of all varieties gathered around a particular spot, a man then appeared on a bicycle and proceeded to throw bits of mince meat at the birds. We watched and when he went he advised us to go and buy meat for the birds as they love it, very odd but the birds were very happy. We then went to Newtown where we met our friends from our Stray Asia trip through Laos, Owen and Bianca. We went for Thai food and caught up on everything since we had last seen each other on Halloween in Thailand. We went back to Owen and Bianca's apartment where we watched Men Behaving Badly and enjoyed a comfy mattress for the night, the first night away from our camper for over six weeks!

Lavender Bay

The next morning we said our goodbyes and rushed back to our campsite as we were supposed to be out of the place by 10 am. We were a little late but no one seemed to notice. Our camper then refused to start as the battery must have been drained because we hadn't started it in a few days, oops! We got some jumper leads and a friendly guy from the park helped us use them and we got going. We had  a brilliant time in Sydney and only wish that we had a bit more cash to splash on activities like climbing the Harbour Bridge which I did on a trip to Australia with family five years ago, something that I wish Craig could have experienced too.

Newcastle, Australia

January 16th - January 18th 2012

We got to Port Macquarie but found that campsites were either full or very expensive so we drove on and parked up for the night without power. The next day we drove to Newcastle and went straight to the seafront. We made lunch and looked out over the crashing waves and crystal clear waters. We had the dilemma of not knowing where to park for the night and decided to get it sorted straight away so that we didn't have to drive around looking for somewhere late like we did at Port Macquarie, this time we wouldn't be able to have a night without power. We drove over the big bridge to Stockton but found that the price of the campsite was far too unaffordable. The trouble with coming at this time of year is that everywhere is priced high for the holiday season.

View to Nobbys Head

We used the sat nav and drove around to a further two places but both were again too pricey or full. After quite a lot of driving we ended up at Lake Macquarie and got two nights. The site was pretty crowded and full of children running around causing havoc. We walked to the shops but didn't really enjoy our day at Lake Macquarie as we'd had a couple of tiffs. Those days when your driving around in the heat, frustrated and wanting to stick to the budget can be exhausting and when you're in such a confined space can lead to difficult moments. After our nightmarish day we decided to spend a full day chilling out. We did our little chores like the laundry and I managed to finish reading Thomas Harris' Red Dragon and start reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, something I'd been looking forward to doing ever since we bought it in Coffs Harbour. Craig had a dip in the pool while I sat at the edge eating red licorice and we enjoyed the peace of a pool without children!

Nobbys Head

The following day we decided to drive back to Newcastle as we didn't really get to see the sights before. We parked up at the art gallery and had a look at the New Aquisitions Exhibition which was free. The space was quite small and I didn't find it too impressive. We left and wandered around outside in the pretty gardens. We drove to the coast where we had been a couple of days before and made lunch. We then went for a walk to Nobbys Head and enjoyed the heat and scenery. As we walked we watched the surfers and boogey boarders battle with the waves. We watched the giant cargo ships navigate their way into the harbour before turning round and walking to the 1922 Ocean Baths and Newcastle Beach.

Colourful birds in Blackbutt Reserve

After our day in Newcastle we decided to drive to Blackbutt Reserve where we saw a variety of animals and birds including reptiles and koalas. We were now very close to Sydney so we found a lay by to park up in for the night. We were a little worried as there were no camping signs dotted around but the handy map book we were given with the camper said that this spot was OK for overnight parking. We needed all the money we could for our next few days in Australia 's biggest and most famous city.

The Waterfall Way, Australia

January 14th - January 15th 2012

We got up and drove just a few minutes to the Rainforest Centre. We walked out on to the Skywalk which is a pier that overlooks the rainforest. There were absolutely fabulous views over the trees and as we'd got there early we were left to enjoy the quiet and serene atmosphere in peace. After taking some photos of the views and of us enjoying the views we walked back along the pier and down some steps in to the rainforest where we did a circular walk which included a special walk with the birds. The views were so beautiful that I immediately envisaged making paintings of misty blue haze when at home.

Rainforest View

Blue Haze

After our walk we looked around the visitor centre which had art work inspired by the rainforest and environmental issues and we watched a documentary on the wildlife of the rainforest which was fascinating. After the Rainforest Centre we drove down through Dorrigo's wide streets to Dangar Falls. We parked up and walked down the narrow sloping path to the falls where we took some photos and watched as a very brave Asian family took a dip in the freezing cold waters. We walked back to the camper and made lunch before driving back into town where we went for a walk along the main strip and popped into the quaint little sweet shop where I couldn't resist buying Australian red licorice and traditional English pear drops.

Dangar Falls

We continued on the tourist drive and stopped at each point of interest, waterfalls and viewpoints. The rain started to close in on us so we stopped for a cuppa to warm ourselves up. Australia isn't all hot beaches, dusty deserts and crowded cities, in these types of landscapes the weather can turn and become quite chilly if you're not prepared for it. I think it's one side to Australia that people often don't hear about as many foreign visitors skip this type of excursion. We visited the second tallest waterfall in Australia and walked along the track to Checks Lookout where we could see the thin but tall waterfall and the massive gorge that it falls in to. We enjoyed the awe inspiring views before moving on to another fantastic lookout over the gorge where we also saw a bird that looked exactly like the rare lyrebird that we had learnt about in the documentary earlier that day, we couldn't be certain that it was the lyrebird but it had the same distinctive tail feathers.



Ebor Falls



Gorge

We drove in to Armidale as by this time it was getting late and we needed a proper site to power up the van or else our fridge would give up like it did in Cairns. We found a lovely Top Tourist park which was cheap but even cheaper with our Travellers Autobarn 10% discount, happy days! The girl behind the counter was really lovely and we pitched up for the night before the rain started.

The following day we left the campsite and drove into Armidale centre. After refuelling we parked up at the visitor centre where we got talking to a lovely lady who gave us lots of information on interesting walks to do. We picked up a leaflet on an architecture and history walking tour and set off around the town. We found some really beautiful buildings including a wonderful church and park. We walked back to the camper through a little farmers market and we picked up some lemon cake at the local shop. We started the drive back down to the coast and came across a lot of rain which made the scenery very misty and atmospheric. The Waterfall Way was definately worth the detour as we came across a variety of landscapes and escaped the extreme heat of the coast for a couple of days too.



Views on the drive

Coffs Harbour, Australia

January 11th - January 13th 2012

We got up a bit later than we intended but didn't have very far to drive for our next destination so it didn't matter much. We got to Coffs Harbour and found a bargain of a caravan park although it was right next to the main road but cheaper than the other places that we looked at. We drove into Coffs Harbour and went for a walk along a deserted pier, the sun was beating down and there were lovely views out to sea.

Coffs Harbour Pier

After lunch by the sea we drove to the jetty and parked up so we could go for a walk on Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve. It was a steep walk to the top but we were rewarded with views over the harbour. We walked to the other end of the former island which was lovely and peaceful, the island was covered in pretty wild shrubs and flowers and is a nesting spot for birds. We went back to the caravan park and Craig had a dip in the pool. In the evening while we were chilling out we heard some rustling in the bushes outside. We saw a couple of little animals playing in the trees and on the grass, they were really sweet but we weren't entirely sure what they were although we guessed that they may have been possums.

Coffs Harbour

The following day we found internet and organised our travel from Melbourne to Adelaide for in a few weeks when we won't have our campervan. We had spaghetti by the pier where we walked the day before and then drove to the Coffs Harbour Art gallery which was showing an exhibition based on the theme of 'still life'. There were some beautiful pieces, some obvious still life's and some very abstract. After our wander around the gallery we started our journey on the Waterfall Way Tourist Drive which would take us inland to Armidale and past some dramatic scenery. We stopped at Bellingen which is a really pretty little town with lovely architecture. We walked up and down the main street and found a quaint little second hand bookshop with piles of dusty books.

Ye Olde Book Shop

We drove on up the twisty roads which reminded me of the way to Kuranda up in Queensland. The campervan seemed about ready to give up and we were starting to panic that she wouldn't be cut out for this type of journey but she made it to our stop which was a dark lay by with some cobweb filled toilets. It was pretty chilly up in the hills and we were parked up next to some dark woods which was a little creepy. Doing Australia on so much of a budget in a campervan means that you don't always get luxury but luckily both Craig and I aren't afraid of roughing it in these types of locations. Camping in muddy fields for festivals back home has well prepared us for this type of adventure and I think you get to see more of a place when you aren't confined to hotels and the main tourist towns and attractions.

Byron Bay, Australia

January 5^th – January 10^th 2012

Our next stop on our East coast road trip was Byron Bay. We drove down and stopped at a place but it was pretty pricey and felt like backpacker central so we decided to go for the cheaper one across the road. For $17 each we didn’t get much for our money, the place looked run down with broken windows in the laundry block and a shower block which was a little worse for wear. Still Byron is an expensive tourist spot so it was our best option. After our drive we decided to chill out for the afternoon.



View on our walk to the lighthouse

 The following morning we drove into the centre of Byron Bay and parked up for free by a disused railway line. After collecting our snacks we walked into town and to the beachfront. Craig got a free Frisbee which he was very happy with. We could see the white lighthouse in the distance and decided to walk to it. There was a man who had raked shapes into the sand on the beach, there was ying and yang symbols, a sun and lots of swirls, it felt like a sunnier version of Glastonbury. We passed magnificent views of the coastline on our walk to the lighthouse which included passing some dolphins in the distance. The walk was probably more challenging than we thought it would be and I felt out of breathe several times but it was lovely to stop and take in the spectacular views anyway. We made it to the most easterly point of mainland Australia and it was only a few more steps to the lighthouse itself. After a few photos of the views and a look inside the lighthouse which has a tiny museum on the whaling industry we walked back down.  

Lighthouse

Our legs were feeling a bit stiff but we were pleased with our lovely morning in Byron, it’s always very satisfying getting a good walk in early! I treated us to chips on the beach and we people watched and lazed in the sun before spending the afternoon browsing in the shops.


The next day we went back to the beach and spent some more time in the sun watching the guy rake shapes into the sand, this time the sea was washing parts away but he didn’t seem to mind, he’d just rake the shapes again. We listened to some Ricky Gervais podcasts before walking back to the van to make lunch, only to realise that we were all out of gas. Not bad going considering we’ve been using the van for over a month now. We drove around and found a petrol station that did gas refills and only paid $18.95 which was much less than we were expecting. After a stop at Woolworths for supplies we drove south and found a lay by to stay in for the night to save money. We made friends with a load of random roosters and chickens that live in the area and found a huge spider in the lay by toilets.

Beach art

We didn’t get the best night sleep as the roosters decided to start crowing at stupid o’clock in the morning. Once day light came we got up and started driving to Ballina. We parked up at the visitor centre and the lovely lady at the counter gave us a map and pointed us in the direction of a great walk along the coast and to the pier. We walked past a little farmers market and enjoyed the sun, at the end of the wide stone pier we watched as the powerful waves crashed against the rocks. We walked back and went down Norton Street which Lonely Planet recommended for good architecture but we only really saw standard Australian homes and a church. We had cheese and crackers by the waterfront and drove down to Grafton. We found a beautiful 5* site for just $16.50 each with a swimming pool, tennis courts and wonderfully landscaped gardens. After a chat with the lovely lady about our trip we got our laundry done.

We got up and requested another night’s stay as it’s such a lovely site and we needed another night powered for our battery anyway. We drove into Grafton and walked around the main street, the architecture in Grafton is so pretty. We had lunch in the memorial gardens overlooking the river and went for a little stroll. Craig made an appointment to get his hair cut as it hadn’t been cut since home which was over 4 months ago. We went back to the site for a lovely dip in the refreshing pool before returning to town for Craig’s appointment.  

Views in Woopi

We left the site the following day and went to the Grafton Regional Gallery which was housed in what looked like someone’s big house! There were beautiful landscape paintings at the front and a courtyard in the middle. Through the courtyard and into another more modern space was some photography and an installation piece involving pieces of origami which the public could contribute to if they wished. The gallery was lovely, a dream business for me! We drove on to Woolguolgu also known as Woopi and had a picnic by the beach before walking to a lovely viewpoint which had amazing panoramic views of the sea. In certain times of the year you can see whales migrating from Antarctica to the warmer waters of the Great Barrier Reef but typically it wasn’t the right time of year so no whales but lovely views otherwise.