Bathing - Newcastle style

Due to a freak storm (golf ball size hale stones and some poor bugger being killed by a lightening strike) we wisely stopped early to avoid the chaos and chose a nights stopover at Forester.

Next morning post storm we hit Newcastle which is on the coast 150 odd km north of Sydney. If you've got the time or you're madly fit enough you can walk the 250km trail from N'castle to Sydney aptly known as The Great North Walk. As the second oldest city in NSW the colonial architecture and art-deco ocean baths give a glimpse of days gone-by.

Fort Scracthley stands guard over Nobbys Head as the waves roll in to top up the half a dozen or so ocean swimming baths that line this stretch of coastline. After a stroll around the headland we were certainly ready for a dip. We opted for a swim at Newcastle's Bath pool. As the sun set it felt like we should have been wearing victorian style swimsuits as we lapped up and down on the edge of the pacific.

Cruisey Crescent Heads

On recommendation from Deanoooo we came back down to sea level and stopped off here for a few days. Another longboard meca. Our campsite gave us a sea view from the van. Can't beat a couple of nights falling asleep to the sound of the ocean.

On our last day a storm was brewing.  One minute perfect blue sky, the next rolling dark thunder clouds.  Good job we were moving south as poor old Queensland were getting the brunt of this years cyclones. 

We can see why Deano likes this place.....

A big beach with a cruisey right hander

Beachside campsite

Barefoot bowls club

A descent looking golf club overlooking the pacific

2 x bottle-o's
A well stocked shop, a butcher, a baker, alias no candlestick marker, but hey.

.....and that's it, but that's all you need! Hell why wouldn't ya.......

The Waterfall Way (clue is in the title)

What with the blue bottles, sharks and floods at the coast we headed inland from Coffs for safety! The Waterfall highway winds it's way up into the New England National Park. The road at first hugs the Bellinger River then climbs high through tree lined gorges and creeks taking you into world heritage rain forests 1000 odd metres above sea level. Had to slip old jucy out of overdrive to get up them hills!

The Ebor falls served as a cuppa stop off. Great views to be had over the falls and the surrounding Guy Fawkes River NP which covers a land mass of 107,000 hectares. The Ebor falls are head of the Guy Fawkes River gorge. It links the tablelands country around Armidale and Guyra with the Dorrigo plateau that projects out towards Coffs Harbour. At 1300 metres Ebor sees snow fall most winters and crisp summers that contrast with the lowland sweltering heat. Must admit we had a far less sticky night in the van, even used the duvet!

Wollomombi Falls in Oxley Wild River NP is one of Australia's highest waterfalls at 260 metres is found within this park. Depending on rain fall it either falls at a trickle or a torrent. To the right of the wollomombi falls is the Chandlers falls, these two falls meet in the pool below and then flow east to the pacific ocean. Given the resent heavy rain falls both seemed to be doing alright.Wollomombi in local Aboriginal dialect means the meeting of the waters. The gorge in which these waters fall has been created by several hundred million years of river flow that has cut through the tablelands.

The aboriginal people of the northern tablelands around Armidale were known as Anaiwan. As European settlements spread through the tablelands back in the 1800s the aboriginal people retreated to these remote gorges which came with tough conditions therefore survival was extremely difficult. As the Europeans cleared the lands for grazing stock many were raided and hunted for food by the aboriginals which caused conflict and massacres between the two sides. In the mid 1800s this eventually led to the virtual distinction of the local aboriginal people along with their traditional cultures and vast knowledge of these ancient tablelands.

Uralla is captain thunderbolt territory. Thunderbolt the famed bushranger for a six-year career of holding up Uralla publicans and then spending the proceeds on beer. Born to an Irish convict in 1835, he was dead by 36, apparently a typical timeline for your average Aussie bushranger. Normally supported by the poorer locals these legend type still ignite a sense of 'them and us' only really possible in a population grown from a convict state. Frederick Ward, aka Captain Thunderbolt, went on to inspire the public's imagination even further by escaping from Cockatoo island jail in Sydney harbour not once but twice, swimming ashore at Balmain. Our location for Christmas this year !! His six year career of robbing wealthy aristocrats as they travelled past his bush hideouts in the Hunter Valley and New England came to a abrupt end when he was shot and killed in one of his hideouts at Tenterfield just north of Uralla. His grave is located just off the high st and is now one of the towns tourist attractions.

On our route out of the mountains we passed through the shire of Walcha. This is pasture wonderland. With sheep massively out numbering people, 3800 population per 760,000 sheep! Once sheared most of areas wool is shipped to China as the milling process locally became far too expensive!

The McMillan lookout at Apsley Falls is named after a Walcha resident, Jim McMillian, who originally built the first set of steps down to the bottom of the gorge. Made of wood these didn't last too long and thankfully in the 60s Jim's son proposed a plan to reconstruct the steps in steel. We were certainly pleased with Jim Juniors steps, got us much closer to the water and the rainbow that had appeared as the spray hit the rocks below.

The drive from Walcha down to Wauchape was certainly not for the travel sickness type. 90 degree and hairpin bends a plenty. When finally out of the hills you arrive at the somewhat male only settlement of 'Timbertown'. Where men, real men wearing high vis clobber of course, cut timber all day long and woman, well the only one we saw was working the local fuel station.

A harsh, harsh country this at times.

Lazy days at Coffs Harbour

After a wet and damp drive we arrived here. One of the few working harbours we have come across in oz. Known as Snapper Port.

Now in the next state and the clock forwarded an hour we decided to call the Chips from a payphone. With less than a week to go until we are reunited after 18 months we were very excited!

With a Sydney lad playing at the surf club we decided to pop in and have a listen, and a pint to cool us down. The ozzies love their Sunday sessions, not a care in world that it's a school night! She'll be alright!

Pesky marine life

Byron Bay, Australia's most easterly town and HQ to the most unbelievable cookies. Yes, we stocked up prior to leaving.  15 days till xmas and Fe has just had breakfast in a bikini!

With our moods most definitely restored back to a more happy vibe we were back on the bus and heading 50km down the coast to Byron Bay which takes us into our final Aussie state, New South Wales.  The state of New South West have daylight saving so technically on New years eve if you're in the bordering town you can cross the highway back into Queenland and celebrate it all over again an hour later. On quizzing the locals on whether this carry-on did actually go on it seemed an almost given just so the celebrations could go on for that little bit longer!

Byron is classed as a very 'cool' town with plenty of youth around. You find the odd aging dreadlock hippy who apparently pitched up like we had but then never actually left. Easy to spot these folk, a group were sat on the beach drinking, whilst murdering another great classic on that old trusty but ever so slightly knacked acoustic guitar. X factor they most certainly did not have.

Parked up and quick to hit the beach we noticed that the lifeguards were still warning everyone about another beach being affected by the bluebottle jelly fish but this didn't deter Fe as she was pretty desperate for a swim. Not a second after she had dipped her toe into the very blue ocean lifeguards were sounding the 'everybody out of the water' siren. I joked to myself from the safety of my towel 'ah has a shark been spotted?'. But no joke, a couple of 5 foot grey nose sharks had been spotted dead centre of the bay.  Suddenly the blue bottles were a distant memory as all took cover beachside. Needless to say we both stuck to dry land for the rest of the day which wasn't the case for other folk as after an hour had passed the beach was back open for business as usual. Swim? no thanks.

As the sea was a no go for us poms we walked to Cape Byron lighthouse. From the safety of the high cliffs we could spot dolphins and turtles in the clear waters below. The BB lighthouse is the brightest in the southern hemisphere with it's beam stretching out for 50 km. You gotta love a lighthouse and cant beat a day at a one when hiding from sharks.

That evening BB were hosting 'Carols by the Sea' so after a quick supper we headed back to the beach for a sing-a-long of classics and met Santa, in flip flops no less. Made us feel a little more festive but the meet did lack mulled wine and mince pies!

Typically on the back of a day that brought sharks to the bay the next day the surf cleaned up, but had those pesky sharks done a bunk?  Must say it was pretty hard to think of anything else as we were signing the hire agreement for another long board. The paddle out to First Pass, the far end of BB main beach, was a case of just don't look down or back. If the leash spooked me once it spooked me a dozen times. If you get it right at First Pass you can pick a wave up and ride it right across to main beach. Had to watch out for the sand bars though, this bay had so many different levels it was untrue. You could be way out back and stand up then close to shore and its 10ft deep!

The rain started to fall and on arriving back into town to return the board there was major flooding in the high street with most of the kerbs disappeared under a couple of foot of water. Any deeper and I could have paddled the board right back into the shop. What with this, the thunder and lightening and those pesky sharks we were glad to be back in the van with a cuppa and BB cookie. Oz - the land of extremes hey.

The bird

Two weeks to go - wonder if the Chips have ordered the bird yet ?  

Miracles happen in Coolangatta

We woke early with a recovery plan in mind. We made 4 signs to pin up at the entry of the beach and also revisited the lifeguards and surf clubs to see if any of the untrusted written off locals had actually handed in any lost property. But not a sausage, sorry snag, to be found. We also reported it as lost property at the police station (who said we had more chance of growing wings than getting it back in this town!)

Signs up we turned the mood around with a wonder on the towns small high street. Some great small shops filled our morning and picked up some great new reads at a local secondhand bookshop, had a stiff coffee and returned slightly more upbeat to the dreaded itouch eater beach. Although not even the best of one liners seemed to lift the mood, could anything lift it or was it just simply stewing time?

At 3pm we'd well and truly had enough of itouch thieving beach, as it was now known. So prior to us moving on down the coast it was that time to check emails to see whether or not maybe, just maybe someone would have seen our signs and therefore done the right thing by getting it touch. We found a more brighter and far less dodgy internet cafe, this was a good start. Everything crossed we logged in and buggered me there sat one new mail from a chap called Ben Swanson. On opening it all seemed too much, almost joke like. His brief text stating he'd found our device and to call him. We've never logged out so fast !! His number rang we agreed to meet on the high street in 10.

Stomachs in our pants, nervous as a badger on ring road we stood and waited. Then like a god like figure he, Ben, appeared in a parting of the seas type moment.  We shook hands and then the moment came that we'd longed for for the last 20 odd hours. Out of his pocket he pulled our long lost itouch. OMG as the sun beamed down on us what a moment of utter total elation.  After local general opinions we never expected this!! Over night he'd even charged it as it had died.

They say you make your own luck but all this carry-on felt like a winning lottery ticket moment.

The times they are a-changin'

From most red neck Aussies we've switched from:
'you got no chance pomy it's gonna be at least a 3-1 knock out'

To:
'well come on we're all brothers and cousins anyhows, when you look back and all. Come on pomy there a bit of Cornish in all of us'.

Still trying to work out this sudden change of seas... Anyway on to some cricket highlights.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/england/9262384.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/9262506.stm

Disaster in Coolangatta

The jucy was very cosy or was that just the sound of the rain drops on the roof? Another short crawl today down the coast brought us to this much nicer town. The sun had even made an appearance so we flopped on the beach.

Surf looked good but the bluebottle jellyfish count put us off as at the lifeguard station they were treating at a steady rate of about 50 odd victims per hour, ouch.

About 5pm disaster struck. Within a 200 yards walk from beach to van we some how had lost the itouch!

 Last seen by Fe blowing off the sand and putting it the camera case. Then, poof, gone! Within this small space and time we had managed to misplace our one and only form of communication and source of many travel notes.

Looking back the next few hours were pretty grim. Scanning the beach like a pair of hungry seagulls, asking frantically at the surf club if anything had been handed in, turning the van inside-out over and over again. But nothing. As darkness fell we both kinda knew she was a gonna, it was a case of who was going admit it first.

Through our searching quest a few comments made by locals had stuck as the general feel seemed to be that there was little or no hope that anyone would do the right thing in Coolangatta as most, if not all, will just pocket it as a nice find. We finally admitted defeat and accepted that the beach had claimed yet another piece of traveller treasure. We then spent the next half an hour in a dark and very dodgy internet cafe changing all our passwords for all account apps stored on the itouch. Not sure which was worse, the searching for the lost item or sat changing passwords in that place!!

Needless to say our second night in the Jucy mobile wasn't a cheery one.

Not much paradise at surfers

Anywhere that has paradise in the name is definitely going to increase the draw card factor, a kind of 'yeah come on let's get down there' sort of feel. Our first mistake.

Our ride for the final leg of our Aussie 3 month experience, a Jucy Toyota. Not quite a full camper, more of a Japanese younger brother. Kitted out similarly to our old van we had back home, but just maybe not as mechanically slick. She rattled a bit and she's a bit basic but does the job well. We left a, soggy at times, Brisbane and joined the Pacific Highway and turned right, south.

Now we accept the sun wasn't fully shining as we pulled into Surfers, and at present on your arrival you're greeted with a building site style foreshore. But then you hit the all too many brightly coloured 50+ storey high rise towers that run right up to the beachfront which do absolutely nothing for it's famed name being that of paradise.

The building site foreshore is a much overdue 25 million dollar revamp. As part of the revamp there are plans for outdoor photo galleries positioned right along the boulevard to celebrate the changing skyline of Surfers Paradise since the 1930s. On view of whats been achieved in these 80 odd years we're not too sure it needs celebrating ! Or is this another twist of Aussie humour !! Either way after an hour or so we moved onto Burleigh Heads......

.....Better, but just ok. At least the high rise count is less. We headed for the point to see locals rip up the onshore wind swell white water. Just over the head we found a good camp ground which had a great camps kitchen so we took shelter here as the night skies filled with heavy rain clouds. To ease the dampness we cooked up a fab curry before settling down for our first night in Jucy. As the storm clouds opened, it was just like being in our old van !!

Barefoot bowling in Bris with a couple of babbers

Right, 'back on the bus' our journey south continues, Noosa to Brisbane.  Bernie and John, mates of brother Mike and sis-in-law Chan, were our hosts for a few days. It was great to see some fellow Bristolians   especially after 4 odd months on the road. We got to wallow in a king sized bed and had our very own bathroom, oh yes, our very own bathroom.

As of yet Fe was still to get her hands on a koala so  Lone Pine Koala sanctuary was the place for us as this ones been on the 'must do list' since arriving in these fair lands. Lone Pine has been rescuing Koalas since 1927 and was the world's first Koala rescue centre. At present they have around 130 Koalas. Within the centre there are other classic Aussie wildlife; kangaroos, dingos, platypus, various killer snakes, wombats and of course the odd croc. Koalas live on a diet of eucalyptus leaves and sleep for up to 18 hours a day.  Fe met and cuddled Wendore. A male 10 year old weighing in at 8 kilograms.

Whilst close to the centre we opted for a bus into ride to downtown Brisbane which had some great sunday markets.  A brilliant african band were playing, so we stopped to watch (and shelter from the mucho rains!)When it rains in these parts it certainly gives it it's all. 

Done with innercity exploring we headed for the water to catch the citycat taxi boat, and cruised the Brisbane river.

Off at New Farm Park to meet Bernie and John at the 

infamous Merthyr Bowling Club for some along 

awaited barefoot bowls action. Bowling has shed its traditional image of cucumber sandwiches and ancient men in white suits to become a popular weekend activity for the younger Aussie.  So without a ounce of white clobber in sight we 'bowled' in with our baggies and thongs on.  An easy Sunday afternoon of intense sport commenced. A beer in-hand this can't be sniffed at we thought.   It was a tight run traditional game, girls v's boys.  The girls took a early lead and the final spoils, but from nowhere the boys were mounting a big come back, robbing the girls of the final game with the final ball right at the bitter end. You gotta say it though it was a beauty of a final bowl. Right on the money. And as the light fell over the mecca that is Merthyr Bowls Club, attention turned to the barbie and as drinks flowed freely once again one couldn't help but think that if David Bryant, yes he of CBE, would have witnessed such a spectacle even he would have doffed his cap if at such a performance. The sight of 4 youthful upstarts emerging from the modern game that is 'barefoot bowls'. Lord, may it reach English shores in years to come.

Movember

As a sign of a true and distinguished gentleman for the month of November I have donated my face to charity.
If you are touched by this move then check out the link below to find out more:
http://uk.movember.com/?home
Although there is only a week to go its never too late to get involved.
Happy Mo-ing.


My Mo in action......

Coffee'ing

GB reef'ing

 

Annoying.......

 

Market'ing

Rum'ing