the tour blog...

[Guest muppetbro]

days 1 - 3

 

 

driving out of adelaide north we stopped at elizabeth shopping centre - stock up the camper van with essentials we drive a further hour before the scenery changed from dried brown dying sun bleached lands of adelaide into plains of nothing...and lots of nothing - south austrailia really is a bleak severe landscape without rain!

finally we started seeing gum trees as we entered the riverlands - mildurra looked a lovely river setting along the murray as we entered briefly into victoria before returning into s.a. then crossing the nsw border having driven for hours and hours over the hay plains - further endless boring hours hours of featurless driving over rain straved lands which attempted to grow grain crops without rain - grenfell was the final place we stopped where we wudnt wish anyone to have to live!

on the third day of driving we finally drove towards the blue mountains - stunning the great dividing range finally made driving enjoyable - we stopped off to view the three sisters and hitched up at our first site at penrith - surrounded by rivers full of water with fresh smelling grass cuttings - little wonder we would be soon entering new england

 

as much as i adored the sleepiness of adleaide, the landscape is harsh and very brown and the hills outside the summer cling to life - water is costing s.a. so much

 

intersting findings - house prices in penrith and paramatta are cheaper than adleaide - they start climbing as you go closer to sydney

food prices - loaf of bread $1.05 !

 

p.s. weather warnings possible dust storms - well we hit an hour or two around the hayes plains and its like driving through red fog - scary as!

[Guest muppetbro]

day 4

 

train into sydney one hour - i thought adelaide was plagued by graffatti but sydney is rife!

past the olympic stadiums we hit the famout sydney central quay to see the sydney harbour bridge and the opera house

we took the ferri service over to manly as bondi we recalled was similar but very untidy suburb - had dinner watching the surfing - manly is very cosmopolitan city suburb

on returning to sydney we walked to mary maquirerys chair by which time we were exhausted and trained back to our site in penrith

 

day 5

 

we hit the road taking a detour of the toursit route around palm beach resort before hitting coffs harbour - nearly 2000 kms of driving by this time!! hit the site and had a quick walk around to recall what we remembered over 13 years ago!

 

day 6

 

went surfing at diggers beach with the kids - bit big for my liking as i have to push the kids as they cant paddle hard enough sop they get to surf while i wait in the rips and surf zone until they paddle back to me - great session - the water is warm enough here for not needing any wetsuit

 

in arvo went walking on mutton bird island and viewd the big bannana - views are spectacular - reminds me of hawai - where the rain forest covered mountains meet the ocean - stunning

 

day 7

 

drove intop the mountains and did a 3 hour walk in the rain forest - it rained unsurprisingly and we got a good old soaking! the whipping bird must have the most beautiful call on this planet!

got back into site and then i went kitesurfing - cross off shore and big surf it was a world class picture - i launched went out to the island turnd and caught first wave - double head high i played safe came in then went back out checking out where the wave was closing out - back in caught a smaller wave hit 2 bottom turns then bang the wind dropped to absolutely nothing - 90 seconds out and i was swimming in with a downed kite and very frsutrated smile - it was raining hard again now - totally peed off id missed a possible epic surf but it was good to finally get the hours opf driving out of my body!

 

p.s. house prices here similar cost of food considerably cheaper - were thinking to ourselves wtf - this place is paradise and its a cheaper cost of living than adelaide - water everywhere rivers abundant.....its costing adleaide for its lack of water planning!

 

only one day left in coffs before we hit my favourite ever location ballina - i cant believe queensland can be more beautiful but all the locals say "you aint seen nothing yet!"

[Guest Guest75]

Wahaay!!

 

Good to hear from you.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post of your travels.

 

Interesting to read of other areas of Aus - helps when we start travelling

[foxychick]

Great read, really exciting to read someone doing an adventure like this.

 

I gather from your posts you really didn't settle in Adelaide, sounds like you love QLD, would you not move to their instead of back to UK?

[sduffy]

Great to hear from you guys.Sounds as if you are having a wonderful time.Keep us updated,makes for interesting reading.

 

Best wishes Sue,Chris and Isabella.

[Guest taylor family]

hi guys

sounds great, alan will be not far behind you!!! as long as he does'nt take a wrong turn!

busy with the boxes n sortin last min stuff

maybe the aus we were lookin 4 is still out there?

will give u a call when i get 2 the other side

drive safe, speak soon, laura n co x

[Guest muppetbro]

hi laura - its certainly the image of australia with rainforests hundreds of roos and beach after beach of beautiful surfing bays and headlands...... tell alan 4 days drive on his own will still be a killer...

 

day 8

 

final day in coffs saw a good surf with the kids then another walk up mutton bird island then i scored a good one hour in perfect head high waves before the heavens opened again and we spent the evening playing tennis in between showers and then a monsoon all night!

 

day 9

 

very mixed emotions - we drove out to ballina - 13 years ago our daughter was conceived here so i was really looking forward to taking her to this most beautiful coastal town. the drive up the coast passed river after river which had flooded due to the crazy rains when driving we saw suger cane fields, bannana plantations emus and hundreds of kangaroos along the route...

we made ballina after a slow drive due to the rain - we walked the harbour wall and tbh it was quite depressing - the rain didnt stop me taking the video camera but out of respect i couldnt shoot any film due to the flower memorials and still lingering media after the shocking news of tuesday mornings shark attack where a local 16 year old kid lost his life... i said a private thought and prayed he was safe surfing the waves in heaven.....no surfers out on any of the beaches local to ballina

we didnt stop more than 2 hours in total in ballina so we drove thru lennox head - one of the greatest right hander waves on the planet - we watched for 10 minutes before reaching byron bay and finding a site to park up then spemnt the evening watching tv and listening to thunder and monsoons

 

day 10

 

surfed with kids then walked for 3 hours around the lighthouse watched a pod of dolphins

playing in the surf - absolutely beautiful headland representing the most easterly point of mainland australia. lots of nimbin hippy rainbow beautiful types around this trendy town - lovely vibe with millions of campervans - monsoons from 3 pm onwards - had chippy supper and then played monopoly

 

never have i seen rain so intense and for so long over the past 3 days - one pipe to adelaide would make the state so much more beautiful - sydney gets more rain than london - mid cost gets more rain - yep rain forests need rain!!!

 

enjoying the campervan experience - so much cheaper trhan uk hire!

 

interesting news - house prices are tumbling in sydnet suburbs by up to 20%!!!

 

byron bay is mega mega millions so it will be interesting to compare when we reach the south of brissy in 2 days time around surfers paradise and do the theme parks etc