The next morning after a quick dip in Hallidays happy pool we hit the road again heading north towards a small town called South West Rocks. En route we stopped in Frederickton for a few pies in Fredo's Pies, a pretty infamous pie place with a large Marilyn Monroe statue on top of a pole, what that has to do with pies is beyond me, but it certainly catches the truckers attention. We arrived to a very bustly pie shop and sufficiently stuffed ourselves before continuing on our way.
South West Rocks is a beautiful little village nestled right on the coastline. The caravan park we stayed in was great called Horseshoe Caravan Park and like its' namesake it swung right around an enclosed beach, and the views out over the ocean were fantastic. We visited nearby Trial Bay Gaol. During World War 2 anyone whose nationality was German or one of its' allies that lived in Australia was imprisoned. This gaol we visited imprisoned the upper class of such people. Many were teachers, poets, writers, and they were allowed alot of freedom. This even involved beach-time included as part of their daily routine at one point! It was an interesting place.
We drove over to Smoky Cape to see the lighthouse and the views from Captain Cooks lookout, both spectacular. That night the weather turned on us again, so after dinner in the tent we escaped to a nearby bar for a drink and to check out the craic in the town. Not much to be had, another bar filled with pokies and a few labourers still in work clothes sitting at the bar.
The following day much to our shock it was still raining! I know we will get zero sympathy from our readers on this one, but camping in the rain is no fun. So on arriving in Coffs Harbour later that day we checked into a hostel!! Non-stop rain in Coffs meant we sheltered in the cinema for the night and saw the epic Australia which I loved. A quick trip to the Big Banana to see what all the fuss is about and then home to a nice warm, dry leaba!
This Big Banana is what put Coffs Harbour on the map. In 1964 it was erected and started the Big Things craze in Oz. Some coastal towns erected something in their town to attract the tourists. So Ballina has a giant prawn, Coffs a big banana, I think there's a big buffalo somewhere and so on. It's pretty ridiculous looking and even though we thought it was stupid we still went to see it. It wasn't as big as we thought it would be!
The rain pushed us out of Coffs Harbour early the next day onwards to Byron Bay. This hippy town was just the ticket after days of crappy weather, we rolled into town to find the sun shining and that our campsite was right behind the beach. Clarkes beach was massive so we chilled out there for the afternoon. I actually got into the ocean for the first time since arriving in Australia. I know that may seem crazy but the ocean baths had been sufficient till then, and unwilling to lose a limb to a Great White or any other variety of those menacing creatures I chose not to dip my fat little toes into the sea till that point. For some reason I felt the water looked ok in Byron Bay?!! So in I went, bodyboard in tow and the water was divine. We cooked up a storm that evening, consumed a delicious bottle of wine and headed into town.
'Schoolies' were on tour this week, so the town was taken over with teenagers running riot after finishing school and majority of them turning eighteen. There was a queue into one pub whilst the bouncers checked ID, they practically plucked J and I out from the line as we were about a foot taller than most around us. Getting in the spirit of things we had a few there before heading up the street to the Beach Front Hotel bar for a few more. There was a good atmosphere in Byron, partly down to all the schoolie chaos but in general the town has a lovely vibe.
The next day was very much a repeat of the day before, beach, food, wine, more food, some more wine, bed. I really, really liked Byron and I hope we get back there. However I since found out that someone was taken by a Great White in Byron last July!!!!! Clearly my ability to sense whether the water is ok leaves alot to be desired........
No comments:
Post a Comment