Hunter Valley - April 09

In a bid to get out of Sydney for a weekend we booked two nights in the YHA in hunter Valley, just outside Cessnock. It proved to be a very good decision, Cessnock is a kip and the YHA was a lovely wooden lodge located merely metres away from a large brewery/ pub. Perfect! Myself, James and Colin drove over that direction Friday evening after work and got there about 9pm. I had been the driver and so the two boyos had started drinking in the car en route there, so they arrived full of the joys of the world and skipped off down the road to Potter's Brewery on arrival.

We were up in time the following morning for the winery tour that kicked off at 11am from the hostel. We boarded a small bus ran by a local who happily shipped us from vineyard to vineyard whilst we happily sampled the various wines on offer. A glorious day all round. First stop was the Rosemount and Lindemans winery where we were talked through a number of wines.

The first thing J did of course was to taste a sauce on offer which was loaded with chili's and nearly blew his head off and destroyed his taste buds at the same time. Philistine!! Rosemount and Lindemans wines are pretty well known to us all and so they went down smoothly with nothing major to note.

We had lunch then in Hunter Garden's and a wander around the shops. Next up was Hanging Tree winery which was a small scale operation run by a wonderful couple. He was a horsewhisperer (seriously) who wore cowboy boots and a tshirt with a picture of a horse's head on it. She was all make-up and smiles, both absolutely charming people. She served the wine whilst he gave us all a crash course in horse-whispering. He just about gave her enough air time to tell us what we were drinking. The vineyard itself and the grounds were beautiful and like this dynamic duo full of character. We sat outside by a pond on wooden benches soaking up the wine and scenery. A few purchases were duly made there and then back onto the bus clinking and giggling ready to rock and roll once more.

Onwards then to Savannah Estate where we drank some more, pretended we knew what we were talking about and happily slurped our way through a few more yummy wines. The final port of call was Tempus Two winery, which is probably one of the biggest and most commercial vineyards in the area I reckon. It has a smelly cheese shop right next door too which is wonderful. We glided around in there tasting smelly cheeses, olives and ice-cream. Heaven on earth.

We lived up to the stereotypical Paddy image when we asked to be dropped off at the 'local' instead of returning with the bus to the hostel. The 'local' as it turned is an Irish pub. So we rocked in there and passed a few hours before catching a taxi back to our hostel. From there we went down the road to Potter's with a group of people from our hostel. Great craic to be had there. It was karoke night and we walked in the door just in time to see a hugely over-weight truckie shakin' his thang on the stage and singing Jimmy Barnes "I'm a Working Class Man" falsetto. It was unbelievable! I couldn't stop laughing. It was just priceless.

The following day we checked out and drove over to Tyrell's winery. We did a tour of the cellars there which was great. We were given the low down on the whole process and some information on the Tyrell family tree. The guy who took us around seemed to take a shine to the three Irish in the crowd. And so when it came to tasting the wine he seemed to be leaving the expensive ones accidentally on purpose beside us. James unfortunately was driving so he was spitting but Colin and got to savour every drop of the best Tyrell's had to offer. Needless to say we didn't leave there without making a few purchases. We sat out side after and finished off a cheese plate we'd bought overlooking Tyrell's vineyards. It was a perfect end to our weekend in the Hunter Valley.

Canberra - nothing becomes it like the leaving of it.

We made it to Canberra (finally!) and checked into a hostel. Canberra is like nowhere I’ve ever been. It’s a planned city, so very spacious and clinical. There is nothing spontaneous or remotely interesting about the feel to the place, it’s what the world would look like if after a nuclear holocaust and the only survivors were a shower of colour blind neo Stalinist town planners on a mission to re-populate. Even the Parliament House looks like a giant bunker from the distance. In fairness we had been warned that the first thing you want to do upon arriving is leave again, but we wanted to see the capital of this great big joint, and we are stubborn.

So determined to find something or somebody worthwhile to generate blogspace about, we promptly found the nearest Irish pub and had pints of porter. Since nothing of obvious interest was going down, and of course given our dwindling finances, the movie industry again benefited and we spent the remainder of the evening in the company of Tom Cruise doing his best impression of a principled Nazi attempting to knock off the Fuhrer.

We rented bikes from the hostel and got a bit of exercise cycling around Lake Burleigh Griffen(named for the architects who designed the joint). We took a tour of the Parliament House, which upon closer inspection is actually quite impressive, and learned the finer points of the Australian parliamentary system. There is an original of the 1297 inspeximus issue of Magna Carta there, which was amazing to see (if you are a nerd like me that is) and I got quite excited about that. Then, some more excitement as outside the old parliament building amidst the famous Aboriginal ‘Tent Embassy’. A bit of trouble was brewing over a recent ‘intervention’ by the Northern Territory authorities on land that the Aboriginals were claiming rights over. We hung out for a bit and soaked it up. The prevailing feeling was that these people had a real grievance to air but were ill equipped and organized to really hammer their point home. Of course this is a struggle that has been going on here since Capt Cook landed in his private jet in Kingsford Smith back in the days when you could still smoke on planes, but I found it sad to see it being carried on by such a raggle taggle mob.

We left and cycled up to the National Museum which is on the Acton Peninsula, had lunch there and a good poke around. Then up Anzac Parade and to the War Memorial Museum for a few hours of despair and disgust at the extent to which humans can thoughtlessly destroy each other. We got back to the hostel late enough, dropped the bikes and caught Sean Penn in Milk at the cinema.

Our last day in the capital we went back to the War Museum for more punishment. We were both taken aback a bit by the extent of Australian involvement in worldwide conflict, and a lot of the displays are amazing. The aircraft section is immense and consists of two hangers full of genuine machines dating from pre WW1 all the way to the present day. I love this kind of stuff, and if this wasn’t a semi public forum I’d admit to my massive collection of airfix planes at home waiting somewhere in a dusty box for me to play with upon my return…..oh feck….

Ahem..anyway..before leaving we decided to take a drive up to Mt Ainslie look out and see the city from a height. Then back on the road, the long and boring road it must be said, to Sydney again.

Great Ocean Road!

We left Melbourne on the 29th of January and headed out towards the great ocean road. A drive we were very much looking forward to. I mean who doesn't want to see it! It completely lived up to my expectations. The views of the ocean and cliffs as you drive are breath-taking. We took it in turns to drive, both of us wanting to stay in the passenger seat as long as possible. Turn after turn revealed more beautiful scenery. It's a winding road that hugs cliff edges that drop straight and sharply to the ocean in some points. At one part it swings through a forest for a few miles, before emerging once again to blue waters. Our timing was great. Things were really heating up in Melbourne, the city was having it's greatest heat wave in a century with temperatures persisting over 40 degrees celsius for four consecutive days. Train lines were affected and so causing a commuting nightmare, people were crowding into the cinemas and malls to escape the heat and cool off in the air conditioning! It was mayhem. The coast was the place to be. We however we're still getting the extreme temperatures but had the advantage of jumping in and out of the water as much as we could. We were melting in the car! Poor Holden was melting with us, I almost felt like driving him into the flippin water to cool down the engine. It was like being in a hotpot!

Anyway our first stop that day when we got out of Melbourne was Bell's Beach outside Torquay. It's one of the best surf beaches in the country, and that's saying something. It's where they filmed the last scene in 'Point Break' that flick with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze! "Fifty year storm" remember?? Anyway not a place to swim, instead James lay on the sand and let a few waves crash over him, which managed to stop him sweating for about five seconds. That done we got back in the car and slowly meandered our way along pausing here and there to jump out and get a better look, and take a few obligatory snaps. Not that I need persuasion, I'm very trigger happy, I could take the Chinese on when it comes to photo-taking! We stopped in two small towns called Anglesea and Lorne, for food and a swim. We got as far as Apollo Bay the first night where we stayed in a snug backpackers called Surfside Backpackers with a large hammock out the front that pretty much set the mood of the place. Run by a hippy couple we checked in and drove back around to the beach and had our last swim of the day before the sun went down, then chilled out in the hostel for the night. We were pretty hooked on the tennis at this point, as were most people in the hostel, hard to avoid it really.

The following morning our first stop of the day was the Gibson Steps which we descended and stood on the shore for a while looking out to sea. The water was white and foamy with large swells, not hard to understand why it's called the shipwreck coast when you see it like that. Next up was Cape Otway Lighthouse which is unsurprisingly located in Otway National Park. It is the oldest lighthouse in Australia. There was a telegraph station there too years ago from which the first lines of communcation between Australia and Tasmania were established via morse code. It's possible to go up into the lighthouse too which is pretty cool. From there we were only a matter of minutes from the infamous Twelve Apostles of which there are only 8 now! The touristy stuff comes hard and fast once you pass Apollo Bay! The Twelve Apostles as you expect is teeming with tourists with many viewing platforms strategically placed to allow you to take the best pictures from every angle. The copious amounts of Chinese are of course a given. My elbows were out and ready! Ah but in all seriousness it is spectacular, not just the apostles themselves but the view you get from there along the cliff faces and out to sea, it's really very beautiful. Everyone is asking everyone to take pictures of them with their loved one or friend, all sorts of cameras are offered up for the occasion. It's all laughs and embarrassed smiles whilst posing for a photo while ten people are staring and waiting to take you're spot. Great stuff really.

We stayed in Port Campbell that night only a few minutes from the Twelve Apostles, where we spent the evening on the beach till sunset. I had a stroll around the pier before bed. It was a sleepy little town which draws all it's business from the Twelve Apostles, a lovely little spot to spend a night. On a different note Verdasco beat Nadal that night in the semi-final, the match was over 5 hours long. The following day for completeness we drove to the end of the Great Ocean Rd and turned around and took in the last of the touristy stuff on the way back. We had the option at the end of the road to go onto the highway and go back to Melbourne more directly. But we figured we didn't need to be anywhere so why not do it all again. Who know's if we'll ever be back.

The Bay of Martyr's and Bay of Islands got a look in, we were almost immune to the amazing scenery at this point. It is truly ridiculous how beautiful this stretch of coast is! Just to top it all off, we stopped off at Loch Ard Gorge which was the highlight for us both without doubt.when standing on the beach there the sheer height and steepness of the clifs are amazing. The entry out to sea is a narrow strip between the headlands where the waves crash about wildly. We ventured into the water for a few minutes not going out of our depth. It's named after a ship that wrecked there in 1878 travelling from England to Melbourne. Only two people survived, a young English guy and an Irish woman. There was crazy media attention around them at the time, and hope that romance would evolve between them, but it was not to be. It was far more spectacular than the Twelve Apostles in my opinion, plus we had it practically to ourselves.

We got back to Melbourne that evening about 5pm and stayed with Jane for one last night. We went that evening to see Ryan Adams in The Forum, which is a pretty cool venue. Having spent much of the great Ocean Road listening to Ryan Adams, we were pretty psyched up and excited about the gig, but unfortunately he turned out to be such an ass. The music was great, but almost too polished, the band were just going through the motions. There was no interaction or craic from them at all. It was a bit disappointing really. He complained constantly to the sound guy at the side of the stage, his strops were in plain view for all to see. He topped it all off by finshing his set after less than an hour and throwing the mike stand to the ground as he walked off the stage. Pretty immature. We had a few drinks in dingy pub on the corner of Flinders and Swanton where we had a little rant and then hooked up with Jane and the girls in Club 161 on the corner of Chapel and High St. And that was it, Melbourne, ..tick!

Mebourne, Victoria - January 2009

We had met Jane Beecher at a shindig in Bondi a few weeks ago. She had mentioned that she was moving to Melbourne and insisted we look her up when we got there. Never ones to shy away from a bit of hospitality, and given all accommodation in the city centre was taken due to the Australian Open being in full swing, the offer was too good to be true.

Next morning we sussed out day passes for the tennis, which was fantastic. We caught Navarro beating Martinez Sanchez and sat in for most of Zheng v Bodarenko. Neither of us had ever seen pro tennis live and its safe to say we are hooked after only a few hours of strolling around the Rod Laver complex. What a fantastic facility. After some lunch there we caught some of the mens doubles on the smaller courts before leaving Jane to headout to St Kilda’s for the afternoon.

We walked up along the banks of the Yarra from the Arena and into the magnificent Federation Square and caught a tram out to Melbourne’s seaside haunt. It’s a really cosy little area. We wandered down Fitzroy St and out onto the Esplanade. Acland St which is particularly famed for its' continental cake shops soon had our mouths watering for something sweet!! Then on to the iconic Luna Park for a wander before a quick drink in the nearby Phoenix Bar.

Jane had invited us out to a colleagues birthday bash in Werribbee, so we made our way out there for what turned out to be a great night. A great funk band, nice bar and sound heads.

The following morning, a Sunday, saw us laze about Federation Sq in the blistering heat before heading over to the Eureka Tower to take in views of the entire city from the observation deck there. Then a gander around the Southgate area on the river bank and dinner there.

The next day we visited the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) on Fed Sq. There was a great exhibition called ‘Behind the Scenes’ which covered a lot of what it takes to create and shoot locations and movie sets. The entire living room of Faraway Downs from the movie 'Australia' was displayed there, which was pretty cool. The temperature outside was definitely not however, registering at a whopping 44 degrees. After a sweaty walk we had lunch by St Paul’s Cathedral before making our way to the State Library via Swanston St passing the old Town Hall on the way. Ned Kelly’s original armour and facemask are displayed in there. Its amazing how such a thug has managed to create such a vibe of ‘ah sure he was a great fella really’ in modern Ozzy culture. the magnificent La Trobe reading room in the library is worth the visit alone. We had dinner with Jane on the balcony of a restaurant called Cookie, and watched Dokic get knocked out of the Open on the big outdoor screens in Fed Sq.

Our penultimate day in Melbourne was spent at the Shrine of Remembrance, where the hundreds of thousands of Australian men and women who fought and died for their country are commemorated. We also checked out the Arts Precinct where we visited the ACCA and saw a whacky exhibition there.

I had heard that Neil Young was playing in town that night and managed to get two tickets! We had a few drinks out at Brunswick in the Provincial bar and the Retro Café before grabbing a taxi to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl for a date with His Shakeyness.

It was still damn hot, and the venue wasn’t great but after a few beers and a set from My Morning Jacket we were mad for the man himself, and he didn’t disappoint. I had seen him about 5 years ago with Dad in Vicar St. That was an acoustic show, and fantastic, but it paled in comparison with his full electric set. After an epic few hours he finished up with a psychedelic cover of A Day in the Life and we left with big smiles.

Next day began slowly over a late lunch in a Greek restaurant in Toorak, and a few glasses of wine in Jane’s before heading out to the Espy Hotel in St Kilda to see a band called the Nudist Funk Orchestra. I caught up with a friend from college there too. Back to Chapelli’s again for late drinks and food before stumbling around the corner to the leabas! We really enjoyed Melbourne. It has a great atmosphere, quality pubs and restaurants and a serious amount of art and music going on. Big thanks to Jane for putting us up and making us so welcome!!

Wilson's Promontory - January 09

Wilson's Promontory is the southernmost tip of mainland Australia. It used to form part of a land bridge to Tasmania during a past Ice Age. It was reserved as national park in 1878 and is about 200km from Melbourne and very much worth a stopover. It is a spectacular place. There was times I felt like I was on the edge of the world. It's not uncommon to walk for a few hours and not pass a soul, it feels so much more remote than it is.


We arrived and before we knew it had signed up ourselves up to do a three day hike, round trip. We headed off on a Wednesday evening and got back Friday afternoon. It was just the two of us and a map! We had a chat with a guy in the information centre and he recommended a route that would allow us to see alot of the Prom and bring us back full circle. So we parked up Holden, said our goodbyes and trudged off about 5pm to Oberon Bay. It was only a 6.4km hike that evening to make the first campsite. The route was mainly coastal at this point walking around bays and across cliff tops past Norman Bay, Little Oberon and then finally Oberon Bay where we camped behind the sand dunes. The campsites were just reserved areas of bush for throwing up your tent. They are the real deal, none of the fanciness we'd had till now! There are loos and that's about it. We found a nice spot in amongst the trees and nodded at the two three other people who were setting up for the night. We strolled out onto the beach before 9pm just in time for sunset. It was beautiful and quiet.


Doing a three day hike with nothing other than lemons and some maple syrup may seem mental but the advantages were that we had minimal food to carry, and there was nothing to tempt us to break the detox. Poor James had the biggest load with our tent and most of our gear in his rucksack, while I had very little to carry. We decided on one big bag only and he very generously carried it. My only defence is that he's bigger and stronger!!

We set off the next morning early enough, we had 18km to cover before sunset and we were unsure of the terrain. It started off as a beautifully sunny day as we traversed the width of the Prom through woods of Coastal Tea-trees. The track was all sand and we passed maybe five people that day. As we reached Waterloo Bay the clouds appeared and our dreams of jumping into the sea were quashed as we quickly ran to find some shelter. It poured monsoon type rain for about an hour. We were soaked right through. About 2pm we reached Waterloo Bay where we had the beach all to ourselves. Not a single footprint on the sand. The sun appeared again and we used to opportunity to have a wash and let our clothes dry on the rocks! It was blissful just bobbing in the water with miles of ocean to one side and a beautiful beach backed by the rugged cliffs of the Prom to the other.


From there we hiked up Kersop Peak for the most fantastic views. It was a struggle to get up there, we were wet and tired but it was worth it. We descended into Refuge Cove a few hours later where set up camp for the night. Refuge Cove has a beautiful beach surrounded by forest and cliff walls. We camped in the forest behind the beach. Gale force winds ensued for awhile while we tried to put the tent up which made it quite difficult. We were both a little worried about it holding up for the night. It already had sticky tape holding it together, gale force winds we did not need! But she held up grand and we stayed huddled in there for the evening, reading, snoozing, talking about food....................


The last day we woke and set off to cover the 15km trek back to the Holden. After only 6km we reached Sealers Cove. It was a great hike more stunning views, more peaks more forests and beaches as we pushed on. Sealers Cove is phenomenal. The tide was so far out, and so the cove stretched out for miles before us. We padded across the sand to stick our toes in the water before getting very excited about our surroundings and jumping in for a swim. The last 9km inland to the carpark were a challenge. We were pooped when we got back to the car. All I'll say is pumpkin soup was consumed and it never tasted soo good. The detox was over, after five days!


It was Friday evening and we were headed once again to another big city. We rolled into the corner of Toorak and Chapel st. around 8pm (just around the corner from Jane's apartment as it turned out) and went mad and had a salad in Chapelllis's while we waited for her to meet us. Tired and in desperate need of a shower we were ever so grateful for her hospitality.

The Sapphire Coast - January 2009

Ahh the road again ,the dusty open road. Off we set sometime in the mid afternoon from Ryde with the thoughts of beachside campsites drawing us ever closer to the coast. We set up the tent in Huskisson caravan park in Jervis Bay for the night.

The morning sun welcomed us to the world of outdoor living again, and were up and ready to go again at 6am. After a quick stroll around Huskisson Village we drove to Hyams Beach, a stop at which had been highly recommended by Lorraine. It is a truly gorgeous spot, and we had a refreshing swim and lazed like two beached whales on the white sands eating oranges and reading the papers. Magic. The water was like that off Koh Tao in Thailand. Up the track a few miles is Booderee National Park, and we walked a 6km loop that starts and finishes at Murray Beach, another impeccable stretch of sand. These are the kind of places that make you stop in your tracks, take a deep breath, and thank the great powers that be that you are alive to be there in that moment. The views from Governor Head take in Jervis Bay and are spectacular.

The south coast of Sydney is very different to the north east. The beaches are white and the waters tropical and calm. Just stunning. So unexpected after miles and miles of surf beaches. It was hard to leave there that morning. And it's only a few hours from Sydney!

Onward towards Narooma where we settled into a surf side campsite for the evening. This stretch of the southern NSW coastline is aptly named the Sapphire Coast – the waters take in a hue that is pretty damn inviting for a dip.

We had discussed the state of our respective livers on the car journey and had decided, in true binge culture fashion, to undertake a crazy lemon detox diet. So we savoured a final meal of barbequed prawns before going to the charmingly kitsch Narooma Kinema to see Woody Allen’s excellent Vicky Christina Barcelona. The building is heritage listed and only sits 26 people!

On the first morning of the fast we chilled out on Surf Beach in Narooma before driving the coastal route to Mallacoota via Bermagui and Biamanga National Parks. We also stopped in Merimbula to catch up on emails before crossing the NSW / Victoria border.

May I (Sarah) add here that James was actually snoozing at this point. So it was bye to sparkly waters of the Saphire Coast and instead I was greeted with sign posts saying "Welcome to Victoria, Welcome to Lakes and Wilderness." I cruised along a two laned highway lined on both sides with dense forest. I barely passed another car for miles. It was a stark contrast to what we'd left behind in NSW.

The drive to Mallacoota was 20km off the main road. It was a winding road through Croanjingolong National Park. Mallacoota is nestled right on the coastline at the mouth of an extensive lake system, with a population of 8,500.

The Foreshore Caravan Park was stunning, (700 sites in total!!) and gave great views of the surrounding lake system and park lands. All along the beachfront here there are campsites with their own individual moorings. If you are inclined towards the outdoor life at all, then this place has it all. Saddle up your 4x4, throw the fishing roads into the boat and tow it down to Mallacoota. Fish and swim all day and BBQ and drink beer watching the sun set over the Tasman Sea.

In an effort to stave off any temptation to eat or drink we found a ‘cinema’ on the grounds of the caravan park and endured some rubbish Christmas movie. It was shown in a gym hall, and for the first time in living memory we were afforded an interval to stretch our legs and pop out to the shop to stare lustily at all the sweets and popcorn before heading in for round 2. So many of these little coastal towns are throwbacks to what Ireland was like pre – boom. They have an air of wholesomeness mixed with boredom and a sense that there is something infinitely better and more interesting going on elsewhere that I distinctly remember of Naas in the early 1990’s!! Maybe that’s just what its like to be a kid anywhere I suppose but sitting there on me plastic seat with the smell of damp carpet wafting around me in that cinema I was 11 again in Dara II wedged in at the back on a barstool watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The next morning we celebrated our 10 year (!!!!) anniversary with a walk along Mallacoota Beach and a quick swim there before driving to Lakes Entrance. The diet, (which consists of nothing but water and a lemon and maple syrup drink by the way) was starting to kick in and we both felt fairly lethargic and a bit edgy to be honest! After our excesses over the past few weeks it was a small price to pay for our bodies to get a bit of respite!

On the way to Lakes Entrance we drove the stretch of coast from Cape Conran to Marlo in a bid to catch glimpses of the beautiful colours of the ocean along that road. We stopped in Marlo for a swim, but were disappointed with muddy waters. The temperature seemed to be creeping up each day and we needed to stop more and more to cool off!


I wasn’t particularly taken with Lakes Entrance anyway to be honest, it’s a strip of commerciality hidden from the sea by a series of huge sand dunes. One thing of interest was the abundance of black swans there with their red beaks! I'd never seen them before! 99 mile beach is nowhere near as pretty as what we had already experienced further north, so after a wander about we again found a cinema and were content to call it a night.

Sydney - Again!

Sydney - again!



So back into Sydney's northern beaches we rolled just in time for Colin's birthday celebrations. A serious session ensued in Col and Sandra's apartment on Wheeler Parade. A big BBQ, pints aplenty, a brazilian bongo section, an Irish lap dancer, general fantastic mayhem!!



Picking our way out from all the bodies on the floor the next morning, and after a few hours on the beach in Dee Why we made our way into the city towards Paddington. Friends of Col's had kindly offered to put us up and we spent the night in a lovely terraced house in Paddo. Then on to a housewarming on Bondi Road where we met a load more Paddys of various shapes and sizes. A few hours on the beach in Bondi getting knocked about in the surf and a nice brunch on Oxford St relaxed our hangovers sufficiently to hop in Holden and make our way out to Jim and Lorraines in Ryde the next day. We had dinner at a lovely little Vietnamese restaurant in Gladesville.



The next morning, a bright and sunny Monday, the hunt for employment was ramped up and I went into the CBD to meet afew recruitment agents (one of which was from Kilcullen!) while Sarah called into a few pharmacies in the Ryde area with Lorraine. The next few days were spent similarly, and I even managed to squeeze in a game of tag rugby in Centennial Park with the crowd we had met over the weekend in Bondi. Towards the end of the week we drove up to Palm Beach,a well worn path for Irish backpackers hoping to catch a glimpse of Home and Away. We had a contemplative coffee at the kiosk under the sign reassuring us of one A. Stewart's presidency of the surf club! The area is beautiful, and we took a walk up to Barrenjoey Head to take in the surroundsand had lunch in the Newport Arms Hotel beforereturning to Ryde to cook up for our hosts.



For our last evening before hitting the road towards Melbourne Lorraine decided she wanted to show us around Belmain, a leafy suburb full of life on a Friday night. So we met Jim after he finished work for a drink in the Exchange Hotel before dining in an Indian restaurant on Darling St. We cannot say enough about the hospitality extended to us by in Ryde, it was fantastic.



So bleary eyed once again, determined to live the healthy life for a few days, we saddled up Holden and hit the highway south armed with a list of recommendations from Lorraine to explore the coastline south of Sydney.

January

It's a beautiful thing to start the new year off knowing you're hitting the road again. It's such a nice change for a January. So shattered, sun scorched, hungover, giddy, delighted, nervy,...emmm yeah shattered..we left Woodford having well and truly got stuck in for the week.Carmel and Paraic's unending hospitality meant that even though they were away they left their key out for us to let ourselves in and catch up on some sleep and do our laundry before heading off. Good old P and C, what would we have done without them? We had dropped them and a few of the Paddy Mafia to the airport to catch flights to Tasmania before th festival and said our farewells. Sounder people you could not meet.



We headed out of Brisbane by lunchtime on January 3rd driving south to Lamington National Park. Having dissected the coast coming up we decided to explore the hinterland of NSW on the way back down. Inland of the Gold Coast are Lamington and Tambourine Mountain National Parks. Nestled between the two is Spring Gully campsite to which we were headed.

The drive there was beautiful winding up the small narrow roads of Tambourine Mountain. The mountain towns in Australia are far more charming than the coastal towns. They have quirky shops and cafes,better restaurants and just prettier in general. Spring Gully was a Lonely Planet pick and it actually was better than what they described for once. It is tucked away at the bottom of the slopes of the surrounding mountains beside a river. It's well off the beaten track and only possible to get to with a car, passing studs with signs outside claiming to house national prize winning stallions.

We arrived late and set up our tent (now absolute pros at it!). With only one other couple there it wasn't long before we got talking to them. They'd made a fire which we huddled around for the evening.

The following day we drove a couple kilometres to Lamington National Park and strolled a tree top walk there and all 3.4km of Python Rock trail. We made our way towards the coast that afternoon to check out the infamous Gold Coast. An abiding memory is the sight of skyscrapers rising up as we came closer to the coast line - Surfer's Paradise. It was awful really. The fact we'd just come from a sleepy village in the mountains meant we were probably more appalled than we would have been coming straight from Brisbane. Surfer's wasn't for us. To enjoy yoursleves it seems you need money, oodles of it I reckon. Shopping, drinking and surfing being the main past-times.

With a tent in the car and on a budget we kept on cruising south through Broadbeach, Kirra beach and Coolangatta. Just more and more beachy towns where the buildings bit by bit shrunk back down until we eventually reached Tweed Heads (home of Marshall and the Fro!) and camped there that night. Fairly uneventful spot on the water.

The next few days for that matter passed by without much to note. We passed our time stopping off when we could for a swim and generally kept an eye out for a place to camp as the sun went down, a pretty lazy, easy existence. We began to focus on jobs and figure out a general plan of action for the coming months. That was the hot topic for discussion during all those hours spent in the car! Something we'd firmly stuck on the long finger for a few months now! We camped in South Ballina and saw the 'Big Prawn' far more interesting than the banana!

Corindi Beach was a lovely little spot. Nothing much to the place other than the beach. The campsite was perched right on the clifftop over-looking the beach. We actually saw dolphins in the water whilst sitting having our breakfast on a picnic bench over-looking the sea. Nice way to start the day.


We stopped in Macksville on the way to Port Macquarie, for those of you who've read Bill Bryson's 'Down Under' might remember his scathing comments about this town. He compares some of these towns to what the US was like in the 1950's. There can be that feeling sometimes that you're in a time warp. Some of these places seem so dated and separate to the rest of the world.

We camped in Port Macquarie another night and treated oursleves to dinner and drinks in the Beach House. We were later spoilt with a free BBQ and movie by the campsite entertainment. The movie was a surf flick and the BBQ free "sauso's" but we weren't complaining. The following day we checked out the old courthouse before continuing on our journey. We put in a good few driving hours heading back to Sydney keen to just cover ground. We were planning on making it back in time for Friday night and Colin's birthday celebrations. Ah city life once more!