Going off-road

We arrived in Coffs Harbour just as the rain cleared up. On the drive in we randomly came across a Dutch model village and clog workshop so went to have a look around. It was only small and funnily enough the Godzilla like lizards on the buildings were more of a sight to see.

We pulled up into a car park and had some lunch then went for a stroll along the coast to a place called Muttonbird island. Even though it was pretty chilly and cloudy and we were wearing hoodies most of the day we both still managed to catch the sun somehow.

It was a nice seaside town Coffs Harbour but not really that much to see so we just spent the night and decided to go inland to Dorrigo Nature reserve. The drive out was amazing, through long windy roads up and around the mountains. We knew the rain was due again soon so we did a walk through the forest as soon as we got there.

Some kind of weird lizard/snake thing

True enough as we set up camp in a field, and Sean spent ages getting the campfire going, the rain began. That day honestly felt like we were back home in England. If we had taken more pictures you wouldn't have known we were in Australia at all. We were surrounded by endless countryside, fields of cows, it was cold and pouring down with rain, our clothes were all wet and there were no facilities to wash anything or even have showers. We had been saying for along time how we missed having weather like that but after having it almost continuously for a week... we had never missed the sun more!

The next day we headed back to the coast to Port Macquarie and checked into a proper campsite to reboot, just as the sun returned :) We explored the town and did some of the local attractions including a koala hospital and another coastal walk.

We checked out after 2 nights and were planning on continuing south when Sean found a cheap second hand tv for sale just an hour back up the coast. It sounds silly but it gets dark at around 6.30 so we're often stuck with not much to do.

It turned out to be one of the best things that we've done. It was an hour up to Kempsey on the motorway then on the way back we decided to go on one of the coastal roads to drive back down to make it a bit more interesting. We knew it was going to be 'off road' as the satnav wouldn't direct us any further but it was definitely a lot more off road than we thought.

This was just the start of the road where we were having some fun. Little did we know it was going to get much worst. The puddles suddenly started to cover the entire road. We'd get through one then straight away another twice as deep. It carried on like this for what seemed like miles. Such a good drive!

Some of the spots we came across were absolutely amazing and we wouldn't have seen any of them had we not gone off road.

The drive back down the coast took a lot longer than we planned so we decided to spend one more night at Port Macquarie. The following day we hit the road again, still avoiding the motorway.

Shell collecting

Rest stop break

We ended up driving through another national park called Myall Lakes and came across a really nice campsite with the lake on one side and the beach on the other. It only had the most basic facilities, not even a flushing toilet or drinking water, but it was so nice so we decided to spend the night here. And the bonus was it was free.

That night just as we were casually sat around the campfire we saw a dingo walking through the campsite! It was the first time we've seen one so obviously seeing a full size wild dog running around was a it unnerving. It circled around a few times before running off into the bush. We got an early wake up call when it started howling non stop the following morning so it obviously didn't go far.

Our next stop was Port Stephens. Here we spent one night just as a quick stopover. It did have some really nice beaches though and the weather was gorgeous to say the recent cyclone was just a few hours away in Brisbane. We spent the morning walking around the marina and along the beaches then drove through the city of Newcastle down to Lake Macquarie.

Newcastle

Yesterday we drove inland again to Hunter Valley, famous for its wine, cheese and beer. We squeezed in a quick cheese tasting before the rain began and then battened down the hatches for the night. It was no where near as bad as they had it up north but it was definitely bad enough to not want to go out in.

Cheese tasting

Today the weather had picked up so we decided to make the most of the region by beginning the day by going horse riding. It was a gorgeous ride through the vineyards and around the lakes and we even spotted some Kangaroos and wallabies along he way. Unfortunately we were told we couldn't take any cameras as they didn't want any of us to be distracted whilst riding the horses but we did get a chance to get a few at the end.

Next stop was a brewery for some beer tasting.

We're no where near being cheese or beer tasting experts but it was fun to act as though we were.

We'd been told of a popular dessert bar near by that didn't sell anything but desserts... Heaven... So obviously we had to check it out. It probably took us a solid 10 minutes just gazing at everything trying to decide on which to pick but for $15 a slice we wanted it to be worth it.

And it was :)
Ferrero Rocher gateau and Mars Bar cheesecake

Next stop another brewery.

We are now just a couple of hours from Sydney, which we are both really looking forward to. If all goes to plan we should be there within the next few days.

:)

Attempt #2

So as many already know we have had a fair few sets backs since the last blog post.

Starting from when we were back on the Gold Coast is where it all began to go wrong. We were casually driving along the main sea front road, loving life, when we suddenly heard a loud bang and saw everybody's heads turn instantly to look at our van. Bearing in mine this was a Saturday afternoon on one of the busiest streets... A bit like driving along Blackpool front on a summers day but nicer. Embarrassing doesn't quite cut it. We pulled over straight away and realised that the radiator had blown. We literally didn't know what to do. A second later one of the workmen from the building site next to us came out to see what had happened. One of the main things we have come to realise out here is how many genuinely nice people there are who are honestly just want to help. Straight away he was on the floor looking under the van, checking the pipes, seeing where it had blown and explaining it to us just exactly what happened and what we need to do. We managed to slowly drive it to a campsite 10 minutes down the road. It was double what we had been paying nightly but it was our only option.

From there Sean managed to get the cracked radiator out himself and rang around wreckers to find a second hand one to replace it. Thinking about it now has us in stitches... With no van Sean decided to rent a bike and cycled the 40minutes to pick up a new one... Not only that but because it was so big he had to put it in a cool bag that he wore as a backpack to carry it back in, with string tied around it. Definitely wasn't funny at the time but very funny now. Luckily on the way back one of the guys from the wreckers found Sean and gave him a lift half of the way. Another example of how helpful people are.

He managed to get it fitted, and because things weren't going bad enough already, it then had a leak. We rang the wreckers back and after explaining the situation they agreed to have a courier deliver a replacement to us. Once again Sean took the radiator back out and fitted the new one. To say he has never done any mechanical/engineering things before, within a month he had fitted a new battery, new carburettor and 2 new radiators, so he's basically had a crash course and done very well :)
We took it to a mechanic to have another look over but with all of the problems we decided to sell. We couldn't afford to put any more money into Bruce and we'd pretty much lost faith in him at this point.

The Gold Coast

Taking a day from the stresses of the van to play mini golf :)

After having it up for sale for a few days without hearing anything we decided selling it in Brisbane would be better so we ventured back up the coast. Very kindly Seans mate, Stuart, took us back in and it took about another week but we managed to find a buyer. We were contemplating renting a campervan to avoid any more stress, when another option suddenly came about. Stuart and his fiancé Carly said we could buy their 4x4 Mitsubishi Challenger. They'd always said how reliable and good a car it was so it was kind of perfect. It took afew days for us to re purchase all of our camping gear, and find a roof top tent but we were finally ready to set off...

...Again.

We're really happy with the new car. It's not quite as homely or easy as the campervan but it's good and will get us around Australia comfortably. It also means we can venture further on unsealed roads and do some 4 wheel driving... maybe.

The journey started with a stop off at a place called Uki to pick up the tent. At that very moment it began to rain, heavy, and didn't stop. That night was one of the worst storms we had experienced in a long time and it came on our first night in the tent. Within seconds of getting out of the car to try set it up Sean was soaked through.

The next day we got up early, packed up the tent between downpours, and set off for Byron Bay. Over the next few days we'd had more rain than we'd probably had throughout the entire time of being in Australia.

We had both really been looking forward to going to Byron Bay ever since people started telling us to go way back when we were in Asia. It's one of the go-to places for backpackers, sun, sea, sand and surf, but unfortunately the rain put a bit of a dampener on it. Going to the beach in the rain isn't quite the same as going when it's nice and sunny. We spent a couple of nights there though, did a walk up to the lighthouse and strolled around the shops. Who knows maybe we'll get a second chance if we make it back around before we leave.

Unfortunately as you can see we didnt take many photos as the weather just wasn't great. 

From there we have come to Coffs Harbour for a night. Another sea side town further down the coast. On a map it still looks like we've barely gone anywhere, but we're about 4 and a half hours south of Brisbane now.

It's been a bit of a rough start to the journey (part 2) but hopefully from now on in, it will be smooth going.

:)

P.S. The rain finally stopped today.