Lap of Australia  – Week 17

We made it back to the coast this week and kept making our way towards Queensland, spending a few days exploring an area we had only visited for less than 24 hours previously.

Day one

We woke up at Wollomombi Campsite and got ourselves ready to go and tackle some bush walks and to see some waterfalls. We weren’t really sure where we were going to end up and we were taking the day as it came. Our first stop was Cathedral Rock National Park where we were looking to walk the Cathedral Rock summit. We were glad we didn’t camp here in the end as the campsite was looking quite muddy, but the walk was really cool, especially the summit walk. We had to do a bit of rock climbing and ducking and weaving, and at the top you had to use a chain to get up and down a certain section. Definitely a challenge, but the view at the top was amazing. We also love a challenge so we had a bit of fun with the walk. After finishing the walk, we drove to Ebor to have a look at Ebor Falls. There were two different lookout sections and both gave great views of the waterfall. We also stopped in the picnic area to have some lunch before continuing our drive on Waterfall Way. Our next stop along the road was in Dorrigo at Dangar Falls where you could view the waterfall from the platform at the top, or walk down a path to the base of the waterfall. You could even swim there if you wanted to, but it was a bit cold for us so we just wandered down to have a look. It was getting towards mid-afternoon, so we made our way to Dorrigo National Park. Our first stop was the Skywalk Lookout, then we decided that we had enough time to do the walk to Crystal Shower Falls. We are glad we did as we were able to walk onto a suspension bridge to see the waterfall, plus go through a gate to get some up close photos. It was lovely scenery and a good walk as well. We made our way back to the carpark and drove the rest of Waterfall Way before making our way to Urgunga for the night. The caravan park there was still very wet from the recent floods, but were able to get us a site last minute so we were very appreciative.  It was quite late when we arrived as there were a lot of roadworks on the road that held us up, so we set up and spent the rest of the evening relaxing after our big day of walking. 

Day two

Today was another day where we weren’t sure where we would end up and it was nice to be able to take it easy after a big few days of walking and running. The caravan park had a cat, so pats were provided before we headed off! We decided to go into Urunga to have a walk around and found the boardwalk. We were excited to be able to see the beach and the ocean again and walked the boardwalk before heading back to the car to continue north. Our next stop was Sawtell where we stopped and had a look at the Sawtell Memorial Rock Pool and Bonville Head Lookout. We kept moving north as we had stopped in Coffs Harbour on a previous trip, so we were keen to see other places. We did take a sneaky photo of the big banana as we were driving past though! We decided to stop at the Look At Me Now Headland walk at Emerald Beach, having a bit of a stressful driving getting there as these areas aren’t made for a car and a caravan and we had some tight streets to navigate. We had some lunch then went for a walk where we saw heaps of kangaroos and got a nice view of the headland and got to walk on Shelly Beach. We continued onto Woolgoolga to have a look at the water tower art and also had a look at the headland and beach there. By this time we were heading inland on the Pacific Highway so we decided to stop at Grafton for the night. We found a great low cost camp that required a code to unlock the padlock and it was toilets and showers. You had to pick your spot to park as there were some wet and muddy sections, but it did us for the night and we were able to air out the camper and dry some towels in the sunshine, as the damp ground was not doing us any favours!

Day three

Today was another short driving day, but the sun was shining and the weather was quite warm so we were looking forward to exploring more of the coast. Our last trip along this area was quite limited, so we weren’t able to explore some of the smaller towns. Our first stop was Maclean where we discovered it was their show day, but a lot of the shops and cafes were still open. Maclean had a Scottish shop that played bagpipe music as well as Scottish themed paintings on the power poles. We had a walk around the town before heading to the Maclean Lookout to have a look. We were a bit stressed about taking the caravan up the steep hills, but we managed to get up to the top to have a look around. It was a nice view and looked over to the coast and surrounding areas. We then drove to Yamba to have a look and we are so glad we did as it is such a beautiful town! We stopped and had some lunch at Pippi Beach and had a walk around before driving to Yamba Lighthouse. Once we arrived at the lighthouse, we decided to walk down to the break wall to have a look and to wander along. The weather had started to heat up then and there were people swimming and fishing. We decided to go for a walk along the rocks near Turners Beach, as we could see that we could get back to the car on a track just above the rocks. As soon as we got to the track though, it was VERY muddy and we got very dirty feet as we were only wearing thongs. Lucky for us we have a hose with water in the car to clean our feet. All part of the adventure though and at least no one fell over. We decided to stop in at Yamba Shores Tavern for a drink as they had a deck that overlooked the waterfront and it was such a beautiful day. The drinks were also cheap too, so that was a bonus. After our drink, we made our way to our accommodation we booked on Hipcamp and we were excited to stay here as we had the campsite to ourselves. We were trying to think of the last time we camped by ourselves and it was probably at the very start of the trip. The accommodation was off a fire trail and had some very specific directions to get to it. The track was also very muddy from recent rain but we arrived without any issues and set up camp. We were able to collect firewood to light a fire, so we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening enjoying the peace and quiet as well as the fire.

Day four

We didn’t have to leave the accommodation until 12pm, so we had a slow start to the morning and enjoyed having the space to ourselves. We decided to pack up and keep moving though as we could see some rain coming. We were heading to Byron Bay and decided to head up the coast via Ballina to get to the caravan park where we were staying. Unfortunately, free camping is a bit of an issue around here and we found that there weren’t many caravan friendly parking options on our drive up, but we managed to stop in at Flat Rock and Pat Morton Lookout to have a quick look. We were staying at a caravan park a bit out of the centre of Byron Bay, but it was only a five minute drive and we managed to find some free parking in Byron Bay. We set up the caravan and went for a drive into Byron Bay to have a look. We visited Byron Bay on a previous trip but we weren’t even there for 24 hours, so it was nice to have some more time to explore. We had a walk around the beach and town centre (avoiding any alcohol or nice food), then went back to the caravan park to get some washing and cleaning done.

Day five

Today we didn’t really have much planned as the weather report had some rain on the way, but we decided to go out and explore some places around Byron Bay. Our first stop was The Farm Byron Bay, a working farm that has animals, grows its own produce and has an on-site restaurant, cafe and produce store. We had a wander round to have a look at the animals and they had pigs, sheep, horses and donkeys. The food and cafe looked amazing, but decided to keep moving and head to Stone and Wood. We visited Stone and Wood on our last trip and loved it, so it was definitely on the list to come back and visit. We tried a variety of beers and ciders and also treated ourselves to some vegan loaded fries and they were all delicious! After enjoying our beers and fries in the sun, we went back to the caravan and relaxed for a few hours before heading back into Byron Bay later on that afternoon to have a couple of drinks for happy hour. There were a number of different places doing different happy hour deals, so we chose a couple and enjoyed some beer, cider and an aperol spritz. We headed back to the caravan park to cook some dinner and spent the evening trip planning and relaxing. 

Day six

Unfortunately there was no run for us this morning as there was a triathlon happening right outside our caravan park and we didn’t really want to interrupt the competitors! We still had some pancakes though and had a cruisy morning until the roads were back open. We were heading back to Ballina today, so we decided to stop at a couple of places we weren’t able to the other day with the trailer on. Our first stop was Lennox Head, and we parked up and went for a quick walk around. The area looked nice and there were heaps of different cafes and other restaurants. We continued driving and headed to Pat Morton Lookout as we weren’t able to do the full walk while we were there the other day. Turns out the view was heaps better at the bottom but it was still nice to get out and explore. We then headed to Ballina and got some diesel, before going to find The Big Prawn. Traffic was hectic in Ballina and with The Big Prawn being in Bunnings, everyone was there getting their DIY project materials but we managed to get a car park and have a look. It was actually quite big (we have learnt on this trip that some things are marked as being big but aren’t really that big) and we took some photos before heading back to the car and back into the traffic. We headed towards the water and parked the car and went for a walk around the town centre, then made our way to Seven Mile Brewing Co. We caught up with someone that Sammie has known for a very long time (basically family) and had some dumplings. There were heaps of different beers to try, so we got a couple of paddles and spent the next few hours catching up and enjoying some delicious dumplings and beers. The brewery is right next to the airport and has rotating food trucks. It was a really cool place to hang out and would be great to go to before a flight. After the brewery, we got our grocery shopping done, then headed back to the caravan park. Lucky we did head back as the rain for the rest of the day and night was very hectic!

Day Seven 

The weather still wasn’t great Sunday morning, so we had a bit of a sleep in before getting up to go for a walk. By the time we were ready to go, the rain had just about passed. When we were here last time, we quickly had a look at the lighthouse in Byron Bay, but we weren’t able to get to the most easterly point of Australia. This time we decided to do the full walk to reach the top and parked close by so we could still get free parking for four hours. For us, the walk was around 4 km return and took us to the most easterly point of the Australian mainland and the lighthouse, via some coastal lookouts and some stairs. It was a good walk to the top and we were still able to get some photos even with the amount of people around. We went back down the other side where it turned into more of a rainforest walk with a lot of stairs. We were glad we did it in a clockwise route as walking up all those stairs would have been a lot harder. It took us a bit over an hour to complete the walk with a few stops along the way, but it was a good way to spend a Sunday morning and we didn’t have to pay for parking. After the walk, we walked towards Woolworths to get some more food from the supermarket and discovered a part of Byron Bay we hadn’t seen before. That afternoon, we spent some time talking to the family for Mother’s Day, then headed back into the town centre later on that afternoon to enjoy a drink at the pub for happy hour. We found a pub that had $4 midis for happy hour, so we had a drink before walking back to the car via the beach. On the way back to the car we saw hundreds of bats flying in the sky. With that and the sun setting in the distance, it made for an interesting walk back to the car! 

Weekly stats

Number of KMs – 632

Number of states – 1

Number of campsites – 4

Number of items lost – 0

Number of items broken – 0