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We left Glen Innes and its rain in search of sun, sea and sand, and also got to see dolphins mixing with the surfers and whales splashing about in the ocean, we didn't even have to get our feet wet. We stopped in Yamba for a few days to see Neville and Pru and Blake, Sophie and Dusty. More of Ryan's Australian relatives. The bonus to staying with them was Pru liked all the Sunday programmes that Maz liked so we got to see the finales of shows we'd watched whilst in Brisbane. Being so close to the sea was also a bonus, from here we saw more whales and dolphins, Blake also took us on a tour of the local area, even showing us a really angry looking kangaroo. Had we not had a deadline of leaving Australia Yamba looked like a nice place to stay.
With our laundry done and Ethel repacked we said our goodbyes and hit the road, stopping in lots of lovely beach side towns and pretty coves.
We stopped in Woolgoolga and got to watch some more whales playing in the ocean whilst we had our lunch, from here we continued into Coffs Harbour. We took a walk around the town and the beach but with high winds we soon headed back to Ethel for some shelter. As the wind was even stronger the next day we decided to head in land.
We'd been told that Dorrigo was a nice place to visit so we headed back up the great dividing range. As we got to the top we were greeted with rolling hills and farm land, bit bizarre when you think your driving up a mountain range.
We took a small walk down to a waterfall, where Ryan managed to sink up to his ankles in mud, and went to a rainforest centre for some more walking. However the best sight was found in the town, a sweet shop with bags and bags and bags of different sweets, Ryan grabbed a packet quickly but Maz spent aaaages deliberating eventualy picking out two packs promising to share!
We'd heard about South West Rocks from dive magazines, It's home to Fish Rock Cave, one of Australia's best dive sites. After a chat with the guys from the dive shop we decided to book on the next available day for a double boat dive.
Dive day couldn't arrive any quicker, 10am we were off on the boat, 11am in the water with grey nurse sharks, rays and wobbygongs. This was our first dive with scary looking sharks, Nurse sharks are pretty docile but when they are bigger then you it's still pretty nerve wracking. On our first dive we only saw a few sharks, nearly running head on into one who then hung in the current eyeing us up, most others kept their distance, although Maz did get a fright when she turned around to find one right behind her! On our first dive we also got to swim through Fish Rock Cave, which is home to huge numbers of massive wobbygongs, and big schools of fish. The cave is pitch black and our torches kept reflecting the eyes of all the crayfish hidden in the crevices. Sometimes there can be up to 30 Nurse sharks in the cave too, there weren't any on this trip but we did get to stop in a bubble cave and have a chat whilst still 5 meters under water. On our second dive the visibility wasn't as good so when you saw a shark it was like they appeared from nowhere, then disappeared back into the gloom. As exciting as it was to see the sharks Maz most enjoyed being able to hear Humpback whales, Ryan just though he could hear a bell!! We also had the pleasure of seeing a big turtle during our surface interval and got to do a spot of whale watching on our trip back to shore.
Once back on land we treated ourselves to a night in a campsite and a restaurant dinner, top marks to the chef the lamb cutlets and ribs were delicious.
After a good nights sleep and a hot morning shower we were back on the road. We stopped for lunch in Forster, as pretty as it was didn't offer much to us and being on a time schedule we were back on the road shortly after.
After being on the road for a few hours we took a slight detour out to Nelson bay, again we found ourselves in another dive shop and booking more dives, we managed to get 2 shore dives organized on consecutive days. The water was the coldest we've had in our diving experience, only 17 degrees, much cooler then when we learnt to dive in the balmy waters of Koh Phi Phi.
Our first dive we went out a place they call Fly Point and had a slow drift dive, we saw cuttle fish, rays, pineapple fish and a blind shark (the species not a shark with no eyes!). On our second dive we went to a site called the pipeline and went on a search for seahorses. This was another great dive especially as we managed to find two elusive seahorses, both hidden under some soft cauliflower coral. A leaf wrasse, a small fish that looks more like a a piece of vegetation then a fish, was very fond of our group and burrowed into our dive guides BCD, then decided to hitch a ride on Maz's wetsuit, then went after Ryan. We also saw some pipefish, cuttlefish, rays, cleaner shrimp and an octopus. After 40 minutes we headed back to dry land, mainly to warm up in the hot shower.
To celebrate a very successful dive we treated ourselves to a night in a campsite. Melaleuca Backpackers was lovely and set in the bush. The couple that own the site also rehabilitate injured wildlife, when we arrived the lady had a baby bush tailed possum hidden in her jumper. Josie, the kangaroo also lives on the grounds.
The place was empty with only 1 other couple staying, or so we thought, a tour group turned up slightly later. We met the couple after dinner and played some casual drinking games, we then learnt the big group had bought a ton of beer, and were going down to the beach with it. They left some behind so we stole it and then joined their beach party. They were all pretty fueled with booze and didn't even notice we'd stolen theirs!! We had fuzzy heads the next day. We also learnt that evening, that if you stay in a tent Josie the kangaroo likes to eat the guy ropes and then scratch her way into the tent. She also likes having under her chin scratched, well you hold your hand under said chin and she flings her body about like one of those inflatable wavey handed men.
Before we left Melaleuca we went for a walk around the property as we had been told that koalas sometimes stayed in the taller trees there. After lots of search and achey necks we were finally lucky enough to spot one. Maz was very excited.
We'd learnt that there was a ship wreck near to a beach so we packed up Ethel and made tracks from Nelson bay. We made it to the beach, after parking the van about 2 kilometers away. Well we made it to the sand dunes, we still had another kilometer to go to touch the sea, we had to take zoomed in pictures of the ship wreck as the sun was starting to set and we didn't want to get lost. Heading back to Ethel we found a kangaroo who was heading to the beach as well.
From here we are heading inland to the blue mountains and taking in the sights of Sydney.
Cya's!!
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