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We continued for a few more hours and decided to stop the night in a park out of the way. We've travelled 750kms so far, still got a long way to go but at least we've left Victoria and entered New South Wales so we are making progress! I'm having a great time so far, it's nice to be in our own transport/home, no worries, we can do what we want and no stress of having to find a cheap hotel every night, we're even saving money I think! I drove a bit today, weird driving an automatic but it's easy once i'd stopped trying to change gear ha ha! Made me realise how much i've missed driving.
29/01/10
Well we weren't eaten during the night so we're off to a good start! Drove a few km's till we found a rest stop with showers, freezing cold but who cares, it's day 4 of no shower so we were having one no matter what! We've decided to stop at a few places on the way to break up the driving so after 200km's or so we stopped at Mogo Zoo which is on the coast near Batemans Bay. It was a small zoo but really good, tigers, lions, zebras, monkeys and giraffes - a baby had been born 5 days ago but she was sleeping so we couldn't see her, alligators, red pandas, meerkats, all sorts!
Parked up for the night at a rest stop off the freeway, at least it has toilets!
30/01/10
Started off about 10 ish, headed on the same road a few hundred km's till we started heading into Sydney. We decided to go to Bondi Beach to have a look, the traffic was terrible! Finally managed to find the beach, it's a maze round here but I'm glad we found it, it's my third time at Bondi and I'm not bored of it yet! We dipped our toes in the sea and observed the famous life savers at work (chatting up women!) and decided we'd better carry on otherwise we'd be here all day! We headed into Sydney city centre , we decided not to stop in as it was really busy so we headed through the city and out over the Harbour Bridge, it was awesome to actually drive over it! Climbed it twice and now driven over it so all thats left is to sail under it! Simon got a glimpse of the Opera House and he was happy enough with that so we carried on. I would've liked to have had a little look at Darling Harbour but it was just too manic to find anywhere to park. We carried on up the Pacific Highway towards Gosford where we took a scenic drive along the coast past The Entrance (yes that is the name of a place!) and Toukley then into Newcastle. By this time it was dark so we needed to find a place to stop. We drove through the town and out to Williamtown where we stopped at a rest stop just off the main road, proper gyppo's now!
31/01/10
I was up early as it was BOILING in the van this morning! Back on Pacific Highway (PH) to Bulahdelah where we took another scenic drive on the Lakes Highway. Stopped for lunch at Bluey's Beach, very nice! Got back on the highway up through Port Macquarie and carried on up to Coff's Horbour where we decided to stop at a pub and watch the Aussie Open men's tennis final - Federer V Murray, Murray lost but it was a brilliant game and I got to have a nice bloody steak for my dinner which was lovely! After the game (the pub had shut so we thought we'd better leave!) we drove a short distance and stopped at yet another dodgy rest stop, we'll get a reputation for hanging around public toilets at this rate ha ha! Still having a wicked time in the van, definitely one of the best ideas we've had, roadtrip woo hoo!
1/02/10
Nipped back to Coff's Harbour this morning to see the 'Big Banana', not as exciting as it sounds, it was a small amusement park with a giant banana at the entrance, we didn't stay long! Back on the PH, heading up to Byron Bay and stopping when we feel like it on the way. It's raining on and off today, respite from the sun but a b***** for driving in. Went to Woolgoolga, a small town with a whale-watching headland, we didn't see any whales. Also went to Yamba as there was an Aboriginal tourist drive but it involved trying to find small information boards al;ong the coast and getting in and out of the van in the rain so we decided to give it a miss! It's nice stopping off at places even if we don't do anything but drive through, we've seen loads of small towns and the countryside in NSW is amazing, very different from the West and South coast, definitely more lush and green, might be something to do with the fact it definitely rains more on this side of the country! The highlight of my day has got to be finding a petrol station that has hot showers for $3, I finally get to wash my hair, it smells like a dog's bottom!
Managed to make it to Byron Bay, it's weird being back here, I remember it well from when me, Steve, Kate and Stacy came a couple of years ago. We looked around for a place to stay but they're strict about you not sleeping in campervans for free around here so we headed to a rest stop on the way back to Ballina, about 15mins away from Byron. Yet again another night, another rest stop, feel like George Michael ha ha!
2/02/10
Went to Byron and parked up. Had a walk around town, it's like stepping back in time here! It's a really bohemian place and everyone is dead chilled out, we had a look around the shops then had fish and chips on the beach. We drove up to Cape Byron and went to the observation deck to watch the surfers, they make it look so easy! Went and dipped our toes in the sea and then left for Coolangatta, going for a beer with Steve!
We finally managed to find him, it was so good to see him! We had a couple of beers, he went home and we headed off back down the highway to a rest stop called 'Sleepy Hollow' creepy! Actually it was sound apart from the toilets!
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