... and all the way up north to Byron Bay.

Hey hey again,

Sorry the last entry was so rushed - it was very difficult when my money was running out! Oh well, these things happen... anyway, just wanted to say again really how great it was seeing our friends, and catching up with them. Katy and Ross were so kind in putting us up - we felt thoroughly spoilt, and it was a nasty shock again when we opened the van doors to find out that Candy wasn't smelling her sweetest... these things happen!

So anyway, we headed on the road after Newcastle, and went through many different places. We saw a very windy Old Bar beach - miles and miles of greyness (the weather wasn't great that day!), passed through Taree, and ended up in Port Macquerie. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and the weather was terrible! Really heavy rain, - in fact we didn't feel up to doing anything that day. Unfortunately, when the weather is bad, and it is a Sunday, there is practically nothing to do in Port Macquerie. So we spent time writing in journals, finishing books, and just generally chilling out. We didn't feel like cooking supper so ended up driving back to where J had seen a meal deal at a pub down the road. She didn't mention it was about 30 minutes backtracking where we had been! So we braved the weather again, only to eventually find it in a very random place called North Haven, in the Bowling and Recreation Club. It was as awful as it sounded! But somehow delightfully tacky... bright neon lights, the average age was about 60, and lots of gambling machines... but we braved it out (had to sign on as a visitor), and had the hugest roast dinner for $8.50 (4.25 quid). The amount of meat I got was fantastic! Huge portions, and well worth it...

So we battled on into the night, and Haz had found a campsite with showers (that you had to pay for), 13km away from a little town called Crescent Head. So we tried to find it... after going 5km down a horrifically potholed road (and filled with muddy water - yes it was still raining!) The road was terrible - it was virtually impossible to avoid the potholes. And we are not allowed to drive down the unsealed roads according to the Wicked contract... so if we broke down we were in trouble! We decided, eventually, that a hot shower was not worth this fuss, so we ended up turning back and heading up the Pacific Highway for a little longer, until we found a rest area with toilets. Still, it was quite an experience, and one that we didn't really feel like repeating! The waves looked awesome though, and there were a lot of surfers hanging around, waiting for dawn.

So we headed on up the road the following day, stopping off to see a beautiful lighthouse at Smoky Cape. It was gorgeous, really elegant all in white, and looked out to the turbulent waters below. Next stop, Old Trial Gaol, in Old Trial Bay. It was built to house prisoners to work on a breakwater for the bay. Unfortunately, the breakwater never really worked out (it cost far too much in time and money), and was ravaged by a storm. So it was really an easy prison for 'aliens' during the first world war. They were allowed to walk along the beach, play games, form a theatre group, and so on and so on. We had great delight in walking around and looking into the cells.

Next stop, Nambucca Heads, - meant to have great views of the coast, and was quite pretty, but we unfortunately didn't manage to find the right lookout! It was pretty anyway, although the town was pretty average. But what it did have was the V-Wall. One of the only truly democratic pieces of artwork I've ever seen. The wall of stones that protects the town against the sea was coloured in with paints, stones, shells and mosaics. Anyone could write on it, and some of them were great. It wasn't interfered with by the authorities (as far as I know of), and people were very respectful of other works there. Not many people vandalised paintings on the rocks, and it was fantastic in that families painted a picture of themselves on a beach for example, and painted down each year they returned to Nambucca Heads. It was so bright and colourful - I loved it.

We carried onwards, and arrived at Coffs Harbour. The town was nice enough, but the weather was slightly too cold to go swimming in the beach. We did see the 'Big Banana' though - you really have to look at the picasa photos to see for yourself! It started the craze for the 'Big Things' that are mainly along the East Coast. So we sniggered and took a photo or two, before heading to the 'Surf Legends Museum'. Run by Scott Dillon (we didn't realise how famous he was until afterwards), - he was absolutely mental! We turned up and there were 3 policemen and 2 police cars looking for his 'wayward grandson' - he also invited us to jump in his hot tub. Very tempting (we hadn't had showers in a day or more), but instead declined as we needed to head on. He was so interesting to talk to - obviously a very famous surfer, who also made lots of surfboards. He showed us many photographs of shark attacks, people having their photo taken underwater, and a HUGE shark is in the photograph behind them - they were completely unawares! The surfboard collection was massive, as was his collection of photographs and memorabilia as well. He had collected many things from his times in Bali, Hawaii etc surfing, and his museum (house) was very strange. But fantastic to see - and great to chat to Scott.

So we felt as though we had done Coffs Harbour, and headed north to find ourselves a (free and HOT!) shower in a service station. Drove near to Grafton last night, and entertained ourselves with wine and card playing until we finally fell into bed, at 8.30pm. It was a late night! Then up at a fair time today to drive to Grafton (a couple of nice buildings, but not that special really), before stopping off to see the Scottish town Maclean and the Witzig art Gallery, showing Papau New Guinea artwork and surf artwork too. They have painted telegraph poles different colours according to the clan - absolutely brilliant! A few photos on Picasa...

And then to be cultural again and to see the Big Prawn. Brilliant. Such a great advert against nuclear stuff (agreeing here with the Lonely Planet (plonker)). A quite disturbing sight! And we finally made it to Byron Bay, which is where we are for the next couple of days. It is full of natural remedy stuff (you can have your aura photograph done, and have your portrait done as a fairy... need I say more?!) The upshot is that the food here is great, and very cheap. The beach looks beautiful (full of surfers) - but there are a lot of campervans! Because we were in the Outback, and then around a lot of unvisited areas, plus we have been sleeping in laybys on the side of the roads (they always have toilets - we make sure of that!) we are unused to being around other travellers, tourists, people in general really. It is quite disconcerting, but we have to be brave and go out and enjoy ourselves. It is a hard life! We are very unused to it though, especially here as there are so many campervans! But at least it is off peak season...

So currently I have been on the internet for over 3 hours, have burnt 7 CDs (put photos on them, not setting them on fire), and still have 4 to do...

So love to all, and will write again soon.
Loads of love from us all,
Alice xxx