Part 1 – Sydney – Gold Coast
Gavin Still the 4th collected – a white Subaru Forester – we set off Northbound for our epic 1,500 mile road trip. A very short drive around an hour up the coast for our first overnighter.
Gosford – Chosen as it was close to the Australian Reptile Park, which was on the “to visit” list. We spent longer there than planned as there were so many animals and we saw everything at least twice. The highlight was getting to meet MoMo the koala and having a photo taken with her!
Forster – Two and a half hours up the coast from Gosford and a quick overnight stop to break up the journey. We arrived late, so just had a quick look around the next morning before setting off for Port Macquarie. Weather was pretty miserable, but stopped off at Crowdy Head Lighthouse and Lake Cathie, highlight of the day was getting up close to a pelican waiting for a fisherman to catch his dinner!
Port Macquarie – Since speaking to a colleague years ago, this stop was always on the agenda. Not just the home town of Alex but home of a Koala Hospital. Alex moved back to Oz a few years ago, so we messaged to see if he fancied a beer or two when were were in town. We’d found out that the hospital had been damaged and was closed for renovations. We were deflated. Met up with Alex for drinks and a bit of food, at his local, which was local to our apartment and called the local. He tipped us off that the hospital had been temporarily relocated to a nearby forest, we googled and were delighted to find that we could visit before leaving town. We did a tour of the beaches, the lighthouse and Sea Acres Rainforest, all really nice on a warm and sunny day. Walking back along the coast path near Shelly Beach, when heard a rustle in the bush! There was an absolute massive jurassic looking “thing’ about four foot long. Once back we googled and it was a Goanna. Hope we don’t bump in to one again soon.
Coffs Harbour – First stop after leaving PM was Guulabaa – Palace of Koala. We were delighted to see Ocean Drive Nero at a sensible height in his tree, just snoozing the day away. Absolutely gorgeous and we were both taken with him. All the other residents were high up in the tree tops, you had to squint to see them. We were incredibly fortunate to watch another of the residents Hunter having his yearly health check. After being bagged up in his enclosure he was taken to the surgery and sedated, he was given a once over to ensure he’s in full health. Before reaching CH, we took a detour to Hat Head, recommended by Alex. A beautiful creek and beach, off the beaten track. First morning in CH was cloudy with rain showers but we walked down to the harbour and over to Muttonbird Island, got a few steps in. The rain had now blown over, so we spent a couple of hours on the local beach. Second morning was absolutely scorching, our washing got stuck in the machine, so we went to the pool until we could rescue it. In the afternoon we drove over to the Bongil Bongil national park and Tuckers Rock Beach. Then a thunderstorm rolled in, so we headed back. Early evening it brightened up, so we drove over to the “Look At Me Now” headland, we’d heard a rumour that there were wild kangaroo’s there. Yep there were plenty, however what we didn’t expect to see was two males having a boxing match. We thought that kangaroo’s boxing was an urban myth.
Gold Coast – Next up “The Goldie” Faced with a three and a half hour journey, we had planned a few stops. We had hoped to stay at Byron Bay, however the accommodation was really expensive, so we planned it as the first stop on this journey. The town was really really busy, so we headed out to the lighthouse. We parked up, walked up the hill and saw Tallow Beach from above, on to the lighthouse, then a short distance on the coast path to the most easterly point of the Australian mainland. After a coffee/cake pitstop, we carried on the journey. We hadn’t taken in to account that that Queensland is an hour behind New South Wales, so we had another couple of pitstops at Cabarita Beach, Fingal Head/Lighthouse. At Fingal Head we spotted a pod of dolphins and watched then for half an hour or so. Next stop, Mermaid Beach.
