Huffy and Ankers in a campervan...

23rd April: Ballina - Lennox Head - Byron Bay

The weather was better today, it was sunny but still quite windy meaning the beaches were closed for swimming. Not to worry though as there was Lake Ainsworth in nearby Lennox Head that we could go to. It was a freshwater lake with traces of tea tree oil in it so the water was an orange colour and it felt really nice on your skin. Next to the Lake was a campsite which we sneaked into to use their hot showers and to charge up our camera using a plug for shavers. It was getting dark by the time we had left and were looking for a place to stay in Byron Bay, but that place is absolutely rammed with campers and it was so crowded we didn't really stand a chance of finding anywhere. When we stopped at the petrol station we took advice from another camper and drove onto the highway and just puled over at a rest stop.

24th April: Byron Bay

We headed straight for the beach when we got up as the weather was lovely and sunny. It was nice sunbathing in the hot sun and we could swim in the cold water to freshen up. We spent most of the day on the beach but in the afternoon we decided to go to a swimming pool that was by the beach so that we could wash off all the sand that was on us. For sunset we went upto the lighthouse to watch the sun disappear beneath the mountains. We had a nice earner collecting a few trolleys with dollar coins in them at Coles when we got some shopping which was nice. We satyed at the same rest stop as last night to plan what to do over the next few days.

25th April: Nimbin

We left the rest stop and headed towards Nimbin, although the route we took was short in distance there were lots of winding roads so it did take a while to actually get there. It was a cool place though, full of old hippies with grey dreadlocks and no teeth. Near to Nimbin is a place in the National Park called Hanging Rocks, its a river that flows into a massive plunge pool thats like a crater. I went for a swim in it and it was absolutely freezing! Because it was so deep you copuld jump into it from any height and i did it from the equivalent of jumping from the roof of a house (gives you a headache cus you go under that deep!) When we had finished there Charl was trying to cross the river and she was struggling so threw her things to me on the other side so she could use her hands, sadly she couldn't throw her top very well and it ended straight in the water and quickly flowed down the waterfall, oh dear. We left Nimbin and drove up towards Surfers Paradise but we didn't have anywhere to stay as it was so built up so we had to head north on the M1 and stay at a driver reviver site.

26th April: Surfers Paradise

We woke up undisturbed at the rest stop and headed straight for surfers paradise. It had a beautiful beach but was a bit touristy with lots of high rise apartments and busy roads. We just spent the morning lazing on the beach before heading to the resort centre for lunch. I got lucky finding $10 on the floor so we treated ourselves by going to Nando's. We picked up some leaflets from the tribal travel shop and checked the internet for the Stoke score then we headed back to the beach for some body boarding in the afternoon with some great waves and a big current. IN the evening we went back to Surfers Paradise resort and watched a juggling competition in a cocktail bar before heading back to the rest stop for the night.

27th April: Brisbane

Quite a few things to do today, we did our weekly shop on the way to Brisbane city centre and filled up the van with the cheapest petrol we have found, only 103c per litre! Charl did some excellent driving getting through to mad streets and I navigated and found parking. We went to the vistor information in Brisbane to book a trip to Moreton Island for 2 days which should be good. We then had to think about where to leave the van when we were gone and we thought about leaving at the airport but it worked out cheaper to leave it next to the Transit Centre where we were leaving the tour from. We were a bit tired of the busy roads in the centre of the city so headed to a place called Redcliffe which is on a peninsula just north of Brisbane.

17th April: Port Macquarie

The video of the Koalas being fed had come up with "file error" so this morning we got up at 7 and jogged to the Koala Hospital in order to see 8 o clock feeding time, we got a few videos and the Koalas seemed a bit more active than yesterday. We were knackered by the time we got back to the van and so we had a big drink and had our breakfast. The rest of the day was spent on the beach and in the sea. Its quite strange here because its really hot and sunny but it goes dark about 5 o clock at night so the day feels quite short. Its probably hotter at 8 in the morning than it is at 4 in the afternoon. we made pancakes after tea and Charlotte produced some lovely ones. I on the other hand made a bodge of making one and it turned out in millions of pieces of gunk, oh well.

18th April: Port Macquarie - Kempsey - South West Rocks

Lots to write about today. Got up on the beach at Port Macquarie and it was cloudy so we thought we would drive on. One of the tasks of the day was charging up the phone so we tried to do that at the information office but thay wouldnt let us. We went to an internet cafe to do it there, its charged now though so i can get the stoke score from my dad in the morning. There wasn't too much to do in Kemsey because it wasn't by the coast so we drove on to South West Rocks. There was an ace beach with massive waves so after chatting to the local man in the tourist information office we decided to go into the sea, you could get into the sea from some rocks by the car park so we decided to take that short cut, unfortunately there was a massive wave that came over the rock when we were climbing in and it washed Charl over the rocks and into the sea giving her many cuts and gashes. Luckily there were lifeguards on the beach so they were able to patch her up and we could return to the van for a cuppa instead of the rough sea. The day did get worse though, first the van sink ran out of water so we had to go to the petrol station to fill it up then when we were cooking our tea a bit later the van run out of gas! By that time the petrol station was closed so we had to go out for tea which we couldn't really afford to do! We shared a meal but had a side of chips to fill us up. At night we went to stay where the tourist info gut told us to go but there were loads of Mosquitos and Kangaroos!

19th April: South West Rocks - Coffs Harbour

We woke up without being bitten by any Mosquitos mainly because we slept fully clothed. We tidied up first thing and said goodbye to the numerous Kangaroos that had been around all night, then we drove up to the Gaol museum but it was way too expensive to go in so we didn't bother and decided to drive on. We stopped in Nambucca Heads in the afternoon to do some shopping and listened to some advice from a lady parking up next to us when we were unloading our stuff. When we got to Coffs Harbour it was nearly time for our tea and so we prepped some salad to go with the sausages we were about to cook on the barbecue, when we were cooking them they smelt amazing and they tasted even better! That night we stopped next to another campervan so we figured out it would be ok.

20th April: Coffs Harbour - Highway Rest Stop

Coffs Harbour wasn't looking to good this morning with all of the rain that was coming down but we still decided to visit their "Big Banana" Basically it was a place where they grew bananas and they showed you a film on how they make bananas and then you look around a suvenir shop that sells banana products. Just when we decided to leave though we came accross a candy shop where you could watch them make the sweets, very interesting actually to find out how they get your name into rock!. Having drove inland a bit on the Pacific Highway we stopped in a place called Grafton and did our laundry before setting off to Ballina, we stopped at a nice rest stop on the way though cus it was to dark to find somewhere else to camp.

21st April: Rest Stop - Ballina

The rest stop we stopeed at had a museum dedicated to the Italian community that arrived there 200 years ago. It took us till 11 o clock to leave the van though as it had been raining all morning and by the time we had slowly looked round (Charl was struglling with her foot) the rain had gone off and we could drive on to Ballina. The rangers are aparently clamping down on campers like us parking illegally overnight so we tried to find a campsite, they were rediculously priced though as it was the childrens easter holiday so we had to stop at rest stop on the Highway again. We decided to go to the swimming baths though on the way so we could freshen up in the hot showers.

22nd April: Ballina - Minyon Falls - Lismore - Ballina

More bad weather today, overcast and showers on and off. We thought "sod it" and went to the beach anyway but it was closed because the sea was too rough. That made us decide to go to a waterfall we had read about in the lonely planet book. It was a bit of a treck inland through Lismore and then loads of winding roads but worth it to get there because there was a barbecue area where we did sausage and egg sandwiches for dinner. You could see the waterfall from the platform but there was a path that lead you to the bottom of the waterfall and we took this route. The rain was belting it down at the bottom so we couldn't really take any photos but it was nice to look at. The road back to the campervan took ages as it was all up hill but we got ther in the end with not being badly struck leeches this time. We drove back to Lismore in the dark and had packet pasta for tea before going to the TAB (its like a bookmakers in a pub) and watching the greyhound racing. We drove back to the place we stopped at last night and had an ealry night.

12th April: Swansea

In the morning we went to the tourist information office to use the free internet to update our blog and upload pictures. Then we drove to Morisset where there was a mega market on. Unfortunately we didn't have any money so we couldn't buy anything. We're working off $200 per week and after petrol food and laundry we don't usually have much left, it was a good market to look around though. We then returned to Swansea and did some bodyboarding in the afternoon and then made some rice crispy cakes in the van. That night we had a special meal of sweet and sour chicken with rice for Easter and then we played cards with Charl beating me 19 times in a row. I decided to eat all 9 of my crispy cakes as fast as posible and achieved this in 2 minutes.

13th April: Swansea - Newcastle

We left our usual spot in Swansea, did the shopping and got petrol and then drove to Watagans National Park. I was amazed that we got the van in and out of the park along the bumpy, stoney roads without damaging it! We wanted to see a waterfall so we set off on the 1 hour trek to try and find it, getting leeches stuck to our feet on the way (they are really hard to get off) The waterfall was bloody dry when we got to it so the whole walk was pointless and when we started walking back it started to chuck it down. By the time we got back to the van we were absolutely drenched and we sheltered under the picnic area to check ourselves over for leeches. Charl had a few attached to her and she was really scared so she stood up on the table away from the ground. I thought i'd got rid of all of mine aswell but found blood on my feet when we had driven to Newcastle.

14th April: Newcastle

Today we got up and it was sunny at last! no more clouds, the rain last night must have got rid of them. We were in desperate need of doing some laundry so we went to the tourist information office to find out where there was a laundrette. The first place they told us was a dry cleaners so we dropped off our stuff but then thought it would be too expensive so ran back in and got our clothes back. We did find a self service laundrette though which was cheaper. After all that we stayed on Nobbys beach in the afternoon where the waves were amazing it was great for bodyboarding, in between our trips into the water we decided to dig a hole which has to be done when your on holiday! It was a bit boring in the evening with everything being so dead so we just walked to the shop for some matches and then sat on the beach for a while .

15th April: Newcastle - Nelson Bay - Port Macquarie

What a fun day we have had today, we saw dolphins! We wanted to go to the museum in Newcaslte first thing but when we got there we found out that it was closed. We looked in the lonely Planet book to find somewhere good to go in between Newcastle and Port Macquarie cus it would be too long drive on a lovely sunny day. That place turned out to be Nelson Bay, on the harbour in Nelson Bay there were loads of cruises being advertised to show you the dolphins but we found one for $21 each so not too bad at all, the boat took us to where they were and we saw loads of them! there was also a Boomnet on the end of the boat which you could sit/lie/do what ever you wanted in that put you in the water but stopped you from loosing contact with the boat. After that we dried off on the beach in the sun and then drove to a rest stop close to Port Macquarie to spend the night.

16th April: Port Macquarie

We had a fun day today, we left the rest stop early because Charl needed the loo and the toilets were basically a hole with a fence round it. We got to Port Macquarie and had a look around the town taking a picnic with us for lunch, its quite touristy here and we saw a few small aeroplanes doing scenic tours and there were street performers too. In the afternoon we went to the Koala hospital where the volunteers gave us a guided tour and told us why the Koalas (about 8 of them) had ended up at the hospital. There was one that was blind, one that had chlamydia and one very old Koala called Birthday girl who was 21 yrs old the same age as us. It was free to get in but they did ask for donations or that you brought something from the suvenir shop. We had a massive tea that night of spaghetti Bolognese (with meat for a change) before staying on a beach car park.

6th April (Lake Tyres - Narooma)

We awoke quite early this morning and decide that we'd better get a move on with the driving if we wanted to get to Sydney before the Easter weekend. The first port of call was Orbost where we had breakfast and I messed about on the childrens playground, when then went along the coast road through Marlo and stopping at a lovely beach on Cape Conran, we then stopped for lunch in Genoa where i had a disgusting pot noodle thing we brought in Melbourne ages ago, it did get nicer though and i eventually ate it all. We got to a town called Eden for 4pm, it was a nice town and had pleasant locals, we had a portion of chips between us for tea with bread and butter! It was a real treat as all the money we've got seems to be spent on petrol! We left at dusk and stopped in Narooma.

7th April (Narooma - Batemans Bay - Ulladulla - Stanwell Park)

We had a fellow Camperman campervan next to us last night, we always feel better if someone else is going to get done for sleeping in the vehicle overnight as well as us! We got to Batemans Bay for mid morning and had cheese sarnies for dinner (again) before carrying on to Ulladulla. Charl sat on the beach and I went for a look round the town in the hope of finding a body board with the waves being so good here, i didnt have much luck though! As we left there though we saw a dominos pizza that did large pizzas for $5.90! thats less than 3 quid! well cheaper than at home, we enjoyed that and then drove and stayed in Stanwell Park which is a little place quite close to Sydney.

8th April (SYDNEY)

We left Stanwell Park and drove to the nearest campsite to Sydney, it still meant getting a bus and train to the city though but we got a day pass which could also be used on the ferry. Once there though we went for a walk through Hye park which is full of people playing chess! you can't help comparing Melbourne and Sydney though even though Charl prefered Melbourne and i prefer Sydney. We caught a ferry to anywhere just to get great views from the water of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, when we didn't realise where we had gone we just went back to the city on the same one! We had a look around the designer shops even though we couldn't afford anything from them! We did well in Sydney not really spending any money, we waited till we were back to campsite before we had tea, and listened to a cheeky toddler being shouted at by her mother all night!

9th April (Bondi Beach)

Today before we left Sydney we decided that we would like to visit the famous Bondi Beach, finding parking was abit of a knightmare but we did eventually find a place on a side street although it was $3 per hour to park there! It was worth it though as the sand was so fine and the water so clear, its the best beach i've ever been to, add to that the big waves which we body boarded on and we had a fantastic time there. We left Bondi Beach at about 3 and I managed to navigate through the many roads of the city without getting lost even though there was so much traffic and we didn't get out of the city till gone 6! Bloody Bank Holiday Weekends! We stopped at a service station overnight as it would be mad to drive on to and look for somewhere to stop in the dark, other people had the same idea.

10th April (Service Station - Swansea)

We woke to find even more people camped on the same car park this morning, there was also a coach and mobile cafes and everything! We drove to The Entrance where there was an Easter show going on and we walked around a lovely shallow area of water cut off from the sea where the were loads of kids playing there because it was safe. We had a pie for dinner and found a sort of poundland place where we got out of date chocolate (we didint know until we ate it but charlotte didnt have hers which was good for me!) and playing cards for entertainment in the evening. We were then given vouchers for the local cinema and without anything else to do we watched The Boat that Rocked. We drove on to Swansea before tea and set up camp for the weekend there (money getting short this we so we can't sfford petrol till monday)

11th April (Swansea)

Spend the morning on the beach body boarding and sunbathing. I was a bit worried about going in the sea as there was warnings for Sharks and Jellyfish, but there were planty of other people in the sea and there were lifeguards so we figured out it would be ok! It went cloudy in the afternoon so we updated this blog at the library and went to Coles to get ingredients for tea tomorrow (Easter Sunday) and cooking chocolate for crispy cakes. We had exactly $12 to spend and the total at the till came to $12.02 luckily in Australia the smallest coin they do is a 5c so it was rounded deon to $12 Woo hoo!!

1st April (Apollo Bay - Port Campbell)

We woke this morning in Apollo Bay and decided to have a quick look around, it was only a small town so nothing to interesting there. We drove along the Great Ocean Road a bit further and came to the Twelve Apostles which are tall rocks that have been separated from the main land by seawater eroding, you'll see the pictures of what theyre like on facebook. also nearby was a thunder cave which made thunder noises when the sea came into it. We carried on the great ocean raod again and arrived in Port Campbell around 4 o clock. We spend the rest of the day sunbathing on the beach and swimming in the sea before sleeping on the beach car park.

2nd April (Port Campbell - Frankston)

Mainly a day for driving, we left Port Campbell and headed north towards Cobden and then to Camperdown, we then went west along the Princes HWY, through Geelong and back through Melbourne. We carried past Melbourne and then stopped in Frankston where we sowered etc on the beach before sleeping there.

3rd April (Frankston - Inverloch via Phillip Island)

We started off early this morning to arrive at Phillip Island for 10:30, on the island there was a koala nature reserve and we visited that, there were about 8 koalas that we saw all up in the trees but we managed to get close to a few as you'll see from the photos, basically they are just like teddy bears and they seem to move in slow motion. We went to the biggest town on the island called Cowes when it started to rain, we could have quite easily been in Britain as the area was a bit rough like Rhyl, in the afternoon we went to the internet cafe and then drove back to the mainland and settled down in a place called Inverloch, sadly we were disturbed about midnight when someone through something at the van! I was a bit worried it might have caused damage but luckily it was only an egg. Still being freaked out by this we drove on to somewhere different this time it was Venus Bay, the troble didnt end there though as I managed to lose the van keys from the front seat to in the back! i was looking like mad and Charlotte was going mad but after i quit for the night i felt them in my sleeping bag with my feet, how had they got there!!!

4th April (Venus Bay - Toora)

In the morning we drove to Frankston (a different one from before) where we had a look round, again only a small place so nothing to interesting. After the troubles of last night we decided to stay at a campsite today for less hassle, it was $25 per night which ain't too bad, it had a pool and hot spa and we also played tennis and bounced up and down on this bouncing cushion thing!

5th April (Toora - Lake Tyres)

We had toast this morning for the first time since coming away! the joys of being at a campsite! We looked around a town called Sale but most of the shops were closed because it was a sunday, they did have a big lake though which we walked around and me and charl played a game of guessing how many steps it would take to get back to the van! After that we drove to Lakes Entrance and then to Lake Tyres. The clocks went back here last night so it was dark by half 6 with nothing to do in the van we went to the pub down the road and watched there telly, we stayed on the beach car park for a change over night.