The actual roadtripping part
Day 6, Port Stephens:
So we started off with heading towards Port Stephens and we stayed at Jimmy's Beach Caravan Park. It was not only cheap but also worth the money. We rented a powered site for the night and it only costed us $37. It was there that we visited Hawk's nest beach which was absolutely lovely. It really hit off the roadtrip to a great start.
Day 7, Tea gardens:
We got up early, made ourselves some baked beans and toasted bread on our mini stove and headed up further north. Pretty much shopped for groceries, took a shower and slept up to get ready for the next morning's activities. (the same routine everyday on the roadtrip) we did however arise the next morning early and headed to Lazy Paddles where we rented kayaks and kayaked in the Tea Gardens. From the moment we mentioned kayaking, Su Ling and Adrian partnered up leaving Zlwin and I to be the very much underdog team. The underdog team however did win the final race to the finish! And that was pretty much my highlight.
Day 8, Port Macquarie:
It had already started drizzling in the Tea Gardens after we had finished kayaking and it continued to pour as we drove up. When we got to our new campervan park, it was rather bright and sunny but little did we know rain was going to pour down on us all day, all through the night and all morning the next day. The boys powered through and set up as well as broke down the tent in the rain. Kudos to them. Especially Zlwin!
Day 9, Coff's Harbour:
Leaving Port Macquarie in quite a hurry due to the rain, we were in a rather gloomy as well as under-rested mood. We headed to the harbour and visited Muttonbird Island. It was a rather pretty sight and there we feasted on our chicken-avacado sandwiches. We did manage to get a pretty great campervan park "Malaleuca" and since the boys had just had a very tough day before, we got a cabin instead. The cabin came with a 'winner' queen sized bed and a 'loser' 3 person bunk bed. In the most ungentlemen fashion, they challenged myself and suling to a battle of rock paper scissors. Prize of course being the comfort of a nice warm soft bed with fluffy pillows and double comforters. The boys ended up winning. :( it did rain that night again and we were all very pleased with our decision to get the cabin over a campervan site.
Day 10, Yamba:
Heading off towards Byron, we decided to skip Stanthrope which was on our initial list of places to visit because that would probably mean a campsite and unsure of the weather, we played it safe and headed towards this small surf town instead on a whim. Also on a whim, we ended up eating at this Turkish-Mediterranean cafe which ended up to really cheer us up from all the bad weather we had been having. Later that night after getting a powered site at the best campervan park, by far-Blue Dolphin, we cooked up Indian food and lots of rice to satisfy Zlwin's insatiable craving for it's starchy goodness. It was very much a breath of fresh air for us as well as we were greeted with calm weather and that little spice gave us all a taste of home.
Day 11, Byron Bay:
We left early for Byron Bay the next day stopping by hippie town, Nimbin. The town itself was rather interesting but I did not feel particularly safe being the only few Asians and everyone stating at us like we would look good on a barbecue. Haha. But it was definitely an experience. We lounged around the main beach in Byron and eventually settled for a campervan park and marked the end of our ausroadtrip with a huge meat barbecue. At the end of it, and even till now, no one really wants anymore meat. It was way too much! We woke up the next morning at 5 a.m. to try and catch the sunrise. It was however, not as pretty a sight as we had hoped. The rising sun was blocked by a huge cloud and we could barely see any rays. Had a quick breakfast and headed to The Valley which was absolutely gorgeous. It was more of a surfing area but we all just enjoyed soaking up the experience and the vibe we were getting from the surfers, the ocean and the scenery. Eventually headed back to the main beach to lie around because after many days of dark clouds, we finally had a bright sun shiny day of pretty much Joy.
Day 12, Brisbane:
Let Byron half heartedly because we all really wanted to spend more time there and headed up to Brisbane. On the way we had Yatala Pies which were okay interns of filling and mushy peas but the gravy and pastry did salvage the meal. We were greeted by Chris and Beverly, who are the nicest, and dropped off our wicked campercar. It was honestly odd seeing the car so empty and clean for the first time in almost a week! We then headed into the city to meet Ivan. Hitting the city we set out for good food. Headed to a small French patisserie to wait for dinner. Eventually headed to Funny Funny, which is a Korean restaurant, for dinner. There we feasted on so much food each of us could almost explode (even Zlwin!)
As I'm typing this, we're heading back to Ps. Chris' home and I can't wait to shower and to get a good night's sleep on a BED! I doubt you've really read the entire post but of you did, yay and good on you. Drop a comment if you like and we'll update you soon enough. :)
SAMOEUMIN
