Sunshine Coast – Byron Bay

8 – 18 November

 

Back on the mainland and it was time to check out some of the beaches that Queensland is famous for. First up it was down the Sunshine Coast – whilst sunny it was also rather windy so spending too much time on the beach resulted in a rather sandblasted exfoliation. It did mean that the kite surfers were having a great time and it was fun to watch them all zigzag down the coast.

 

Onto Brisbane where we had lined up a surprise trip back to Auckland for Marcel’s brother’s engagement party. It was interesting having a fixed date (the first real set marker in the trip) and how suddenly time felt very compressed – explains why the last couple of weeks we’ve been pushing so hard. To Make the most of the flight back we spent the afternoon in a caravan park at Redcliff packing up boxes to take home with us as we listened to radio coverage of the US Presidential election. To top off the night we headed into Brisbane and the Breakfast Creek Hotel. As one of the places frequented by Estelle during work trips to Brisbane it was time to get us some good ol’ Aussie beef. Mmmm they were good steaks. What with the thunderstorms in the distance and our protein hit we were pretty buzzy that night!

 

 

After 4 days back in NZ it was reassuring to find the Troopy waiting for us in one piece in the Brisbane Airport carpark. Now down to the infamous Cold Coast. It really is a bit odd seeing the high rises at Surfer’s Paradise growing out of nowhere, with the endless beach stretching out in both directions. A quick swim (the water was rather refreshing by northern Queensland standards), a bit of sun soaking on the beach, a wander around Surfer’s Paradise complete with a Soft Cone for Marcel (feeling flush) and then it was down to Tweed Heads / Coolangatta for the night. Tonight was the night of the ‘Super Moon’ and we headed up to the Captain Cook Memorial with half the town to watch the spectacle.

 

Tweed Heads is split in two with the border of Qld and NSW running through the town. Whilst we may have stumbled onto NSW territory we weren’t done with Qld quite yet, so we headed inland to Lamington National Park. Named after the same Governor as the better known chocolate and coconut covered sponge goodie, the National Park follows the border with sheer cliffs dropping down into the caldera of a large ancient shield volcano. The next day we went on a 17km walk tracing waterfalls up through temperate rainforest to the edge of the rim. Unfortunately the couple of lookouts were rather overgrown and we were only able to catch glimpses of the sheer sides through the trees. Back through Antarctic Beech Trees (a relic of Gondwana times) we were greeted by brilliant yellow and black regent Bower Birds. Apparently the trick is to tightly pinch a sultana between your fingers as it is irresistible to the birds. Very neat birds.

 

 

Finally we were ready to cross into NSW proper. And what a welcome we got – up over a secondary road to the secondary road to find traffic cameras ready to record our arrival. Apparently there is a problem with illegal cattle movements around this neck of the woods … As soon as we crossed the border into NSW the roads deteriorated with multiple patches on top of patches and potholes dotted along the road. Seriously guys, sort it out. Our first night in NSW was at the old Lynch’s Creek school where the local community has opened up the lawns complete with old school (ha, ha) long drop to the travelling public. It was a great spot for Marcel to get under the car and check that everything is behaving itself.

 

Down through Nimbin, and then onto Lismore which was a pleasant surprise. Following an Architecture of Lismore self-guided walking tour I’d found on the web we wandered around downtown before exploring the Back Alley Street Art galleries along laneways. In town there was a small farmers market where we picked up some colourful tomatoes and some pecans in their shells. We learnt that you can crack pecans by squeezing two nuts together in your hand and they crack against each other, very neat. That night we stayed at the local Lismore Showgrounds, we really do stay at all sorts of places.

 

 

We took a slight detour as we headed towards the coast past Minyon Falls. My grandfather travelled through this area in 1938 and his diary has the entry “visited Minyon Falls which are 400 ft high and a marvellous sight” so thought that we would also check them out. Indeed the drop was impressive, but unfortunately for us there was the barest of trickles going over.

 

Down to Byron Bay where we were able to park the car up at the caravan park and walk into town. We headed out to the Lighthouse up on Cape Byron the most easterly point of mainland Australia. Of course there was the obligatory photo with the sign, but Marcel was convinced that a rocky outcrop a bit further along was actually further east, so got a photo there just in case! Our swim was cut short when we spotted a blue bottle in the water, and continued to spot all along the beach as we wandered back into town. We had a relaxing night with a cheeky drink, some cheap pizza on the beach and strolling around town.

 

 

The next day we headed out for a dive at Julian Rocks where a large variety of both warm and cooler aquatic life is found. Amongst other things we saw lots of Wobbegong sharks and some snoozy turtles, it was fun getting out on the water. But for now we have to keep on heading down the coast.

 

E