Till xmas not beyond..

- January 31, 2018

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the radio silence, we’re still alive and well and back on the road following a 3-week ‘Christmas holiday’.

Cousins hanging @ Grandma's & Grandpa's over the Christmas Holidays

My intention is to keep a detailed blog of our adventure. The reality unfortunately, is that the few scarce moments available to me (time between entertaining kids, cooking, cleaning, driving or sightseeing), are usually spent reading, relaxing or hanging with wonderful wifey (post production edit). My expectation of time on the kindle, burning through books whilst kicking back, was a long step from reality. Not horribly so, but writing a blog is down the list. Our Instagram posts are much more timely @ allfourfunpics

When we left off, we were farewelling mates on the Sunny Coast. Homeward bound, we stopped first at Hastings Point, on the Tweed coast. We drove through some of the most terrifying downpours I have experienced. The highway ground to a crawl and I was anxious passing through intense tropical thunderstorms that seemed to be following us south. In fact, one of the reasons we left was due to concerns we would be flooded in as is not uncommong during serious weather.

At Hastings Point we checked into our first Big4. Mehh... I get the hype – nice grounds, water park, games room, free child care (that clinched it for us). It had a solid list of features. But school holidays, brissie bogans and feral kids (strangely not in the brochure) meant we weren’t sad to leave. And at $105 a night, it’s a fairly hefty cost for a patch of grass. The coastline is spectacular though, and a solid Cabarita swell was well timed.

Our neat camp set up on the fake grass of the Big 4

Having a splash @ the Big 4 Water Park

Cabarita

The clear waters of Hastings Point

From there we headed back to Jo’s in Bangalow for another night of fun. The kids had a blast with Jo’s girls, to the extent that we often hear stories of what went down at ‘Sunny and Nina’s’.

Cheers Jo, Sunny & Nina

Our first semi-rural stop of the trip was next in Bellingen, inland from Coffs Harbour. We’d heard great things about the area and it didn’t disappoint. Our first inkling it was a foody town was our stop at The Federal - aka The Fed. We’d stopped for a drink and stayed for dinner after seeing the impressive menu. It was top-notch pub grub, and after further investigation we discovered we were spoilt for choice in the small rural town.

Happy Days...

... in beautiful Bellingen!

We camped at the showground which was great value and had plenty of green space. It also provided quick access to town and the local swimming hole on the river. A day trip up the mountain to the see the world heritage listed rainforest near Dorrigo was outstanding as were the waterfalls nearby, albeit fresh. The welcome video at the national park office inclusive of a python swallowing a bird whole did freak the kids out a little though!@#$%!. Its quite amazing such a place is only a short drive from the coast but feels a millions miles away!

The beauty of Dorrigo National Park!

Our final stop before the break was Treachery camp in Seal Rocks. It’s a hot spot for campers just 3 hours north of Sydney with beautiful beaches, great surf and good bush camping with wood fires and hot showers. All who’ve been would also remember black feet from the ashy sand - a consequence of random open fires on the sand. Amazing sunsets, sensational swimming and surfing with dolphins every morning. Highly recommended. I was successfully persuaded against spear fishing due to the frequent presence of ‘Whites’ in the area. A seed to freak me out while surfing as well.