Si's Year Out! (Plus Europe! Plus Morocco!): Manly to Byron Bay

Headed off a bit later than expected....due to the fact that I managed to lock my keys in the car...doh! It took about an hour and several assorted bits of wire to get in but we got on our way in the end.

Drove up through North Sydney, which took ages, then finally onto the coastal road towards Gosford (which wasn't much to look at, but has the same name as the place where I went to sixth form!). The first stop was a place called Budgewoi, a small town with a lake on one side and the sea on the other. Grabbed some lunch and had a surf at one of the beaches then we were on our way again.

Next we drove through a place called Swansea, which is just near the entrance to Lake McQuarie, the biggest salt water lake in the whole of Oz. After that the road took us through Newcastle (yes, another town/city that shares its name with a place in the UK) which is the second largest city in New South Wales. Its a big industrial port and there were lots of huge ships pulling into the dock and big cranes to remove the cargo. Other than that it wasn't particularly interesting and definitely not the most beautiful of places....so we headed on.

Ended the day in a place called Nelson Bay, a fishing town in the port Stephens area. You could see all around the inlet and we watched the sun go down while eating dinner by the beach, beautiful!

The next day we drove to Seal Rocks, a small village on the sea, surrounded by lush green mountains. The place was beautiful and also had some good surf so I got in the water. Once I got in I realised that the waves were so consistent because they were breaking off a reef....there is nothing more scary/exciting that knowing you could get smashed along the rocks if you fall off a wave but it was too good to resist!

The next stretch of road took us in between Wallis Lake and the sea and at some points the land was so slim that it was like being on a bridge all the way along! Had a quick stop at North Haven to grab some lunch and carried on to Port Macquarie.

The sun was going down by the time we got there so we found a place to stay and cooked up some burgers! The next morning we went to the 'Koala Hospital' to look at the koalas! You could get really close to them and they were much less docile than the ones I saw on Raymond Island, probably because we got there just after feeding time! Just before leaving we went to the breakwater (a load of rocks they chuck into the sea to stop the land from being washed away by the waves). All the rocks in this particular breakwater have traditionally been painted/drawn on by travellers passing through. All the different coloured rocks along the ocean look really cool and we found one to write on ourselves (we only had a black pen unfortunately so its not very imaginative).

Next stop was a Crescent Head, a place which is supposed to have some of the best waves on the east coast. Again it was on a reef so very consistent but the waves were also the longest curling waves I've ever seen! Each time you caught the wave you just cruised along for about a minute before it died out. The water was so clear you could see the fish swimming along by the board as you went, amazing!

After so much surfing we were a bit behind schedule (we were supposed to be meting someone in Byron) so we drove about 120km straight to Coffs Harbor. Got there pretty late and somehow ended up in the most ghetto area of Oz I've ben to so far....quickly ate dinner with one eye on the car, only stopping to decline the numerous offers of drugs....needless to say, we found a different area to sleep in!

In the morning we went to Muttonbird Island, which is actually now joined to the mainland by breakwater rocks and is home to 1200 muttonbirds, although I only saw three.... Next we walked around the towns botanic gardens which was divided up into sections, each with plants/trees from different countries.

The afternoon was another long drive all the way to Byron Bay. The long drives aren't too bad though as I'm with Edoardo whos decided to teach me Italian, its coming on quite well! Got to Byron early afternoon, met up with some friends from Manly and spent the afternoon at the beach!

Pictures soon.....

Before I left I went to North Head, in Sydney Harbour Nartional Park. The views across to Sydney are amazing....

Pellicans at Budgewoi

Seal Rocks

Looking out over the river in North Haven

Just about to head off to Port Macquarie

Looking out over Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie

A Koala from the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie!

To get down to the breakwater we could walk 1km along the path or slide/fall down the steepest hill you've ever seen.....we took the hill way....this is Gas just before he tripped and rolled to the bottom!