It Continued to drizzle for most of the night for our last night in Byron Bay, but these two guys could count their lucky stars they had that awning on their camper to keep the rain out.
We were driving for most of the day yesterday to get from Byron Bay to Nelson Bay. It is about 8 hours of driving time plus fuel, toilet and food stops on top of that. The day until later in the afternoon was uneventful, then we were off the air without phone or WIFI until this morning when we headed into Port Stephens for breakfast.
On the drive south, Ross was given specific instructions by barb NOT to stop at his favorite place … the Big Banana. We just sailed on by without a word spoken. It was a sad day, the first time ever Ross has driven past Olde Narnie without buying a yummy choc coated banana on a stick ……. incredibly sad day. Thanks Barb, another tradition thrown to the wolves.
The time machine was working its magic … You get in, close your eyes and bing bang bong you are whisked away to your destination.
The highway is protected from Kangaroos and other animals getting onto the roadway etc by high fencing along most of its length. Every so often there is a mesh sort of tube that is strung high across the entire width of the highway, north and south bound lanes so the little criters can get from one side to the other. A gun is definately the only way to get’em now.
We were not due into the caravan park at Fingal Bay until Sunday, Australia Day, so we had a free camp night somwhere between Byron Bay and Nelson Bay. We would prefer to get as close as possible to Fingal Bay and have only a short drive in the morning. We are usually up at 7’ish and when free camping we dont have to actually pack up anything because the camper is still attached to the car. We can be well underway comfortably by 8am, and check in is usually after 10 or 11, so a free camp within 2 or 3 hours of the destination is good.
We had already done ‘the math’ and decided on the likely candidate for the free camp ….. until Barb found a camp the was to good to be true. We took a punt, sailed past the chosen site and onto Barbs Navana; a free camp literally right on the waters edge with direct access and a $mil view. Well, the best laid plans …. guess what. It was too good to be true. It was open a couple of weeks back but is blocked with road barackades now. But wow …. what a place. We did consider dragging the barackades out of the way with the car.
Because we took the punt we were now an hour from any ‘legal’ free camps and it was too late, and too long a day to worry about whats legal and whats not. Its more about finding the least likely place we’ll get caught.
We checked a couple of spots, and Ross recalled a bush track he had driven down looking for access to a secluded beach a few years back. We headed down the sandy track, ignoring all the signs untill we found a spot big enough to get the camper off the track. Long story short we had dinner watched a movie and all slept like corpses all night. It was peaceful, quite and pitch black. Barb was a little apprehensive with this one. It was really secluded and illegal. That, by contrast, made it all the better for Ross.
We drove into Port Stephens this morning for breakfast and found the whole town geared up and locked down for Australia Day. There was a parade complete with old cars, bagpipes and a giant sperm (we didnt get the significance of that)
The guy with the bagpipes clearly didnt get to attend the last (and most important) lesson, and some of the cars in the parade were just normal cars …. and pretty shit normal cars.
There was a shindig in the park which was pretty good. There was live music, a market and heaps of food stalls which included our bacon and egg sandwich breakfast ….. or if you were Barb, hot chips for breakfast !!!!! (Apparently theres a little known chip rule; something to do with Aust Day, camping, and bagpipes)
One of Ross’s pet hates (and there is a few) is when the single day patriots, who only wheel out their patriotism once a year, start waving around their Chinese made Australian flags by their 1000s.
Our local patriots who never stand for the anthem, and dont knoe the words cant even bother their arses to go and buy an Australian made flag to celebrate our nations birth …. the $1 Woolworths offering will do.
There are two common patriots on Australia Day; the ones that wrongly celebrates Captain Cooks landing, and the other more popular one of …. “I dunno …. its just a day off isnt it?”. We would guess a significant percentage of the wavers of the Chinese made Australian flags have not a single clue what Aust Day actaully is. Chips and music were good though.
There was an Alpaca shearing display. Much more fun for the onlookers than the Alpaca we think …… the Alpaca is rack-stretched onto a table, and the bit the shearer is holding up like a football sock is its bloody head; and he’s holding it by the ears. Nothing but love and mutual respect in Alpaca farming.
The marina in Port Stephens is nice with some cool boats moored with the many dolphin and whale watching boats. There was live music all day on the waters edge with the marina itself as a backdrop. Some of the more significant cars from the parade were also at the marina.
We eventually made it to the caravan park in Fingal Bay. We checked out the beach and the pool and unfortunately had to head to the supermarket to stock up, which much to Daniels disgust, is before we can hit the beach which will have to wait till tomorrow. But the beach is very nice.
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