The East Coast to Sydney...
...via the Hunter Valley (WINE) :-)
04.01.2011 - 12.01.2011
27 °C
View
RTW Part 2 (Aus/New Z/Cook Islands ... home time)
on RosiePony's travel map.
Lennox Head, 20 mins bus ride from Byron Bay - we venture far! A nice place to visit for a few days but Hel n I only stayed a night at the YHA which had a relaxed atmosphere and was set up for socialising. We walked along the main road which hosts the main shops and restaurants and then into the beach (7 mile beach) all the way to the headland to watch the surfers do their thing with the waves. I enjoyed watching them fight out the right to a wave, often with one having to quickly dive off the wave before the other surfs over them! Once up on the headland we felt the wind blow in our hair and cool is down from the climb up. From the top we could see two more headlands of the coast further south. We lay on the grass at the top n read for a bit before returning to Lennox to grab some dinner back at the hostel and play scrabble - I think I'm improving but we still manage to block ourselves into the middle.
After Lennox we headed down to Coffs Harbour. So far our adventure seems to have so far consisted of walking to headlands and lighthouses! Which have been good but slightly repetitive. Coffs harbor held more appeal and the walk to the headland was really pretty- the sun was out hence my sunburn text. Nice marina too and of course there's the banana...
Port Macquarie was good despite the rain. A nature trail turned into a naturalist hideout as hel and I realised after walking onto a nudist beach! Saw a couple of old guys having a chat naked n a few other nude blokes hiding along the beach edge, probably trying to blend in as hel n I walked past...! Nothing mentioned THAT on the map! After that we went to the koala hospital, nothing remotely exciting Happened there, then back to the hostel. The following day we walked round the town, tried to see the maritime museum but the man in charge (Peter) decided to give us a Q&A session to catch up on English culture... He was a cute 83 yr old from Croyden who had moved to oz 20 yrs ago. He likes ballroom dancing n didn't quite grasp the concept that the uk had calvary dinners ... as well as strictly come dancing! Oh well. He recommended a good fish n chip shop so I am happily topped up on that for a bit all very random!
Headed down to Newcastle for wine tasting in the Hunter Valley - a highlight of Oz since I'd been looking forward to it since Borneo where it was first recommended to me! And it didn't disappoint. White dry to sweet to red dry to sweet to port! Yum! We visited 5 wineries during the course of the day and luckily (for my party) I snacked between eat tasting so I wouldn't become drunk, hope you're proud mum! I really liked the experience n I know a bit more about wines than I once did. We explored Newcastle on foot, the first place down the coast with architecture and buildings over one story. We climbed up the 180 steps to a lookout to view the international port harbor (big ships come n go).
After that it was onto Sydney...
Posted by RosiePony 16:02 Archived in Australia Tagged backpacking