We took a ferry over to Watsons Bay passing the famous opera house and Sydney harbour bridge. From Watsons bay we took the short bus ride to the famous Bondi beach. A visit to the Sydney fish market is a must for lovers of seafood, with a vast selection of fresh fish and cafe's selling ready prepared dishes of the daily catch.
Day 2.
Leaving Sydney we picked our hire car and made the 2 hour drive to Port Stephens passing through the small town of Cardiff. Arriving in Port Stephens we bookes a half day cruise out on Nelson Bay and saw a number of dolphins.
We then visited the local golf club for a quick drink on the impressive club house balcony and as dusk fell a a troop of Kangeroos gathered around the 18th green to graze.
Day 3.
Leaving Port Stephens we continued our trek North along the East coast to Port Macquarie. We took an evening cruise out on the Hastings river, the wildlife we saw included sea eagles, pelicans and dolphins.
We visited the Tacking point lighthouse with its spectacular sea views,tern we headed to the North Brother Lookout in Dooragan National Park with its Majestic views over the surrounding coastline.
Day 4.
Leaving Port Macquarie we drove onto Coffs Harbour via the resort of South West Rocks where we visited the Historic Trial Bay Gaol. Coffs Harbour has a lively, working harbour and some of the surrounding beaches are simply stunning. We picked Woolgoolga aka "Whoopi" and as with most beaches in this area it has superb beachside public facilities. The town also boasts the Impressive Guru Nanak temple which services the sizeable Sikh community.
Day 5.
Leaving Coffs Harbour we drove along the Pacific highway and stopped off for breakfast at Ulmarra, a national trust village founded in the 1850's by cane planters.
We had intended to stay over in Byrons Bay but the place was teaming with backpackers and did'ent seem to have much charm, so we drove onto Coolangatta.
Coolangatta stradles the border between New South Wales and Queensland and there is an hours time difference between the two states making it a confusing place at times.
Crossing the road (and time zone) we went to the Twin towns club and watched a very entertaining show by the comedy show band " Frogs on Toast"
Day 6.
Leaving Coolangatta, we drove onto Surfers Paradise.
We decided to spend a day at the Races (horses) and drove to the Surfers Paridise racecourse, its a great place to spend a few hours with plenty of atmospere and some colourful characters. We both managed to back a couple of winners and came out even in the betting stakes.
We drove into the Tweed Valley and were amazed to see how suddenly the landscape changed from Urban to farmland to sub tropical rainforest.
We drove upto Mt Warning and took the Lyrebird Track crossing Breakfast Creek before winding some 200 m through palm forest to a platform set amongst the lush subtropical rainforest.
Day 7.
Leaving Surfers Paradise we drove onto our final destination of the road trip...Brisbane. Brisbane has made the most of it riverside location, with some good waterside walks, parks and even an inner City beach with man made lagoon. A must for any visitor is a boat trip down the Brisbane river, with great views of the City's skyline. We took the train to the coastal resort of Manly, with its huge marina.
Day 8.
Leaving Brisbane we started the long trek home to Cyprus with a stopover in Sydney.
We took a train down to the harbour, visited the Opera house and then visited several pubs in the 'Rocks' disrtict. The Fortune of war pub is the oldest pub in Sydney, dating back to 1828.
No comments:
Post a Comment