I've decided to mush all these places together because we only spent a short amount of time in each, and so I don't really feel like I can write a whole blog post for each. We had 6 days to get to Brisbane so we made a road trip of it. We had some amazing times, but also the worst times during this week.
Following a successful day at the Blue Mountains, we set off in search of a campsite for the night. One of the rules of campervan rentals with Travellers Autobarn is that you are not supposed to drive when it gets dark, because the animals come out and the roads become more dangerous. Therefore each night consisted of a race to find a campsite. Our first campsite on the East Coast was an experience. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of this place because I was too traumatised. The drive seemed okay, we had a little laugh at 'Baldy Knob Road' - yes that was actually the name of the road (FYI the campsite was near that one, I looked on the map but couldn't remember). We turned at the sign that said campsite, and we were greeted with another 10km dirt track - these were becoming the bane of our lives. Back to 20km/ph and we slowly made it down the track. About halfway, the sun was slowly setting, and things started to get a bit creepy. The first thing we came across was what can only be described as some kind of cuddly toy shrine. In the middle of nowhere. Loads of toys, all around a tree, lots of different colours. It almost looked like some kind of tribute to someone that had died. But there was nothing else there other than cuddly toys.
A little further down, and we spotted a burnt out car with 'Turn back now' written in graffiti on it. I felt like I was in a horror film, but it was too late in the day to turn back. I was worried that we would get there and there wouldn't be anyone else there. Luckily that wasn't a problem as there were quite a few people there fishing, but I didn't really sleep at all that night.
When we set off again in the morning, and our first stop was Port Macquarie. A beautiful beach town. We stopped here for the morning and took a walk along the seafront. There was a path from the harbour to the beach, with hundreds of painted rocks. There were lots of activities available here from boat trips to jet skiing and a huge holiday park/campsite along the front. It would have been a great location, but I imagine it is pretty expensive to stay in. We stopped for lunch at an Italian cafe - Cafe 66. The food and service were both really good. They had a lunch menu which was a great value. They also did a great coffee - which we were both high in need of after our spooky night.
After lunch, we took a little walk around the town and stopped in the mall and visitor centre. We found a leaflet for a nearby beach and lighthouse so we hopped back in the van and went to check it out, and I am so glad we did because it was such an amazing place. The beach was stunning and even the lighthouse was cute - it was very small, but still very picturesque.
As it was time to find somewhere to sleep we set up the sat nav to a campsite featured in our camping book. As we reached Kempsey, we took a wrong turn - again. But as we did I spotted another campsite that hadn't been mentioned in our book, and they had a sign outside saying vacancies for $25. This was a lot closer to our route that where we were heading, so we decided to check it out.
It was perfect - showers, proper toilets, a swimming pool, and lovely staff - the caretaker there was even from Bristol! We set up and had a great evening. But in spectacular Megan style, this is where things went wrong. I had a great sleep, but when I woke up I knew something wasn't right. My legs were so itchy. I opened up the van and jumped out, and looked down at my legs. I had pretty much been eaten alive. I have never seen so many bites. My legs must have had about 100. They were everywhere. At first, I just considered this a small inconvenience, so we set off and I planned to pop into a pharmacy and get some bite relief cream.
Our first stop was Nambucca Heads. There wasn't much going on here, so we didn't stay long. A lot of the residents appeared to be older, and the town was very small. We drove down to the beach and relaxed in the van for a while. It was really pretty there, but it's not really somewhere you need to stop.
Next up was Coffs Harbour, somewhere that had been recommended by a few people. We arrived just in time for lunch so we found a nice burger bar - Attitude Burgers - in the harbour area. The burgers were good, and we did a bit of people watching.
After lunch, we took a walk to the beach and had a little look around. Honestly, we were a little disappointed by Coffs Harbour. We felt like maybe it was recommended more for a nightlife (which we were not there for) because there wasn't really much to do that was different from anywhere else we had been.
We checked Trip Advisor and we found that Forest Sky Pier was nearby so we decided to check that out. We had to drive up a steep mountain - cue the nervous passenger palm sweat - but eventually, we reached the top and found a viewing point that provided fantastic panoramic views of the coast. The views were incredible, and the best part was, there were only 2 other people there so we were able to get some great photos. The area also has some hiking trails, so you could probably get some more amazing views and have a whole day out there.
We decided to keep driving. We were heading towards Grafton as that's where our next campsite was, however on the way we spotted a sign for Emerald Beach. How could we not stop somewhere with a name like that?! We drove through a cute little village of beautiful houses and arrived at a small beach. It was so quiet with only one other lady paddling her feet in the sea. It was like having our own private beach. By this point, my bites were starting to become more uncomfortable so I also had a little paddle in the sea to get some salty water on my feet. It was like we were in a little paradise on this beautiful beach with wonderful weather, we almost didn't want to leave. I feel like the photos really do not do it justice, but it really was beautiful.
We found our campsite, and it was a bit of a different one, it was at a greyhound racecourse, so for once it wasn't in the middle of no-where, it was actually a pretty good location. We paid $20 for a spot and then headed to the mall in search of ice cream - because, priorities. I was slowly getting more and more uncomfortable, and by the time we had reached the mall, I was close to breaking point. I could feel my eyes welling up and the sting of the bites were becoming unbearable. I didn't want to sleep in that van again. At this point, I just wanted to go home. Whilst Hollie disappeared to join the worlds biggest McDonalds queue, I sat indoors with my sunglasses covering my teary eyes and searched on Expedia. Tomorrow we would be nearing Byron Bay, which I had been so excited for. But I knew my trip was going to be spoilt whilst I was in this state. I found a really cheap deal for a hotel in a place called Ballina, which was about 30 mins from Byron. It was just a cheap basic motel, but they had a pool and air-conditioned rooms and it meant no more camping. To my delight, Hollie was just as keen to book it as me. We just had one more night to get through.
Here are a few pics of my hideously deformed legs. This would only happen to me, right?
Here are a few pics of my hideously deformed legs. This would only happen to me, right?
As imagined, that night was horrific, I barely slept and when it was finally time to get up, I felt even worse. My feet had swollen, at this point, I couldn't even put my trainers on. I couldn't stop crying all morning, and I felt terrible because I didn't want to put a downer on the trip for Hollie. Luckily she understood how I was feeling and was so nice about it all. It was raining when we woke up, and I was secretly delighted by this, as it was cooling on my skin.
We set off for Ballina and had made the decision to just have a chill day. There wasn't much chance of me getting very far, so we found a local shopping complex and I made my way straight to the nearest Pharmacy. They hooked me up with $40 worth of drugs to make me feel better - including a drowsy one to help me sleep. To be honest I was at the point where I would have given them all the money I had.
When we checked in to our motel, we got upgraded - yay! Okay so when I say upgraded, we actually just got a bed each. Hollie was super nice and let me have the double bed - because then at least I had a bit more room to slowly die. The weather had majorly improved so she headed straight out to the pool. I chose to stay and hide in the dark air-conditioned room and watch kids TV and rub a whole bottle of soothing lotion onto my legs - because I know how to live.
In the evening we took a little trip to Byron in search of some dinner. But I loved Byron so much, I'm going to give it its own post, so stay tuned.....
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