Our Own Piece of Paradise...

Looking down on North Smoky Beach from Captain Cook Lookout

For the day at least. About 25 minutes away from the Pacific Highway near Kempsey lies the Smoky Cape Lighthouse and surrounding beaches. Perched high atop the headland in the Hat Head National Park is this beautiful lighthouse which seems to burst from the seams of a desolate wilderness. Constructed in 1891, this working lighthouse is now managed by the National Park service and is home to one of the best located Bed and Breakfasts I’ve ever seen.  For a fee you can hire out one of the larger rooms on a weekly basis or stay in the B&B for the night. We didn’t stay here but would have loved to if our budget permitted.

From the parking lot of the lighthouse you are at Captain Cook Lookout with easy access to a picnic and BBQ area but more importantly you have access to the Jack Perkins Trail. This trail leads you eight-tenths of a kilometer down to our version of paradise, the North Smoky Beach.  Walking down the trail you’ll be treated to magnificent views of this unspoiled beach, the nearby Green Island, beautiful forest and some great looking spiders. For those arachnophobes, the spiders are off or above the track so you’ll be all good.

Down at the beach you’ll be treated to white sand, turquoise water and spectacular views of the lighthouse above. The sand is so clean that you won’t be able to stop your feet from squeaking as you walk along. Setup your towels, take a dip and soak up paradise. If you’re lucky, we were, you won’t see a single other person all day. We had this beautiful beach all to ourselves for the entire day and enjoyed every second of it. Your only company might be the kangaroos which may come down later in the afternoon to graze on the grass near the beach. We spent all day lounging on the beach, looking for shells and having a fish. One warning, we did notice some pretty strong rips in the water so it’s probably not a great place to bring small children who want to swim. We headed back to the car at the end of the day and were off, definitely missing our own little piece of paradise.

Here's a few of our pics from our little paradise:

Looking down on a long beach in Hat Head National Park

Pamela checking out the lighthouse

Looking towards Green Island from the beach

One of the few spiders on the way down.

Truckin it down the trail

Looking back up on the lighthouse from North Smoky Beach

Our lunch spot

Cheers for Now –

Pamela and Dave

Eight Months On the Road – Update from Pamela and I

Looking down on Hat Head from Smoky Point Lighthouse

The 5^th of April marks the eighth straight month of our trip and we wanted to send out a quick update on our progress. It seems like these last two months in Australia have gone in the blink of an eye. Pamela and I are having a great time checking out the coast of New South Wales. So far we’ve spent two weeks in Batemans Bay, a week in Sydney, two weeks in Forster and a week in Coffs Harbour. The New South Wales coast has so much to offer that we could easily spend another two months exploring as we just love it. Up next it’s the Queensland coast, where we will spend at least the next five weeks traveling between the Gold Coast, Bundaberg and the Sunshine Coast. We’re really looking forward to meeting up with family and friends in the Gold Coast area.

In the whole we’ve been on the road 245 days and over these past 245 days we’ve traveled nearly 110,000 kilometers (58,000 miles) which is more than twice the circumference of the Earth. If that seems like a lot to you then you’re right, it was actually too much all at once. The first six months on the road had us seeing and doing so much that it was quite hard to keep up with where we were and what we were doing. These last two months have been quite the opposite; reading, sleeping, cooking and beaching are on the agenda most days with the most critical thing being shell collecting. Life has been really-really nice and relaxing which is quite the contrast of the first portion of our trip. Pamela is as tan as I’ve ever seen her and thankfully my tan line is the only thing receding on me. Don’t worry parents, we go through sun block like water these days so no sunburns.

Work…Unfortunately it’s getting closer to that time when we need to start looking for jobs and a more permanent place to live. Believe it or not I think it will be good to get back to work, at least for a while. I’m not sure how hard it will be to find a job but we’re not too worried. We’re estimating sitting down and really looking for work during the month of May but don’t hold us to that just yet. As for housing we’re constantly on the lookout for beachfront or near beachfront apartment deals somewhere in the Gold Coast area but we’re still not 100% sure. We know we definitely want to live close to the beach so it will be just a matter of where we can find work or quite a few prospects for work.

Health-wise we’re both doing pretty well. We’re both much tanner than when we left eight months ago and I’ve definitely gained some weight. Unfortunately I cracked a rib about four weeks ago so have been off any rigorous exercise since then and I’ve definitely felt the lack, especially with all the ice cream. Thankfully the rib is nearly healed and I’m already back swimming a bit, hopefully I can surf again in a few weeks. Pamela’s still in great shape, I’m not sure where she puts all the ice cream though. Oh to be 26 again…

Thanks so much to everyone who continues to read our posts and look at our pics. We hope you’re enjoying the stories and pics. For those of you outside of Australia I hope the photos inspire you to come visit.

Cheers for Now –

Pamela and Dave 

One Week on the Coffs Coast

Friday to Friday is all we had in the beautiful Coffs Coast region of Australia and we were determined to make the most of it.  The central city of the Coffs Coast region is Coffs Harbour. This city of approximately 30,000 full-time residents is located on the mid-North Coast of New South Wales. Approximately six hours by car from Sydney and a four hour drive from Brisbane has you smack dab in the middle of vacation paradise with miles and miles of empty beaches, more tourist attractions than you can shake a stick at, great fishing and surrounding countryside for any taste. Basically, if you can’t find something to do here, you probably can’t find something to do anywhere.

Looking down on the Moonee Beach Reserve

Saturday it was our mission to find a beach with more kangaroos than people. The third time was a charm when we landed just south of Emerald Beach in the Moonee Beach Reserve. It was just Pamela and I surrounded by many-many kangaroos in the parking lot and nearby headland. We spent the day fishing, taking photos and watching the hoppers bounce around. In the evening we were treated to several rounds of kangaroo boxing from two pairs of male kangaroos fighting next to the parking lot. After shooting some videos and photos we headed back to the Korora Bay Village Resort which was our home for the week.

Kangaroo Boxing

Sunday had us at the Harbourside Markets in Coffs Harbour for some great deals on fruit/veg, candles, soaps and some other stuff that I can’t really remember. The markets are definitely Pamela’s thing, I just feel bad that she has to put up with me during the hours we spend there. Immediately after the markets we grabbed some take-away and ate a good lunch on the beach. Full from lunch we took our fishing gear out to the harbor break and caught several fish. We ended up keeping two of the bigger fish for dinner that night although we didn’t do such a great job with our makeshift filet knife.

Looking down on Coffs Harbour from Mutton Bird Island

The small communities of Urunga and Bellingen were next on our weeklong Coffs Coast adventure. Urunga, situated on the coast about 20 minutes south of Coffs Harbour, is a neat little town of about 2000 people where the Bellinger River meets the Pacific Ocean. The name Urunga reportedly is an aboriginal word meaning place of long white sands and this place lives up to it’s name. An elevated boardwalk stretches from town, over the mangrove filled lagoon and out to a magnificently long beach where you can walk for miles along pristine white sand.  From the boardwalk we drove over to the prime positioned Anchors Wharf Café for a coffee alongside the river.

The Urunga Boardwalk out to the Sea

Many many photos taken we were on our way to the inland town of Belligen for a quick gallery tour. Scenic and artsy Bellingen, population 2800, lies on the Waterfall Way and is home to many beautiful scenic walks, cafes and galleries including the old dairy farm that’s now home to several different types of stores including a leather shop, furniture store, art gallery and café. It’s definitely worth a stop on the way through town. Also worthwhile is a stop at the bridge over the Bellinger River where you can picnic, swim and get some great photos. Urunga, with its stunning coastline and boardwalk and Belligen, with its scenic farmland and artsy culture are a must visit on your way through the Mid-North Coast section of New South Wales.

A bridge over the Bellinger River

Boambee was up next on our Coffs Coast agenda. Located along the Boambee Waters and Boambee Beach,  Pamela had grown-up holidaying at the Boambee Bay Resort and was really excited about going back there and giving me the grand tour. After touring the resort we headed out for a walk along the Reserve followed by a very long walk up and down the virtually empty beach.  It was great to see Pamela reliving the memories from her youth. Listening to them you can tell she really loved Boambee and cherishes the time she spent there with her family.

Boambee Bay Reserve

We had such a good time and crammed as much as we could into our seven days on the Coffs Coast. Had we spent two weeks there we still wouldn’t have had the time to do everything we wanted too. On our next visit we’ll make a stop at the Big Banana, take a deep sea fishing trip, make the drive to Dorrigo and stop in at the Pet Porpoise Pool for a kiss from a dolphin.  Hopefully this will give you some hints on what you can do if you’re planning a visit to the Coffs Harbour area.

More photos from our week in Coffs can be found at the following URL: https://picasaweb.google.com/117257906652666550268/TheCoffsCoast?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Cheers for Now –

Pamela and Dave