Day 3 - Noosa to Coffs Harbour
Another early start at about 7am, the goal today to make serious inroads into New South Wales – perhaps as far as Port Macquarie. Nearing Brisbane was my first sight of proper multi-lane roads and traffic and an increase in speed limit to 110kph. Passing through the outskirts of Brisbane and on to the Gold Coast was easier driving, although I stuck to the inland Pacific Highway rather than the Gold Coast Highway which takes you through such resort towns as Surfers Paradise. Progress was slowed, however, by multiple road works.
Crossing the state border into NSW was barely noticeable, and I pulled in to one of the state’s major draws – Byron Bay. I could tell I was getting close as tuning the radio resulted in Hippie FM, all gently soothing trance beats and dripping water sounds, not too pleasant as it reminded me I had a full bladder. I switched to the only other channel – mmm, jazz. Nice.
Byron Bay
Although I only spent a couple of hours in Byron it lived up to it’s reputation. The beaches were beautiful and there were amazing views from the top of the famous lighthouse. Novice surfers ineptly fell in into the warm blue waters. The town itself was full of hippies and ferals, the smell of patchouli oil all-prevasive. Still a great place to come for a break, but unfortunately the road called.
At Ballina I found my favourite “Big Thing” – the Big Prawn.
Like a 50’s sci-fi poster it crawled over the top of a service stop, I had to stop and take a photo and marvel at it’s crassness. Carrying on down the mid-north coast I passed through the town of Woolgoolga, slightly incongruous in Australia as it is mainly a Sikh town in the middle of nowhere – distinctive shaped white temples all over the place.
Although it was only about 3pm I was making good time but would still not be able to get to Sydney the same day so I decided to stop off at Coffs Harbour and checked in to a hostel/bar by the beach. I was sharing a room with a Japanese guy called Kazu who was on a surfing tour of Australia. Consequently the shower room was taken up by his surfboard and wetsuit. He was moving north to get some better waves but I went out to watch him in the morning and it seemed he was doing pretty well on the breaks here. I left after exchanging phone numbers as he promised to teach me how to surf properly when I got back to Sydney.
Crossing the state border into NSW was barely noticeable, and I pulled in to one of the state’s major draws – Byron Bay. I could tell I was getting close as tuning the radio resulted in Hippie FM, all gently soothing trance beats and dripping water sounds, not too pleasant as it reminded me I had a full bladder. I switched to the only other channel – mmm, jazz. Nice.
Byron Bay
Although I only spent a couple of hours in Byron it lived up to it’s reputation. The beaches were beautiful and there were amazing views from the top of the famous lighthouse. Novice surfers ineptly fell in into the warm blue waters. The town itself was full of hippies and ferals, the smell of patchouli oil all-prevasive. Still a great place to come for a break, but unfortunately the road called.
At Ballina I found my favourite “Big Thing” – the Big Prawn.
Like a 50’s sci-fi poster it crawled over the top of a service stop, I had to stop and take a photo and marvel at it’s crassness. Carrying on down the mid-north coast I passed through the town of Woolgoolga, slightly incongruous in Australia as it is mainly a Sikh town in the middle of nowhere – distinctive shaped white temples all over the place.
Although it was only about 3pm I was making good time but would still not be able to get to Sydney the same day so I decided to stop off at Coffs Harbour and checked in to a hostel/bar by the beach. I was sharing a room with a Japanese guy called Kazu who was on a surfing tour of Australia. Consequently the shower room was taken up by his surfboard and wetsuit. He was moving north to get some better waves but I went out to watch him in the morning and it seemed he was doing pretty well on the breaks here. I left after exchanging phone numbers as he promised to teach me how to surf properly when I got back to Sydney.
posted by Hamish @ 12:00 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home