Day 114 / 2015 - Sydney to Woolgoolga

Our original plan leaving Sydney was to spend some time travelling north through the central lakes district and Newastle unfortunately a large storm cut its way through that area. The reports of widespread flooding as well as major power cuts forced us to change our plan with us more concerned over the main highways being passable.

Once the storm had passed we left Sydney and headed out along the Pacific Hwy until we arrived at the start of the M1 which is the main motorway north. Driving through Sydney traffic for me was challenging even outside of peak hour especially when towing a caravan. The traffic lights seem to wait until we were almost upon them then change I'm still waiting to see if there are any red light tickets waiting for me.

Turning right onto the M1 we headed towards Newcastle. As we travelled along we could see the edge of the highway littered with broken trees and where they had been pushed to the side by the SES AND cleanup workers. We we're glad we hadn't left the day before the winds would have been horrendous and have us dodging fallen trees.

Ariving just out of Newcastle we could see a lot of the paddocks visible from  the road underwater with livestock standing up to there knees in water. The traffic had now come to a crawl and we had heard some of the lanes of the main Hwy going north was covered in water. Most drivers were well behaved patiently waiting their turn but of course there were the drivers who though they were more important and zoomed up the empty right hand lane then pushing themselves in front of others waiting further up the line in the left lane.

We finally reach the ramp to take us onto the Pacific to travel North but it was still very stop start and I didn't relish the idea of riding the clutch all the way up towing the van as the ramp was quite steep. It was about here I was glad we had a car with low range. I popped into low range first gear and just tractored up the ramp maintaining enough speed to not having to use the clutch to often. Finally making it to the top and putting back into high range it was abother 5 minutes before we finally passed the flooded part of the road and able to resume normal speed again.

As the end of the day loomed we decided to stop at a town called Nabiac for an overnight stop. There is a free campspot where you can park in front of the National Motorbike Museum. It was just on closing time so we decided we would have a look in the morning. During the evening we went for a walk into the centre of town which mainly consisted of an IGA and a petrol station. The town is cut in half by the motorway and each side is accessible via overpasses.

Waking next morning we prepared to leave then paid our entry into the museum for a look. This has to be the largest collection of motorbikes we have ever seen. Many manufacturers were represented as with a huge variety of models from each manufacturer. Having said that I didn't see any of the bike models I had owned demonstrating just many different types of bikes were produced over the years. The centre piece would have to be the replica of the first motorbike ever produced the wood constructed Daimler. This was prototype motorbike and was constructed as a means to demonstrate the internal combustion engine.

From Nabiac we headed further North towards Port Macquarie. Just South of Port Macquarie is a small town called Bonney Hills right on the coast. We checked into the Big 4 and once again the site they had given us was not big enough so we asked for another which is more suitable. The original site itself would probably fit the van on but left very little room to back on being in such a tight spot. We have decided to stop trying to get onto tight sites and ask for a better one which most times they can accomodate.

Bonney Hills is about 20km South Lake Macquarie and a good place to base yourself. The park is quite large with a water park and 2 pools, nice camp kitchen and BBQ areas with lots of fun activities for kids. The beach is a 2 minute walk through a private access gate. We could go for walks along the beach and up to the lookout for a view over the bay. 

There is a nice lake and parks area about 6km up the road towards Port Macquarie called Lake Cathie which we found out later is pronounced cat-hi. This place is ideal for a picnic or BBQ or water sports in the right weather. We drove into Port Macquarie parked then went for a walk through some of the shopping district, along the port area and around part of the bay. There are a number of eateries dotted around the port area and there are a number of different river or ocean cruise options you can take. While in Bonney Hills we bumped into Darryl, Fiona and their kids whom we had first met in Port Arthur, Tasmania. They are on a 12 month trip around Oz and like us heading North to warmer weather. They also hail from the South West Bunbury region. It was good to catchup retelling each other our travels since Tasmainia.

Leaving Bonney Hills we headed North once again this time for the Coffs Harbour region. On chance discussion with one of our neighbours at our previous camp suggested we stay a Darlington Beach which is near the Woolgoolga area about 30km North of Coffs Harbour.

Arriving we found a large resort style park run by NRMA with plenty of rooms between sites. Each site had a concrete slap which you could park both car an caravan on. The park boasted a pool with slide, large spa, bistro, lawn bowling green, tennis court and a golf course this was a bit of paradise for us. The price was quite cheap being off season working out to about $30.00 a night with Big 4 discounts and a stay 7 pay for 6 offer.

We finally caught up with Mick, Carley and Blake who arrived a couple of days later parking next to us. We hadn't seen them since Tasmania so was good to catch up again. Darryl and his family also took advantage of the off peak offer and ended up on the site on the other side of us.

We made use of the facilities on offer at the park soaking the spa on several occasions as well as playing Lawn bowls on the green, a round of 9 hole golf and a game or 2 on the tennis courts. The park is very natural many trees provide shade and kangaroos jumping through the park. We ended up spending most of our time at the park although we did venture out on a number of occasions. Anne had found there was a attraction called the Clog Barn which contains all things Dutch including a miniature village of various important landmarks around Holland we even found the Gouda Townhouse. Twice a day there was a demonstration on how clogs are made with the guy making an actual clog using machines from Holland. It was customary that the person who travelled the furtherst distance would receive the hand made clog which just happen to be us on the day. There was also a cafe which sold Krokets Anne's most favourite food. We ordered a double helping.

Revisting the Big Bannana we had found changes since the last time we were there in 2011 with new attractions added. From there taking the winding road up to Sealy Lookout we were treated to a panoramic view over Coffs and its surrounding area then drove back down and along the coast between Sawtell in the South to Woolgoolga in the North stopping at a number of ocean lookouts along the way. We called in at the Coffs Marina where you can walk along the ocean wall then onto Mutton Bird island Reserve which is sanctuary for nesting birds. The Marina has a cafe strip where you can stop for a coffee or something to eat. The Coffs Costline is quite spectacular and the climate is very comfortable so we can see why it is such a popular place to live. 

We think we must have angered the weather gods as once again the rain caught up with us. This storm in the form of another East Coast low came from SE Queensland striking the Gold Coast first then onto us ending in another 3 days of rain and wind. I think some of the rain had come from the south then from the North resulting in another couple of hundred mil's dropped on us at least the Ducks were happy. The storm left the ground quite soggy with branch and leaf rubbish littered all over the park. Another Retreat van in which the couple only picked up 10 weeks ago awning collapse under the weight of the water accumulating on top of it. The resort had some large undercover areas we could sit during rainy periods. We also took advantage of the Bistro ordering dinner a couple of times as a treat for putting up with the wet weather. The meals were quite cheap costing between 10 and 15 dollars.