Day 132 / 2015 - Woolgoolga to Gold Coast

Saying goodbye to Darlington Beach we headed up the Highway towards the Gold Coast. We call into Mclean for the night as the brochure said this town has Scottish Heritage and the coffee at Botero was suppose to be to die for.

MacLean is a small town just of the A1 we pulled into the Showgrounds which offered overnight camping for a small fee of $10.00 per night. Leaving the van we walked into town less than 1km away. The town is located on the banks of the Clarence river and you can see where levey banks have been put in to protect the town from being flooded. We could see after the recent rains the river rose quite high but the levy banks protected the town quite well. We walked to the Coffee shop Botero on the way back to the showgrounds. Botero is a Boutique roastry where coffee beans can be purchased for expresso machines. There is also a Coffee shop out front serving their locally roasted coffee with a number of flavours to choose from.

Next day we left MacLean and headed towards Yamba a small coastal resort town. We drove in as far as we could but were concerned that we may end up in a situation where we couldn't turn around so decided to head back out. On the way out Anne spied what she thourgt was Mic and Carleys caravan in a van park we were passing. Stopping she checked and sure enough it was them so we decided to pull in and camp for the night. Yamba is a small tourist town typical along the North Eastern NSW coast. The beach was only a hundred metres away an easy walk where you can swim as well as fish. The town has a number of resturaunts and cafes to eat at all walking distance from the Caravan Park. We sat and watched Mic tow Blake on his bike around using the electric skateboard.

Next Morning we left Yamba and headed towards the Gold Coast. We had a day or two up our sleeve so decided to stop at Lenox Heads on the way through. Lenox Head is a NSW North Coast town and is a popular place for surfing as well a holiday seekers. The caravan park was mostly empty being off season. There was enough room to manouver our van onto the site but it would be pretty tight during peak season. The original site they gave us took to much effort to park on and had all the bins in front of it blocking us in. We went back and asked if we could move some where else which they were happy to oblige. Mick, Carley and Blake also joined us there and we celebrated mothers day for both Anne and Carley. We went for a long walk onto the beach and from there along a boardwalk which takes you up the the head's lookout. Lennox is about 12 Km north of Ballina and 20Km south of Byron Bay. There are a number of cafe's, hotels and resturaunts which you can eat and drink to your hearts content.

During our stay we drove into Byron Bay to see what all the fuss was about and why it is so popular. We drove up to the lighthouse which is Australias most eastern point. It was quite busy with nowhere to park so we drove back down again. It was quite difficuilt to find a vacant parking space in Byron. We eventually found a bay just off the main street and took a stroll around the busy town. The beach itself was quite scenic and a very popular spot with sun worshipers. We found a place to have lunch once finished we decided to move on. The only thing that overwhelmed us in Byron was the masses people and the traffic otherwise it wasn't much different from places like Noosa and other East coastal towns nice but nothing exceptonal.

The following day we left Lennox Heads and made our way towards the Gold Coast. We had booked into the Big 4 Park at Helensvale which is conveniently located near the theme parks and is just off the main motorway M1. We moved onto our site but I wasn't to happy with it. The site was directly below a large tree which continually dropped branches and twigs onto the roof we ended up shifting to another spot. The caravan park put on a free sausage sizzle every Tuesday evening and a free pancake breakfast every Thursday morning.

Rhonda and Graham were also staying at this park where it was good to catch up with them as well. This park had a large pool area as well as a Bistro for drinks and short order meals. The shower block had chandeliers inside and a large salt water fish tank at its entrance very posh. Darryl, Fiona and their kids of we tow 360 also stopped in for a few days the same period as us. They also took advantage of the special season park offer for the theme parks.

We had purchased online season tickets for three of the theme parks, Movieworld, Seaworld and Wet and Wild. We spent the day at our first park Wet and Wild. The main theme is water activities with numerious slides of different thrill levels. Mic and Carley with Blake were also there we help look after Blake so they could go off on some of the rides together. Whenever they visited parks like this one would have to mind Blake while the other went on the ride. They would then swap over allowing the other to go on the ride.

Next park we visited was Movieworld. Again there are thrill rides to suit all kinds of levels. There were also a number of themed areas for adults and kids alike. The central area of the park is the Boulivard where through the day you catch glimpses of different characters from popular pictures such as Batman and Superman. While sitting in the audience for Stunt Driver 2 Carley was picked out and ended up being part of the show. The main parade is held at the end of the day which has everyone lining up and down the main street watching picture characters walking or driving past.

Seaworld made the last of the Trilogy of theme parks covered by our season pass. This time we went with Rhonda and Graham. The theme of this park is mainly about the conservation and research of marine life in our oceans. There are scheduled shows which showcase the talents of performing seals and dolphins. There is a large pond which you can view large and small preditor fish from above and below the waterline. There is also a Penguin enclosure which houses the King and Gentoo peguins and is kept at Antrartica temperatures for the comfort of the penguins not the humans. The monorail ride takes you around the boundry of the park and a cable car ride gives you a view from above. Anne forced me to go on on the viking revenge flume ride which takes you in a boat along a gentle meandering river then drops you over the edge of this humungus waterfall into a pool below.

We had though about attending the Outback Spectacular which is about the legends of the snow river region. This was and addtional cost and not part of the seasons pass so decided not to do this one saving it for next time we passed through this region again.

While at the Gold Coast we purchased an awning porch. This extends the front of the awning area providing shelter around the entrance of the Annexe. The porch was provided by Aussie Wide Annexes for the cost of $450.00. One end connects to the Deflapper unit while the other is supported by poles. Aussie wide delivered it and demonstrated how to put it up as part of the cost.