Crusing down the central coast 🦘

 I'm very behind on blogging, so apologies!

We spent a morning walking on the coast near Angourie. We wanted to do the Yuraygir Coastal Walk, but as we set off it got very narrow and overgrown, which isn't fun walking in a country with so many highly venomous snakes. We choose to saunter along the beaches instead, so the day ended up being more relaxing than we'd planned. We had a campsite booked and didn't want to arrive there too late anyway, as the closer we get to Sydney the closer we get to van selling, which we need to be prepared for. Whilst researching 'Best way to sell a van in Australia' we ate bacon baps, which we haven't had since we've been here so I was very happy. 

We continued down the coast to Coffs Harbour where we visted Muttonbird Island, giving us lovely views out to sea. At certain times of the year its inhabited by Shearwaters nesting in their burrows but we were there just at the end of when they all fledge. Muttonbird was the name given to the Shearwaters by European sailors who likened the taste of the bird to mutton. After, we pottered round the town. We annoyingly broke our lamp in the van so wanted to look in some op shops (charity shops) for one rather than buying brand new. We found a nice spot for the night by the harbour so could listen to the sea while we fell asleep we even spotted dolphins from the back of the van while we were parked up.

We'd wanted to head inland to Dorrigo National Park but whilst researching online about walks to do, we found the whole national park is closed due to the effects of Cyclone Alfred. We continued down the coast to Urunga, arriving just in time to catch their ANZAC Day march and ceremony. ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is celebrated every year on 25th April, the date when they landed at Gallipolli in 1915. It was nice to stumble upon this, we knew it was ANZAC day but weren't planning on attending anything. After, we did two boardwalk walks, one through mangroves and out to the coast then another at Urunga wetlands which was extremely tranquil. The weather has been very rainy on and off recently and isn't forecast to get much better. 

Staying coastal and dodging the rain, we continued down to Nambucca heads where we'd found another beachside night spot. We wandered along the V Wall, a sea break where people have painted the rocks, and spotted dolphins along the way. We headed up to a lookout called Captain Cooks lookout, before putting our feet up by the van as the sun set.

A coastal walk the next day in Hat Head National Park gave us plenty of kangaroos to say hello to. I will miss waving at kangaroos and definitely feel like I would never get bored of seeing them. 

Continuing with coastal walking, we decided to do the Port Macquaire coastal walk the next day, starting at the town and heading down to Tacking Point Lighthouse. Finally the weather held out and the it was dry, and sometimes sunny, for the whole of our walk. 

We then travelled down to Myall Lakes and stayed at one of the cheap National Park campsites to get some van maintenance done. We cleaned and tided, painted all the woodwork, and Matt tinkered about around the engine again. We got all the bits and bobs out presented nicely and photographed for an ad. This was timed well as we haven't had a dry day since! A few people came to our campsite from others nearby, as they had started to flood. We'd done a walk lakeside and the water level was well up but luckily we'd picked the campsite least likely to flood. We had a nice evening stroll on the beach and then sat by a campfire thinking about how much we're going to miss Vanny! 

Our next stop will be Newcastle where we need to put two new front tyres on Vanny and she'll have an inspection to get a pink slip. This is similar to an MOT in the UK but not as rigorous. This isn't something we have to do, but it will hopefully make her easier to sell as it shows she's mechanically sound and the new owner will need a pink slip anyway to extend the Rego (registration certificate). 

Wish us luck 🤞

Lots of love, 

Lisa and Matt 💕