Sunday – Dec. 16th
Awaking earlier than intended Melanie Nick and Matt went out for an early breakfast while everyone else slept in. It was an easy morning/afternoon for Alison and Melanie while Jaclyn and Jimmy attended a family holiday party a ferry ride away in Sydney. Al and Mel took an afternoon nap, dipped in the pool, updated the blog, walked the beach, drank coffee, and met up with Jaclyn and Jimmy for a drink in the early evening. The evening we took it easy and watched Talladega Nights, order takeaway Tai food and drank more wine. We called it an early night…
Monday - Dec. 17th
We awoke to the great news that Jaclyn had taken the day off and better yet the sun was out and it was going to be a beach day. We jumped out of bed, ate a small breakfast, put on our suits and headed out the door. We spent the morning on the sand soaking up the rays and cooling off in the sea. After our skin had enough, we headed to the Corso for a refreshing ice cream and our final shopping spree. We went back to the house a bit early to clean up for the holiday dinner that Anne and Steve were throwing for us. It was bitter sweet because we also had to begin our packing for our flight home the following day.
That night the Christmas music was blaring, the drinks were flowing, and the smell of good home cooked food filled the air, what more could be ask for our last supper in Manly. All seven of us – Anne, Steve, Jaclyn, Jimmy, Alison, Melanie, and Nick – feasted on oven roasted chicken, pork with crackling (an Aussie traditional dish), ham, veggies, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and of course desert of pudding with custard and a glass of eggnog to get us all into the holiday spirit. The night ended with a slideshow of our Roadtrip in the Beast… thanks Anne, Steve, and Nick for bearing with us through this boring of evening, it was entertaining to us! We said our farewell to Anne and Steve that evening as they would be off to work before we awoke. We cannot thank them enough for their hospitality and making us feel so at home in their home.
Tuesday – Dec. 18th
Jaclyn and Jimmy woke us up in the morning to say farewell. Let’s just say it was a hard goodbye knowing that it would be sometime before we saw them again but the memories and photos we have will last a lifetime. Alison and Melanie headed to the beach after Jimmy and Jaclyn went off to work for our final Manly beach experience, for this trip anyway. And here we are now in the airport waiting for our final flight from LA to Boston. Yes, Melanie is here too although we must admit there was a 50/50 chance that she was going to stay through Christmas, but she couldn’t bare to break her mother’s heart and have another one of her daughters away for the holiday. We hope you’ve all enjoyed ready our blog as must as we’ve enjoyed writing it. We will give you one last update after the holiday to share the Christmas experience New England style for all of our fellow travels who have not experienced a proper white Christmas. Viva La Beast!
One thing is for sure, we will be back again!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Viva La Beast...
Day 5 - Wednesday – Forster/Pacific Palms
We started out the morning with a non-traditional breakfast out… no muesli and fruit this day, we went all out and ordered takeaway breakfast burgers and coffee and headed to a locally recommended secluded beach in The Beast down a dusty gravel road despite the cloudy weather. We trailed through a man made walkway through what seemed to be another rain forest. Approaching the beach we found a little sitting area where we decided to stop and have breakfast. Within 15 minutes our breakfast was gone, the wind had picked up to a gust, the clouds began to drizzle on us, so we cut this beach visit short and headed back to caravan park to play a few more games of Shithead.
To our thrilling delight the sun soon broke through the ominous clouds and we ran out to the street to take advantage of every single ray that peaked through the sky. In fact, Melanie ripped off the straps to her tank top hoping to get rid of her tan lines from the days before and Jaclyn prayed like a hippie for more sun and Alison didn’t say a word she just did her sun salutations to the sun gods. Lucky for all of you, Jimmy was quick on his feet and caught us in action.
The sun gods must have heard our prays as we then got to enjoy a day at Elizabeth beach. Boogie boards, bathing suits, and beach towels in hand claimed our spot on the beach, okay there was no one there… but we made it ours anyways. Knowing that the sunshine might be limited, we headed straight for the water and all dove into the waves. While Alison practiced her action photography skills… Jaclyn and Melanie got bodysurfing lessons from the Aussie pro Jimmy. This went on for hours until we all worked up an appetite for lunch.
After lunch Alison and Melanie decided it was finally time to sit down and start blogging even though there was a lack of a WiFi connection and Jaclyn and Jimmy headed back to the beach for round two in the surf. Upon Jaclyn and Jimmy’s return we did what else? Played shithead, drank beer, and ate more Guacamole chips as our new friends the Coocoo Buro birds (sp?) sang around us and watched us play.
As we were just starting to get “pissed” we heard a rumble of an engie and noise on the gravel… more campers were arriving!
Only problem was that they not only pulled into the site next to us, they actually had their door facing our camper and took over half of our site with their tables and chairs… mind you, there were three other empty sites and they actually went through the trouble of backing into the site to face this direction when they could have pulled right in and had all the privacy they wanted. At first we were a bit frustrated, as you can see below. But then decided not to dampen our style and continued on into the evening.
The Indian Feast….
Enough said.
Once again it started to rain so we quickly ran to the bathroom to wash up and sure enough another kangaroo sighting occurred. But the night didn’t stop there more box-a-wine was flowing, cards were being dealt, and dancing to Dizzy Razzle continued. At about midnight it was time we all put ourselves to bed for our big drinking day at the wineries in Hunter Valley the next day.
Day 6 - Thursday – Hunter Valley, aka Wine Country!
The drive to Hunter Valley was short and sweet. We arrived at The Big 4 Holiday Park at around 10:00am setup our site, ate breakfast, and got groceries for our afternoon feast and dinner that night. Once again the weather was not in favor, but there was no stopping us. Rain or shine, the wine tasting were on and believe the weather did not hold us back. We made several stops throughout the day, but the one that stands out the most is Brokenwood. We had a fantastic wine specialist, Mandy, that allowed us to try every single item on the two sided menu. Needless to say we bought a ton of wine, ports, and made a new friend.
After stumbling out of Brokenwood we headed right to The Beast for our afternoon feast which consisted of various types of cheeses, Italian meats, olives and olive oils, crackers, French bread, and pesto and red pepper spread. Delicious! Once we sobered up, we headed back to the Big 4 where the four of us took a nap all curled up together in the Suite for an early evening nap. Pretty picturesque, unfortunately no photo is available as there was no one awake to snap it, but it sure was a cozy sight to see.
Awaking from our nap, we had intentions to cook an Italian feast, but we were very unmotivated and tired from our long day and decided to have Tai at the Blue Fish restaurant that was recommended by one of the winery owners.
It was a quiet meal, no much was said, and no wine was poured as we could all barely keep our eyes open at the table as our hangovers had already kicked in. So back to the van we went where we settled into our PJ’s and the custom bedding for our second movie night in. We fell off to sleep in hysterics as we watched Office Space, one of our all time favorites.
(This picture also gives you an idea of just how small "The Coffin" sleeping area was!)
Day 7 - Friday – Blue Mountains
We bid farewell to the good old wine country that treated us oh so good and we were off on our final adventure to the Blue Mountains for a bit of hiking. On the way we stopped at the historic town of Wollambi for a cup of coffee knowing we had a four hour drive ahead of us and some daydreaming about owning a B&B ourselves someday soon in this very scenic location.
About halfway to our destination, we were running low on gas and our stomachs were grumbling so we stopped off for more coffee, Meat Pies, Sausage Rolls, and a full tank of gas.
Arriving In the Blue Mountains, our luck had changed it was blue skies all around with not a cloud to be seen. First item on the agenda, we checked in at the Campervan Park. We were assigned our site, immediately parked The Beast, changed into our “workout” gear, and stepped outside ready for our afternoon hike. As we were driving through to town prior to our arrival at the campsite, we noticed a lot of older men walking around with what looked bee keepers hats with the netting around your head and neck. It stuck as oddly and we wondered why someone would walk around like that and it we assumed it had to do with their occupation. Well, we found out the real reason as soon as we opened the door to The Beast. There were flies everywhere! Thousands of them, no millions of them. The second you would step outside, they would be on you and would not leave alone. It was bad enough and then it got worse when Jimmy told us what they actually do when they land on you… we’ll save you the details as I am sure you can figure it out yourselves.
We started the hike at the trailhead across from the Campervan park and were immediately given awe inspiring views of the canyon and led us to better viewing areas of the infamous Three Sisters rock formation. After several photos we decided it was time to take the trip down the nearly 1,000 step staircase that had been built in the 1840’s to assist the coalmines to get to the caves below.
We were shocked once we began walking at our steep and unsteady the trail was now and could not even imagine what it was like back then when there were no railing or metal stairs, but only gravel, ropes, and a few man made steps for secure footing areas. It was quite grueling our legs even though we only opted to walk down as we saw other struggling on the way up. At the bottom we did an hour hike through the forest in search of Koala’s – which unfortunately we did not succeed in our hunt – but it was worth it once we arrived at the coal mining area and took the steepest train ever built in the world back up to the top. The train was pretty much vertical with no seatbelts or siding and of course there was a final warning side upon boarding the train that you have agreed to take this ride knowing that they hold no responsibility should you be injured or die during the ride (there was actually a sign saying this, but again no picture).
Exhausted from the first real exercise we’d done in several days, we headed back to the campsite to freshen up, had a snack, and played cards with all of the mosquito/fly coils going to keep the bugs away. We were not going to let them dampen our last evening in The Beast. Jimmy and Melanie prepared the final meal of garlic toast, salad, and pasta Bolognese.
After dinner we had a slide show on Alison’s computer of all the pictures of the trip to date. Then it was off to bed as we were all excited to head back to Manly in hopes of good weather and a day at the beach on Saturday.
Day 8 - Saturday – Returning The Beast & Beach & Night out in Manly
By 9am we were completely packed, The Beast was spotless and we were on the road towards Manly. The sun was shining and we were all in good spirits. The trip back took about 3 hours where Jaclyn and Jimmy dropped Melanie and Alison off at the beach and the two of them, along with Jack their ride, headed back into Sydney to drop off and say farewell to The Beast. Alison and Melanie spent the day in the surf and on the beach bronzing. Around 4pm we all meet up back at Jimmy’s house, where we were greeted by Anne with glasses of Champagne and OJ. We had a quick dinner and we were off to the Skiff Sailing Club to meet up with Jimmy and Jaclyn’s friends for drinks. We lucked out and got a table right on the outside deck and sent hours sipping on beer and many many bottles of Champagne. A great night with good friends and lots of laughs was had. Which ended with a funny walk down the boulevard with jump shots at the water, santa sightings all over, santa hat stealing and of course more food, Turkish kebabs and pizza for everyone. Lights out!
We started out the morning with a non-traditional breakfast out… no muesli and fruit this day, we went all out and ordered takeaway breakfast burgers and coffee and headed to a locally recommended secluded beach in The Beast down a dusty gravel road despite the cloudy weather. We trailed through a man made walkway through what seemed to be another rain forest. Approaching the beach we found a little sitting area where we decided to stop and have breakfast. Within 15 minutes our breakfast was gone, the wind had picked up to a gust, the clouds began to drizzle on us, so we cut this beach visit short and headed back to caravan park to play a few more games of Shithead.
To our thrilling delight the sun soon broke through the ominous clouds and we ran out to the street to take advantage of every single ray that peaked through the sky. In fact, Melanie ripped off the straps to her tank top hoping to get rid of her tan lines from the days before and Jaclyn prayed like a hippie for more sun and Alison didn’t say a word she just did her sun salutations to the sun gods. Lucky for all of you, Jimmy was quick on his feet and caught us in action.
The sun gods must have heard our prays as we then got to enjoy a day at Elizabeth beach. Boogie boards, bathing suits, and beach towels in hand claimed our spot on the beach, okay there was no one there… but we made it ours anyways. Knowing that the sunshine might be limited, we headed straight for the water and all dove into the waves. While Alison practiced her action photography skills… Jaclyn and Melanie got bodysurfing lessons from the Aussie pro Jimmy. This went on for hours until we all worked up an appetite for lunch.
After lunch Alison and Melanie decided it was finally time to sit down and start blogging even though there was a lack of a WiFi connection and Jaclyn and Jimmy headed back to the beach for round two in the surf. Upon Jaclyn and Jimmy’s return we did what else? Played shithead, drank beer, and ate more Guacamole chips as our new friends the Coocoo Buro birds (sp?) sang around us and watched us play.
As we were just starting to get “pissed” we heard a rumble of an engie and noise on the gravel… more campers were arriving!
Only problem was that they not only pulled into the site next to us, they actually had their door facing our camper and took over half of our site with their tables and chairs… mind you, there were three other empty sites and they actually went through the trouble of backing into the site to face this direction when they could have pulled right in and had all the privacy they wanted. At first we were a bit frustrated, as you can see below. But then decided not to dampen our style and continued on into the evening. The Indian Feast….
Enough said.
Once again it started to rain so we quickly ran to the bathroom to wash up and sure enough another kangaroo sighting occurred. But the night didn’t stop there more box-a-wine was flowing, cards were being dealt, and dancing to Dizzy Razzle continued. At about midnight it was time we all put ourselves to bed for our big drinking day at the wineries in Hunter Valley the next day.
Day 6 - Thursday – Hunter Valley, aka Wine Country!
The drive to Hunter Valley was short and sweet. We arrived at The Big 4 Holiday Park at around 10:00am setup our site, ate breakfast, and got groceries for our afternoon feast and dinner that night. Once again the weather was not in favor, but there was no stopping us. Rain or shine, the wine tasting were on and believe the weather did not hold us back. We made several stops throughout the day, but the one that stands out the most is Brokenwood. We had a fantastic wine specialist, Mandy, that allowed us to try every single item on the two sided menu. Needless to say we bought a ton of wine, ports, and made a new friend.
After stumbling out of Brokenwood we headed right to The Beast for our afternoon feast which consisted of various types of cheeses, Italian meats, olives and olive oils, crackers, French bread, and pesto and red pepper spread. Delicious! Once we sobered up, we headed back to the Big 4 where the four of us took a nap all curled up together in the Suite for an early evening nap. Pretty picturesque, unfortunately no photo is available as there was no one awake to snap it, but it sure was a cozy sight to see. Awaking from our nap, we had intentions to cook an Italian feast, but we were very unmotivated and tired from our long day and decided to have Tai at the Blue Fish restaurant that was recommended by one of the winery owners.
It was a quiet meal, no much was said, and no wine was poured as we could all barely keep our eyes open at the table as our hangovers had already kicked in. So back to the van we went where we settled into our PJ’s and the custom bedding for our second movie night in. We fell off to sleep in hysterics as we watched Office Space, one of our all time favorites.
(This picture also gives you an idea of just how small "The Coffin" sleeping area was!)
Day 7 - Friday – Blue Mountains
We bid farewell to the good old wine country that treated us oh so good and we were off on our final adventure to the Blue Mountains for a bit of hiking. On the way we stopped at the historic town of Wollambi for a cup of coffee knowing we had a four hour drive ahead of us and some daydreaming about owning a B&B ourselves someday soon in this very scenic location. 
About halfway to our destination, we were running low on gas and our stomachs were grumbling so we stopped off for more coffee, Meat Pies, Sausage Rolls, and a full tank of gas.
Arriving In the Blue Mountains, our luck had changed it was blue skies all around with not a cloud to be seen. First item on the agenda, we checked in at the Campervan Park. We were assigned our site, immediately parked The Beast, changed into our “workout” gear, and stepped outside ready for our afternoon hike. As we were driving through to town prior to our arrival at the campsite, we noticed a lot of older men walking around with what looked bee keepers hats with the netting around your head and neck. It stuck as oddly and we wondered why someone would walk around like that and it we assumed it had to do with their occupation. Well, we found out the real reason as soon as we opened the door to The Beast. There were flies everywhere! Thousands of them, no millions of them. The second you would step outside, they would be on you and would not leave alone. It was bad enough and then it got worse when Jimmy told us what they actually do when they land on you… we’ll save you the details as I am sure you can figure it out yourselves. We started the hike at the trailhead across from the Campervan park and were immediately given awe inspiring views of the canyon and led us to better viewing areas of the infamous Three Sisters rock formation. After several photos we decided it was time to take the trip down the nearly 1,000 step staircase that had been built in the 1840’s to assist the coalmines to get to the caves below.
We were shocked once we began walking at our steep and unsteady the trail was now and could not even imagine what it was like back then when there were no railing or metal stairs, but only gravel, ropes, and a few man made steps for secure footing areas. It was quite grueling our legs even though we only opted to walk down as we saw other struggling on the way up. At the bottom we did an hour hike through the forest in search of Koala’s – which unfortunately we did not succeed in our hunt – but it was worth it once we arrived at the coal mining area and took the steepest train ever built in the world back up to the top. The train was pretty much vertical with no seatbelts or siding and of course there was a final warning side upon boarding the train that you have agreed to take this ride knowing that they hold no responsibility should you be injured or die during the ride (there was actually a sign saying this, but again no picture). 
Exhausted from the first real exercise we’d done in several days, we headed back to the campsite to freshen up, had a snack, and played cards with all of the mosquito/fly coils going to keep the bugs away. We were not going to let them dampen our last evening in The Beast. Jimmy and Melanie prepared the final meal of garlic toast, salad, and pasta Bolognese.
After dinner we had a slide show on Alison’s computer of all the pictures of the trip to date. Then it was off to bed as we were all excited to head back to Manly in hopes of good weather and a day at the beach on Saturday.
Day 8 - Saturday – Returning The Beast & Beach & Night out in Manly
By 9am we were completely packed, The Beast was spotless and we were on the road towards Manly. The sun was shining and we were all in good spirits. The trip back took about 3 hours where Jaclyn and Jimmy dropped Melanie and Alison off at the beach and the two of them, along with Jack their ride, headed back into Sydney to drop off and say farewell to The Beast. Alison and Melanie spent the day in the surf and on the beach bronzing. Around 4pm we all meet up back at Jimmy’s house, where we were greeted by Anne with glasses of Champagne and OJ. We had a quick dinner and we were off to the Skiff Sailing Club to meet up with Jimmy and Jaclyn’s friends for drinks. We lucked out and got a table right on the outside deck and sent hours sipping on beer and many many bottles of Champagne. A great night with good friends and lots of laughs was had. Which ended with a funny walk down the boulevard with jump shots at the water, santa sightings all over, santa hat stealing and of course more food, Turkish kebabs and pizza for everyone. Lights out!
The Aussie Roadtrip Part 2
Day 4 - Tuesday - Dorrigo & Forster/Pacific Palms
Well rested, we awoke the next morning hoping for blue skies… but yet again we were greeted by a blanket of fog that enabled you to barely see a foot in front of you. We decided to get a head start anyways and headed into the town of Dorrigo to check out the scene. Let’s just say, we might as well have headed into a ghost town. We felt like The Beast had turned into a time machine and took us back to the 1950’s. If that doesn’t give you the picture, go watch the movie The Hills Have Eyes and you’ll know what we’re talking about. Our quick photo op at Dangar Falls only confirmed our suspicions that the town was creepy as the view of the falls also included the most recent victim of Dorrigo… 
After our quick visit to the falls, we headed out of town to Dorrigo National Park for a scenic view of the mountains and our hike through the subtropical rain forest. The view turned out to be not so scenic...
Check out what it looked like when we were there...
And then here is what it's suppose to look like on a nice day...
But no matter, our spirits were not dampened and decided to continue on with our plan to hike the rain forest. And boy was our hike an adventure… at the start of the 2 hour hike there was a Leech warning sign.
None of us gave it a second look we tucked our pants in as advised and continued on our merry way figuring we’d just be careful and stay on the trail. It was beautiful, lush trees, birds singing, and the fog of the day just sitting between the tall trees… it truly was breath taking. We were all walking at a moderate pace because we kept stopping to take pictures and enjoy the scenery… that was until Jaclyn looked down at Alison’s leg and said “what is that on your pants?” Oh yes… that is right, there was a HUGE leech crawling on that back of her leg. We got it off quickly using the Flicking approach and then slowly as we all looked down at our sneakers we realized one by one that we all had leeches all over our sneakers!!! After a short panic from all of us, okay our screams could be heard echoing out through the forest, we got them all off, but it was inevitable they would come again because they were all over the wet trail that we were walking on. It was like being in a science fiction movie. Needless to say the rest of the hike was a bit quicker than the first portion. 
We walked at a very steady pace, okay at times we were sprinting, with leech checks about everyone 5 minutes where we would find at least 2 or 3 on one of us. Jimmy kept telling us to just enjoy the walk, but it was hard given that all we could think about were all the leeches that could be in our shoes and sucking our blood from our feet! We finally reached the end of the trail high on adrenaline from the hike both because it was a cardiovascular activity and because we were scared shitless of the leeches. But we were quickly reminded of how creatures of this sort do not bother the Aussie’s as we warned a husband and wife with their small son to watch out for all the leeches as they were starting the hike. They said, “yes, we know we are use to them” as they let their little kid basically crawl around on the ground with the leeches…. once again got to love the Aussies!
After a final leech check at The Beast, we packed up once again and started the journey back to the coast for our next stop, Cresent Head! The drive out of Dorrigo was much better than the way in. There was no rain and we got to see more views of the rain forest, waterfalls along the road, enjoy a cup of coffee in a small country town and of course we continued our hunt to see a kangaroo.
Finally turning off the Pacific Highway we cruised down a scenic route towards the coast and we reminded once again by the kangaroo crossing signs on the road that while in Australia we should get to see a Kangaroo in the wild. We had no idea that soon as we were jamming to the Dizzy Rascal tunes that were blasting as the wind was blowing through our hair, we would soon scream… kangaroo!!! 
Low and behold right before our very eyes a full family of roos were on the side of the road in a footie field. The Beast screeched to a hault and Alison jumped out for a photo shoot with the roos. We couldn’t believe our luck at the great photos it isn’t everyday you get that close or at least we thought so.
Despite thinking that Cresent Head would be our destination, we saw the small surf and cloudy skies and decided that a picnic would have to do and we quickly moved on towards Forster/Pacific Palms.
Forster/Pacific Palms was everything we had hoped for… secluded beaches, the beautiful scenery of Booti Booti national park, and lots of wildlife. We arrived at the Holiday Park around 5:30pm immediately parked the camper in what would soon become our favorite site and headed to the beach to check out the scene. Let’s just say wow! The sand was so fine that it made squeaking noises when you walked on it and the water was crystal blue… it was the perfect spot for our jump shot photo shoot (we have posted some for your viewing pleasure!).
Our feasting all week had gotten the best of us so we opted for Guacamole Chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, and other pickies rather than a full dinner with a full evening of drinking wine, aren’t you proud of us?!?!? and playing cards (warning Stacy… Melanie is now obsessed with the game Shithead and will want to play when she returns, be prepared!).
Off to bathhouse Jaclyn and Jimmy went to wash up for bed as Melanie and Alison tucked themselves in to bed. Startled by Jaclyn tapping on the camper window whispering, “come here come here, get up get up, you have to see this!” To our surprise, there was a little joey (aka baby kangaroo) less than 30 feet away from the bathhouse.
Needless to say we were all ecstatic that we stayed and watched for over an hour. During this time Melanie tried to sneak a closer peak at the joey and as she got closed we all heard a growl… oh yes, the big mama kangaroo appeared to protect her young. It was awesome! After a while we decided it was time to finally get to bed… so off we went back to The Beast dreaming of kangaroos and blue skies for the next day!
P.S. Once again, more pictures to come, it just takes a while to upload them all!
Well rested, we awoke the next morning hoping for blue skies… but yet again we were greeted by a blanket of fog that enabled you to barely see a foot in front of you. We decided to get a head start anyways and headed into the town of Dorrigo to check out the scene. Let’s just say, we might as well have headed into a ghost town. We felt like The Beast had turned into a time machine and took us back to the 1950’s. If that doesn’t give you the picture, go watch the movie The Hills Have Eyes and you’ll know what we’re talking about. Our quick photo op at Dangar Falls only confirmed our suspicions that the town was creepy as the view of the falls also included the most recent victim of Dorrigo… 
After our quick visit to the falls, we headed out of town to Dorrigo National Park for a scenic view of the mountains and our hike through the subtropical rain forest. The view turned out to be not so scenic...
Check out what it looked like when we were there...
And then here is what it's suppose to look like on a nice day...
But no matter, our spirits were not dampened and decided to continue on with our plan to hike the rain forest. And boy was our hike an adventure… at the start of the 2 hour hike there was a Leech warning sign.
None of us gave it a second look we tucked our pants in as advised and continued on our merry way figuring we’d just be careful and stay on the trail. It was beautiful, lush trees, birds singing, and the fog of the day just sitting between the tall trees… it truly was breath taking. We were all walking at a moderate pace because we kept stopping to take pictures and enjoy the scenery… that was until Jaclyn looked down at Alison’s leg and said “what is that on your pants?” Oh yes… that is right, there was a HUGE leech crawling on that back of her leg. We got it off quickly using the Flicking approach and then slowly as we all looked down at our sneakers we realized one by one that we all had leeches all over our sneakers!!! After a short panic from all of us, okay our screams could be heard echoing out through the forest, we got them all off, but it was inevitable they would come again because they were all over the wet trail that we were walking on. It was like being in a science fiction movie. Needless to say the rest of the hike was a bit quicker than the first portion. 
We walked at a very steady pace, okay at times we were sprinting, with leech checks about everyone 5 minutes where we would find at least 2 or 3 on one of us. Jimmy kept telling us to just enjoy the walk, but it was hard given that all we could think about were all the leeches that could be in our shoes and sucking our blood from our feet! We finally reached the end of the trail high on adrenaline from the hike both because it was a cardiovascular activity and because we were scared shitless of the leeches. But we were quickly reminded of how creatures of this sort do not bother the Aussie’s as we warned a husband and wife with their small son to watch out for all the leeches as they were starting the hike. They said, “yes, we know we are use to them” as they let their little kid basically crawl around on the ground with the leeches…. once again got to love the Aussies!
After a final leech check at The Beast, we packed up once again and started the journey back to the coast for our next stop, Cresent Head! The drive out of Dorrigo was much better than the way in. There was no rain and we got to see more views of the rain forest, waterfalls along the road, enjoy a cup of coffee in a small country town and of course we continued our hunt to see a kangaroo.
Finally turning off the Pacific Highway we cruised down a scenic route towards the coast and we reminded once again by the kangaroo crossing signs on the road that while in Australia we should get to see a Kangaroo in the wild. We had no idea that soon as we were jamming to the Dizzy Rascal tunes that were blasting as the wind was blowing through our hair, we would soon scream… kangaroo!!! 
Low and behold right before our very eyes a full family of roos were on the side of the road in a footie field. The Beast screeched to a hault and Alison jumped out for a photo shoot with the roos. We couldn’t believe our luck at the great photos it isn’t everyday you get that close or at least we thought so. Despite thinking that Cresent Head would be our destination, we saw the small surf and cloudy skies and decided that a picnic would have to do and we quickly moved on towards Forster/Pacific Palms.
Forster/Pacific Palms was everything we had hoped for… secluded beaches, the beautiful scenery of Booti Booti national park, and lots of wildlife. We arrived at the Holiday Park around 5:30pm immediately parked the camper in what would soon become our favorite site and headed to the beach to check out the scene. Let’s just say wow! The sand was so fine that it made squeaking noises when you walked on it and the water was crystal blue… it was the perfect spot for our jump shot photo shoot (we have posted some for your viewing pleasure!).
Our feasting all week had gotten the best of us so we opted for Guacamole Chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, and other pickies rather than a full dinner with a full evening of drinking wine, aren’t you proud of us?!?!? and playing cards (warning Stacy… Melanie is now obsessed with the game Shithead and will want to play when she returns, be prepared!).
Off to bathhouse Jaclyn and Jimmy went to wash up for bed as Melanie and Alison tucked themselves in to bed. Startled by Jaclyn tapping on the camper window whispering, “come here come here, get up get up, you have to see this!” To our surprise, there was a little joey (aka baby kangaroo) less than 30 feet away from the bathhouse.
Needless to say we were all ecstatic that we stayed and watched for over an hour. During this time Melanie tried to sneak a closer peak at the joey and as she got closed we all heard a growl… oh yes, the big mama kangaroo appeared to protect her young. It was awesome! After a while we decided it was time to finally get to bed… so off we went back to The Beast dreaming of kangaroos and blue skies for the next day! P.S. Once again, more pictures to come, it just takes a while to upload them all!
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Aussie Roadtrip
Day 1 - Saturday - Brisbane, Gold Coast, Bryon Bay Alison, Melanie, Jaclyn, and Jimmy arrived in Brisbane after our short flight from Sydney along with our surfboards, body boards, backpacks, and a vow to let go of all sense of time or dates. Going to straight to baggage claim we retrieved our items and flagged a Maxi Taxi to pick up our ride for the week… Meet the Beast! 
Our campervan includes space for four to sleep… yeah right! The upper bunk, which is advertised to sleep two adults would be more suitable for two children under the age of eight… going forward was deemed The Upstairs Coffin. The lower bunk is created by flipping down the table and bench seats to accommodate a queen size sleeping area and was later coined “The Suite”! Along with the sleeping areas, The Beast also includes a mini kitchenette inclusive of a refrigerator, microwave, gas top stove, sink, and all the kitchen “needs” for our camping adventure. 
As you are all probably assuming, the obvious driver would be the male Aussie, Jimmy, having that he is the native and grew up driving on the left hand side of the road not to mention he knows the driving laws… and stereotypically the testosterone filled men would be driving the yank tanks, well… you’re wrong. Jaclyn, Melanie, and Alison were the three listed drivers for The Beast as Jimmy got a late start with his license in Australia as he was traveling the world and is now only has his P’s which does not allow him to drive a rental vehicle let alone The Beast! 
Melanie took the wheel first and we were off!! Surprisingly, we made it through our mini driving tour of downtown Brisbane and onto Pacific Coast Highway 1 with a small learning curve on how different it is to drive a buslike vans versus driving a car. Basically, what we learned is that you must slow down to a crawl when going over bumps to avoid the back of the school bus sensation (remember, when we were all kids and we would sit in the back of the bus knowing that when the driver went over a hill or over a bump you would be up in the air, off the seat, and getting a rollercoaster thrill), you must take turns SLOWLY to avoid everything falling from the bunk above and all the cabinets and drawers from opening. Learning to drive The Beast – check, rating Easy! 
Our afternoon consisted of a drive through the Gold Coast. Although it is a tourist spot, we stopped in Surfer’s Paradise for a look at the beach, a photo, and of course lunch. Our stay was short lived as it was Schoolie week and there were high school kids everywhere and techno music, go figure… we stayed for less than hour. Off we went to Bryon Bay…. the first stop on our road trip down the coast. 
As we took our time with the drive and stopped to look at some beaches, gather groceries and alcohol, we just barely made the six pm cutoff time for check-in at the Suffolk Holiday Park less than 2 miles from the center of town. We were reminded of the dangers in Australia by the Brown Snake warning as we entered the caravan park. We immediately put on our cozi’s (aka bathing suit in Aussie terms) we walked the path attached to our campervan site that led us directly to the beach! After a quick dip and a long day of travel, we headed back to The Beast for our first night’s feast. We established what would be soon be own dinner routine… by starting with an appetizer course consisting of chips and salsa and our new favorite, always classey, an under rated gem… a box-o-wine! We then proceeded to have our American feast of good ol’ burgers and mac and cheese, yum! 
To bed we went, in hysterics when we came to find out that the love bunk for two that Jimmy and Jaclyn insisted on having was less than two feet from the top of The Beast, four feet wide, and six feet long with only two tiny windows for ventilation. Wait, did we mention it was 80 degrees with no wind blowing. Needless to say they were not happy with the must have selection and even before sleep they got us to agreed to an every other night sleeping arrangement agreement. 
Day 2 - Sunday - Bryon Bay 
We awoke Sunday morning at the crack of dawn, oh wait that was Jimmy’s ass, to hear him shouting, “I reckin’ that was the worst night’s sleep I have ever had!” After our healthy breakfast of Muesli and fresh fruit we were geared up in our Cozi’s and beach gear and off to Byron Bay for a day at the beach. It was a bit of struggle finding parking for The Beast but a friendly old couple assisted in our parking dilemma. Finding the perfect spot on the sand we dropped our belongings and went straight for the water. The turquoise bath water was just what we all needed! We swam, Jaclyn & Melanie body boarded or attempted to should we say, Jimmy went for a surf despite thinking the surf was crap even though the waves scared the crap out of us (got to love Aussie logic), and bronzed ourselves until we got restless. We walked through the small quant town and then decided to drive up to the Lighthouse for lunch, this time with Alison at the wheel. 
We parked in the lower lot packed up a backpack with all our lunch needs and walked up the rest of the way to picnic at the lighthouse. The perfectly blue sky gave us the perfect backdrop for our picnic lunch and our walk out to the most Easterly Point in Australia where we were able to get a birds’ eye view of Bryon Bay. The water was so clear that we were able to spot a baby dolphin with its mother, a family of sea turtles, and rock formations on the ocean floor. 
After our long day in the sun, we headed back to the Caravan Park for showers and preparation of our Italian feast that evening. And oh boy did we feast. Our started consisted of three different types of cheeses with whole grain crackers and Carlton Dry beer. 
As if that wasn’t enough to begin with, we cooked up over 2 pounds of Meat filled Tortilini with Pesto Sauce, Garlic Bread, and Salad… within intentions of having leftovers for lunch the next day. 
Come on guys… you must know us by now… we absolutely “smashed” it. There was not one bite left. We were so full and a bit drunk all four of us crawled into the bottom Suite and watched Anchor Man on Alison’s laptop like Three’s Company with a guest appearance of Alison (for those of you that don’t know Melanie, Jaclyn, and Jimmy lived together and referred to themselves as Three’s Company). After our late night the night before, we were sound asleep by 9:30 with Alison and Melanie on the top bunk with our new air conditioning unit, aka a very small ten dollar fan from Woolworth’s.
Day 3 - Monday - Nimben & Dorrigo
Rise and shine bright and early at 7:00 sharp, oh wait there was no shine, our morning beach dreams were ruined and we decided to get on the road early for our tour of Nimben. We said our goodbyes to Bryon Bay and especially our new friends the Wild Turkeys that ran rampid throughout the campground. Nimben is the sight of the famed Aquarius festival that launched Australian hippie culture in 1973 and is synonymous with Australian alternative culture. Although this trip was out of the way, we thought it would be well worth it to see since it has been talked about for years and recommended to us as cool place to visit. 
Our trip there was short and sweet, the drive was beautiful through the rolling hills, farmland, and countryside, we stopped for less than hour took pictures, took a stroll, and went on our merry way to Dorrigo National Park. 
The drive was long. We didn’t want the clouds to dampen our spirits. We had a pit stop in a small fishing village of Evan’s Head where we had our noon time feast before continuing on into the Mountains. The drive into Dorrigo was interesting to say the least. It started to absolutely downpour and despite Jimmy not being listed as a driver, he took the wheel and led The Beast through the rain, through the mist, and into the Rain Forest… what a true Aussie man! As we climbed higher and higher, the subtropical climate got lusher and lusher and the skies began to clear, well, at least it stopped raining. 
We finally got to the top and pulled into Dorrigo Mountain Resort to park for the night. The location was great, only two kilometers from the national park. However, despite the great location, it was one of the weirdest places we’ve ever stayed. Maybe it was the fact that we were greeted by a creepy manager, or maybe it was just that we in the middle of no where with a caravan neighbor that was occupied by one lonely man that could easily be coined a serial killer. But neither this or the drizzle could dampen our spirits and we set up camp as usual. We brought the fiesta to Dorrigo and took out all the stops… a Mexican fiesta we did have… the cerveza was flowing, the tacos were crunched, the garlic mac and cheese was born and the commercials were made. We went a little stir crazy in the camper having to eat inside this night because of the rain, but a good time was had by all!
P.S. Way more pictures to come and the rest of the summary from this past week. We have had very limited access, basically none, and have not been able to write/post until now. Sorry for the delay :)
Our campervan includes space for four to sleep… yeah right! The upper bunk, which is advertised to sleep two adults would be more suitable for two children under the age of eight… going forward was deemed The Upstairs Coffin. The lower bunk is created by flipping down the table and bench seats to accommodate a queen size sleeping area and was later coined “The Suite”! Along with the sleeping areas, The Beast also includes a mini kitchenette inclusive of a refrigerator, microwave, gas top stove, sink, and all the kitchen “needs” for our camping adventure. 
As you are all probably assuming, the obvious driver would be the male Aussie, Jimmy, having that he is the native and grew up driving on the left hand side of the road not to mention he knows the driving laws… and stereotypically the testosterone filled men would be driving the yank tanks, well… you’re wrong. Jaclyn, Melanie, and Alison were the three listed drivers for The Beast as Jimmy got a late start with his license in Australia as he was traveling the world and is now only has his P’s which does not allow him to drive a rental vehicle let alone The Beast! 
Melanie took the wheel first and we were off!! Surprisingly, we made it through our mini driving tour of downtown Brisbane and onto Pacific Coast Highway 1 with a small learning curve on how different it is to drive a buslike vans versus driving a car. Basically, what we learned is that you must slow down to a crawl when going over bumps to avoid the back of the school bus sensation (remember, when we were all kids and we would sit in the back of the bus knowing that when the driver went over a hill or over a bump you would be up in the air, off the seat, and getting a rollercoaster thrill), you must take turns SLOWLY to avoid everything falling from the bunk above and all the cabinets and drawers from opening. Learning to drive The Beast – check, rating Easy! 
Our afternoon consisted of a drive through the Gold Coast. Although it is a tourist spot, we stopped in Surfer’s Paradise for a look at the beach, a photo, and of course lunch. Our stay was short lived as it was Schoolie week and there were high school kids everywhere and techno music, go figure… we stayed for less than hour. Off we went to Bryon Bay…. the first stop on our road trip down the coast. 
As we took our time with the drive and stopped to look at some beaches, gather groceries and alcohol, we just barely made the six pm cutoff time for check-in at the Suffolk Holiday Park less than 2 miles from the center of town. We were reminded of the dangers in Australia by the Brown Snake warning as we entered the caravan park. We immediately put on our cozi’s (aka bathing suit in Aussie terms) we walked the path attached to our campervan site that led us directly to the beach! After a quick dip and a long day of travel, we headed back to The Beast for our first night’s feast. We established what would be soon be own dinner routine… by starting with an appetizer course consisting of chips and salsa and our new favorite, always classey, an under rated gem… a box-o-wine! We then proceeded to have our American feast of good ol’ burgers and mac and cheese, yum! 
To bed we went, in hysterics when we came to find out that the love bunk for two that Jimmy and Jaclyn insisted on having was less than two feet from the top of The Beast, four feet wide, and six feet long with only two tiny windows for ventilation. Wait, did we mention it was 80 degrees with no wind blowing. Needless to say they were not happy with the must have selection and even before sleep they got us to agreed to an every other night sleeping arrangement agreement. 
Day 2 - Sunday - Bryon Bay 
We awoke Sunday morning at the crack of dawn, oh wait that was Jimmy’s ass, to hear him shouting, “I reckin’ that was the worst night’s sleep I have ever had!” After our healthy breakfast of Muesli and fresh fruit we were geared up in our Cozi’s and beach gear and off to Byron Bay for a day at the beach. It was a bit of struggle finding parking for The Beast but a friendly old couple assisted in our parking dilemma. Finding the perfect spot on the sand we dropped our belongings and went straight for the water. The turquoise bath water was just what we all needed! We swam, Jaclyn & Melanie body boarded or attempted to should we say, Jimmy went for a surf despite thinking the surf was crap even though the waves scared the crap out of us (got to love Aussie logic), and bronzed ourselves until we got restless. We walked through the small quant town and then decided to drive up to the Lighthouse for lunch, this time with Alison at the wheel. 
We parked in the lower lot packed up a backpack with all our lunch needs and walked up the rest of the way to picnic at the lighthouse. The perfectly blue sky gave us the perfect backdrop for our picnic lunch and our walk out to the most Easterly Point in Australia where we were able to get a birds’ eye view of Bryon Bay. The water was so clear that we were able to spot a baby dolphin with its mother, a family of sea turtles, and rock formations on the ocean floor. 
After our long day in the sun, we headed back to the Caravan Park for showers and preparation of our Italian feast that evening. And oh boy did we feast. Our started consisted of three different types of cheeses with whole grain crackers and Carlton Dry beer. 
As if that wasn’t enough to begin with, we cooked up over 2 pounds of Meat filled Tortilini with Pesto Sauce, Garlic Bread, and Salad… within intentions of having leftovers for lunch the next day. 
Come on guys… you must know us by now… we absolutely “smashed” it. There was not one bite left. We were so full and a bit drunk all four of us crawled into the bottom Suite and watched Anchor Man on Alison’s laptop like Three’s Company with a guest appearance of Alison (for those of you that don’t know Melanie, Jaclyn, and Jimmy lived together and referred to themselves as Three’s Company). After our late night the night before, we were sound asleep by 9:30 with Alison and Melanie on the top bunk with our new air conditioning unit, aka a very small ten dollar fan from Woolworth’s. Day 3 - Monday - Nimben & Dorrigo
Rise and shine bright and early at 7:00 sharp, oh wait there was no shine, our morning beach dreams were ruined and we decided to get on the road early for our tour of Nimben. We said our goodbyes to Bryon Bay and especially our new friends the Wild Turkeys that ran rampid throughout the campground. Nimben is the sight of the famed Aquarius festival that launched Australian hippie culture in 1973 and is synonymous with Australian alternative culture. Although this trip was out of the way, we thought it would be well worth it to see since it has been talked about for years and recommended to us as cool place to visit. 
Our trip there was short and sweet, the drive was beautiful through the rolling hills, farmland, and countryside, we stopped for less than hour took pictures, took a stroll, and went on our merry way to Dorrigo National Park. 
The drive was long. We didn’t want the clouds to dampen our spirits. We had a pit stop in a small fishing village of Evan’s Head where we had our noon time feast before continuing on into the Mountains. The drive into Dorrigo was interesting to say the least. It started to absolutely downpour and despite Jimmy not being listed as a driver, he took the wheel and led The Beast through the rain, through the mist, and into the Rain Forest… what a true Aussie man! As we climbed higher and higher, the subtropical climate got lusher and lusher and the skies began to clear, well, at least it stopped raining. 
We finally got to the top and pulled into Dorrigo Mountain Resort to park for the night. The location was great, only two kilometers from the national park. However, despite the great location, it was one of the weirdest places we’ve ever stayed. Maybe it was the fact that we were greeted by a creepy manager, or maybe it was just that we in the middle of no where with a caravan neighbor that was occupied by one lonely man that could easily be coined a serial killer. But neither this or the drizzle could dampen our spirits and we set up camp as usual. We brought the fiesta to Dorrigo and took out all the stops… a Mexican fiesta we did have… the cerveza was flowing, the tacos were crunched, the garlic mac and cheese was born and the commercials were made. We went a little stir crazy in the camper having to eat inside this night because of the rain, but a good time was had by all!P.S. Way more pictures to come and the rest of the summary from this past week. We have had very limited access, basically none, and have not been able to write/post until now. Sorry for the delay :)
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