Saturday 30 December 2017

Day 51 - 58 Christmas on the Gold Coast

Day 51 - 21st December
We left the camp site and had a day of aimless driving around little towns to find places to stop and chill. After this we headed back to New Italy rest area where we've been a few times before already. This was a couple of hours drive and is near Byron Bay again so we may spend the day there tomorrow. 
The rest area has a small museum which we had a look around, and a cafe where I got a coffee. I really miss my coffee machine back home and the costa I would buy almost every shift at work! 


^Kangaroos at Darlington Beach Holiday Park this morning. 

Day 52 - 22nd December
We spent the day at Byron Bay again. It was raining this morning so we weren't sure where to go. But I'm glad we went here as it was really lovely and sunny as the day went on. The forecast said it was supposed to rain with a thunder storm so I'm relieve that didn't happen!
I think we will spent the next couple of nights at New Italy again as it's just over an hour away from where we need to be fore Christmas at our Airbnb. 
We are planning on doing a food shop Christmas Eve to get all the supplies we need across the Christmas period. I'm planning on cooking a roast to take advantage of actually having an oven to use! 
We will get lots of treats as well to enjoy the festivities and forget the budget for a couple of days!


^Street graffiti in Byron Bay town centre 

Day 53 - 23rd December
We spent another day at Byron Bay. There were barely any waves again as there was no wind at all it was completely still. But the sea was crystal clear which was lovely. 
We are staying at sleepy hollow rest area tonight which I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about as we avoided it on the way down south because there were lots of comments saying watch out for the snakes and spiders! We haven't seen any so far which is good. Im quite comfortably sat outside on the camp chairs now and not too worried about it, which means I've definitely came a long way since the start of this trip as I would never of done this 2 months ago! Just goes to show it's mind over matter (besides the fact that it's too hot to sit in the campervan anyway!)
We did a spring clean of the camper as stones and LOTS of sand seems to get everywhere as the cushions on the bed are in 4 sections (see picture below) 

and underneath these are wooden slates that we slot into place to create the bed. So sand and dirt gets in all the nooks and crannies!! I'm glad we have a semi-clean camper ready for our return into it after Christmas. 
We are both excited to check into our Airbnb tomorrow morning. It will be so nice to sleep in a proper bed, electricity, and have showers and baths until our hearts content !! It's the small things...


^Byron Bay


Day 54 - 24th December.  Christmas Eve!
We got ready for the day slowly to kill some time before headed to the Airbnb. We got the directions from the app and no one appeared to be home. I then noticed that the lady didn't actually give us a house number and just a road name so i presume that google maps was just taking us to the middle of the road! We stopped to ask a man to help us and it appears he was acy the one meeting us there because the lady who owns the house is on holiday for the Christmas period. I'm glad we found the right place eventually but it's also frustrating that we wasted some time no knowing where to go. 
The house is lovely it's one level but detached so there's lots of privacy and a lovely garden at the back with decking. 
We went to Woolworths to do a shop for Christmas supplies then spent the rest of the day inside making the most of air conditioning and showers! 


Mince pie?



Day 55 - 25th December. Merry Christmas! 
What a lovely day. We had a very chilled morning pottering around the house, laying in the hammock, drinking coffee, and cooking fry-ups! Perfect. 
We got ready and headed to the beach for a little while, we wanted to go to the beach on Christmas Day but we didn't want to spend too long there as we have just today as our last full day in the Airbnb before we go back to the campervan. 
After getting back I warmed up some camernbert, French stick and cut up some carrots for lunch. 
We had a couple of beers and watched stranger things 2. 
I'm currently cooking a roast for this evening as it's tradition! So we couldn't not!  
I don't want this time to end in the Airbnb it's been sooo lovely!!

^Tugun Beach on the Gold Coast


^Our breakfast 🍳 


Day 56 - 26th December
We left the lovely home and got back on the road. We weren't sure whether to go back up or down the coast. We need to drop the camper back in Brisbane in a few weeks and we've definitely seen more down the coast so we decided to head up again. 
We are back at Sanford Showgrounds where we have been once before at the start of our travels. It's very peaceful and relaxing here so we should get a good nights sleep. 


Day 57 - 27th December
We are back into the swing of things in the campervan. It was bitter sweet coming back in here after staying in a beautiful home, but it wasn't long before we were used to it again! 
We drove for a couple of hours to Alexandra Headland near Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast. The journey was only supposed to take an hour but there were massive traffic jams all along the M1. 
It drizzled with rain on-off throughout the day but once arriving on the Sunshine Cost it was fairly warm and sunny. We had a little chill before heading to Belli Creek rest area. 
Hopefully we will be heading back to Hervey Bay tomorrow as we really liked it there before and are lucky enough to have the time to go back to the places that we enjoyed at the start- that was our plan and it's worked so far :)


^Alexandra Headland


Day 58 - 28th December
We made our way back to Hervey Bay where we stayed for 2 nights previously. 
Where we are staying has a pool and jucuzzi so we have spent loads of time in there today. We've been trying to book into another site around here for the next couple of day to cover new year, but everywhere is so full I'm not sure we will find somewhere. I'd love to be here for New Years because it's such a nice town, it's peaceful and isn't overcrowded and not too big. 
We walked into town from the site which was longer than I thought, I regret being the one saying 'come on, let's walk!'. I got a smoothie which we shared (it was more like a milkshake as it had ice cream in it, so much for a healthy smoothie!!)



Sunday 24 December 2017

Day 44 - 50. Nimbin, Byron Bay & Sapphire Beach

Day 44 - 14th December
Today we left Crescent Head. This felt bitter sweet as we were excited to go to the next place and continue the adventure but sad to be leaving a beautiful place. 
We headed for Burnett Park which is a free camp site - stopping at Woolworths for our food shop on the way. 
We stayed a couple of hours at the camp site. It was getting so hot and the camper was just boiling. We were yearning for the fan!
We decided to skip this place for the night and instead go back to Nimbin which was the journey for tomorrow. 
At least here we have electricity for the fan and it's not expensive. 
After arriving in Nimbin we had a walk up to the town and went to the bar for a beer. It was nice to sit down in the beer garden and do something that felt a little normal! 

Day 45 - 15th December
We spent another day today in Nimbin. 
The weather has been so hot, it's a shame we aren't near a beach to cool off in the sea. 
We had a really chilled day again and went for another beer at the pub this evening 



Day 46 - 16th December
Another beautiful day. 
However we are waking up around 7am now because the sun is beaming through the camper and it's too hot to sleep. We've seen a lot of people in campers without windows and they sleep with the big back door open and a mosquito net hanging. Not sure I fancy this as I wouldn't feel at ease. Even in a quite camp site I don't think it be able to relax knowing that the door would be open. But this might be something we have to consider as it's only going to get hotter. 




Day 47 - 17th December
We left Nimbin and headed for Byron Bay. We spent a couple of hours here on the beach. Everywhere around Byron Bay is pay & display and I think that's because it's a very touristy area. On the plus side the meter took Apple Pay so it was easy enough as we didn't have enough change. 
The sea was so nice and warm and really clear as well, it was lovely. 
I got a coffee from a cafe on the beach and also bought a fruit salad with yogurt, delicious!
We are now back at New Italy rest area for the night, let's hope it isn't as loud as last time as there are barely any free rest areas around and paid camp sites are so expensive in Byron Bay. 

^Fruit salad from 'Beach' at Byron Bay

Day 48 - 18th December
Today was pretty much a replica of yesterday!
We went to Byron Bay for a few hours, I got another coffee and fruit bowl from the same cafe, we even parked in the same (expensive) car park! And just to top it off we are staying in the same rest area again tonight - New Italy!
So not much else to report other than it's getting very hot! I'm slightly sunburnt and we are both struggling to sleep at night with the heat. Even with all windows open we are still so hot. The things I would do for electricity to use the fan right now !!


^The most delicious fruit salad again!


Day 49 - 19th December
Today we decided to head back south a couple of hours just because we have some time to kill before our Airbnb for Christmas. We found a paid camp site close to Coffs Harbour on Sapphire Beach that looked lovely. 
We called for a price and instead the lady just booked us in and didn't tell us the price! We thought it would be expensive as it looked so nice and we were right... $60 p/n for a powered site. 
It's a lovely area with a pool and a 1 minute walk to the beach. But it's definitely out of our budget! 
We went to Woolworths soon after having a swim in the pool to get some supplies. I noticed a frozen yogurt shop and we both gasped with pure joy as we hadn't seen one for ages and had both really fancied one for such a long time! So just to make us over budget a bit more we spent $17 at yogurt land ! Ooops. 
We had paprika chicken, avocado and halloumi in a tiger bread roll with garlic mayo it was delicious! 


^Sapphire Beach 




Day 50 - 20th December
We headed just 20 minutes up the road (with a slight detour because our satnav from travellers autobarn hasn't been updated so it doesn't know any of the new roads!) to another camp site called Darlington Beach Holiday Park where we will be staying tonight. It's a really big area with a pool which we've spent loads of time in today. There are lots of kangaroos jumping around the park, they don't seem bothered by people at all!
It's much cheaper than last night at $46 and we both prefer it. 


^Darlington Beach

Thursday 14 December 2017

Day 37 - 43 Hyams Beach, Wentworth Falls & Crescent Head

Day 37 - 7th December
Finally some gorgeous hot weather. We woke up fairly early, got ready quickly and headed to Hyams Beach. We had such a lovely morning in the sun. The water was still fairly cold (or 'icy' as we like to say!) but we managed to have a couple of dips. We even saw dolphins in the sea which were fairly close to us. At least I hope they were dolphins and not sharks! Haha. 




^Hyams Beach


Day 38 - 8th December
We drove for nearly 4 hours today to the camp site we stayed at already a couple of times at the Blue Mountains. Near Sydney there's a lack of free camp sites, so in order to get around Sydney as quick as possible this is what we decided to do. 
There's a free shower at this camp site so it's nice to have a good wash!!! Although I think I'm a little too-used to cold showers now!




Day 39 - 9th December 
We spent the morning at Wentworth Falls in Katoomba. It was fairly misty as the clouds were low and we were quite high up, but they shifted fairly quickly. 
Whilst we were there we walked all the way down to the falls, it took around 40minutes in total. There were lots of viewing platforms along the way so it was nice to stop and take some pictures. 
Going back uphill was quite hard and I think my legs are going to ache tomorrow! But good to have some exercise! 
We are currently trying to find an Airbnb for a few days at Christmas. We found a lovely one last night 20 minutes from Byron Bay, I spoke to the lady to check that the parking space provided would fit our hi-top camper. She reversed the dates for us and I got an email to say I had until 6am the next morning to accept the booking. I tried to do it there and then and the dates were no longer available. We then looked at that apartment on her availability calendar and it was booked from the 22nd all the way through, so we think someone else gave her a better offer than us! Charming!!
I've found another on the Gold Coast near the beach, and again just waiting for confirmation our camper will fit, let's hope we have better luck this time. 




^Wentworth Falls at the Blue Mountains 


Day 40 - 10th December
We left the Blue Mountains National Park and endured on a long 4 hour journey to Bulahdelah which is where we stayed previously for one night on our way down here. 
Once arriving we got out the camp chairs and sat for ages in the shade chatting and drinking beer. 
We made pasta bolognese for dinner tonight, we haven't had this in a little while so it's nice to have something different. 
It's been fairly hot today which is lovely, but not so nice when driving!
The camp area is self-contained only, and we don't have a toilet in our camper so I hope we don't get kicked out! I wasn't worried about this before but we are in view of the road on the bridge this time so hopefully no one will notice us! 



Day 41 - 11th December 
We had such a nice day sunbathing and doing so much swimming! We really made the most of the sea not being cold, I hope this is a common thing as we travel North again. 
We are staying here in Crescent Head tonight at a paid campsite for $43 a night. We may even stay for two nights. It's fairly expensive for camp sites as it's quite basic but I think any customer here is mainly paying for the beautiful location as it's so stunning. We are right on the cliff next to the beach. 

^The view just 20m from our campervan *left*


^*right*


Day 42 - 12th December 
Another beautiful day in crescent head. 
So much time was spent jumping and diving into waves in the sea! 
How can a day involving; sun, sea, hot showers, steak, ice lollies & sprite be any better? I've definitely learnt to appreciate the smaller things around me. 
However we did both have a small mishap; on the way back from the beach we have to cross a smaller part almost a river from the sea. It's over waste high and has a few rocks before the slope where the life boat enters. Both of us cut our feet on something in the rocks, I'm not sure if it was the shells attached to the rocks (possibly muscles?) that were broken and sharp. Or whether it was glass. Both of us had one bleeding and stinging foot each! We needed to clean them asap and get some antiseptic cream on. But all is well, that didn't ruin our fab day! 




^Crescent Head 


Day 43 - 13th December
Another beautiful day in Creacent Head. 
It was a little windy today, but still hot so it was nice and bearable. 
The first time we went into the sea we saw a big jelly fish so both of up quickly ran out! After a little while longer in the sun we needed to cool off in the sea. Lots of people were in there, so we braved it!
Both of our feet are sore from the cuts yesterday and sand in them probably didn't help, but the plasters didn't want to stay on!


^Crescent Head beach

Tuesday 12 December 2017

Day 31-36 Rainy journey back North

Day 31 - 1st December
My alarm clock this morning was the sound of heavy rain hitting the campervan. Not the awakening I'd hoped of! We were expecting this as lots of locals and staff at the caravan park had mentioned that they were expecting a months rainfall over the weekend. 
On the way out of Phillip Island we stopped at Pannys Chocolate Factory where we had a little look around and a coffee in the cafe. 
We then started the journey back up the way Coast. Our first stop on the way back up is McLoughlin. We are staying at a free area near the sea. It's so windy tonight I feel like our little camper may tip over!!




^The sunsetting at the camp area


Day 32 - 2nd December
It's just sunk in that this year I don't have an advent calendar! That's definitely a first. Last year I treated myself to the Selfridges beauty advent calendar and this year I'm on a budget every day living in a Campervan! Swings and roundabouts I guess!...
We left the camp site in the rain. Last night it was torrential. That campervan was rocking from the forceful winds all night, so neither of us got a great nights sleep!
We are used the rainy day to travel for a few hours back to a rest stop in Murrengowar. We've been here once before already and quite liked it so we are back!
If both of us are honest we want to get closer to Sydney and then Brisbane again. Both of us definitely preferred it up there and I think this is because it's just more chilled, there are more free camp sites about, the weather is warmer there (well at least not torrential downpours!) and it was easier to go from beach-to-beach. Whereas when we travelled closer to Melbourne the beaches we went to weren't as nice, it was fairly dead and it was mainly National Park area. 
We cooked a spaghetti bolognese tonight which was delicious. It's feeling quite cold considering yesterday was officially the first day of Summer here. So tonight will be spent snuggled in the camper. And I don't mind that! 


Day 33 - 3rd December 
We woke up to the heavy rain... again :(
We decided to use a rubbish weather day wisely by driving nearly 4 hours. We are now near Batemans Bay again where we should be spending the day tomorrow before heading up a little further for the night. 
Now we are closer to the coast again we are really hoping for some nice weather for chilled beach days. Let's hope the sea is a little warmer here now. 
I felt really gross today and just wanted to wash my hair, we couldn't find a free public shower anywhere so 2 big bottles of water did the job of washing my hair nicely! We may of got a few funny looks in the camp site, but when push comes to shove these things have just got to be done!!

Day 34 - 4th December 
Yet another rainy and miserable day. I didn't want to say miserable but our morale did hit an all time low today. 
Everything seemed to stress us out and feeling cabin fever in our small camper didn't help as the rain means another day cooped up. Which we don't mind every now and then - but for 5 days on the trot now, well, let's just say we are over the rain now!
My boyfriend keeps saying 'come to Australia they said, it's boiling hot they said'. Which is so funny and true. 
I guess every country has rain but we didn't expect this in Australia's Summer season. Maybe it's our own faults for not researching the weather at this time! 
The other things getting on top of us today was mainly money/budgeting. My boyfriend has been amazing at the financial side of things. But when we work out our allowance per day, stick to it, at still somehow be over budget somewhat it's very frustrating. If we aren't spending money on food shops we are spending it on fuel. And this has cost us SO much. We havie been given an unleaded van, so it is absolutely guzzling the petrol. We have to be so on the ball with spending and careful with what we spend it on. 
I'm sure as soon as the weather brightens up we will back to our usually happy selves!! 


Day 35 - 5th December
We went to Hyams Beach in the rain this morning. This is actually where we went before in the trip when we thought we were in Jervis Bay. This time are actually followed the signs to Jervis Bay but turned around when we saw the payment booths to get into that area of the National Park. I know it's classed as ACT (Australian Captial Territory) but I'm not too sure why you have to pay to enter the park. 
Anyway, another rainy day it seems. I hope this ends soon! Earlier on in the trip when we came here it was so hot and the most stunning place. So sad it's not like that now!

Day 36 - 6th December
It was a little brighter today and only lightly rained a couple of times. We are still near Jervis Bay waiting for the hot day tomorrow (hopefully)
We got some bits for a nice pasta sauce tonight. It felt quite stormy and humid so neither of us felt too great.
I had another hair wash in the sink of a public toilet! We had a chilled afternoon in the camper. 

Tuesday 5 December 2017

Day 24-30 Narooma and Phillip Island

Day 24 - 24th November
Today we left the camp site near Canberra and heading on the road out towards Batemans Bay. We went along the coastal road to a place called Narooma. We had a little chill before going on the search for a public shower. Sometimes these are easy to find, but other days like today it proved harder. We ended up going to a swimming pool to use the showers. We paid $5.20 each for entry to the pool. Then had a long shower after. This was worth it as it had been a few days (gross I know!).
Tonight we are staying at a free camp site in Delmany near Narooma. 


^Bar Beach in North Narooma 


Day 25- 25th November
Today we drove for a couple of hours to a place called Tathra. My boyfriend bought a skateboard yesterday so he went to the skatepark which was right on the beach, and I sunbathed on the beach! Tried to go in the sea but it was SO icy cold! Which is so crazy considering the weather is so hot. But I guess after summer the sea will be warmed up. 
My boyfriend left his phone at the side whilst he skated, came to the beach to see me then realised he left it there. It wasn't there when he went back. He asked the young boys there who said they saw it on the side but aren't sure where it is. I gave one of them my number to call me if it 'turns up'. We logged into find my iPhone on my phone and played the annoying beep. The boys then came over with the phone and said it was 'in a bush'. How strange !... but at least we got it back. 

 ^Tathra Beach


Day 26 - 26th November 
Today we had a chilled morning before leaving the campsite to endure another longish journey. 
After a couple of hours we arrived in a place called Marlo which is in Victoria! We've made it across 3 states!
Marlo looked so stunning from the pictures, but sadly it was overcast and started to drizzle. This was so disappointing because the beaches looked so untouched and picturesque. If it was a nice hot day this would be amazing. Hopefully we can stop here on our journey back up to Brisbane. 
We went to a free camp site 30 minutes away in Murrengower where we had a chilled after noon and an early evening meal. 

^Marlo


Day 27 - 27th November 
Today started off very cold and rainy again. We drove for a couple of hours to a town called Bairnsdale where we got a coffee and did our laundry! The man who ran the laundrette was from Greece, he was so friendly and nice! He started talking to us in German because he thought we were German. It was so funny we didn't know what he was saying!
After this we headed to the camp site and had a chilled afternoon. 
The sun came out in the afternoon so we sat outside for a little while - before the flies took over and were EVERYWHERE!
Hopefully we can find a nice beach tomorrow. 



Day 28 - 28th November
We went to a beach called Golden Beach. It was really nice weather so we had a few beers on the beach in the sun! 
We wanted to swim in the sea, but as we walked closed we saw lots of white washed up things with what looked like blood in it. We think they were jelly fishes as we also heard other people say that. 
In the end we didn't go in the sea! It's a shame, but it would of probably been cold as it seems that way the more South we travel!
Tonight we are staying at a free camp site called Minneha'ha Falls campground which is lovely! It's in the country side, we have hills all around us with sheep on! Theres even a waterfall right next to us and we have the whole place to ourselves!
In a couple of days time we should be in Melbourne which is very exiting. Then our journey back up to Brisbane begins- this part should be more chilled as we have travelled south in just over a month and have two more months to go back up!


^Our spot for the night - all to ourselves at Hiawatha. 

^Minneha'ha Falls


Day 29 - 29th November 
Today we drove across what felt like North Yorkshire! So hilly with sheep and cows everywhere. It was lovely. 
We went to a place in Agnes to have a shower (luckily we found free ones in public toilets!) we also treated ourselves to some chips here. The town felt so weird and eary here it was so strange. No one was about it was completely dead. Apart from one man who got out of a lorry and walked about in his shirt and boxers ??!
It was SO hot today. And it was so annoying that we weren't near a beach to cool off in the sea. Definitely the hottest day we've had so far! 
We are staying at a free camp site on the M1 called Longwarry which is set back a little from the main road. 



Day 30 - 30th November 
Our friend from England is staying near Melbourne for a while, so this morning we went to the farm he is staying at to see him. 
It was so hot again this morning. We found a camp site for $33 on Phillip Island which we were told is beautiful. 
We arrived on Phillip Island and somehow arrived at the wrong campsite. We went to one right next to the one we had in mind. It was only after booking in and looking on the map for the swimming pool (which we couldn't find) that we realised we were at a diffenent site! This was so frustrating as it was no ones fault but our own and we ended up paying nearly $40 as we couldn't work out why this was more than it originally said?!  
Nevertheless we are parked in a beautiful location - right on the beach. 
There's supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight which I'm secretly looking forward to watching over the sea from our little camper!


^Dusk on Cowes Beach at Phillip Island 

I can't believe December is here tomorrow. This is definitely the best November I've ever had and one I'll forver remember. 
We've had some challenges along the way with not everything working in our favour, but all in all it's been the most amazing experience so far. I can't quite believe we picked up the campervan 30 days ago today.
It's very strange that I would be freezing back home at the moment! It's even snowed a little back home which makes me realise how far from reality I am at the moment!!
I'm feeling quite sad that the trip has gone so quickly so far, but I guess 'time flies when you're having fun'. And to say I'm having fun be an understatement.