The journey along the rest of the East Coast passes along many, many kilometres. The planned route isnt by any means direct, and we start off heading inland to drive along the Waterfall Way. We're a little hungover and a therefore a little fractuous as we race through the bush with petrol running out. Fortunately, a BP on the horizon saves us re-enacting a Neighbours storyline. We eventually reach our first waterfall in a little outback village with the tiniest fire station ever seen. We manage a swim at another waterfall, but its pretty powerful and precarious doing the breast stroke... A rainforest skywalk and a stop by a creek (where a wedding is in the photography stage) complete the day, and we check in to our least favourite Big4, that is reminiscent of 70s wood panelling with a broken door to Nicky's annex...
There is a nice beach in Nambucca Heads though, and we stop for a look out before heading south once more. Today's first stop is one of the finest beaches we have seen - Seal Rocks is along an unsealed 2km road, and is a beautiful bay, with calm azure waters. We've only a couple of hours to enjoy it though before we're back on the road, and off to the comically named Lemon Tree Passage, for our next, and favourite BIG4 camp site. Nicky even has her own room like a proper grown up. We're still self catering, and this place has a good sized kitchen, and we can catch up with The Biggest Loser.
We've covered about 850km in the past couple of days, but fortunately the next day, we're not driving nearly as far. First stop is Nelson Bay home of Red Ned's award-winning pies, and they're so good that we have to have too (Teriyaki Kangaroo a particular stand-out.) There we head over to Newcastle and the free-entry Koala sanctuary that we discovered when we were debating going into the Steve Irwin zoo near Brisbane. Just as well we didnt as we can get up close and personal with some very cute koalas, see a couple of kangaroos bouncing around for $0. Good news for the budget. Final stop for today is the HUnter Valley, famous for its fine wines imported around the world. We're also particularly keen on the smelly cheese factory, and the plates of tasting measures take a big hit. Once we've slurped a few wines and decided on which one we want to accompany supper, we're off to our final BIG4 for the night.
Scandal hits the BIG4 Hunter Valley overnight as the chairs around the pool have been pushed in! Annoyingly this means that the pool is closed and we cant go for a swim before we head off for Sydney via the Blue Mountains. We report the noise we heard overnight to reception as we drop off our keys, and leave them to investigate the criminal element of the Hunter Valley town of Cessnock...
We stop at Govett's Leap lookout for lunch, which has beautiful views, and happily few tourists. The further around we get, and the closer we get to Sydney, the more tourists we encounter, and no other views match the first at Mr Govett's Leap... However, there is a great ice-cream shop.
Once we get into Sydney city limits, we pass the Olympic Stadium, so stop off for a quick view of the complex and then head into town. Its all gone by so quickly, so that even though we're relieved to be at the end of a busy few days driving and sight-seeing, its cool to be in the big city at long last, even though it does feel like we've stepped back 20 years in time. Its sad to drop Nicky off at her residence in the very centre, but also very exciting to be seeing Trish and staying with her and her friend in Bondi.
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