Where's Wally?

Today is the second last day of our Roadtrip. With tomorrow being a short run back home, this will be the last blog post - for this trip anyway.

Our drive today was relatively lengthy, but we still managed to call into a couple of nice spots on the NSW North Coast - particularly Scotts Head and Nambucca Heads. 

Scotts Head ...

Nambucca Heads ...

Photos of the Nambucca Heads breakwater messages ...

We found Wally - at Nambucca Heads ...

Our last overnight stop is at Lake Ainsworth (Lennox Heads). The caravan park here is an easy walk to the Bowls Club - we took advantage and had a celebratory last dinner of the trip.

Lake Ainsworth ...

We'll leave you with our favourite memories from this trip.  Barbara enjoyed the number and variety of walks (Christine enjoyed the fact that she didn't have to do all of them). Christine enjoyed the small, out of the way places and Govetts Gorge in the Blue Mountains.

Out and About in South West Rocks

The weather was much improved this morning, so Barbara was off for a morning walk to Back Beach.  

Disused jetty across Back Creek ...

Once Barbara returned from her walk, we drove to Trial Bay Gaol to walk the track up Monument Hilł to see the memorial to the German prison camp internees from WW1. As an added bonus, there were great views from the top of the hill.

Trial Bay Gaol from Monument Hill ...

The Monument ...

Old bunker ...

You can walk from Momument Hill to Little Bay .. Or you can drive there like we did.  This is a very pretty beach with an adjoining picnic area ...

After lunch by Back Creèk, we parked on the headland at South West Rocks. It is a very lovely spot with Horseshoe Bay to the west and Trial Bay Beach to the east of the headland.

Horseshoe Bay ...

Trial Bay Beach ...

After coffee and cake in the town, we headed back to our van park (including a drive down to the Macleay River).

Unfortunately this trip is coming to an end.  We plan to drive up the coast and stay overnight somewhere near Lennox Head, leaving an easy run into Brisbane on Sunday. Tomorrow will be our last blog post for this trip.

A Grey Day Today

The good weather yesterday evaporated overnight and we thought we were in for a wet day. Luckily the rain and showers only lasted until about lunchtime although it was overcast for the rest of the day. Our first stop for the day was The Old Bank Gladstone for coffee and cake. It is one of a number of old buildings that have been well maintained in this small village on the banks of the Macleay River.

The owner of The Old Bank told us Crescent Head was a nice spot so we decided we would drive there before returning to South West Rocks.

We had time on our way home to visit Trial Bay Gaol and were fortunate that we had the place to ourselves. It is well situated on a point and it very well preserved. As well as serving as a prison it was also a German internment camp during WW1.

The almost non existent rock breakwater - the reason for building a prison at Trial Bay was to house the labour force. After 17 years they gave up and the prison was closed until WW1.

We are hoping for a fine day tomorrow so we can do some walking in and around South West Rocks.

Temperance in the Hunter Valley

Whilst we stayed in the heart of the Hunter Valley last night and drove by many wineries on our way to the coast, neither of us had a drop of alcohol to drink. However, we couldn't go past the Hunter Valley Chocolate Company where Barbara was quite restrained and Christine bought a basketful of treats (some will be gifts apparently).

We really didn't spend much time sight-seeing on our way to South West Rocks, although we did stop to get pictures of the Kurri Kurri murals ...

We found another of Australia's big things at Kurri Kurri ...

And look where we parked the motorhome (hint: look at the name of the shop) ...

As luck would have it, we were passing Moorland (28k north of Taree on the Pacific Highway) at lunch time. Christine had stopped at Moorland's small scone/light lunch cafe on a previous trip and recommended the quirkiness, the lunch and the scones.  If you are travelling north of Taree, give it a try. It is not the South Moorland exit - take the next one. There should be a sign board pointing the way to the best scones on the Pacific Highway at the right exit. The cafe is less than 400m from the Pacific Highway.

The overcast weather of the morning had morphed into glorious blue skies by the time we turned off for South West Rocks so we decided to detour to Smoky Cape lighthouse ...

Smoky Beach viewed from the Cape ...

When we arrived at the van park at South West Rocks, we could see the sunset reflected in the waters of Back Creek and hurried to catch the light on the glassy water.  Here are a selection of pictures ...

It is amazing the different light effects you get from different cameras.

Autumn Hues

We left the Blue Mountains today for Cessnock. Not wanting to venture into the hustle of Sydney, we decided to go via the Bell Line of Road to Windsor and then through Wisemans Ferry and Bucketty to Cessnock. Windy, but two lanes and a very pleasant rural drive with a fair portion along the banks of the Hawkesbury, this route was far more scenic than the Putty Road.

Our first stop was Mt Wilson - still in the Blue Mountains. We went in search of autumn colour and certainly found it there. We can only imagine how splendid it would have been 3 to 4 weeks earlier. Our best pictures were taken in the church yard of the St George Church.  We were heading out of the village when a stop/go man at roadworks told us the church was really pretty - who are we to argue with the man controlling traffic flow? The pictures below show what good advice it was ...

We crossed the Hawkesbury River on the Wiseman's Ferry. The eponymous town is a quaint little place with a couple of nice looking cafes and a golf course. We fancied it for a get away from it all stop on another trip. Our 7.7m motorhome had no trouble getting on and off the ferry and we were surprised to discover the service is free. Barbara had a lovely chat with the man in the 4WD next to us through her window.

The Hawkesbury from the ferry ...

We passed by three remnants of the old convict built road near Bucketty. Unfortunately they are not clearly signposted and we didn't have time to stop and turn off the road. Neither could we easily make a uturn on this mostly double lined road.

We also would have liked to stop at Wollombi - a very pretty and characterful village full of well preserved old buildings, but we running out of time and had to press on to Cessnock. 

After about 6 hours of driving, we were glad to see that our caravan park in Cessnock had a Thai restaurant attached (Blue Thai). No cooking tonight and we enjoyed our Thai meal. We are also enjoying not having to turn the heater on at night for the first time in 10 days!

Iconic and Sublime

Today was the day for the iconic Katoomba attractions and sights. It started with Scenic World, where a $35 pass lets you ride the Cableway, the Skyway and the Railway as many times as you like in the one day. Needless to say, we rode everything twice as well as walking the majority of the scenic walkway through the temperate rainforest on the valley floor. We were pleased we went on a weekday rather than the weekend as we were told that the sights are very crowded on weekends.

Barbara on the Skyway ...

The railway is the steepest passenger train in the world and we had front seats ...

You can see Katoomba Falls and the Three Sisters clearly from the Skyway ...

You can walk to Echo Point along a cliff top walk from Scenic World if you wish - we chose to drive. The view, as always, is magnificent ...

We drove the scenic Cliff Drive from Echo Point to Leura, calling in at The Gordon Falls and Sublime Point.

Definitely sublime ...

Barbara admiring the view at the Sublime Lookout ...

Our final stop for the day was Leura Cascade ...

We leave the Blue Mountains tomorrow - travelling the Bells Line of Road so we can get one last fix of the mountains.  You could easily spend a couple more days here exploring walks, waterfalls and lookouts. You would need even more time if you wanted to explore the shops and galleries.

The Sunday Pulpit

Barbara's morning walk, Popes Glen track to Govetts Leap Lookout, turned out to be the hardest one so far on the trip with many wet muddy sections and uneven steps towards the end. 

On her return we strolled up town for coffee and a treat at Gatsbys Pies and Pastries and a wander through a local craft shop. Both can be recommended.

We decided to drive to two more lookouts giving different perspectives of Govetts Gorge. There is a bit of manageable gravel road to Pulpit Rock and we are glad we braved the dips and corrugations. 

The wild flowers must be pretty in season - we saw mainly wattle and banksias.

Evans Lookout is on the opposite side of the gorge from Pulpit Rock and access is much easier as the road is bitumen.