November-Rainforest to Reef, national parks and wine country

The last couple of weeks in November were fairly full on. Our friend Kevin was with us in Cairns and we covered some ground whilst he was here. We took the Kuranda Scenic Railway from Cairns up into the rainforest. The railway started construction in 1887 and was an enormous engineering feat, and at one point, had more that 1,500 men working on it. Looking at the slopes and ravines as the train chugged forever upwards, it made me wonder how only 35 workers lost their lives.

                             

 

 

Above is the view of Cairns

 

We also went up to the Daintree for a bit of croc spotting

 

 

 

And out to the Barrier Reef to look at lots of big fish, coral and to find Nemo – which we did J

In between all that, the moon got in the way and we had the fantastic experience of watching the total eclipse.

I also managed to fit in a bit of choir practice (thanks to my friend Yvonne in London and Tina in Cairns), although it was rather bizarre singing Christmas carols when it was 30C outside. We still haven’t got our heads around the fact the Christmas this year will be a hot one.

We headed back down the coast and stopped off at Burnett Heads and the Mon Repos turtle sanctuary. That night, we were privileged to see a large loggerhead turtle come onshore, dig out a nest, and lay 164 eggs! After the turtle had gone back to sea, the ranger dug another nest above the tide line, and we helped move her eggs to the new nest J

Back down to Brisbane for a night to catch up with friend Anita, drink beer and eat excellent steaks at the Breakfast Creek Hotel again, then onto the Gold coast and Surfers Paradise.  We really enjoyed Wet & Wild even though we were probably the oldest there not to be accompanied by grandchildren.

On down and into NSW and we had a couple of days visiting Byron Bay and surrounding area. The lighthouse below is at the most easterly point of the Australian mainland.

 

It was NSW Schoolies week this time and many had descended on Byron Bay to party. There was a strange aroma of feral mixed with patchouli, and I’m not sure it was down to the schoolies either! There were many ageing hippies still around.

Further down the coast we stayed at the Bundjalung National Park just outside of Iluka. It was right on the beach and perfect for chilling out.

Our trip down the Pacific Highway then took us to Coffs Harbour and the home of the Big Banana. We had a day trip inland to Bellingen and Dorrigo and visited Dangar Falls.

 

From there it was on to Crowdy Bay National Park and Dunbogan Beach, just south of Port Macquarie. We spent more time fishing although only caught a small bream, but it was enough for lunch one day. Port Macquarie has a fabulous coast line – very rugged in places and more beaches of course.

Then down to the Great Lakes next and a stay at Camp Elim, just south of Forster. Considering the campsite caters for schools (a group of Year 5 kids were there when we arrived) and youth groups, they were all well behaved. The site was right on Lake Wallis and surrounded by Booti Booti National park, 400m from the Seven Mile beach and a loud, pounding surf. We could hear the waves pounding the shore as we tried to get to sleep!

It was then inland to sample the produce of the Hunter Valley. The Wine Rover Tour was fantastic. We visited (and tasted the produce of) 5 wineries, 1 vodka distillery, an olive/chutney/jams and oils shop, the Smelly Cheese shop and Chocolate shop. What a day! We did it again the following day, including a few other wineries, and bought the stuff we liked (both wine and cheese).

 

We are now in Sydney, so the next blog will show what a horrible time we are having here J