Country Plaza Motel Taree

... about 100 kms short of Sydney the terrain changed from brown to green - lush green velvet.  It was quite incredible.  Shows what a difference a bit of rain will do! Once at Taree it was lovely to relax and take a lovely hot shower, share a bottle or two and watch one of the many dvds we have brought with us! Technical stuff - 540 kms travelled at about 12.1 litres per 100 kilometres as we were on freeways and highways

... uma bela praia, muito comprida, e completamente vazia. Não temos a certeza, mas pensamos que era a 7 Mile Beach. Temos que dizer que a maioria das praias que vimos na Nova Gales do Sul nos pareceram boas praias de surf, mas não muito boas para apenas fazer praia. Mais tarde encontrámos um parque de caravanas espectacular em North Haven (perto de Port Macquire), junto ao mar, com excelentes vistas, e bastante tranquilo... quase não haviam crianças! :-) Desde Port Macquire ...

... advise and brought some salt to sprinkle on them. I get a shiver down the spine thinkin about it but thankfully we didn't have to use any salt. We stopped off at Rawson Falls firstly. This waterfall is in the middle of a nature reserve, home to a number of types of huge tree. After a walk in the forest where we came across a porcupine and a look at the falls, we had a bite to eat. A few sambo's later, and a bone shaking ride down the road, we came to ...

... I left the parking break on and drove about a kilometer without figuring it out. Right turns are horrible as well, but its not that bad. After about 4 hours of we made it safely to our first Helpx location in Taree, NSW. Our host family was the Booths, Roger and Lyn and Ben (18) and James (14). Helpx works by allowing backpackers to work for 4 hours a day at these ...

... well down the ramp, and we ran up and piled in tight. Several of the kids had jumped in the luggage area to make room, and we introduced ourselves all around. They were going home, and told us the name of their town, which we immediately forgot. "Where's that? I asked." "Oh, a fair bit up the road," he replied. Great, I thought. For people living out here, a fair bit is probably 3 or 4 hours' drive. I was a little ...

... dolphins, sting rays and bryons very own returning hump backed whale can be seen at the right time of year. Now when I say bryon is relaxed you might get the idea it is full of hippies, well it is true that those searching a more boho way of life have made this place their home.here children are called pheonix and gumpie (no really they are), naked toddlers are seen happily running about smothered in chocolate sauce (god I hope that was chocolate sauce ...

... It was difficult just doing it on the sand!! We were then brought into the water and were able to have a go, it was just fun lying on the board and the waves taking you back to the beach. After about 2 hours in the water i managed to actually stand up and ride a wave for approx 10 secs, at least i can say i stood up. The rest of the time was me attemting to do it. Really good fun, i will probably have another go soon, after my whole body stops aching!!!

... pic of a small one at the side of the road. We arrived at the caravan park at 10.30pm, had to wake up the owner we thought we'd called to say we'd be late but neil worked it out he'd rang the place we were staying at the night after! - DOH!!  We all got up at 8am the next day as we had to drive to Sydney to see the twenty 20 cricket after seeing the Blue Mountains. Saw a few different spectacular views on our way to see 'the three sisters' (rock ...

... as the home of the bbq is actually home of the gas bbq - which cost a fortune, so made our own invention of cake cooling trays and roasting tins and charcoal! looked good i tell ye! After this we had an early night at 3am! which was actually early for us recently! our excuse was that it was xmas! The next day i managed to drag neil for some sight seeing of the Botanical Gardens for 3 hours - which was good - he even enjoyed it as there was a war memorial he was ...

... Legion Clubs (only for the day mind!); ridden a horse; body surfed being pulled by a horse; thrown a bommerang; consumed my own body weight in beer (well, when in Rome...) and fallen in love - but don't panic - he had four legs, was very hairy, a cold nose and was called Max! Like the Alice Springs - Uluru tour I'm going to do a days entry for each day as it's too complicated otherwis