Cundle Motel Taree

... this one was no different. Except perhaps that I (Alan was quite relaxed about it all) had more doubts and trepidation than ever before about our proposed travel itinerary. Well, it sure was exciting....

"What on earth were we doing going to Pakistan?" came to my mind many times during our travels. Some months earlier the media revealed the shocking news of the Sri Lankan cricket team being targeted by Taliban insurgents. Then ...

... dry and barren.  The evidence of the bushfires was there in front of us particularly at Kilmore, Wondong and Clombinane and yet at the same time we could see the re-growth - very inspiring. For the technically minded - we covered 675 km averaging 14.7 litres of diesel per 100 kilometres which we were reasonably pleased with.   April 7, 2009. Up early again and on the road by 6.00am.  We travelled up to Taree between ...

... de um longo dia na adeg... errh... estrada!... parámos em Raymond Terrace (onde quer que isso seja!) para passarmos a noite. No dia seguinte estavamos de volta ŕ costa e continuámos para Norte em direcçăo a Port Macquire, estava um belo dia de sol, por isso decidimos parar um bocado na praia. Parámos em várias praias bastante bonitas que nos pareceram ser bastante populares pois estavam apinhadas de gente, por isso continuámos a tentar até que, perto de Forster, encontr ...

... 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 ...

... out when it got dark people were freezing! after dinner we all went down to the beach for a party, there were about 30 of us, plus 10 instructors. it was dark but there was a full moon and we had sticks with fire, people had guitrarsa and were singing, and we were playing games, hannah won a limbo competetion, and kat won a piggy back race and people were surfing etc... it crazy but so much fun!

... gobble at anything, whether it be a pair of pants drying on the line,a bag of plastic forks or a tube of toothpaste...ooiiiiyy bring that back here! I can't really explain why we liked bryon so much but we ended up staying a week, I learnt to surf (dude), chris went diving, i went to digeridoo lessons (pprrppwwoooiiaahhoooo), we met an excellent couple jenny and dave from glasgow even though neither of them were scottish, we drank green ale on st paddys ...

... day which was brilliant. It's a public holiday and the whole country devouts itself to having fun and getting ****** which suited us just fine. We watched a boat parade, a boat race, loads of bands and street performers and stuff and chilled around darling harbour and circular quay. In the evening we went to Prymount Point Park with lots of nice food and a blanket and watched a jazz concert with our flatmates and the liverpudlians ...

... about 7mins, quite spectacular sight to see-see the pics! The next day we went to open our bank accounts - this must be done within 6 weeks of arrival to Aus as it then becomes more difficult, it was actually the first hot day today in Melbourne, we had to stay inside as it was crazy hot of 40 degrees C and no breeze! yesterday was about 16 degrees C and this is what i mean about crazy Melbourne weather. It even changes during the day, so this is why Melbourne ...

... bits that you push through, if you know what i mean), I jumped back expecting like an average spider to appear when a full on huntsman fell MILLIMETRES from my bare foot. It must have been at leat 10cm across, no joke. Well, all panic broke out along with a few choice words and a vow never again to be first through a door. Counselling may be required in the long run.

We left Raymond Terrace and checked out the sand dunes in Stockton before we finally headed to the heart of Port Stephens for some beach hopping around the area. We don't really have a detailed map of the place, just a general one from the tourist guide I got. We checked out the tourist info centre to get some detailed maps but it's still closed. We decided to go ahead instead of waiting. Anyway, I've got a general map. This will add some more ...