Sydney to Byron Bay
Trip Start
Dec 28, 2007
1
8
27
Trip End
Dec 01, 2008
Byron Bay,
Australia
Friday, January 25, 2008
Not a koala bear in sight...
Hello everyone. As we told you last time, we landed in Sydney via Auckland, New Zealand on the 16th. We spent 2 nights and one day in Sydney which was very nice, although the weather was a bit suspect (rain and cold). We had two nice jogs around the city, checked out the Town Hall and Opera House, and then on Friday, left town.
We arrived at the Central Rail Station in Sydney at 10:30, had a cup o joe, and then caught the 11:35 to Eungai ("you-en-guy") where we were meeting Andrew's cousin, Graham, and his wonderful better half, Rhona. The train slowed a bit at the Eungai "station" at 7:21 pm and we were hastily hustled out of the car into the middle of what has got to be the "outback." We were in the middle of nowhere - no cars, shops or people to be seen
Pub in Sydney
. Perhaps a cow or death addler snake within striking distance, but definitely no taxis. Andrea became a bit concerned Andrew had played one too many practical jokes on Graham as a kid and we were now in for payback. Fortunately, Andrew's Aussie cousins showed up quickly and whisked us off to Grassy Head, a beautiful beach town about 1/2 way between Sydney and Brisbane.Ever the tourists, we first checked out the beach at Grassy Head and then headed over to Graham's mate's house. Damon and Sharon, the mates, and their 2 year old, Lucah, have a fantastic house they mostly built on 17 acres of jungle brush in the middle of a rain forest. Damon is a baker as well as an ace craftsman and made us a lovely dinner of homemade pizza and salad the first night and it was delicious. Sharon is 8 (I think) months "up the duff" was glowing brighter than the glowworms. The next day we headed out to Grassy Head beach, where we went for a nice run and then on to Scotts Head beach because Grassy was kind of windy. Scott's Head beach was lovely. Rhona showed us all up on her surfboard and Andrea flailed around a bit on the boogie board they had. That night Andrea and I made an American (so they told us) BBQ, complete with steak, chicken, baked beans and potato salad. Were were joined by some more of Graham and Rhona's mates and had quite the party. It had been raining in that area for quite a bit before we arrived and the mosquitos were vicious. We have never seen such mosquitos in our lives and all of us had hundreds, literally, of bites.
From there we headed north with Graham and Rhona for a few nights of camping up in Nymboida National Park. We camped at a place called Platypus Flat which is also one of the raft put-ins for the river
Sydney Gothic
. We made a nice pasta dinner and hung out around the camp fire. We were supposed to head right on to Keogle to meet cousin Liz and her fam, but the river was calling to Andrew and he, in turn, called to us. We made a detour and rafted the Nymbodia. We booked a trip with Liquid Assets Adventures out of Coff's Harbour. We then set up camp at Moonee Beach in a "holiday park" and went for a nice walk on the headlands. The campground host told us down the road was the worlds best pizza and so we walked down the road to the pizza joint. We shot some pool with Graham and Rhona, (they got a pantsing, but were able te redeem themselves in Boreen Point a few days later) ate pizza, and had a couple of beers.
The next morning we awoke and headed back to Coff's Harbour for the rafting trip. The company van left Coffs at 7 so it was an early morning. The drive up to the put-in was about 2 hours, and one of the guides gave us a lesson on local history, including the one about the escaped convict (the re-located U.K. convict, to be precise) who left Sydney and settled the Nymbodia area. (It seems to be the "in" thing to be somehow related to one of the first convict settlers of the country.). We received our safety talk and off we went. Graham, Rhona, Andrea and I shared a boat with another Brisbane couple and a guide, Steve
Sydney Central Railway
. Steve was a great guide. We started down the rapids and Steve worked on our paddling technique. We ran a few easy rapids and then a class iv. The guides then got out to scout a rapid they called "Lucipher's Leap." It looked small from the top, but we couldn't see the bottom. The guides returned from the scout and off we went. We paddled furiously to the top of the drop and the guide shouted "get down". We obliged and much to our amazement, we were at the top of a 10 foot waterfall. The boat plunged over, filled with water, banked off of the right wall and then washed through the bottom of the rapid. Definately a Class V drop. We loved it!! All three of the rafts made it through upright. We continued downstream through more Class iv rapids, and stopped for lunch. At lunch, we were told "the good stuff is downstream." Right after lunch, we pulled over and the guides scouted for what seemed like an eternity. Finally they came back to the boats and said "ok, we are gonna run it." We were told the rapids were called D-1 and D-2. We paddled very hard for the left bank and to the brink of D-1. Looking off the top of the boat we were amazed. Huge Class V waters lay below us. We dropped of the first drop, were sideways, straigtened out, and then into the maw. The main drop was 6 or 7 feet. We went around the corner and encountered another huge class v, emerged upright and all hooted for joy.
Grassy Head Beach
The rest of the raft trip was a bit mellower, but still some great rapids. After rafting we had a nice bbq cooked by the river staff. After returning to Coffs Harbour we tipped the guide (never forget to tip the guide) and headed to a town called "Wooli". The only campsite left in Wooli was a "powered", smack in the middle of a permanent trailer park - a bit different than Platypus Flats. Wooli is quite famous for it's stellar lawn bowling team. ?
Next was Byron Bay, a wonderful beach town on the East Coast of Aussie. It is a small, moderately developed town that has turned into a backpacker mecca. The beaches are great, the water super warm and safe to swim in, and the bodysurfing was awesome. We chilled for two days, had dinner with another cousin of mine, Liz, and lived at a relaxed pace. Graham, Rhona and Liz left us from there, headed back home. We lazed around town, explored the town and Andrea got a massage. She must have been quite sore from the rafting. After two days of Byron, we packed up the Volvo that Liz had kindly borrowed to us, and headed for her house in Kyogle.
Next entry: Kyogle to Brisbane.
Today, we leave for Tasmania for a six day wilderness walk. Our backpacks are quite full. Love to you all, Andrew and Andrea
Comments
Nice Mustach!!!
Just wanted to say hi. Keeping tabs on you guys. Looks awesome!
Love, Sarah