Just before Sydney.. from Dorrigo National Park to Newcastle

Thursday, December 6, 2018. Let's go to Dorrigo National Park. The steep winding road, which was partially only single lane, was the first adventure and Kenny had a lot of fun driving. First we made a short stop at the Scenic Lookout, where the cows were grazing idyllically. That means, the view was rather unspectacular and we entertained ourselves with the cows. Kenny almost broke out in tears of joy, because our car made it up the mountain without any smoke and thus probably finally evaporated all excess oil from the engine compartment. Before heading to the Dangar Falls, we drove in circles three times, probably incomprehensible to outsiders, but that had the background that the compass of our car wanted to be calibrated.

Once that was done, we set off on the hike to the base of the Dangar Falls. On the way, we both almost fell on our noses because our new shoes weren't very suitable for hiking and the ground was extremely damp from the waterfalls. When we arrived at the bottom, we had a beautiful view of the waterfall in front of a spectacular rock wall. Since it was too cold for us, we were satisfied with admiring the falls from land and didn't jump into the cool water. On the way back, Krissi once again had to assist for hours as a photographer to capture our model Kenny on a boardwalk.

We had lunch at the tourist info, which was also the starting point for our next hike. We went to the Skywalk, which is 70m long and runs 21m above the ground. You can see the Rosewood Rainforest Basin - green over green.

After that, we became active for the first time that day. We hiked about 2km to the Crystal Shower Falls, then continued to the Tristania Falls. Especially the Tristania Falls impressed us with their great rock structure and total solitude. Both waterfalls could be viewed from suspension bridges, which made it even more extraordinary. Then Kenny provoked Krissi's deepest hatred, because he wanted to run back, as it would be too boring otherwise. Krissi agreed in strange initial confusion. That meant running back to the parking lot - 4km uphill and that in Australian heat and humidity. But hey, at least in the semi-shade of the rainforest. After a while, we started to sweat a little, but resting was not an option, as we were immediately attacked by millions of mosquitoes.

After we acclimated to the car a bit, we continued to Griffiths Lookout. Here we had another view of green - but really very beautiful. But even more beautiful were the colorful parrots we saw on the way there. They were not the typical lorikeets/honeyeaters (which are also beautiful, but numerous), but ones in bright turquoise and red. However, we have not been able to find out their names yet.

On the way back, we passed a rather unspectacular waterfall right on the highway until we arrived at Rose's Free Camp in Thora.

Thanks to a legal camp, we finally had a chance to sleep in on Friday. We briefly explored the river located at the campsite, which was quite nice. Kenny had already seen a huge iguana running across the site before. On our way back to our car, we saw him again as he rummaged through the bags in front of a tent. When we tried to chase him away, he fled on his own. That is, he crawled away majestically, leisurely.

We continued to Nambucca Heads to the V-Wall. These are breakwaters arranged in a V shape. But the special thing is that the stones of the dams are all painted in vibrant colors. By travelers, by families, but also with themes of death and violence. So thematically as well as artistically quite contrasting.

We then drove to the Rotary Lookout, which gave us a great overview of Nambucca Heads. The river running into the sea together with the sand creates many beautiful shades of blue. The view was truly fantastic. Justifiably, the views of the coast of Nambucca are compared to those of the Whitsunday Islands.

For lunch, we drove to Shelly Beach, mainly because of the BBQ spot available there. (As we discovered, there is a Shelly Beach in almost every coastal town in Australia.) For some reason, Krissi was in a really bad mood after eating, and while doing the dishes, she was 'accidentally' sprayed with water by a fat old man in a much too tiny swimsuit, who only commented with an amused 'Sorry'. Due to her mood, she had to hold back from immediately angrily scolding him. Getting sprayed with WATER, at the beach, while doing dishes - unbelievable... :D

The next stop was the Captain Cook Lookout, which offered a spectacular view of the water-sand mixture.

We wanted to meet Francis, a friend of Kenny's family, on this day. In the meantime, we spent some time at the river mouth with a short swimming excursion. The current in the river was incredibly strong. You really had to make an effort if you wanted to swim against the current, of course. We took pleasure in one person standing in the water while the other held on to them, and let the current sway us back and forth.

We met Francis at the McDonald's right on the highway, as he was just passing through. He was moving from Sale - near Melbourne, to Brisbane. He had already been driving for 11 hours that day and there were still another 4 hours to go. Apart from the fact that it is a really long drive, it is quite monotonous and exhausting in Australia with a maximum speed of 100 to 110km/h on the highway... so respect from us.

After saying goodbye to Francis, he headed north and we continued south. We spent the evening in South-West Rocks. First, we stopped at one of the numerous golf clubs in Australia. They promised numerous kangaroos at dusk. But we didn't see any. So we jogged around the huge golf course at dusk and were rewarded with kangaroos and baby ducks. Unusually, a pair of duck parents had about 15 babies with them.. Aren't there usually only about four?

The night was wild camping again - can you guess where? - at the golf club.

Saturday, December 8, started with breakfast at the same BBQ spot where we had sat the night before. After a short walk through the weekly market, we took a boardwalk along the sea to supposedly great sand dunes. As you might have guessed, it was somehow rather disappointing. They were just beach dunes like you know them from everywhere. The walk was still quite nice. There were many fish to see in the sea, we watched the teenagers of the town jumping from a bridge into the water (we didn't have swimwear with us, it was too cold for us, and besides, it was only about 6m high :D) and we saw a huge turtle swimming in the water. It was also amusing to see an older, very tanned man who paddled his stand-up paddleboard with loud rock music and two French bulldogs.

Next, we wanted to visit the Mermaid Pools. We walked along a small hiking trail along the coast to the rock pools. Two girls were currently posing in them, and their male companions were taking pictures. We decided against taking a swim. On the way back, we jumped off the cliffs and boulders along the coast.

Then we drove to Port Macquarie. The first stop, of course, was a rest area with a BBQ. But it was so windy that the onions almost flew off our plates. There wasn't much else to see in this town, at least not for us.

A little outside, there was the Koala Hospital. Injured or sick koalas are taken in, nursed back to health, and released back into the wild as far as possible. Some, however, become permanent residents due to permanent injuries or traumas. We were able to observe some of them up close in their enclosures. It is really tragic, some of the koalas were treated up to 6 times (for various reasons) and were repeatedly released until they finally had to stay permanently. Dog attacks, car accidents, or chlamydia (which mainly affects koala eyes) are some of the most common reasons - at least in this small hospital. By the way, we arrived at 4.20pm and they were supposed to close at 4.30pm. Fortunately, we had enough time, although we unfortunately couldn't see all the information about the koalas.

On our way, we drove past a huge crowd of people at the beach in Kathie Village. There was even a stage set up. Since we couldn't really see from the car what it was exactly, we parked a few meters away and walked back. It was a children's festival :D and a moderately good children's orchestra was playing on the stage. Kenny said, 'Oh, they are children, but it actually sounds quite good.'

Although we knew very well that driving a car on the beach always requires a special permit, Kenny still wanted to stop at a beach that WikiCamps promised 4WD access to. When we arrived, we saw the warning sign again, that driving on the beach is only allowed with the corresponding permit. But we got into a conversation with a man who was just on his way to the sea with two small nets. He explained to us that he was catching giant worms with them. These worms are apparently up to 1.50m long, as thick as familiar earthworms, and are great for fishing. However, we didn't observe him any further.

For us, it was on to the small town of Kew. The town offers a free camping site right at the tourist info office, a simple parking lot. But quiet and not located on the highway, and with incredibly clean toilets, even with mirrors. We felt very comfortable and can really only thank those responsible. The huge axe on the site was also special. We have already mentioned the Australians' preference for giant statues in previous entries (lobster, banana, golf ball...)

Sunday started with breakfast at the same BBQ spot where we had sat the night before. Then we went to the mountain 'North Brother'. There we experienced our most beautiful natural view so far. The lookout is located in Dooragan Nature Reserve and offers a view of the sea, a river, city, mountains, and lots of green. So very harmonious.

We then hiked in Kattang Nature Reserve along a 2km loop and visited four, more or less on the way, lookouts on the sea and the cliffs (Charles Harney, Camden Head, Fishermans Bluff & a lookout at the very tip of the promontory without a name). Thanks to the lookouts, the hike was much longer than 2km. But really very beautiful. At one of the points, we again spotted dolphins in the sea. :) Slowly, we believe that there must be millions of dolphins in the sea. We see them almost at every coast by now. Still, it is beautiful and fascinating every time. The fissure 'The Split' between two coastal cliffs was also quite impressive. At the beginning of our hike, we encountered a baby python sunning itself on the path. It was probably just a kind of blindworm, but for us, it was definitely a super threatening baby python. These giant snakes have to start small, right? ;) A few insects, which can be compared to crickets, were a bit nerve-wracking. Standing right next to them, it was almost painful to the ears. Actually, we were accompanied by this sound almost throughout our entire hike through what was supposed to be idyllic nature. :D

We had dinner at the park at Diamond Beach. Another endless, lonely sandy beach.

We spent the night at a free camp right on the highway in Bulahdelah - a golf course. Here, too, numerous kangaroos were frolicking. There seems to be something about these golf courses that they like.

In the morning of December 10, we headed to Port Stephens. First, we wanted to see the koalas at Tilligerry Habitat. But we didn't find any. When we asked a local resident, he just laughed and said 'Good luck'. He had only seen a single koala in the last six months. He told us where he had seen it. However, we all knew that the likelihood of finding the koala in the same spot was low. No luck for us. So no koalas, but a pointless argument between us instead. Has to happen at 24/7. The little walk was still quite nice. A well-maintained boardwalk through a eucalypt forest along a calm river.

We only briefly stopped at Lemon Tree Passage. It was just an access point to the river with an adjacent, bad-smelling pool.

During lunch, we met an Australian couple with a huge dog (almost like a calf). They recommended the Tomaree Mountain to us. After a direct path up the mountain (161m) of 1km in length, we were rewarded thanks to the circular trail with a spectacular 360° view. We saw the sea, the coast, islands, mountains, beaches, and tiny towns. We cannot agree whether this or the previously described North Brother Lookout offers the more beautiful view. Both are really first-class.

For a refreshing swim, we wanted to go to Shoal Bay. Due to a huge belt of algae that stretched along the beach, it wasn't so easy. But we reached the water without algae via the pier. On our way back to the car, we saw a family on the beach. The children casually held huge crabs and squid in their hands. The latter were held by the head, swung back and forth, and petted.

Before dusk, we took a stroll along Anna Bay. A sandy beach with adjacent dune landscape. We wanted to see the dunes the next day. From the beach, we saw a large fire rising into the sky relatively 'close' by. Due to the proximity, we googled it. The fire was really not too far away in Salamander Bay. We had driven along a nearby road earlier in the day. Since we didn't know anything about this situation, we were a bit worried, but reassured ourselves that all residents were still sitting comfortably in their homes, which is a good sign. However, the words 'out of control' on the fire department's website didn't give us much hope. Later it started to rain, and we decided to camp wild in civilization today to be aware of possible evacuations. In retrospect, it was probably a bit exaggerated.

So we found a spot in a backyard/car park of a pharmacy, doctor's office, and Thai restaurant. In the middle of the night, Kenny woke Krissi up. From another property, a guy looked out of the door every few minutes, chatted something, shone his phone through the area, tried to take pictures of our car?.. a bit creepy. We are not 100% sure whether he wanted to annoy, control us, called the police, or was just weird. However, we decided to move the car anyway because there was no longer any question of a quiet sleep. We spent the rest of the night on the street in front of a school. A good spot, but in the end, the night was not really restful.

We woke up to rain in the morning. We went to Boat Harbour Beach in Anna Bay for breakfast and our daily morning hygiene. Before we got to breakfast, an Australian asked us to watch his dog while he took a short swim in the sea. Sure, why not. It wasn't a difficult task either, as the dog didn't move an inch from the car. When the owner came back and Krissi asked if maybe the dog found it too cold and wet, she was told that unfortunately, the dog had a brain tumor. By now, the therapy was apparently over, and the prospects for a happy ending were good. After breakfast, we spent a few more hours reading in the car because it was raining.

After the rain stopped, we went to the small Australian sand desert in Anna Bay. We hiked through the sand for a while, jumped off the sand dunes, and watched people ride camels or sandboard. The supervisor asked us if we were interested. When we declined, he agreed that it would be too expensive for us too and that the fun was only mediocre since at least this company was more geared towards children. Australians are so terribly nice, dry, and honest. :D We also looked at an old railway facility from war times, that is, we saw old, soft concrete and rusty metal. Exhausted when we arrived back at the car, we agreed never to take a desert hike again.

Then we went to Newcastle in gloomy weather. After a late and much-needed lunch, Kenny took a cold, but free, shower. If you want to romp in the sand and get completely covered in sand, you have to deal with the unloved consequences. ;D

In the drizzling rain, we took a look at the city. The Obelisk, King Edward Park, walked along the coast and Main Beach. Back at the car, we just wanted to have dinner quickly. As expected, all tables were occupied. On the second round through King Edward Park, we found a place with a view of the sea.

Then it was time for wild camping. We slept very peacefully. :)

Since we had parked right on the roadside next to two tiny trees, we were able to observe the colorful parrots up close this morning. A great experience for the morning.

We had breakfast at Nesca Park.

We still wanted to visit the great free Newcastle Museum. Since it was scheduled to open at 10 am, we hiked along the dam to a supposed lighthouse. We didn't find the lighthouse, but we were able to observe two dolphins. Judging by the size difference, it was probably mother and child.

First, we visited the art gallery, it wasn't really to our taste, and we were out of the gallery after 15 minutes. Instead, we spent a long time in the Newcastle Museum in the children's section 'Mini Supernova'. It's like physics you can touch and try out.

We also briefly visited the small lookout Merewether. Then it was time for lunch, laundry, waiting out the rain, and using wifi at Lake Mac Holiday Park. A nice caravan park on a small peninsula. Thanks to the kitchen, we can charge all our devices, and thanks to the low occupancy, we even have a view of the sea. :)