Heading North 03.04. - 08.04.2017

Hello dear ones, so that you can follow our previous route, the previous stops were:

Sydney

Port Stephens

Port Macquarie

Nambucca Heads

and next we are heading to Coffs Harbour - the banana capital🍌😂

The campsites we have been to so far have had everything to offer - from free rest areas to comfortable caravan parks. Meaning we had nights without sanitary facilities 😱, lighting, and mobile reception, but instead untouched landscapes.

When Rafiki (which was decided by majority, sorry for the Emma and Bruno fans) was ready to go on April 3rd, we didn't have much time left before it got dark, so we used Wikicamps to find accommodation in Sydney, which even had a laundry room😍 So we could wash and dry our bedding right away. It's always better to sleep in a fresh cleaned bed 🙌

Fortunately, we both sleep very well in the car, at first it may feel a bit cramped, but that feeling soon disappears.

After breakfast, we set off and headed to a free rest area in a national park near Port Stephens. There was a single man with his van - really creepy, imagining all sorts of horror scenarios in our minds.. No sanitary facilities, no network coverage, but instead a beautiful natural spectacle. The huge sand dunes, the ocean, and no person in sight. Before it got dark (it gets dark here around 7 o'clock in the evening), we quickly got back into the car before the dingoes came 🙈

The next campsite was an hour away from Port Macquarie, which we chose. The road was not very developed and had a lot of potholes, so we were very lucky to have a 4WD. The nearby beach was really impressive and completely empty. We had a long conversation with the owner's parents who were on vacation there. They had emigrated from Germany to Australia in 1959 and have been living in Sydney ever since. It was really interesting to hear what they had to say. Not so great were the 1,000,000 mosquitoes that were just waiting for Jana. After the first evening (despite long pants and spray), we counted over 100 bites just on her legs 😭😭😭.

In Nambucca Heads, we treated ourselves to a caravan park. After the mosquito disaster, we needed some time to relax 😂 The sanitary facilities were right next to the pitch, there was a pool, and everything was clean! 😍

Other

Tim is a born left-hand traffic driver, he quickly adapted to it and will probably have problems with right-hand traffic in Germany after all this time 😅 (It's really crazy to drive into a roundabout from the left!) Jana has not dared to drive yet, but she will in the future 💪

Jana bought a good, expensive hair shampoo in Germany for Australia, because apparently many women have problems with their hair here - but she forgot it right away in the very first hostel after taking a shower! Many people would probably think 'typical' 🤷🏻‍♀️ The Aussies would now say 'no worries', as they say so easily about everything 😅. So now she's using shampoo from Aldi 😂.

It has been raining almost every day, never for long, but it's really crazy. We have been told that in the last 20 years there has never been as much rain as in the last few weeks. But since we are driving further north and the dry season is starting there, we shouldn't see rain for a long time 😊

Since we both like to eat well, we couldn't do without it. We cook something warm every day and always have (delicious 😅😅😅) toast and cereal for breakfast *the food prices here are quite outrageous*.

The Aussies are very friendly people. Really everyone smiles, asks how you are, and tries to start a conversation. Even the woman who only hands out bags at Ikea seemed to be the happiest person in the world. Very likeable.

We wish you all a wonderful weekend and see you next week ♥️✌️