From blue mountains to blue waters

We were halfway near the Blue Mountains anyway so heading there after Sydney didn`t take too long. Katoomba is the main town with the views of the `3 sisters`. These are a collection of vertical rocks that are alongside a cliff edge. You can walk down and out to them on a boardwalk, which we did, but we couldn`t stay for too long due to the extortionate parking fees there. Katoomba is an odd place. Its main industry from day one was tourism so they`re well versed in extracting cash from the thousands of people that visit here every year. In fact I think they`ve made soo much money, probably from parking alone, that they don`t know what to do with it. Just going to the toilet you notice the cubicles are solid granite. It`s a real shame because on the great ocean road you can visit the 12 apostles for free and look round at your leisure. Here they`ve got plenty of walks available but all at a cost. The view is stunning. It`s a huge canyon that is `blue`, sort of, due to the mist coming from the lush hills within.
We headed a bit farther north to see some views for free and have a walk round. Equally impressive were views from Blackheath. This is where you can walk, or bike, right down into the vast valley below. Unfortunately at the begining of the year a fire raged across the basin and most paths and tracks were closed. Astonishing views though, with the odd waterfall pouring down the void. Australia can`t help but impress on a natural level.
We were going to stay the night in Katoomba but it turns out all the caravan parks are locally run and overpriced. We headed back to Sydney and the coast, where it was much much warmer!
We drove into the night along the Princes Highway, a pretty cool road in itself. It got seriously bendy as the night came in and we realised that the state of New South Wales is the first state we`ve been in that everybody consistently brakes the speed limit and tail gates you. No relaxed laid back people here. But saying that we soon came accross a few and they were all partaking in what seems an incredibly popular sport, fishing. We stopped overnight in a fishermans haven, The Entrance. A strange name for a place but once the morning came it was beautiful. Loads of `tinnies`(small metal boats) were out on the pristine waters alongside plenty of beardy fisherman types on the shore. We ate breakfast by the water in the morning sun and, as quite often it seems in Australia, if the day starts sunny it ends sunny.
Over a low bridge and on through many a coastal town along one of the many `tourist drives`that are signposted along our route. One not so tourist town of which I cant remember the name, probably because we drove through it soo fast, was not a place i`d let the tourists see. A grim factory overshadowed the whole town and when stopping to let some odd looking, foot dragging, 3 toothed gawping local accross the road we realised this was not the place for us. Thankfully the tourist route took us right up to the flame spewing factory, oh good theres even a viewing platform where you can watch the flames and black smoke pour into the air. Nice. I think it was an energy plant or steelworks, not totally uncommon with it`s Biritish namesake down the road, Newcastle.
Newcastle was a large convict town, a large steel monument reading `convict` near the center lays testament to its past. And like Newcastle, the real one in England, its also a coal producer, or was I forget. The main difference between the anglo and the antipodean is the beach. Now Im sure i`ve heard that theres a beach and even surf near Newcastle but I doubt theres any days of the year when bikini clad girls and burly blokes hit the beach for a sunbathe and a bbq in England!
The aforementioned factory still loomed in the distance, along with the odd industrial ship. But the beach looked great. It was the strangest sand ive ever walked on, it actually hurt the feet a bit. It felt like walking on warm ice cracking underfoot if that makes sense!
We ended up in the small town of Karuah Jetty. Which was pretty much all there was to it, a jetty. Sun glistened crystal clear water veiws across a large bay which was also a mecca for fisherman. Karuah Jetty was a small but nice little place. As we left across another water hugging bridge we spotted a huge cock and balls drawn in a sandbank next to the bridge as a lasting reminder for all who pass through.
A few more towns passsed until we headed upto a place called Seal Rocks. This is where the largest fur seal population of Oz lives. We didn`t see any as they were round the corner from an amazingly beautiful beach. Getting there was an experience, driving for about 10km through tropical forest and all of a sudden the road is totally unpaved for 2kms and then paved again up until the beach. Odd. We walked along, me totally white from neck down, admiring the surf and the volcanic rock on the beach. A beautiful day, the water was so clear we even saw small schools of fish inside and jumping out of waves. It was perfect. Until. As we were leaving the beach I stubbed my toe and a bit of broken tarmac that served as the entrance to the beach. It took a sizeable chunk of flesh from my toe and I instantly began to go dizzy and almost faint. I lay in the van trying not to pass out, yes I know Im soft when it comes to seeing my own blood. Thankfully we have 2 first aid kits with us with gauze and antiseptic strips so all was soon sorted by Laura. Looks like surfing, driving and walking are out of the question for the next few days. A shame seeing as we`re about to hit more surfing country at Byron Bay.
For now we stopped at the strangely popular, and first apartment blocked town we`d seen, Port Macquarie. A nice enough place and seemingly a holiday destination for many, judging by the high prices! We met a cool British couple their too, also in a Wicked Campervan. Turns out not all campervans are total heaps, some even have doors that lock properly and aren`t cold at night. We were pretty jealous.
Alongside our campsite was a breakwall built by convicts. For some reason people had taken to painting the large rocks facing inland with various types of art or messages. Some funny and really good, others totally crap. We soon realised why Port Macquarie was soo popluar. After another morning sat watching the waves we took a look at two out of about 5 beaches and coves this place had. We took a short walk, hobbling with my injured toe, down to another desserted beach with a solitary surfer in on the waves. This is when we noticed the rather large lizard in our path. It slithered down the boardwalk and bounded onto the nearby rocks. We went for a closer inspection. It looked at one point that the lizard was watching the surfer, I got the photo to prove it. We then spotted something the surfer also spotted at the same time, a dolphin! I`d never seen one in the wild before let alone one jumping through waves next to a surfer. At this point our good old friend the lizard was joined by another equally large liazard. At the exact same moment both lizards turned to face us. We didn`t like the look of this. They can move fast and rock hopped their way over to us. We turned and made a sharp, hobble, back to the van. I don`t need this. The place is like a zoo, I know I keep saying it but it is! In England you can go for a walk and not even think about being attacked by wildlife! Way back in Mount Gambier and Aussie told us that Guanas, large lizards, crawl up you when they are afraid thinking that you`re a tree. His advice was to lie down so they run directly over you and don`t tear your eyes out. This was on my mind at the time all the way back to the van. It`s like walking on to the set of jurassic park sometimes, but with surfers!
At this point I wanted to get on up the coast to the hallowed Byron Bay. We`d read a bit and heard plenty about this place, shame that surfing may be out of the equation.