We took a steady drive up the coast of New South Wales. It was relaxed and easy. We drove for a few hours each day, found a campsite and then went for a short wander around. Usually on a beach.
The day we left John and Sally in Sydney, we drove up the main road, got bored and followed a small road that ran close to the shore. We had hoped for a sea view but unfortunately the ocean, although close, was completely invisible behind a large wall of bushes. We did, however, find a ferry. This was quite exciting – we enjoy a ferry. This particular one was another small, cable ferry that took us from the wonderfully named Mungo Brush to Bombah Point. Shortly after this we arrived at the Sandbar Beach Campsite. This was indeed situated on a sandbar and appeared to be exclusively populated by surfers in VW camper vans. We tried to fit in as best we could. A kookaburra, sitting on an old gum tree, laughed at us.
In the evening, we strolled down to the beach and watched the surf for a while. We also spotted a Sea Eagle. I initially thought it was a White-tailed Sea Eagle and was wondering about its connection with the birds we had seen in the Norwegian Fjords and off Scotland. It was however a White-bellied Sea Eagle which is smaller, has a white belly and is native to Australia. Occasionally, I think I am becoming a birder, but I am not. Fortunately, I have Google to help. Back at the campsite we lit a campfire to demonstrate to the surfer dudes what cool hipsters we were.
Next day, smelling faintly of woodsmoke, we continued our odyssey northwards. After several more failed attempts at finding an interesting coast road we ended up at Port Macquarie. Here we used another little ferry to cross the Hastings River and continue north close to the ocean. The road became a dirt track and we were forced to turn back. We could manage a few easy tracks in the van (although we were not supposed to) but this was looking like AWD territory. Instead, we followed a larger, sealed road that was a bit of a long way around. This road had roadworks. A lot of roadworks. Roadworks with diversions along dirt tracks and over rough, slow surfaces. We might have been as well with the original dirt track.
By the evening, we arrived at another campsite just off the beach. Our evening was a pleasant walk down to some rocks and back.
In the morning, we attempted to drive inland. Perhaps we could approach Brisbane through some hills to the south rather than along the busy coast. Our road turned into a single-track road and then a dirt track. I was thinking, next time, we will hire a 4×4. The question now, was how far do we try and get along the track before we capitulate to our lack of traction. We were crossing a small range of hills. If it rained now, I suspect the van’s basic road tyres would just start spinning in the mud. Over the hill and down into a valley where we rejoined a tarmac road.
With that problem solved, we had to deal with the next one. We were fast running out of fuel. This is not like me. I usually make sure we refill as soon as the tank is half empty. The previous day we had driven a long diversion and today we had not seen any signs of habitation before plunging off into the hills. Now we were on less than quarter of a tank and out in the middle of nowhere. The landscape was lovely. Rolling hills, green forests, fields ready to be grazed but no people. Just the occasional farmhouse. We pressed on and arrived at a small village. After a little poking around we found a small, unmanned diesel pump that. 24-hour automated service. I confidently tackled it with my favourite debit card and failed. “Service unavailable”. What does that mean? I tried several more times and was forced to admit defeat.
From Google maps, the next village looked larger and was only a couple of score kilometres away. We set off. Two kilometres later, we came across a sign saying the road was closed further ahead. There were also some details about times and dates. Some cars drove past us. Maybe we could get far enough to find fuel. Twenty minutes later, we were looking at a road blocked by cones with some diggers working just beyond. A very friendly workman came over and explained to us that the road really was closed. The friendliness of Austrians continues to impress me. Elsewhere the workmen would be more likely to ignore you or, just possibly, give you a pitying glance while shaking their head.
Back at the very small, very old and very battered looking diesel pump, I tried and failed again. In a fit of desperation, I tried my Amex card and much to my surprise, it worked. I only have an Amex card because, by using it, I can maintain a reasonable credit score. If your credit score is low, as mine was, it can cause problems with all sorts of things where your financial reliability is important – such as hiring a car. I rarely use it because many places don’t accept it. Nonetheless, here we were, in a completely obscure place and it was saving us. “Always carry at least two different types of card” might be good travel advice.
Now that we were back on the road, I didn’t want to risk the dirt track over the hills again. We could not continue inland because of the roadworks. The only remaining direction was south-east, back to the coast and to just about where we had set off from in the morning. We chose a different campsite and had a short walk to look at some fruit bats hanging in trees.
Our penultimate day in the motorhome saw us following the main road north but with distractions. There are signposted “Tourist Routes” that loop off from the M1 and take you on the path more scenic. This is a promising idea and we followed several such loops. We found some small, interesting roads. We passed some lakes, followed a river and drove through some pleasant countryside. We also got lost a couple of times. Occasionally we would arrive at a junction where there were no signs for the tourist route. I needed to guess so I just went off down the road that looked most interesting. This is possibly not the best algorithm. Eventually we were parked up at a campsite by the beach, again. We took an evening stroll to look at the waves. Saw a few surfers and a few fishermen and enjoyed our last evening camping for a while.
Tomorrow we would arrive in Brisbane.
