Coffs Harbour & Byron Bay

From our last update from 'Port Macquarie' we travelled North near to 'Coffs Harbour' where we stayed in a fantastic campsite on 'Darlington Beach'. The unpowered tent sites were great as there was an open woodland area and you could pick your spot and set up camp. We did exactly that and once the tent was up we went to explore the site and surrounding area. The beach was stunning but incredibly windy so we settled for a chilled out afternoon by the swimming pool instead.

That evening after dinner we walked back to our tent in the pitch black struggling to see more than a few yards infront of us. This was made even harder by the fact that there were kangaroos everywhere and we nearly walked straight into a few of them; only realising they were there when they bounced out of the way.

The following day we made our way up to a campsite in 'Lennox Head' just South of 'Byron Bay'. We stayed there for 3 nights and although the weather wasn't very kind to us with some heavy rain we had a great time. The campsite was packed with families planning to stay over the Christmas holidays. Our little tent seemed a bit inadequate amongst all the giant caravans with all the mod cons! On our first day we explored Byron and visited the lighthouse which is the most Easterly point of Australia. It was quite a walk up to it but gave amazing views of Byron Bay and the other beaches. In the afternoon despite the cloud we found a great beach called 'Broken Head' to spend the rest of the day relaxing with our books and newspapers. Unfortunately by Saturday night the rain had arrived and it continued to pour all day Sunday. We didn't let it dampen our spirits and spent the day shopping and went to the cinema in a nearby town called 'Ballina'.

During our time in 'Lennox Head' we met some lovely people and had some amusing beer fueled evenings, including one involving Marks hair clippers and some poor victims of drunken decision making. By the morning with three Australian heads shaved Mark was known as 'The Bloody POM' responsible for some rather amusing new hair styles.

We are now in Brisbane for 2 nights before flying to Melbourne to meet Nick (Marks Dad) and Sally for Christmas which we're very excited about.

Love to all at home and Merry Christmas!

Mark & Rach. xxx