Hunter Valley

In the afternoon of the 9th we arrived in Maitland after another GPS created scenic tour of the areas north of Maitland. We did some laundry and waited for Trephon and Nikki to get home from work. We had dinner at this awesome little pizza place in Morpeth. As we were driving home we thought we recognised a runer on the road and did a quick u-turn. It was Tim Taylor - a guy who we went to uni with! We had a quick catch-up and then to Trephon and Nikki's. They have a beautiful old house and a gorgeous dog! We kinda had house envy and started missing Boots. Was great to catch up with Trephon who we haven't seen in over 2 years.

The next day we tried to get on a winery tour but as usual had left it too late. Lawrie graciously decided to drive Kitty around while she tasted the wines. We drove out to Pokolbin and started our tour at Blue Tongue Brewery. They made an alcoholic ginger beer which was very tasty. Next on to Binnorie Dairy where we got some strong but tasty goat's cheese.

Paddle at Blue Tongue Brewery

View from Binnorie Dairy

Our first winery stop was at First Creek. We were going to go to Bimbadgen but they were busy setting up for a Day on the Green. We got a bit excited at the 2 for 1 deal at First Creek and ended up with 12 bottles of wine. Very easy drinking though so we don't think it will be around for long. 

Wine Barrels at First Creek

We went for a bit of a drive around the wine country and stopped for lunch at the Australian Regional Food Store & Cafe. We ordered a tasting plate, which was huge and full of great things like cheese, jams, olives, pates, sun-dried tomatoes, marinaded veges, cold meats, salad and bread. It took us a while but we got through most of it. The location was idyllic, next to a pond, with a very relaxed atmosphere.

Part way through lunch

After lunch we did a tasting at the Small Winemakers cellar door and bought another 6 bottles of wine from sparkling to red. We just have to drink them all before we get to the Barossa Valley!

We went for a walk to settle lunch and then to the Hunter Valley Cheese Company. We did a tour of the cheesemaking facilities and bought some Grapevine Ashed Brie - very tasty. We cruised past Lindemans for an opportunity photo and made our way slowly back to Maitland.

We caught up with Calee, Alex and Guy for a BBQ at Treph's, which was very well catered - thanks Nikki!

View from Toogarook

The next day we went wakeboarding on Alex's boat at Liddell Dam, which was nicely warmed by the power station right next door. Lawrie was a bit sore for the 2 days after! We had a quiet night at home whilst everyone else went to the Wambo Xmas Party

Lawrie, Dam and Power Station

Trephon at the Dam

On Sunday we went for a big drive to Barrington Tops. We drove all the way through the Hunter Valley and up yet another winding road with awesome views. We stopped at a pine plantation from 1966, which was really eerie. Then we did some off-roading down to a pretty creek at Junction Pools and a 10km walk up to the top of Mt Barrington. 

Lawrie in the pine forest

Creek at Junction Pools

Track up to Mt Barrington

Kitty's first drive of the trip

Barrington Tops was okay, but we were a little disappointed with the views, especially after New England National Park.

We came back via Gloucester and more windy roads, very tired at the end of the day!

Central Coast

After coming from New England National Park on Wednesday morning we drove down to the coast - taking a few hours. We stopped at Dorrigo National Park for a big lunch - Burgers, homemade chips and a tasty vege curry. They have a skywalk here which goes along at canopy level to a lookout - very cool. Apparently there are some nice walks here but we needed to get to the coast.

View from Skywalk - using the supplied photo pod and timer!

What a change! It was sunny, clear and warmer during the day! We weren't 100% sure where to head to but had a tip off about a nice place called Limeburners National Park from the Kempsey tourist info. After a short drive on very potholed dirt we arrived at the campground. Kitty likened it to one of those places that people had been coming to for years and songs had been written about. It was just a nice simple place - no doubt spending a few days would have you sharing dinners and beers most nights.

Our campsite at Limeburners

Lawrie wanted a swim as the weather had prevented much swimming to date but the water was freezing & had bluebottles - we settled for a walk along the beach instead.

The beach at Limeburners in the afternoon.

The walk along the beach

Thuesday we headed South on our drive to the Hunter Valley. The stop at Limeburners gave us enough time to visit Myall Lakes Nat Park for a paddle. The waterways here are really extensive and you could easily do a kayak camping trip from the top to the mouth. We paddled along 2 mile lake against the wind. We figured that we'd have an easy paddle back so did a few detours. The wind changed direction on the way back so we had to keep paddling the whole time, we did around 7km but felt good about it (no pains the next day!)

Paddling on 2 mile lake

A view back to the ferry.

Crossing on the ferry

The dunes looking towards Hawks Nest.

New England National Park

We left Byron on the 6th and made our way down to New England National Park - not because we'd heard good things but because the camping was cheap and it was halfway to the Hunter Valley.

What a great fluke decision.

We had a great drive down with heaps of windy roads and beautiful scenery including great stops

Ebor Falls - Top Falls

Lawrie and the Falls

Lawrie's arty shot - beautiful flowers and beautiful view

Lookout down the valley from the Ebor Falls

Ebor Falls - Top and Bottom

We set up camp for the night and watched the temperature fall - it was freezing and Lawrie's bed was wet from all the rain in Byron. We got out the butane cooker and dried the sheet and warmed ourselves around the tiny burner which was surprisingly efficient.

Campsite on night 2 when we'd managed to light a fire

River next to the camp site

Another shot of the river next to the camp site

The next day we went hiking through the national park. We didn't see another person all day - it was great. We walked up to Point Lookout which was meant to have great views but because it's so high, we were walking in clouds.

What we were meant to see

What we did see

We got lucky though and the cloud did clear and this is what we saw a little later on in the day

View from Eagles Nest Lookout

The walk was rated as medium - potentially  correct in dry times. It took us 1hr 15min to go around 1km - the ground was very wet and slippery. Kitty had on mesh shoes which quickly filled up with water. But this walk was worth it - the forest here was definitely different from what we are used to - very alpine.

Lawrie goes all Matrix across a stream

Moss and different fungi everywhere.

A view over a gap in the morning.

Kitty on an easy part of the trail

Looking up the scarp - we descended from the top of this right down to the bottom.

Looking out from the walking trail.

Stairs may look handy - but they were slippery and wet - like the mud below

Part of the scrambling section - no real path

DIY couple shot

The rain set in again down the bottom of the scarp.

A waterfalls you walked behind on the trail

Lawrie in a fern gully

Part of the trail - even Kitty had to duck

Clear small waterfall.

View of the Scarp in the mist.

We made it back to camp after about 14km, wet, cold and tired. Due to the rain it took ages to get a fire going - a whole packet of firelighters. We dried our shoes, ate dinner then headed off to bed.

Drying shoes off in front of the fire.

Lawrie woke up first the next morning and had to go help jump start a fellow campers Subie - neither of us had jumper leads so we had to drive to the local trout hatchery to borrow a set. It was still raining so we decided to head down the coast.

New England National Park was well worth the cold and wet!

North Coast Hinterland

On our second last day in Byron we went for a drive up to the hinterland. Kitty wanted to check out the area where her Dad grew up and Lawrie wanted to go to Nimbin....

We headed up through Bangalow to Eureka and had a look around and then headed to Nimbin via the GPS directions, which means that we went all weird and wonderful ways but we came across the AMAZING Minyon Falls so it was totally worth it. It was very wet today so it would be great to try some of the walks in the future.

Minyon Falls - Nightcap Nat Park

View from the lookout into the valley

A view from the road - thanks GPS!

Next we made it to Nimbin - there was no love here...The bad weather must have kept the happy hippies rugged up in bed with a joint - all that was left were drug dealers pushing cookies, brownies or mushies. Very disappointed in the place. The cafe in the main street was run by a cool young guy and the food was great.

                                                   

                                                        There are no photos of Nimbin...

We looped back through Lismore, Ballina and up the coast road.

Lookout near Lennox Head