Day 44 - 50. Nimbin, Byron Bay & Sapphire Beach

Day 44 - 14th December

Today we left Crescent Head. This felt bitter sweet as we were excited to go to the next place and continue the adventure but sad to be leaving a beautiful place. 

We headed for Burnett Park which is a free camp site - stopping at Woolworths for our food shop on the way. 

We stayed a couple of hours at the camp site. It was getting so hot and the camper was just boiling. We were yearning for the fan!

We decided to skip this place for the night and instead go back to Nimbin which was the journey for tomorrow. 

At least here we have electricity for the fan and it's not expensive. 

After arriving in Nimbin we had a walk up to the town and went to the bar for a beer. It was nice to sit down in the beer garden and do something that felt a little normal! 

Day 45 - 15th December

We spent another day today in Nimbin. 

The weather has been so hot, it's a shame we aren't near a beach to cool off in the sea. 

We had a really chilled day again and went for another beer at the pub this evening 

Day 46 - 16th December

Another beautiful day. 

However we are waking up around 7am now because the sun is beaming through the camper and it's too hot to sleep. We've seen a lot of people in campers without windows and they sleep with the big back door open and a mosquito net hanging. Not sure I fancy this as I wouldn't feel at ease. Even in a quite camp site I don't think it be able to relax knowing that the door would be open. But this might be something we have to consider as it's only going to get hotter. 

Day 47 - 17th December

We left Nimbin and headed for Byron Bay. We spent a couple of hours here on the beach. Everywhere around Byron Bay is pay & display and I think that's because it's a very touristy area. On the plus side the meter took Apple Pay so it was easy enough as we didn't have enough change. 

The sea was so nice and warm and really clear as well, it was lovely. 

I got a coffee from a cafe on the beach and also bought a fruit salad with yogurt, delicious!

We are now back at New Italy rest area for the night, let's hope it isn't as loud as last time as there are barely any free rest areas around and paid camp sites are so expensive in Byron Bay. 

^Fruit salad from 'Beach' at Byron Bay

Day 48 - 18th December

Today was pretty much a replica of yesterday!

We went to Byron Bay for a few hours, I got another coffee and fruit bowl from the same cafe, we even parked in the same (expensive) car park! And just to top it off we are staying in the same rest area again tonight - New Italy!

So not much else to report other than it's getting very hot! I'm slightly sunburnt and we are both struggling to sleep at night with the heat. Even with all windows open we are still so hot. The things I would do for electricity to use the fan right now !!

^The most delicious fruit salad again!

Day 49 - 19th December

Today we decided to head back south a couple of hours just because we have some time to kill before our Airbnb for Christmas. We found a paid camp site close to Coffs Harbour on Sapphire Beach that looked lovely. 

We called for a price and instead the lady just booked us in and didn't tell us the price! We thought it would be expensive as it looked so nice and we were right... $60 p/n for a powered site. 

It's a lovely area with a pool and a 1 minute walk to the beach. But it's definitely out of our budget! 

We went to Woolworths soon after having a swim in the pool to get some supplies. I noticed a frozen yogurt shop and we both gasped with pure joy as we hadn't seen one for ages and had both really fancied one for such a long time! So just to make us over budget a bit more we spent $17 at yogurt land ! Ooops. 

We had paprika chicken, avocado and halloumi in a tiger bread roll with garlic mayo it was delicious! 

^Sapphire Beach 

Day 50 - 20th December

We headed just 20 minutes up the road (with a slight detour because our satnav from travellers autobarn hasn't been updated so it doesn't know any of the new roads!) to another camp site called Darlington Beach Holiday Park where we will be staying tonight. It's a really big area with a pool which we've spent loads of time in today. There are lots of kangaroos jumping around the park, they don't seem bothered by people at all!

It's much cheaper than last night at $46 and we both prefer it. 

^Darlington Beach

Day 13-17. Coffs Harbour & Diamond Beach

Day 13 - 13th November

We had a rude awakening by workmen who bombarded our camp area with lorries and trucks at 6am. They were tree surgeons. :( one man even started revving his chainsaw! Not a happy bunny. 

We headed to a beach just past Coffs Harbour and had breakfast; scrambled eggs and beans. Our bread had gone off so no toast/fried bread this morning. 

We then went to a beach at Sawtell for a few hours. The sea was so choppy but the sun was gorgeous. 

We treated ourselves to rump steak for our evening meal. And it didn't disappoint!

Tonight we are staying at Roses rest area which is a free camp site. It's really lovely and grassy, and everyone camping around us has said hello and made a real effort to have conversations, something we haven't experienced much from other travellers so far!

(Apart from the man in the BMW who has just pulled up RIGHT next to us and is in arms reach! Why 😩?)

^Sawtell Beach

Day 14 - 14th November

We left a the camp site and drove to Nambucca Heads for some breakfast. We had a little chill and grabbed a takeaway coffee before heading to Crescent Heads. We made the most of the clear sea and even had a little tan before using the public showers. Although they were cold showers they were really lovely and clean & modern which was all we could want. 

We then prepared for another 2 hour drive to a camp site in Coopernook forest. This is a free camp site and is in a well maintained field in the middle of the woods. Lots of mosquitos here so the mozzie net will definitely be up tonight! 

^Crescent Heads

Day 15 - 15th November

After a 45 minute drive we arrived at Diamond Beach. We made some cheese toasties in the camper by the beach then wandered to the beach for a lovely chill. It was quite windy but this was nice as it meant we could sit out for a while and not get too hot. The sea was so cold and choppy so we didn't go in. We drove around the bay to hopefully go in the sea at the next beach - Black Head Beach (unfortunate name!) but there was so much washed up seaweed that we didn't fancy it!

We used the public showers for a quick rinse and then headed to Buladelah for the free camp area. 

We parked up then walked up to the local butcher and supermarket to get some bits and bobs to make burgers. Such a nice change from pasta!

^Diamond Beach 

Day 16 - 16th November

We drove to Wangi Wangi in the morning and expected to have a beach day. We (I) did research wrong and it was just one of thoughts weird shaped coves that is rocky with water around. So no beach at all! It was so disappointing though as it was fairly overcast. 

We were going to stay in a free camp site near by but looked into it more and it was down a forest track which wouldn't of been good for us in our campervan! We bit the bullet and drove a little further than expected to Gosford Greyhound track where we will be staying tonight for $25. This means we are now closer to Sydney. So hopefully tomorrow we can head to the blue mountains and try to avoid the city centre of Sydney. 

^ Wangi Wangi 

Day 17 - 17th November

We took it easy today. After a 2 hour drive to a free camp site on the Blue Mountains we chilled there all afternoon. We had some lunch and just relaxed, which is something that hasn't happened much this holiday. Although we've laid on a lot of beaches we've also lived at a fast pace and haven't slept properly because it's so strange being somewhere different every single night. 

I think we are both shattered and need to remember to relax a little and take one thing at a time!