NSW: Alstonville, Byron Bay and surrounds - 18th August

After almost 3 weeks we finally bid Brisbane and the Shard family farewell, the rain had finally caught up with us and we headed for Byron Bay and Ballina to catch-up with Leanne and Ubey whom we met in Bali.

Along the way we passed thru Tweed Heads for some shopping and lunch then crossed the NSW border (nothing fancy) just near the airport, along the way there was no shortage of tunnels and bridges to keep the midgets occupied. We finally made it to Byron Bay and parked down the end of town, grabbed the boys and walked along the park to the main street then down to the beach for Riley and Aiden to have a bit of sand time!

See Photo - Our adventure whilst in the area of Alstonville and Byron Bay.

View of Byron Bay

Byron bay is still a nice town without that Surfers Paradise feel (Chris use to come for holidays when younger), but make no mistake it is still a tourist town, that said we managed to pickup a couple of nice printed T shirts for $10 each, so it's not crazy Perth prices just yet! We called Ubey and arranged to meet at 3pm that afternoon, we met Leanne and Ubes in Bali during our trip from Darwin, they gave us their address and number and offered a place to base ourselves while we visited the coastal and inland areas around Byron and Ballina.

See Photo - Our resting place whilst at Ubey's.

We arrived at " The Tropical Link Nursery " in lower down town Alstonville. After navigating the new Ballina Bypass we arrived to be met by Ubes who threw us the keys, gave Bell a quick tour of the house and figured where to park the van, then he was off to pickup the kids. We managed to get setup when Ubes returned with Georgie and Harry so we headed out on the tractor and trailer to feed the cows....... what a day! We also managed to catch up with Leanne when she dropped in to say hi and organise the kids and Ubey for Friday's trip to Yamba and the weekend.

See Photo - Most Easterly Point of Australia.

See Photo - Protester's Falls in
Nightcap National Park.

With Leanne and Ubes away for the weekend we headed for Ballina and up along the coast on the Friday as the weather had cleared, when we rounded the point Riley saw the first whale breach, so we parked up and watched around 4 whales playing 100meters off shore for the next hour. Then it was up to Port Morton's Lookout for more wales, and a Tick, (as Bell would find out a day or two later) Lenox Heads and finally up to Byron Bay to visit the lighthouse with views of the town, Palm Valley and the ocean. The Byron Bay lighthouse was constructed in 1901 and is the most easterly point in Australia, it is also the most powerful lighthouse in the country visible from 50km.

See Photo - As we walked to Protester's Falls.

We awoke Sunday to an overcast sky and plenty of rain so what better way to spend the day than drive inland. Our trip took us via Lismore, Nimbin (hippee town) and the Night Cap National Park - Protester Falls, Later that arvo Ubey checked the rain gauge where we found that we had 97mm's of ran fall over 24 hours...... no wonder we got a little damp in the van!

See Photo - Chris, Phil, Josh, Leanne, Ubey, Craig.

See Photo - The kids having a blast.

We then settled in for the evening with Leanne, Ubey and their friends Craig and Phil. We marinated some lamb and sparked up the BBQ, the girls went off to do the school run in Ubes Hilux........ now, on their return  they kinda forgot about the boards on the roof!, and in a second it was over as the highest board was parked in the carport ceiling.....especially the fins!

The kids all had a blast (5 boys and 1 girl) and so did the adults for that matter with plenty of beer, wine and great company .. who said it was still raining outside!

See Photo - Riley and Aiden in their element.

We then finally decided we needed to spend a day planning .. with every possible NSW map from the information centre we could get spread out over the dinning table and got stuck into it. We came to the stark realisation that we had a measly 9 weeks ....... which is not that long considering the things we want to see! Bell and Ubes climbed the shed roof for some photos and Ubes grabbed the boys for some wheelies in the Bobcat to round off the afternoon!

Our last night was raining again ........ so we had our final supper with Ubes, Leanne and Craig, a lovely roast cooked by master chef  Ubey.

We then reviewed our rough itinerary with Leanne as she has travelled this region before, we also planned some future trips as Ubey and Leanne wish to visit Perth, Coral Bay and Exmouth mid 2012. To cap this year off we also plan to catch-up for New Years eve overlooking Sydney Harbour!

Here is our latest youtube video.........