Magna plus sunflower

After over a year of living in paradise Rach and I decided it was time to get out of our comfort zone and get exploring. Apparently Australia is a big place and life exists outside the Bay; I’m not sure about this theory but I’m more than happy to test it out! As I was leaving Byron I felt sad, apprehensive and excited all at the same time. I’d really built a life in between The Wreck and Tallows and I felt more at home there than I ever had before. However there was that little travel bug on my shoulder niggling at my sub-conscious and life was way too easy – it was time to get out onto the open road.

Goodbye 135 Jonson St!

We spent our last weekend in Byron de-cluttering our room and our lives from all the material things girls manage to accumulate in a year in the ‘most beautiful town in the world’. After selling/donating all our wordly possessions it was time for one last party just to make sure everyone remembered us, including Byron Shire Police Department – sorry guys!

On the road baby! And pose…

We packed up my latest purchase, the trusty Mitsubishi Magna (yet to be named) with all the essential items one might need for life in the bush including our newly acquired skateboard. First stop was the exotic far-away town of Lismore to stay with our friend Brad and plan the first leg of our trip. As we have no plan and no time limit the possibilities are endless and therefore we are open to almost all suggestions thrown our way, so our map is already full of scribbles and circles of ‘must-see’ places. The next day’s escapades included getting lost in Iluka (seemingly impossible as there’s two streets but I made it look pretty easy), meeting a few of Yamba’s most eligible bachelors at the local pub who’s chat up lines included ‘Which one would you choose, I’m going for the blonde curly one’ and ‘so you wont have sex with me, its because I’m fat isn’t it?’ and of course the old classic in response to our camping enquiries, ‘Oh there’s two spare rooms in our holiday home, why don’t you just stay with us?!’  Surprisingly we passed on that golden opportunity and left pretty swiftly.

We are brave. Blue Pools, Angourie

Our first night sleeping in our new home was a great success. We parked up in a scenic spot overlooking Yamba bay, cheerfully ignoring all  ‘no camping or sleeping in vehicles’ signs and warnings of rangers and bedded down for the night. It appears that tidiness and good organisation are key to car living. Anyone who ever saw our room would know these are qualities that are somewhat lacking in our lives, however we both seem to have turned a new leaf out of necessity, 135 Jonson Street would be proud! We woke up the next morning to the most spectacular sunrise painting the sky gold and pink, something we would have surely missed sleeping soundly in a bunk in the local YHA. As we brushed our teeth outside the car we were approached by a variety of friendly travellers and locals offering coffee from their thermos and words of advice and of course the obligatory ‘map scribbling’. One elderly gentleman was so keen to show us favourite spot he nearly put his hip out bending down to look at the map spread on the floor. As promised the ranger did turn up but was a bit late at 10am. ‘Yes sir, we’ve only just arrived, this looked like a good place to brush our teeth!’ and who was he to argue. After we gleaned as much information as possible from passers by we headed to the nearby village of Angourie and spent the next few hours testing our bravery and being humiliated by skinny eight year olds at the gorgeous fresh water pools, complete with perfectly sculpted climbing cliffs.

Rach, James and I at Rover Park

We then started heading ‘Out West’ away from beach town civilisation as we began the long drive to Rover Park, passing through such delights as Casino and Kyogle. Rover Park is basically a huge adventure playground; dirt tracks that loop through 4000 acres of beautiful forest and dis-used gold-mines, designed for dirt bikes and 4×4’s, not designed for station wagons from the 90’s. My poor Magna huffed and puffed its way up a winding unsealed road for what seemed like hours before we gratefully arrived at our little cabin and met our friend James who was fully equipped with everything we might need. We spent the weekend careering around the park in various types of motorised vehicles. If you’ve never driven through muddy pond-like puddles at high speeds on dirt bikes I highly recommend it, pure unadulterated, adrenaline fuelled pleasure.

Amazons

After a near death experience in the old 4×4

Exploring dis-used mines, our first taste of ‘fossicking’

Not scared at all. Not one bit

Maclean Bowling Club

Iluka – mission successful