Today is our last day in Australia. Since our last post we have covered 1,700kms (1000+ miles) mostly in pursuit of giant objects at roadside shops and restaurants. Check out the giant prawn!
After leaving Byron Bay we followed the main highway down along the coast to Coffs Harbour, from there we turned in land to the small town of Bellingen to a little guest house just outside of the town. Our guestroom was very well appointed with a range of giant spiders, which Lynsey was really pleased about. The can of knock out spray left in the room had limited effect, the copy of ‘What’s On in Bellingen’ although less spider friendly, yielded immediate results. After a nice dinner in the local pub we retired early as country folk do. During the night a large mosquito took an immediate liking to Lyns and left some lovely bites. Not nice you might say? Well yes…. but back in Sydney we found out that the large brown hairy spiders are actually friends of the country folk. Huntsman spiders are, and I quote ‘timid creatures and harmless to humans’ their staple diet being those pesky flies and other spiders that annoy humans so much. So in summary brown spiders good, black spiders bad. I also must now admit that I also killed another huntsman in the lodge we stayed at in the Hunter Valley but now spiders are my friends all that killing is behind me.
After cleaning off the copy of ‘What’s On in the Hunter Valley’ following a long drive from Bellingen, Lyns and I decided to take a balloon ride. This was our earliest start yet (3.00am !!!!). The weather unfortunately was not to kind on us and after driving around with the balloon crew for a couple of hours daylight had already broken and we finally took off with three other balloons for a fantastic flight across the valley. After a drive back to our lodge Lyns became ‘designated driver’ and we headed back out to sample the many vineyards in the valley. The problem is apart from the odd duff white all of it tasted so nice (I bought far too many bottles) correction (I bought way too many bottles even if I was to become a wholesaler of fine wine). A barbecue we cooked at the lodge did help reduce the wine lake I had purchased and subsequent tastings have helped as well. Australia will have to become part of the European Union before our flight lands though for my new ‘cellar collection’ to pass duty free laws.
And now we are back in Sydney, yesterday we were meant to go to the Blue Mountains but instead just had a walk through the parks in the city and then drove out 40kms from the centre to spend the afternoon on Palm Beach lapping up the wonderful spring sunshine that has returned to New South Wales. Today we have some shopping to do, pack and then enjoy a nice lunch somewhere overlooking the harbour.
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