Today we continued our journey down the east coast of Australia, checking out of our nice Campervan park in Byron Bay this morning. One final meal in BB at a delicious Shakshuka place and then we hit the road.

From the Road

I adore driving trips with Rob because in addition to the “planned things”, we always see so many other cool sights. Here are a few favorites from today:

Tea Tree, Anyone?

Our first stop today was a beautiful lake (fresh water but right beside the ocean!) called Lake Ainsworth. What makes this lake special is that it is ringed with tea trees (swamp paperbarks), and they emit a sap/oil that has been used for skin conditions, cleaning, insect repellent, and more. I used to use a tea tree shampoo back in the day, and I saw that many locals duck in here daily for a “skin and hair softening” dip, so I wanted to check this out. The water was- as promised- shades of orange to coffee brown- and really pretty to look at. Getting in, you could feel the slightly oily properties of the tree sap in the water, but it also smells good. Rob waded in, but I went for the full dunk. Neat stop!

Lenox Head Lookout

Took a quick jaunt over to the Lenox Head Lookout, with it’s fabulous ocean views.

Ballina & the Richmond River Lighthouse

This impulse stop on the coastal highway took us to another really cool area where a river met the ocean and the rocky cliffs made for dramatic scenery. Love this tiny little lighthouse! We also encountered our first ever “textile screw-pine”, a plant we initially thought was a pineapple tree, but instead Google says is a pretty handy, multi-purposed tree with an edible fruit similar to a papaya. Learning new things every day!

Coffs Harbour

Our last big stop before our next camper park (“caravan park”) was the cute coastal town of Coff’s Harbour. There are a lot of cool beaches and wildlife here, with about 80,000 people (so lots of shops and restaurants, too). The city has an iconic theme park built in the 1960s called “The Big Banana.” It’s a mix of activities like carnival games, arcade games, rides, mini golf, and some water activities- 100% my kind of cheese. Of course we stopped! It was the end of the day for the park, so we didn’t get to ride anything, but I’m still glad I got to see it. Australia has a list of iconic “big things”, and we made it to two of them today!

https://www.australiantraveller.com/australia/most-iconic-big-things-of-australia/

Coffs Harbor is also known for it’s street art. We only got to see a small section of it, but they had some pretty cool stuff in the alleys near our stop.

Peaceful Repton

Tonight we ended our drive in the tiny town of Repton. Their Campervan park is situated right at the entry to a hinterlands road they call the “Waterfall Way,” which we are set to travel tomorrow! Our camping spot was right on a lovely river, and it was so clean and peaceful here! Great views to end our day.

Thanks for adventuring with us!