Janet and Peter On Tour: Northern New South Wales

We met Jean at Paradise Point, on the Gold Coast, had a picnic lunch on the water front and caught up with all the news. She had been staying at a friends place and was due to go home to Adelaide in a few days so the timing was good. After lunch we said our goodbyes and headed south along the Pacific Highway and over into NSW. We stayed in a quaint little town called Burringbar. Light rain fell for a while during the evening and early morning but we woke to the news that Brisbane had a terrible night and had flooded in places! It always seems to rain after we leave somewhere, which is great because they need the rain - but I think we overdid it!
The next day we went to Byron Bay (OMG busy!!) and drove up to "The Pass" where we parked and did a vigorous but scenic walk to the most easterly point of Australia and then continued up to the Lighthouse. We did a tour of the lighthouse which was so interesting and the views where incredible. The walk back was much quicker as it was mostly downhill and we made it back in time (just) before our two hour parking ticket expired!
The next three nights were spent at Mallanganee Memorial Park which is a free camp but we had power and water which meant we could catch up with our washing - yes I know - mundane, but it means a lot when traveling. There was another couple, Jo and Chris and a guy, Colin , who were staying at the park as well and we had Happy Hour with them each night and also visited the towns Art Exhibition together. Great new friends and another quiet, pretty town with visiting Wallabies and bird life. We all left on Monday morning in different directions.
The next three nights were spent with friends we had met on a cruise, 12 years ago. David and Sue have a beautiful property at Ashby just outside of Maclean. They showed us around their wonderful beaches where we saw a big pod of Dolphins, huge jelly fish and thousands of tiny crabs on the march. They also took us dancing with a group of their friends and out in their tinny where we saw waterfront mansions and had a picnic lunch at Iluka. Every morning we woke to wallabies at our door looking for a friendly pat and a bit of seed. Thank you so much Sue and David for a great stay and wonderful hospitality xx Our next stay was at a free camp at Jackadgery. We went for a long walk down the hill and along the river looking for platypus but to no avail. A thunder storm was brewing overhead so we eventually made our way back to the van and got back just before the heavens opened. The thunder and lightning was spectacular and we were happy the locals were finally getting some rain - and yes, it rained at David and Sues' as well. We told them it would rain after we left!
Driving through the spectacular Great Dividing Range, we stopped to look at Boundary Falls on our way to Glen Innes. We walked through the old town and went back the following morning to have another look before heading further south.
The next two nights were at Guyra on the banks of "Mother of Ducks" Nature Reserve. We arrived and set up camp and then it belted down with rain, so much so, that we had to move because we suddenly had a flowing river under our van! The water was 6 inches deep below us and flowing fast.
We moved to higher ground in another section of the park and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The town had their annual Christmas street parade the following day and people from all over the district came. They had stalls all along the street and Lions Club and Rotary Raffles. A band was playing and the weather was perfect. The local line dancers gave a show and all the kids and dogs were dressed up for Christmas.
This morning we left Guyra and came to Armidale where we are staying at the Showgrounds.