16 Days In...

Left Sydney in a hire car (easier said than done with the traffic on the northern suburbs) and took Pacific Highway in the direction of Brisbane. Mourned the loss of our wonderful bookshop on Oxford St - 2 floors of secondhand and antiquarian books and a small funky cafe to boot! A pleasant journey though not with a view of the Pacific as the name might lead you to imagine, just the Great Dividing Range in the distance. Headed for Port Macquarie expecting to find a sleepy little resort of run-down fishermen's cottages but found instead a smartish resort with golf clubs and motels. We stayed in the Craggy Beach motel, not quite Bates but atmospheric enough. On towards Byron Bay, expecting hippy paradise but this time a very pleasant, busy seaside town with great beaches, restaurants and plenty of places to stay. Blew the budget on a zen space near Belongil Beach.  Tomorrow we arrive in Brisbane – no expectations so a clean slate for impressions this time. Still no kangaroos or koalas.
Be seeing you.