Coffs Harbour and Yamba

June 11 – Coffs Harbour

The morning started off with rain and eggs Benedict yum! Nice to have a couple of mornings of change for breakfast. When we set out from South West Rocks it looked like the day might brighten up but our hops were quickly dashed by rain, rain and more rain. We arrived in Coffs Harbour and went into the info center. The towns is more known for it's lovely outdoors scene and since it was a public holiday the library was also closed. We asked about a good place for lunch and a beer and were directed to the Deep Sea Fishing Club. Beau and I got a jug and a window seat. The view would be lovely on a gorgeous day; it overlooked the historic jetty and bay. There was supposed to be free wifi but with the rain and wind it wasn't working properly. We split a pizza and another jug before heading out. We went into McD's for some quick internet and $1 fries. We found a holiday park up the road and checked in there for the night. It was raining so hard out we started taking on water. The roof vent usually leaks a little but it was dripping pretty good. Also, the roof at the end of the van, right where the pop top connects, dripping... on the bed. We scrambled for buckets and to mop up the drips. When the rain let up we grabbed our tarp out and put it over top of the van thinking it would help which it did. We figured we had done the best we could so we went out to make dinner. We combined beans, corn, tomato and avo into a wrap with cheese and made burrito like things. We are getting good at coming up with new ideas. We headed back to the van and didn't discover any new leaks although there was still a little bit of water coming in. Well we'll have to cross our fingers that it doesn't rain too hard over night... gulp 

Coffs Harbour Historic Jetty

June 12 – Yamba

Unfortunately our tarping didn't work out quite as well as we hoped and water still got in and dripped on the bed. Uggg and it's still raining. We investigated the source of our leak and it looks like the incorrect screws were used at some point to attach the pop top support at the back and water was dripping through the hole in the fibreglass. At least we know what the problem is now so when we eventually dry out we can fix it. We had breakfast and showered before heading out to the library. It's good to get caught up on the internet indoors while it's raining. It doesn't torrentially rain all the time, more bipolar with the sun out one minute and then crazy rain the next. We got sort of updated and then went to the grocery store. We also bought a box of wine so we'll see how that goes. We travelled about 120km today to Yamba with a stop at Sandy Beach for a windy leftover bbq lunch. We found a reasonably priced park in Yamba and got ourselves set up for the night. We assumed it would continue to rain so we set up the tarp again except with our posts to hold it up too. There was an indoor camp kitchen where we made dinner and watched a bit of the news and Myth Busters before heading back to the van for some bed time reading.

June 13 – Yamba to Byron Bay

We made some awesome egg mcmuffins for breakfast this morning. They had sausage patties, cheese and egg with onion, garlic and broccoli inside. While eating breakfast we watched the news and ended up getting pretty wrapped up in it, before we knew it it was almost 10 and we had to get out of the park. After a hasty departure we drove into town. We parked the van and started walking along the waterfront and out onto the breakwall. Some pretty major breakwalls were built here in order to create a deep sea shipping port. The ocean was extremely rough and the sky over the ocean was very black. Over land though there was patchy blue sky and the weather didn't seem to be coming in land at all. We walked out fairly far onto the southern breakwall, on the way back a huge wave hit the wall and we got majorly splashed. My body mostly shielded my camera and Beau. I had a huge wet patch on my left arm, back, and thigh as well as a big hunk of hair on my face. It wasn't a pretty sight. We headed back to the van and I started strategically placing my wet things in the van to dry. Fortunately it's warm enough out of the wind to just be in my t-shirt. We popped into a campstore in town and bought some waterproofing spray for the van. Now all we need is for it stop raining. We headed out of town and on to Byron Bay. We got off the highway in Ballina and stopped into the McD's for a quick e-mail check. While there we splurged on a 30 cent soft ice cream. We did some recon on caravan parks around Byron and were at first unimpressed with the options but we scored on one that was just out of town that had a 2 for 1 deal going on and free wifi. Done! Since the place was on our way into Byron Bay we checked into the park first and then made a late lunch. We got some tourist information for the lady at reception and saw a poster for the Byron Bay Brewery. We headed over to the brewery for some $3 schooners. Beau had a dark weisse and I had the Blonde. We also tried their brown ale. Later we ordered a pizza and two more schooners before the end of happy hour. I had the Pilsner and Beau the Premium Ale. After pizza and beer we headed back to the holiday park and lazed around in the van wasting time on the internet.

Yamba

The Breakwall