Travels of Bob & Sharon: Coff's Harbour to Sydney

After spending a couple of days at Coff's Harbour we made our way slowly down the east coast to Port MacQuarrie where we had a campsite beside a wonderful breakwall in the middle of town. This was a fabulous place sit by the water, drink fresh ground/brewed coffee and sit on the patio to watch dolphins in huge pods come into the lagoon to feed. Lots of walking trails through the very hilly town.

Port MacQuarrie Lookout

April 8: On to Stockton/Newcastle and on the way, we see this amazing sight..

Can you believe that we found Marilyn advertising a pie shop????? Not just any pie shop; one that is top rated in the country. Don't even ask why this statuary is here...it just is! The shop sells 160 kinds of pies including croc, emu, kangaroo and vege stuff as well. Great pies I might add!

Stockton is just a 5 minute ferry ride from Newcastle; one of the largest industrial cities on the east coast. We were surprised to see 30 tankers sitting at sea, waiting their turn to get into the port. There is a huge controversy here at the moment. Apparently the ports haven't been developed rapidly enough to handle the ships and the mining companies do not wish to involve themselves with shipping so their is a huge backlog that is costing Australia as well as the rest of the world. It has been going on since we got here so no doubt it will continue for months to come.

The breakwalls in Stockton are built on top of shipwrecks that got blown onto the dangerous sandbar near the entrance to the harbour. Most (there are 18 there) cannot be seen however here is one they left above the surface.

We stayed one night then moved on to The Entrance and the campground at Blue Lagoon. It was a beautiful spot nestled among the hills and on a beautiful...you guess it....blue lagoon.

One last close look at the surf!

We arrived in Sydney on April 10th and stayed at a new Big4 Campground north of Manley which gave us a great opportunity to explore Manley since our last visit when we arrived was very brief.

Bob called Jenn's friends, Merryne and Dave and we arranged to meet them for dinner in The Rocks district of Sydney at a German restaurant called Lowenbrau. It was real oompapa stuff and great fun. It was great to end our adventure in Sydney as we started, with these two lovely people.

Merryne, Bob, me and Dave....dinner at Lowenbrau, The Rocks, Sydney

Yesterday we visited the Taronga Zoo in Mossman district and I tried to make new friends. As you can see, I was less than successful.

I don't know why he's ignoring me!

Tonight, our last night, we are having dinner with Jesse, the nephew of our good friends Linda and Yves. Jesse moved here a year ago and we are excited to see him.

We returned our beloved WALUT to the Maui dealership and are now in the beautiful Stamford Plaza Hotel overlooking the airport.

Tomorrow (or whenever because we just can't figure out that international date line stuff!), we will be in Vancouver and back in our wonderful country.

This truly has been a fabulous experience and we have loved every (well almost ) moment of it. We have seen the most incredible sights and met amazing people. How grateful we are to have been able to enjoy six months away from home.

Thanks to all our Australian friends for giving us the time of our lives.

Now....we look forward to seeing our loved ones and great friends at home.

I will have a couple more postings once we get to Vancouver.

Love to everyone and we'll see you really soon!

Love and light.
Sharon