Sunday, January 3rd

For the first time since arriving in Australia there was no sunshine this morning so we had an early swim -note the contrast with Bondi!-

 

then reluctantly left this beautiful spot and set off for the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

Passing through the Yuraygir National Park, an important habitat for the endangered coastal emu, the gum trees gave way to a more tropical rainforest scenery and we arrived at Yamba in time for lunch. Guided there by a recommendation for gourmet pies we were disappointed to find the pie shop had gone out of business! However, the discovery of a second hand bookshop did much to make up for it, though did delay our journey somewhat! An attractive town though very much a holiday resort.

 

 

Then the rain came down, and as there was little point in trying to view the scenery, we steamed up the Pacific Highway at a ridiculous rate and arrived in Brisbane in the early evening. What little we saw of the Gold Coast only served to reinforce my opinions of it, high rise tourist developments, beautiful stretches of sand and a hectic pace.

 



Fortunately the rain stopped long enough for us to pitch our tent in the only place we could find- a caravan park -so our tiny tent was dwarfed with those amazing Australian caravans and trailers.