Chris's dream. Driving around Bathurst!

One of Chris's wishes has been to get to Bathurst for the V8 super car races. His first wish has always been to get to the actual races but his 2nd best wish is driving around the track in his own car ....and caravan!! Well the 2nd best wish came true. He did it!! The pictures say it all!!

All that I can say is that he was in total awe the whole morning. The only thing he couldn't do was drive through the pits. He tried but the area was closed off and we had to reverse our big "super caravan" back out....and it was his birthday too!!!

Visiting the motor museum was also a treat, as was standing in front of The Golden Guitar in Tamworth on our way to Bathurst. This is one birthday Chris will always remember!! His 2 passions - V8 Super cars and music! Not a market in sight!!!!!!!

A piece of paradise - Bellingen NSW

Bellingen in NSW - about an hour west of Coffs Harbour and 5 hours north of Sydney -is a small piece of paradise surrounded by rain forest, the Bellinger River and rolling hills. Our friends, Felicity and Brian, developed an 80 acre property into a bed and breakfast called, "Lili Pili" - a country house. They invited us to stay with them at the top of their driveway in our caravan. (They would have happily let us stay in one of the beautiful bedrooms but we were very mindful of them preparing all the rooms for hand over when they leave in 2 weeks.) They have sold "Lili Pili" and settlement is taking place on 15th September. The new owners have bought a piece of paradise- all Brian and Felicity's work!

We were in awe of what they had created and kept stepping out of our caravan door snapping pictures of the beauty all around. After their 8 year project they are moving back to Sydney to enjoy their 3 little grand-children. We were so lucky that our visit coincided with their move and we spent the happiest 5 days in their paradise!! We shared spotting the platypuses in the creek at the bottom of their property, Brian's exceptional coffee, lovely homemade meals, lots of wine, Brian's music on his ipod!... and plenty of chat sharing experiences of the past 17 years as that was when we saw them last! Felicity was quite happy to have allowed her hair to silver and we had lots of laughs of how "old" we are getting and have vowed not to let another 17 years pass before we see them again!

Bellingen town is another perfect hippie town. I loved the times we spent walking around the very unusual craft shops and galleries...... and Chris came too and loved it. He always finds unusual people to talk to which suits me fine as I can go looking at other interesting things like art works and local hand crafted jewellery...!!!!

We were very sad to leave but loved every, single minute especially spotting the green tree frogs which lived all over the place. We truly hope that Felicity and Brian will be very happy back in Sydney. As Brian says, it's time to "have a rest and enjoy his children and grandchildren". He achieved his dream of playing "farmer, farmer". We aren't sure what Felicity's grandchildren will call her now. She has always been "Grannyfarm"!!

Byron Bay - NSW

Having spent so much time in both rural and regional Australia we have decided that big cities are not for us. It didn't take long for our "grumpiness" to disappear once we were back on the open road living as gypseys again.

As we were heading south we had to see the Gold Coast- and it will be the only time ever. The endless highrises were certainly not a sight for sore eyes though it obviously appeals to a lot of people. Not for us after all the beauty we had previously seen.

We made our way down to Byron Bay which was everything I had imagined. We stayed for 3 days in a very quiet park right on the edge of the village. It seems to give license to anyone who visits or lives there to be a "hippie". Riding a bike around the town is a pleasure as bikes rule!! The lighthouse we visited at the top of the Bay is absolutely beautiful and the views out of this world. We stood watching whales frolicking around in the ocean on their way south to the Antarctic. The beaches around the area must be the most beautiful in the world. (I keep discovering what I think are the most beautiful beaches in the world!!) ...and again we found a house to buy!!! How will we ever choose???