February 3rd – Why Does It Always Rain On Me?
Monday, February 4th, 2008
Rain again – all day. We ventured out in the morning to the local Sunday markets and shopping centres along with the rest of the town. Homemade soap shaped like cheesecakes seems to be very popular here but as a member of the shower gel generation I had to very politely pass. The Clog Barn looked inviting but turned out to be a very expensive tourist trap and as much as we would have liked the clogs would have taken up too much room in the backpack.
It feels such a shame to be here so near and yet so far as it is raining so much you can hardly venture out, British willing spirit or not. We spent the rest of the day catching up on diaries, homework, laundry and watched Edward Scissorhands again. I hope the sun comes out tomorrow………………..
February 4th – Broken Head
Will the rain ever stop? It rained all last night again and on the news this morning a teenager who had been body surfing was swept away by the flash floods at Coffs Harbour – where we were staying. The drive up to Broken Head was more like aqua planning than driving. The scenery is already changing from the traditional forest like paper bark trees to palm trees and more exotic sounding crickets. We didn’t do much sight seeing today just stayed dry in the van. We did get to drive by the infamous Big Banana of Coffs Harbour and also saw some beautiful beaches with surfers still out – they seem to surf whatever the weather.
We treated ourselves to lunch at The Big Prawn in Ballina and saw some of the Superbowl on tele. It seems strange to see it in the daylight but I suppose the USA is nearly a full day behind us here.
Amazingly after our arrival at the park it stopped raining so it was out quickly to enjoy the surroundings. We are just south of Byron bay and the beach here is stunning – one of the best I have ever had the pleasure to walk on. Was this due to the fact that we had been stuck inside because of the rain – probably. The waves seemed to go out in the bay forever but they took you by surprise when they came in, the force of the water pulling you back was scary and both O and I got soaked but it was so nice that it was the sea and not rain.
The park has some entertaining guests – wild turkeys. They come right up to the steps of the van and look a bit scary but quite as bad as the mention of carpet pythons which was in the park’s welcoming leaflet. God what am I going to be like in the bush, I can’t even walk to the toilets without being on full alert and jumping every time I see a leaf move.
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