February 1st – Port Stephens
I will try to describe the scenery here. The roads are either highway (2 lanes and in appalling condition compared to NZ) or tourist routes. Many roads seem to go through forests with the picturesque paper bark trees (the ones that have peeling bark and reveal light smooth wood underneath). The roads are busier and you get many caravans here but they are easy to drive. The best bits are the strange road signs – Kangaroos, Koalas, Ducks or Horses for the next 10km, Beware cyclists and pedestrians and my fave Refuge Island which is the little cement thing in the middle of the road for when people cross.
The rain also gave us some laughs. The picture of the day saw some lorikeets (small red and green parrots) hanging upside down on the wire of a telegraph pole, wings outstretched washing themselves in the rain. They would then swing up, pause and do it all over again – it was so funny to watch. One of the saddest sights this trip though was a dead koala on the side of the road. A bird was picking at it so I knew it was dead but it’s one of those images you want to go away but you know is now permanently ingrained. Both Josh and I saw it but thankfully O remains blissfully unaware.
The holiday park is right on the seafront by a long cement walk. The path has been edged with huge stones which the public have taken upon themselves to paint. They look really cool and every one seems to have a story. Some are dedicated to lost loved ones, some for round the world trips and some just personalised like my fave which just said “Kieran’s Stone” and had a picture of a dinosaur on it. I wonder if my Godson has secretly been here before?
Everyone seems to be soooo brown. O has also noticed and a daily layer of mosturiser/fake tan is starting to go on as apparently her legs are “really dry”. She only puts it on ¾ of her leg so the next day she parades around insisting that we all look at her “tan”. The fact that it has been raining does not seem to stop her going on about the tan!
Tags: Australia, Travel
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