Just got back from my little trip up the NSW coast.
Started on sunday morning making the trip up to Byron Bay (a possible mittens location)
It was a 9 hour drive from Sydney about 780km (485 miles) North
It's much closer to Brisbane, about 160km (100 miles) South
I arrived just before sunset:
Looking south from Cape Byron (the most Easterly point on the Australian coast)
(http://img27.exs.cx/img27/3742/01byronlookingsouth.jpg)
Looking north, Byron Bay at dusk
(http://img27.exs.cx/img27/4442/02byronbaysunset.jpg)
The lighthouse on the cape
(http://img53.exs.cx/img53/9104/04capebyronlighthouse.jpg)
Looking south towards the cape
(http://img53.exs.cx/img53/4219/05lookingtowardscapebyron.jpg)
Byron Bay
(http://img53.exs.cx/img53/4856/07Byronbaydaylight.jpg)
From the cape
(http://img67.exs.cx/img67/9697/08Fromcapebyron.jpg)
Looking to Cape Byron from Lennox Head
(http://img67.exs.cx/img67/4876/12LookingtocapeByronfromlennoxhead.jpg)
This is the first time I have actually stopped at Byron Bay and had a look around, It's commonly known as a place with hippies and drugs, but It didn't seem like that at all, sure those types exist there but there's more of them in the city anyway.
I only stayed there for 2 nights but it was probably my favourite part of the trip, It's quite a small town, and it has a great aura about it. It was out of any holiday period which was a good thing, there were mainly surfers and English Backpackers hangin about, it's quite an alternative place.
I decided to drive up to the border of NSW and QLD as it was only about 60km (37 miles) further North, I ended up going past the border and made it as far as Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast about 80km (50 miles) south of Brisbane.
I literally got out of the car, walked onto the beach, took this snap, then raced back to my car and headed back to the safety of NSW.
(http://img67.exs.cx/img67/7964/01SurfersParadise.jpg)
I should have just stopped at Coolangatta, which is the first town in QLD on the border, which I took this photo looking towards Surfers.
(http://img53.exs.cx/img53/7100/coolangattalookingtowardsSurfers.jpg)
So that was about as much of QLD I saw on the trip, but I didn't even plan on going that far north.
My next stop was in a larger town called Coffs Harbour where I stayed another 2 nights, It wasn't as nice as Byron Bay but it was still very nice. The place is famous for growing Bananas and the home of that thug of an actor, you know the one who always puches people out and also plays in a real shitty band, Russel Cow or something.
This was across the road from the motel I stayed in
(http://img53.exs.cx/img53/2320/01ParkBeachCoffsHarbour.jpg)
This is the jetty that extends into the harbour
(http://img53.exs.cx/img53/1636/02CoffsHarbourJetty.jpg)
One of the reasons I stayed at Coffs Harbour was cause it's close to a World Heritage Area, Dorrigo National Park, about an hours drive from Coffs.
I went on a bushwalk in the park and ran into some interesting creatures.
This is a Brush Turkey, which is fairly common, but you don't see them in Sydney
(http://img53.exs.cx/img53/8083/01BrushTurkeyDorrigoNP.jpg)
This is a Goanna which is a fairly large Lizard
(http://img53.exs.cx/img53/8137/03GoannaDorrigoNP.jpg)
This was a nice little waterfall, Cedar Falls, I was surprised that there was any water falling seeing as there has been little rain for quite a long time.
(http://img53.exs.cx/img53/6737/04CedarFallsDorrigoNP.jpg)
This was a nice view of the National Park from a lookout.
(http://img74.exs.cx/img74/9310/07DorrigoNP2.jpg)
From Coffs Harbour I made the trip south to Newcastle stopping at a few places on the way.
The first place was Nambucca Heads, I just like the name of the place, it is a nice place too
(http://img74.exs.cx/img74/8756/03NambuccaHeads.jpg)
Port Macquarie
(http://img74.exs.cx/img74/1029/05PortMacquarie.jpg)
Tuncurry, I stopped here for lunch with the pelicans, I know this place fairly well as I used to come here for holidays when I was a kid.
(http://img74.exs.cx/img74/1024/08PelicansTuncurry2.jpg)
Newcastle, this was one of my favourite places to go when I lived in this town a few years back. This particualr beach is 3 beaches in 1, the north end is Bar Beach, the middle is Dixon Park Beach and the southern end is Merewether Beach, I used to love watching thunder storms from here.
(http://img74.exs.cx/img74/8189/10BarBeachDixonparkBeachMerewetherBeachNewcastle.jpg)
I realised that I wasn't in any of my photos and couldn't prove I was actually there, and this still doesn't prove it but I took a couple of photos of myself when I was bored.
I didn't want to use the flash straight at my head so they are a bit dark
(http://img85.exs.cx/img85/5052/tim3.jpg)
Me proving you don't necessarily get fat by eating a shitload of junk food
(http://img85.exs.cx/img85/213/tim1.jpg)
Well that's about the extent of my adventure, over 2000km (1240 miles) of driving in 6 days, I enjoyed myself and I couldn't have asked for better weather as you may have noticed from the photos, not 1 drop of rain the entire trip.
If you missed my last holiday (Winter in the Tropics) you can see it here,
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=14774.msg180282
as it slipped back off the board before anyone noticed, or cared (which will probably also happen here)
Wow, those are very nice shots. The coast looks beautiful.
Great Pics!!
Every one could be used as a post card.
all these awesome places, and not one postcard for me? *sniff-sniff* JK those are some great pics man
Man, those are beautiful. You've convinced me that I need to go to Australia one day.
coincidence(sp?) or not?? :o that is the question
Pelicans! Heh.
Turkey, heh! ... where's the chicken ¬_¬
Beautiful. That sort of increased the likelihood of me attending next mittes :)
Really good photographs, technically speaking as well.
Nice pics; is it ever not sunny down under? ;)
Thanks for the replies people, sorry about the size of the files, I reduced the size of the pictures but forgot to reduce the quality before uploading, It cost me a lot more than 20cents to get these photos but it was well worth it.
As I type this there is a little bit of rain falling outside, so it does rain occasionally, but on the serious side of things it is still very much in drought and the weather may look really nice (which it is) but the dams that supply our water aren't getting filled at all. In Sydney I think we just went below 40% capacity and for a city with 4 million people it's really becoming a serious problem.
Yes and I ate a few Chickens on the journey
Quote from: Pumaman on Sun 19/09/2004 12:56:56
Nice pics; is it ever not sunny down under? ;)
Well it is kinda dark at the moment, but that might be becaue of the nighttime, its kinda hard to tell. :P But seriously it was raining fairly well tonight, but it seems to have stopped.
Anyway, they are some nice pictures you took. I havn't been to most of those places. We go camping at Forster/Tuncurry every year. It's a nice place, and it is good for camping. That beach sorta thing in the background of that Tuncurry pic (with the pelicans) is this cool island. You have to swim to get there and theres this beach. Its quite a cool place.
I have also been to Surfers Paradise. We stayed at a caravan park thingy probably just behind those skyscrapers. It was strange on the beach. You look one way and there is the nice ocean, and its all pleasant, and you turn around and there are these big skyscrapers. It kinda spoils the beauty of the place.
Byron Bay hey... yeah I've only been there on the way up to QLD on our big holiday there. It does have that reputation of being a hippie town... we didnt stay long.
I'm still on holidays at the moment, and it was a brilliant day today, it's really starting to feel like summer, so I went to some of my favourite places in Sydney. Forget the Harbour, that's just what they show tourists (although it is spectacular, it's not my favourite place), there's some really beautiful coastline and beaches in Sydney, and I'm not talking about the touristy traps like Bondi and Manly (that's where all the poms live) If you go a bit further North it's just incredible.
While I've been working in these areas lately I've been looking for some places to get the best shots, but it's really hard because you walk around every corner, even past every house and you think now that would be a great shot. If I won a Few million Dollars, the first thing I'd do is buy a house around here. I've included a photo I took earlier at the end to give an idea of where the places I talk about are (If anyone really cares)
This is Bilgola beach on the right and Newport on the left, Bilgola is a beach I frequent during summer.
(http://img72.exs.cx/img72/8110/01Bilgola2.jpg)
This view didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, but this is Bilgola Plateau which has some great views down the coast.
(http://img57.exs.cx/img57/2482/06Bilgolaplateau.jpg)
Now if you've ever wondered why there was a TV show called "Bay Watch Hawaii", it was because it was originally going to be Bay Watch Down Under. it was all ready to go and they'd filmed an introductory movie episode but the locals kicked up a big fuss and didn't want them taking over their beach, so they told them to fuck off and behold the birth of Bay Watch Hawaii. This is Avalon, where it was going to be. The next beach along from Bilgola.
(http://img75.exs.cx/img75/39/02avalon.jpg)
Now this is Palm Beach, with the headland at the end called Barrenjoey Head, I was planning on walking up to the lighthouse but the track was closed because of a helicopter doing something. This peninsula is spectacular with the ocean on the right and Pittwater on the left. The Island on the left is Lion Island. There is also a golf course on the left.
(http://img69.exs.cx/img69/5825/07palm.jpg)
Some people kite surfing at Palm Beach.
(http://img31.exs.cx/img31/9048/12palmkitesurfing.jpg)
This is the helicopter that was buzzing around that stopped me from walking up the headland. Interesting, I never noticed the blades weren't moving, how is this possible??
(http://img31.exs.cx/img31/8014/13chopper.jpg)
They also film a soap at palm beach "Home & Away" which some people may have seen, I think Yufster watches it, but I doubt she'll see this thread. I took a few pictures of them filming.
(http://img27.exs.cx/img27/1816/16summerbay.jpg)
(http://img79.exs.cx/img79/6774/17summerbay2.jpg)
(http://img79.exs.cx/img79/1953/18summerbay3.jpg)
This is just another view of Palm Beach from someones house, I read their water meter a few weeks ago.
(http://img79.exs.cx/img79/1451/20palm4.jpg)
This is looking up to the Central Coast of NSW across Broken Bay.
(http://img61.exs.cx/img61/116/21brokenbaycentralcoast.jpg)
I've posted this picture before (Broken Bay), but I've labelled it to bring the photos into some kind of perspective. Sydney CBD is about 40km south in the direction the plane is flying.
(http://img35.exs.cx/img35/7257/brokenbay2.jpg)
So these are some areas I work in, but as spectacular as they are, it's probably one of the hardest areas as some of the streets are extremely steep and I have to climb up some cliffs occasionally. I park my car and walk around these areas and a few weeks ago I couldn't even drive up this hill in first gear, friggin steep.
I hope I haven't bored anyone too much but I've really been getting into this photography thing lately.