A bonzer Australian Road Trip!

 

A fortnight, I have been at my beloved Winter Palace, slowly getting settled in, and my latest opus, the revised edition of Andrew Lamb's A Life on the Ocean Wave, the story of Henry Russell, having winged its way from Yamba to New York, I've had a few days being 'busy doing nothing'.

Actually, there has been little choice. The climate here is what may be termed 'sub tropical'. Warm, even muggy, but occasionally decidedly damp. And occasionally violently wet. And just occasionally blindingly violently wet. So I, with my wobblyman walk and unsteady stance cannot venture outdoors, on wet footpaths, grass, and over the metre-wide flooding gutters ...

But yesterday, that changed. My dear friends Robert and Louis took me on an adventure.

'I'm going to Lismore ...', said Robert, 'come along'. Well, I'd never been to Lismore. ('Why would you?' says one who will remained unnamed). All I knew of it was that it had got drowned a few years back. Well, why not? Get out of the house for a few hours, in the comfy safety of Robert's Peugeot ...

So, at 8.45 (when Louis had finished his breakfast!) we set off. The first part of the trip was familiar. We have voyaged through Tabbimobile on other occasions. But it is pleasant, green scenery. And then it rained. A grade one power rainstorm. How the cars (not us!) managed to continue their 110kph cavalcade, I know not! Fortunately, the rafales of rain are inclined to be of short duration, so, my first bit of 'adventure' was not spoiled.

We pulled into something named 'Tucki Tucki'. The 'Bora Ring'. Perched on a hill above the plains below. A cemetery!  Well, I am fond of cemeteries: the older the better. This one isn't very old. The area was apparently settled by the colonists as late as 1880. The gravestones seemed to begin at the start of the 20th century ..

However, the star exhibit was intended to be the 'Bora Ring': a pre-colonist aboriginal stomping ground. There was, alas, nothing to see, except a weathered plaque. The 'Ring' itself is merely a fenced-off mass of weeds

Gingerly over the soggy, slippery grass .. back on to the road .. and more nice scenery, until we arrived in Lismore. Well, I've been now. It's an Australian country town which has seen -- from a picturesque point of view -- better days. It has clearly been inundated (as Christchurch has been quaked) horribly. There was a nice view up a hill (ergo: less inundated!) from the waiting room at Robert's specialist, so I sat there until ..

A surprise!  This was more than a trip to Lismore! Louis, too, had an appointment. In Byron Bay! Well, I hadn't been to Byron Bay for twenty plus years. Jamie Thane drove Ian and I through there when we were thinking of taking a place in Australia ... I remember we hurried on to Bangalow ..

But we were going by the 'picturesque' route. And it was! Bexhill, home of my favourite Boorabee Dorper Lamb Stud, Clunes, Eureka ... this is the Australia I love! Then Federal ... where the hungry young folk stopped for a bite ...

So what was the menu? Sushi. I have only eaten sushi once. A quarter of a century ago, when it became à la mode in London, and a posh place opened in upper St Martin's Lane. I hadn't seen any reason to repeat the experience, since. But ... in the Australian country side? It seemed grotesque enough to be a necessity!  Did I like it? The filling was delicious, but I don't care for the nori seaweed wrap. Reminded me of fish-skin. Ohimé, I, who have always been such an adventurous eater. Alas, with my withered hand, I can no longer wield chopsticks, either ..

On, down the hill, with some grand scenery and views, and finally ..

Byron Bay. Well. I gather it's a popular resort town. While Louis was seeing his optometrist, Robert drove me round town a bit. The chief 'attraction' is apparently the lighthouse. Its speciality is that it is the easternmost point of Australia. 

It also costs $10 to park, and is attached to some sort of eatery. We didn't stop. We descended briskly and went to have a look at the fabled beach. 

Well, Main Beach is fair enough. But it wouldn't rate in the top hundred of Beaches I Have Visited. Once again, we didn't park. But Robert stopped the car long enough for me to take a snap or two.

The lighthouse looks nicer from a distance. But there was a distraction in the foreground!

While Louis was choosing spectacle frames, I sat comfortably in the car (the sun had come out) and watched the world go by ... Where were the beautiful people? Skinny twenty or thirty-something girls with lank hair and little clothing, displaying full dorsal buttocks and the occasional 'other eye'. The men ... well, I was reminded of my visit to 'glamorous' Sitges. No smiles. No one seemingly having a good time. I was rather thankful when we rolled out of town ... and headed for home.

And another surprise. 

The boys need their regular coffees. So we made a little side trip to a spot named Lennox Head. Lennox Head is everything Byron Bay isn't. A delightful freshwater lake, with smiling mothers and children picnicking ...

A splendid beachfront, a 'head' without a lighthouse ..

And the coffee? Well, we lucked in!  The first place we stopped at was closing -- in mid-afternoon -- the second was not up to our standards, and the third ... was QUATTRO.

So, instead of coffee, we had a truly delicious pizza marinara, washed down by a couple of excellent margaritas ..

from the fair hands of Tara ...

All I can say is, I shall definitely -- we all will! -- be returning to Lennox Head.

The discovery of the day!

And, so, we headed into the last hour and a bit of our 300-kilometre road trip. No side roads, now, straight down the motorway towards the double rainbow ..

A quiet gin on the dusk-shrouded terrace at The Cove ... and the end of a huge day!

Thanks, my friends ...