Armidale to Toowoomba

Posted on August 10, 2017 by kenwehner

10 August 2017

Pic 2017-0810 05 Countryside (20) edit

We had nothing planned for today other than a long rural drive from Armidale to Toowoomba. We meandered through the countryside and enjoyed taking in the landscape. Along the way we stumbled across some little gems.

Balancing Rock Park is located just south of Stonehenge on the New England Highway, Route A15. It has a number of precariously balanced large rocks that look like they could tip over at any moment but are not going anywhere soon.

We travelled the highway north to Tenterfield making stops along the way before veering west to Texas, QLD. We were intrigued by the town’s name, having spent a family vacation in the State of Texas last year. We heard about Texas QLD in a song by an Australian country singer. It is a small rural community that sits on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. Ironically the land, ranches and town looked similar to areas of Texas.

We finally made it to Toowoomba, but too late to investigate. We will see what this town has to offer tomorrow before heading to Brisbane.

Balancing Rock Park outside Stonehenge NSW

Glen Innes Town Hall, Picnic Lunch View, and Texas QLD

Posted in Australia, New South Wales, Queensland | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Waterfall Way

Posted on August 10, 2017 by kenwehner

9 August 2017

Pic 2017-0809 06 Dangar Falls (3) edit

The Waterfall Way is a scenic route through several National Parks including Dorrigo, Bellinger River, Oxley Wild Rivers, and Cathedral Rock. We started at the Dorrigo National Park. The scenic lookout was easy to get to and worth the stop. We did one of the short trail walks. If we had more time, we would have liked to spend more time here.

The first waterfall, Newell Falls, and the last, Baker Falls, were nothing special, although we did enjoy the Baker Falls area lookout. Everything in between was awesome.

Dangar Falls can be viewed from above. The trail to the bottom of the falls was a nice walk and well worth it.

The Upper and Lower Ebor Falls were also impressive sights. The viewing points from above were easily accessible.

The Chandler River with Wollomombi Gorge and Falls might have been our favorite. Wollomombi Falls are almost 3,000 feet tall, the second highest in Australia. The hike from the Wollomombi Falls Viewpoint to the Chandler Viewpoint is a moderate hike that took about an hour. It provided fantastic views.

Dangar, Ebor and Wollomombi Falls are absolute must sees in New South Wales.

Dorringo National Park

Dangar Falls

Upper and Lower Ebor Falls

Oxley Wild Rivers National Park

Pic 2017-0809 13 Baker Falls (5) edit

Baker Falls

Pic 2017-0809 09 Waterfall Way (3) edit

Countryside

Posted in Australia, New South Wales | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Raleigh, NSW

Posted on August 10, 2017 by kenwehner

9 August 2017

Pic 2017-0809 01 Raleigh NSW (6) edit

Raleigh is a small community of 550 people located about 20 minutes southwest of Coffs Harbour. It has one of Norco’s two major dairy bottling plants. It happens to be the start of the Waterfall Way, a scenic route from Raleigh to Armidale.

It also happens to be the name of our home town Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh has a stand-alone population of 450,000, the 41st largest city in the United States. By itself it would be the 7th largest city in Australia and as part of the Triangle Area’s 2 million it roughly equals the size of Perth. It was fun to visit the town of the same name but there was not much else to see.

Pic 2017-0809 01 Raleigh NSW (2) edit

Posted in Australia, New South Wales | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Coffs Harbour, NSW

Posted on August 8, 2017 by kenwehner

8 August 2017

Pic 2017-0808 02 Coffs Harbour Lookout (5) edit

Coffs Harbour is the banana capital of Australia. It is located on the east coast of New South Wales, about 400 km south of Brisbane and 550 km north of Sydney. Tourism does not appear to be a major factor here, however it does have some fun things to do and see. It also serves as a good point to start our travels inland on the Waterfall Way.

 

Posted in Australia, New South Wales | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Dolphin Marine Magic

Posted on August 8, 2017 by kenwehner

8 August 2017

Pic 2017-0808 01 Dolphin Marine Magic (1) edit

Dolphin Marine Magic is a small but wonderful place in Coffs Harbour. It is open from 9 AM to 3 PM but you can easily do everything there is to do in half that time. It does not look too impressive from the street but the facility is not the attraction, it’s the residents. The kids absolutely loved it! They got to interact with dolphins, seals, penguins, sea turtles, and a variety of fish. You can pet and get kisses from dolphins and seals. They offer additional packages for even better access, such as swimming with the dolphins, but we did not do any of that. We were unsure if we wanted to do it but are glad we did.

Seals

Dolphins

Pic 2017-0808 01 Dolphin Marine Magic (228) edit

Penguins

Posted in Australia, New South Wales | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Diggers Beach, NSW

Posted on August 8, 2017 by kenwehner

7 August 2017

Pic 2017-0807 03 Aanuka Beach (66) edit

We spent two nights at Aanuka Beach Resort on the north side of Coffs Harbour. The resort has direct access to Diggers Beach. It is a quiet place to relax and enjoy the ocean.

The beach is bounded be outcrops on the north and south. To the north is Little Diggers Beach. The kids love to climb the rocks so they made their way to the top to see the inlet on the other side. They got more than expected. Little Diggers is a nude beach. Needless to say, they’ve been giggling about it ever since.

 

Posted in Australia, New South Wales | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Byron Bay, NSW

Posted on August 6, 2017 by kenwehner

6 August 2017

Pic 2017-0806 Byron Bay (2) edit

Byron Bay is a popular tourist destination. We spent the day hiking the Cape Byron Walking Trail, walking the beach, and investigating town. The trail leads you to Cape Byron, which happens to be the eastern most point of mainland Australia, and the picturesque Cape Byron Lighthouse. Our pictures do not capture the true beauty of the area. We did not have enough time to visit Arakwal National Park and would have enjoyed more beach time. Luckily it is close enough to Sunshine Coast that we can plan a long weekend to continue enjoying the area.

 

Posted in Australia, New South Wales | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Gold Coast to Byron Bay

Posted on August 6, 2017 by kenwehner

5 August 2017

Pic 2017-0805 07 Tweed Valley Road (7) edit

We did not get too far when we pulled out of Cooly before we pulled over again to snap a few pictures of the border between Queensland and New South Wales. From there we headed south through Tweed Heads and jumped on the Pacific Highway which should have put us in Byron Bay in less than an hour. Before too long, we saw a scenic route and made an unplanned quick left. Route 40, otherwise known as Tweed Valley Way, runs along the Tweed River and was a nice alternative to highway driving.

Posted in Australia, Gold Coast, New South Wales | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Coolangatta Beach, QLD

Posted on August 6, 2017 by kenwehner

5 August 2017

Pic 2017-0805 02 Coolangatta (6) edit

Coolangatta Beach is the southern-most beach on the Gold Coast and in Queensland. Cooly is awesome, one of our favorites so far. This was only intended to be a quick stop but we stayed much of the day. We walked the entire length of the beach out to Snapper Rocks. The kids never tire of climbing the rocks. We had lunch at one of the fish and chips restaurants on Marine Parade and wondered about the local shops till we needed to push down the road to our accommodations at Byron Bay.

Cooly Beach and Rainbow Bay

Pic 2017-0805 03 Rainbow Bay (68) edit

The moment before she was soaked

Posted in Australia, Gold Coast, Queensland | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kirra Beach, QLD

Posted on August 6, 2017 by kenwehner

5 August 2017

Kirra Beach is part of southern Gold Coast. Its wide soft sandy beaches and surf are typical for Gold Coast beaches. On our way to Byron Bay, Kirra was our first stop.

Posted in Australia, Gold Coast, Queensland | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment