Heading further up the coast  it was time to get off the freeway again and stayed on the coast checking out the many surf beaches along the way and stopped for lunch at Port Macquarie. This was a great beach with scrub turkeys coming around us and Jazmyn enjoying a swim in the surf while we wandered up the beach. We then caught the ferry to North Shore and continued along a 4wd track that ran behind the dunes and past some nice lagoons. That night had a hard time finding a campsite at Coffs Harbour but after some low range 4wd tracks in the forest behind the banana plantations got a good spot.

Byron Bay, the most easterly point of Australia and thick rainforest.

Byron Bay is the most easterly point of Oz so we now had all 8 extreme points of this land in the bag. It is well known for its surfing and hippy culture and is quite a happening place. Next was to visit and climb to the top of Mt. Warning where the sun strikes Australia first. With many hippy communes in the area it is very popular to climb before dawn to catch the first 'rays' and especially on new years day.

Scaling up to the top of Mt. Warning.

Summer was not the best time to do it as there is no rest from the continual up hill climbing through the forest in the heat and the only way I could describe it on the day we did it was to put yourself in a sauna with a Stairmaster and the radio on loud static for 4 hours without stopping and you get some idea of the humidity, heat, climbing and noise that the cicadas ( a large flying beetle ) were making. People were holding their fingers in their ears due to the racket they make. The last part is the hardest as you have to use a chain and foot holds to get up to the very top.

Scrub Turkey and the beach north of Noosa.

Now into Queensland and bypassing Surfers Paradise we dropped in on Noosa to look around and find out what the tide was doing before taking the ferry across the river to find a place to camp. Next morning at seven we hit the beach and drove along the Cooloola Coast at low tide on this long stretch of beach where it is now even speed limited to 50 mph. You do have to keep a look out for all the surf fishermen and people sun baking above the tide line as well.

Even used the cruise control driving up to the colored sands.

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