Sydney to Brisbane.....and lots in between

It was really nice being able to drive again even though getting out of Sydney was a little tricky. We didn't know where we were going and the people we were following to the festival apparently didn't either which meant frequently changing lanes at very short notice in rather a lot of traffic. Once we got out of Sydney the scenery was beautiful. The festival was in a valley surrounded by beautiful hills and rivers. When we drove in there was a kangaroo standing next to what later that evening would be the dance tent. We didn't see it again! There were only 10,000 people and there was a really relaxed feel to the whole weekend. There was a swimming pool as it was held in a holiday park although we didn't go in it after the first day because it had changed from being nice and clear to a murky brown colour. Looking at the colour of my feet in the mornings I could see why! One of the tents had some unusual additions for a festival - small beds around the edge, a couple of table tennis tables and table football. When the bands were playing everyone just danced around them. I reckon other festivals should have things like that too. The weather was lovely and hot and although I only knew one of the bands that were playing the music was mostly really good. There was even some random guy on the side of a path playing his drum, cymbal and washing up bowl.
From the festival we drove north to Barrington Tops National Park. We spent our first night as high as we could go before it got dark. With no one else for miles around and surrounded by rain forest and beautiful views (although these we didn't fully appreciate until the morning as the weather when we arrived wasn't too good) it was so peaceful. The next day the sun came out and we went walking through the rain forest down a really steep long hill to a couple of waterfalls. We were intending to walk a lot further but when we got to the waterfalls we discovered that leaches were finding us quite attractive and the further we walked the more we would find. After many frequent and hysterical screams after finding one or more often than not four or five climbing up my shoe or about to bite my ankle or leg, and John (who's reactions were rather calmer) constantly finding them all over his trousers we decided to turn back and retrace our steps as fast as we could all the way back up the hill to the camper van at the top. I thought that we were relatively safe by the van and went a little way into the forest to go to the toilet. As I crouched down I saw directly beneath me the hugest leach I have ever seen - absolutely terrifying! We had planned to climb one of the near by mountains the next day but abandoned this idea and headed off to see different parts of the park, most of the time from the safety of our camper van.
When we left Barrington tops we headed back to the coast and continued our journey North passing yet more beautiful beaches. We spent a night at a place called Crowdy Bay where we walked for hours along the beach without seeing anybody at all and could hear the sea from our van as we went to sleep. When we got further North we headed inland again to a little town called Nimbin. Here when you walk down the street which is lined with multicoloured shop fronts there is an almost constant smell of cannabis. There's a strange museum which is kind of hard to work out what exactly it is that you're supposed to be looking at and many little cafes and relaxed friendly people. Sadly it looked like most of the people who worked in the shops and cafes had taken more than a little too much of something other than cannabis. We stayed at a really nice quiet campsite which lead down to a river where apparently sometimes you can see a platterpus. We were told the best times to see it were the early morning - which wasn't really an option for us - and just before it got dark. We only stayed a couple nights and we forgot to go down on the first night and on the second night John remembered but by the time we got to the river it had got dark so we never did get to meet it. We did however see a wallaby and next to where we parked our van were three beautiful baby cannabis plants. I don't think our campsite could have been better in any way!
From Nimbin we drove back to the coast to Byron Bay. I'd been here when I came to Australia when I was 8 but it was very different to what I remembered. There's a light house on top of a cliff and two long beaches either side. We hired surf boards for a day and have managed to master standing up. There was a pub there that in the evening the tables and benches all turned into the dance floor which was quite funny and something that I doubt you would find in England.
We continued up the coast stopping of on Mt Tamborine to see my Uncle and then onto Brisbane where we left our van and moved into a hostel for a few nights before John flew home and I went back to Mt Tamborine.