Crescent Head 2024/2025

Christmas 2025

Just a quick recap for Christmas. It works out well between my family and Kelly’s family. We have Christmas Eve dinner with my mum, then I drop her off at her mum’s place afterwards. Then on Christmas day, I pick her up and have lunch with my family. Then we go and have dinner with her family. It’s a fair bit of driving in one day, but I think it’s worth it for both of us to be able to spend Christmas with our families.

The Plan

Our holiday plan consisted of us departing Sydney on the 27th Dec. We would spend a few days in Crescent head, then head to Coffs Harbour for New Years, then head back down to Crescent head for a few days before heading home.

Port Macquarie

We departed Sydney around 0730. We had a plan to stop at Port Macquarie to do some grocery shopping, have lunch. I was hoping that departing around that time, the roads would be fairly quiet. It was. Even the M1 was pretty reasonable. That was until we got to Tarro. The traffic was backed up. Kelly did find a way around through Beresfield and we rejoined the highway at Raymond Terrace. We thought we were in the clear as there was no traffic I was able to get to the speed limit. But it was short lived. There was an accident up ahead and we were stuck in a very slow crawl for a long time. There were police, fire trucks and tow trucks going past in the breakdown lane. I thought it was only northbound that was affected, but once we drove past the scene we saw the traffic backed up in the southbound lane too. It added probably an hour or so to the drive. But after that, it was a pretty smooth ride all the way.

I have been to Port Macquarie a few times when I was younger. My friends and I actually went there for schoolies. We called it schoolies but it wasn’t an official ‘schoolies’ thing. Someone suggested to go there because of the beaches and I agreed. It was a great time though and I had gone back a few times after that because I enjoyed it so much there. We stopped at Flynn’s beach as that’s where I had stayed a few times before so I wanted to get a bit nostalgic. The drive up was a bit wet but once we got to Port Macquarie it was sunny and blue sky. We had lunch right on the beach at a cafe called the Sandbox. The food was alright. Kelly wasn’t a big fan of the coffee though. It was a nice setting and view. Although it was such a nice day there weren’t many on the beach. This was the first sign that we were definitely not in Sydney anymore.

After lunch, we headed to Coles and did our grocery shopping. We were only buying food for ourselves even though there were several other people that were going to be at the house. This was the easiest option for everyone. It was nice being in Port again. Would love to spend a few nights there in the future.

Killick Creek

After we arrived at the house, we unpacked and said our hello’s to everyone that was there at the house. Kelly’s mum, sister and her family and some relatives were already there. It’s a decent sized property and the relatives had caravan’s, trailers so they stayed on the property and not in the house. Kelly was keen to go for a swim already so we headed out. We were tossing up between driving and walking. It’s a short drive to the beach but you can also walk through the creek. We decided to do the walk. We were told that Kelly’s brother in law Rod, was at the creek fishing so we thought we’d walk that way and say hello if we ran into him.

It’s a very short walk from the house to the creek. It was low tide so we could see quite a bit of sand and a few people walking through with the water barely coming up to their knee. We didn’t see Rod but decided to walk through the creek towards the main beach. It was pretty cool being able to walk through it at low tide. As mentioned, the water was pretty shallow, only one point where it came up to our knees, but then again, we aren’t very tall people. We actually did run into Rod on the way. He didn’t catch any fish so he was looking for a different location to try again. After saying hello we continued on. Despite looking down and watching what I was walking on, I stepped on something sharp which did cause my foot to bleed a little.

Soon enough we reached the main part of the creek where people had setup their cabana’s and where they were swimming. We continued walking through to the main beach. Majority of people were at the creek. There were still a few people on the beach but everyone was so spread out that it felt pretty quiet. There were quite a few dogs running around. We put on sunscreen and sat down to wait for a little bit before going into the water. There was a couple playing fetch with their dogs in front of us. One time the dog, having the ball in its mouth was heading back to the owners, slowed down and headed towards me and Kelly, but then went to the owners. He dropped the ball and the guy threw the ball again. The dog gave chase, grabbed the ball but then headed towards me and Kelly again, dropped the ball in front of us and started peeing in front of me. It didn’t get me but was pretty close. The owners came and apologised. Afterwards I did make a joke to Kelly saying that the dog must’ve been racist to do that to me.

We headed into the water, but because it was low tide, we had to walk out quite a bit to get to where the waves were. Even though there were a few waves, they were somewhat small. I tried catching a few but, they weren’t powerful enough to keep momentum. It was a nice relaxing afternoon though especially after driving for most of the day. We headed back home the same way through the creek.

Big Hill Beach

The next morning, they decided to go to Big Hill beach. I don’t really know the area at all, so I was just going along with them. Kelly’s mum jumped into the car with us and we headed down the back roads. Friends of mine had their wedding at Crescent head at a place called Rancho Relaxo. Back then the road there was a dirt road. I had a WRX then and driving that on the dirt road gave me quite a bit of anxiety. But it was a really nice spot, very scenic. But now it was a paved road so a lot more accessible for everyone. Big Hill beach is at the very end of the paved road. There is a sign saying 4WD’s only beyond. I’ll get to that a bit later. But a long the back roads, there are a few beaches. Kelly and her family have been going there for years so they know where to go, where to park. They know of some rock pools that most people might not know about either. Her youngest brother Steven also knows a beach which he calls ‘Secret’ beach because it’s so quiet and secluded.

The parking seemed pretty full already. There is actually a ramp, although not maintained anymore and very broken, but I was told that you used to be able to drive on the beach there and that was the ramp to get on and off the beach. You can easily park on the side of the road though so that’s what we did. Kelly and her mum wanted to do the rainforest walk first so we did. Kelly’s sister Belinda and her son Kai also joined us. It was an easy walk and there was a nice open area where we took this picture.

We then headed back into the rainforest and the noise from all the animals, mainly cicadas was almost deafening. It was so loud. The track was a loop and we ended back at the main car park. We then made our way onto the beach and had a swim. The wasn’t much waves at all and the water was pretty cold. We stayed for a little bit but then made our way back to the house for lunch.

Smoky Cape Lighthouse

This was on my list of things we could do. It was about a 40min drive which isn’t too bad. It seemed pretty quiet when we got there. Plenty of parking. There’s a picnic area with tables nearby. Being up high we could see a beach down below. It looked amazing. Clear blue water and we only spotted maybe 2 people there. We did see there was a track there which didn’t seem too long. But we headed up towards the light house. Around the middle point of the climb, there’s another great view of the beach below.

The climb isn’t too hard, the view from the top was ok. You can see South Smoky Beach where there were several cars driving. It’s a long stretch of beach so it was good to be able to see all of it from up top. However you couldn’t see North Smoky beach which was the clear blue water beach I mentioned previously. We went back to the start of the North Smoky Beach track. We were contemplating going down, but it was getting a bit late in the afternoon and one of Kelly’s Aunts had booked dinner for everyone at 1900. We didn’t want to be late so we headed back home.

La Costa Cantina - The Med

The restaurant is located in the Med resort. It’s a nice setting, outside but undercover. We had corn chips with salsa for our starter. Everyone seemed to be getting either this or fries for the starters. Kelly and I had the quesadillas, mine was the chicken and hers was the jackfruit. I did like mine. Although I have had better in Sydney. Kelly said hers was ok, she said the jackfruit tasted like something from a can and not fresh which didn’t make the taste appealing. Luckily with kids being around we were ablet to steal quite a bit of their fries. So the food was decent, but it was a good and social night as everyone usually does their own thing, both during the day and for meals, so it was nice for everyone to be able to be together for a dinner. There was even a musician playing as well. We didn’t stay too long as I started getting bitten by mozzies.

Hat Head

This was another thing on my list of things to do. But Kelly was more than willing as she had heard of it being a good place to snorkel. The only downside was that high tide was around 0800 which meant leaving by 0700, which meant Kelly waking up at 0600. Kelly woke me up at 0620 and I got changed, had my cheese and bacon roll and we headed out. To get to the creek, you have to go through the Holiday Park. It was packed. There’s only a very small carpark at the end and most them say only for cars with trailers. We had gone past some other places we could’ve parked at but they all had boom gates that were down. I stopped in a trailer zone looking at my phone for where we could park, when a car left. So took that spot and knew that I was lucky to get it. We walked down to the beach side and there were a few people but not many as it was still a bit early in the morning. We then walked to the creek side where it was pretty empty.

The creek was a little different as it was shallow, ankle height, for quite a bit of it. We could see the blue water further in though. Once again, after putting on sunscreen, we sat for a bit. We watched the few people in the water and there were some snorkeling and some swimming. Some parts looked shallow and other parts looked deep. When we went in, we entered the water closer to the beach side. Once we were in the deeper water, it was crystal clear and so blue. It was amazing. There were rocks towards the banks and that’s where most of the fish were so that’s where we swam. We spent quite a bit of time in there. Kelly was loving it, trying to spot all different types of creatures. Of all the places that I’ve snorkeled, this was the most clear. It was clearer than Thailand, but in saying that, the times we did snorkel there it was cloudy or overcast, even one point it was thunder storming. But in any case, it was amazing, The water was calm too so I wasn’t worried about choppy waves and water getting into the snorkel. The tide was getting a bit strong and would take us towards the beach side. So we would get out, walk further down the creek, get in and let the tide take us as we snorkeled.

As we were having a rest on the beach. Belinda, Rod and the family showed up and joined us. The kids had their boogey boards and were playing with them. I tried floating with the boogey board but it wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be. Maybe it was too small for me. Kelly went back in to snorkel a bit more. I kept on going in and floating on my back, letting the tide take me out. It was so nice. But as the day went on, it got more and more busy. People just kept coming and coming. It was a great morning but we decided to head back home for lunch.

Killick Beach/4WD/Ryan’s Cut/The Red Lake

During Christmas with Kelly’s family, we talked about Crescent head. One of the things Rod and Melissa (Kelly’s eldest sister) wanted to do was drive on the beach. Neither had driven their own cars on the beach before. They have been in other people’s car though. Surprisingly they both have Nissan Navara’s. I did mention that I have been a few times on Stockton beach and Anna Bay. I had the deflaters and air compressor. So they were very keen to do it. Melissa wasn’t in Crescent head but Rod came out to do it, of course he brought the family as well. Kelly’s cousin Lachlan and his fiancé Nicole joined us in their previous gen Jimny too. The deflators I use are CampBoss. I highly recommend these deflators. It’s all screw in things. You just set the deflator to the psi that you want. Personally, when driving on the beach, I set it to 15psi. When researching on how to drive on the beach, there are a lot of opinions on what to drop the pressures to. Some say 20psi, some say 12psi. I think it’s more of a personal preference. I might be able to get away with 20psi, but in the case I get bogged, I’d have to drop it down more to get unstuck. I don’t have big tyres so going down to 12psi has an increased chance of the tyres coming off the rim. Yes the chances are still a little slim but it’s still there. So I find 15psi the sweet spot. It’s enough to get a decent contact patch and still gives me confidence that the tyre won’t get unseated. I haven’t driven heaps on the beach but been a few times and never had an issue with soft sand at 15psi.

As we were dropping our pressures, there were 2 utes exiting. We could see the entrance was pretty soft. They didn’t make it on their first attempts. They didn’t get bogged though. They reversed and just went on a different line and got out fine. We got onto the beach and the start was very soft. In fact most of it was soft. Seemed a lot softer than Stockton. I did make my way to the harder sand but also didn’t want to get to close to water. Our plan was to drive to the red lake. They used to be able to access it from the main road but it’s blocked off by a gate now. You can walk through but the path is overgrown, so this was the only way to properly access it. It is a little bit of a drive as we didn’t want to go too fast. The speed limit is 50kph anyway. On the main road it’s 80kph and you can get there within minutes. But we eventually got there and parked up.

I’ve never heard about this lake before but they all knew about it. It was very surreal seeing that colour water. There’s a red tinge to it on the surface and as you walk in, your feet and legs go from orange, to red to dark. I was trying to remember what it reminded me of. At first it was like oil. But in the end I realised it was just like coke. Apparently it’s meant to have healing properties, but who knows. We headed back to the car park to air up. It had been a while since I had driven on the beach so it was good to be out there again. It was Kelly’s first time, she still doesn’t see the hype about it, but it was good that she was there with me.

I was the only one with an air compressor. I have a single cylinder ARB one. It takes me about 20mins or so to fill my tyres up to 40psi. Lachlan, in his Jimny decided to head back into town and fill up at the servo as it was taking a while. Once I filled mine up, I passed the compressor to Rod. He did one tyre and while I was sitting in my car talking to Kelly and waiting. He called me over. I came over and the hose to the compressor had split and no air was getting through the hose to the tyre gauge. Rod had asked Belinda to hold the trigger on the tyre gauge down, thinking that it was putting in air in. But because there was no air going to the gauge, it was actually letting air out and all the air had come out from the tyre making it totally flat. Lachlan’s dad had compressor back at the house. So we took some of the kids with us, dropped them and Kelly off at the house and got Grant to come with his compressor. He only filled it to about 15 or 20 psi. Rod went to the servo to fill up the rest of the tyres. But I was pretty disappointed in the quality of it compressor. I have only used it a handful of times, beach driving and some off road driving at Turon river. It was under 2 years old.

Delicate Beach

This morning we went to Delicate beach. We only had the morning as we were heading to Coffs Harbour after lunch today. When we got to Delicate, we took a walk to the rocks to have a look. Kelly mentioned that at low tide, you can walk along the rocks to Delicate nobby. The rocks are pretty jagged and sharp. I wouldn’t do it in thongs, let alone barefoot. It wasn’t low tide anyway and we just wanted to have a look. After the walk we had a swim. There were a lot of surfers there and I didn’t want to go right where the waves are to catch waves because I knew they’d get upset. It was still a nice morning swim. It was a little quiet but as we were walking back to the car, there were quite a few people making their way down to the beach, so we were leaving at the right time.

Rotary Lookout - Nambucca Heads

After lunch at the house, we headed up to Coffs Harbour. I did see that Kempsey had an ARB store so we went there first to enquire about the blown hose. Got there and it was closed. So we continued on. First stop was Rotary Lookout. Neither of us have been to Nambucca heads before so this lookout was a good way to take it all in. It was amazing. It was very pristine and clear, so picturesque. There’s even a lake next to the holiday park where you can sup, kayak or do whatever without worrying about tides.

Boambee Headland Lookout

Last top was Boambee Headland lookout. I didn’t realise but it’s a bit of a walk. We were only wearing thongs so we didn’t walk too far. But far enough to get good views of Boambee beach below. Saw a few cars on there so you are allowed to drive on it. After looking at the map again now, realised that there are two paths. There is a walking path that we did, but we could have driven up another road and that is another lookout there with no walk. Maybe next time. It would still be the same view though.

Boambee East - AirBNB

We wanted a quiet New Years to ourselves. This was the reason for heading up to Coffs Harbour (Boambee) and booking our own accommodation. There actually wasn’t many options that we liked when we were looking for a place. There was one resort with a nice pool but we were a bit wary about it being loud considering it was New Years. We found this place in Boambee. It looked really nice in the photos. Kelly messaged the host saying that we just wanted a quiet New Years and if it would be quiet at their place. The hosts could be wanting to have a party themselves so it was smart to ask. The host said they were having a quite New Years too and that the property was sound proof so we booked it.

With all bookings, you don’t know the address till the day or the day before. I didn’t know until I had to put it in the GPS after the Boambee lookout. I saw the street was a ‘close’ so a cul de sac which was great because they’re usually quiet. The whole suburb seemed pretty quiet actually. We got to the place and parked. Unpacked and headed down a few stairs. There’s a backyard but then beyond that is bushland. It was so quiet, peaceful and serene. There’s a nice balcony that looks out to the bushland with a long table to be able to eat on the balcony too. There were 2 camp chairs setup as well which were very comfy, more comfy than mine. The place itself was very nice. Decent sized kitchen, big lounge room. Big bedroom with big walk in robe and big bathroom complete with washing machine. No dryer though but they did have a clothes dryer that we setup on the balcony. The door separating the bedroom and the lounge room was a sliding door, but it was also the same between the bedroom and the bathroom. This was maybe the only downside of the property as with sliding doors, they don’t really block any sound.

Coffs Harbour - Amalfi Pizzeria

After doing some washing and relaxing on the balcony, we headed to Coffs Harbour for dinner. But we stopped by the jetty first to have a look. It was nice, there was also a festival in the park with rides and food. It looked interesting and it was free entry. You just had to pay for tickets to go on the rides. After a quick walk along the water we went looking for food. Initially Kelly wanted Thai. We found a place but as we drove past, she didn’t like the look of it. I parked nearby the restaurant anyway as there were a few other places around. We ended up eating at Amalfi Pizzeria. It was still a warm afternoon so Kelly wanted to sit outside. We got garlic bread, Kelly got pasta and I got a pizza. It was good. We both liked everything. One downside was that they initially had run out of coke, they got some more and put it in the fridge but it wasn’t cold. I asked if I could get a glass with ice but they didn’t have ice. In the end I still had the coke and it was fine. They did have a good menu and I would like to go back and try a different kind of pizza.

Waterfall Way

In my research on things to do while in Coffs, I found that there were quite a few waterfalls nearby. There was also Dorrigo National Park. I had heard good things about it. So I planned out a day. At first I did have Cathedral rocks and the hike first on the list. But the drive there was already 2 hours, plus the hike was going to be maybe 2 hours and I still wanted to do some other things too and was already running out of time. Maybe one day we’ll do it.

Beech Lookout/Point Lookout - New England National Park

It was dirt roads and very dusty on the way to both lookouts. At Beech lookout we were the only ones there. It was very quiet, very green. The view wasn’t all that good though. Point lookout was a little better being able to see more.

Ebor Falls

Next stop was Ebor Falls. We first parked at the upper falls. There’s a short walk to the lookout. But it’s been done up nicely. There’s some tables and chairs plus there’s a paved footpath to walk along which also connects to the lower falls lookout. We didn’t want to walk though so we just drove to the lower falls car park. It was pretty much empty and we both agreed it was a nicer view because you can see both upper and lower falls, although it look a bit far away compared to the upper falls view which was pretty close.

Dangar Falls

It was on to Dangar falls. Following the GPS, plus the road signs, just driving through farm land, then all of a sudden there’s a car park where there’s thigs massive water fall. There’s not really any mountains so you wouldn’t expect a waterfall to just be there. It was pretty amazing though. We did see people swimming and going behind the waterfall. We were up high and you can follow a path down to the bottom. It was cold though. You are up high and because of the altitude it’s a lot cooler. Back at the accommodation it was around 27 deg. Up there it was 18 deg. I wasn’t sure if we would swim or not, but seeing the temperature up there, it would be even colder in the water so we didn’t swim.

Components Cafe

I researched a few places for lunch. This was the main one I put down due to the location plus they had a few options for Kelly. We were there a little earlier that normal lunch but it was good because it didn’t seem too busy and we were able to get a seat. They didn’t have fresh juices though. Kelly had the blueberry bagel and I had the Cheeseburger. Both were ok. Kelly did like the coffee there though.

Skywalk Lookout/Crystal Falls - Dorrigo National Park

Next and last stop was Dorrigo National Park. We did the skywalk lookout. Of course there was a massive family which took 100 photos of themselves causing a line up of people to get to the end to enjoy the view. It was an ok view. Didn’t seem anything special. But we went on to the track towards Crystal Falls. It was really nice walking through there, so green with the towering trees barely letting any sunlight in and keeping the temperature cool. It was a bit of a walk but we finally got to Crystal Falls. It was really picturesque. When we got there we did see a few people behind the waterfall. There’s a gate that leads to a path to get behind it. It’s open and you are allowed to walk there. I did the walk but it was pretty muddy and I had to use the rocks to stay out of the mud. It was pretty cool going behind the waterfall though. You can continue along the path towards Tristania Falls but that was another 4km there. From there you could either return back through Crystal falls or continue with the loop which looks like another 6km or so. Don’t take my word for it but on the map it looks like a pretty long distance. We just headed back to the car. It was a little uphill so we did get a bit hot towards the end.

Side Story

I wasn’t sure what time we’d be finishing the day, but we did finish a little earlier than I anticipated. So I dropped Kelly off at the AirBNB and went to a few 4x4 places to see if I could get my compressor hose fixed. The first one I went to said they didn’t have any fittings that were the same. He did try getting the rest of the hose out from the air fitting but no point since he didn’t have any replacements. The next one I went to said they didn’t sell fittings like that but that ARB was just close by. I didn’t know they had an ARB there. So went there and of course it was closed.

New Years Eve

After returning back to our AirBNB. We relaxed for a bit enjoying the balcony again. Their cat also came to say hello. It was friendly. We thought about having dinner outside but we knew there would be insects about so we just stayed inside. We had an early dinner and finished a movie that we had started the night before called Greenland. After a bit of a break, we started looking for the movie for the night. Initially I had picked Carry On, which is a thriller. But Kelly wanted something a bit less intense. We came across Blended, a movie which I love. She watched the trailer and liked it. So we heated up the popcorn and started the movie. Not long after the movie started, we had run out of popcorn so it was time to heat up the second bag. We didn’t go for a third bag though. So that was our New Years, a movie night in with popcorn.

Forest Sky Pier/Big Banana

In the morning we cleaned up, packed up and checked out. We headed to Forest Sky Pier. It’s a lookout in the hills past the big banana. It was a nice lookout, you could see Coffs Harbour plus the ocean. When researching it, it always seemed to be empty, but today there were a few people around. The Tree Tops adventure is also up this way too.

Kelly was previously in Coffs for work but she didn’t visit the Big Banana, only took a photo of it from across the road. She wanted a smoothie from there so we headed there. We found parking pretty easily which surprised me. We were able to get a photo together with the Big Banana. When we got there, there was no line. I did hear others waiting for awhile for their turn to get a photo. Afterwards we went and ordered smoothies. Kelly got a banana one and I got Mango one. We did wait quite a while for them. I did like my mango one, Kelly’s banana one was ok, not really up there. But neither were worth the wait.

North Smoky Beach

We both liked the look of North Smoky beach from our climb up to the lighthouse. So we wanted to come back and have a swim. The track wasn’t too long there are stairs at the very end but not steep. There were a few people around, but everyone was very spread out. Not much shade at all and the little shade that was there, was already taken by people. I didn’t bring my cabana but we did find some shade underneath some trees. We went in for a swim and it was incredible. The water was so clear and so blue. It wasn’t deep and the waves had enough punch to carry you a bit when you caught them. There were a few rocks at the southern end which Kelly went to explore after her swim. I stayed in and managed to catch quite a few waves.

After spending quite a bit of time in the water, I headed to the rocks where Kelly was. There was a small rock pool where she was watching the different types of creatures swim by. When then dried off a bit and headed back up the track. This was my favourite beach. Quiet, clear, beautiful. If we’re up that way, would definitely come back again. The walk isn’t far at all and I’d even bring my cabana next time too. We headed back to Crescent head after this.

South West Rocks

Being the 1st day of the year, we knew that it would be hard to get food from a cafe or any take away shop. Plus there would be a public holiday surcharge. Kelly got some bread from Woolies the day before and made a baguette sandwich this morning to have for lunch. I didn’t have any food but was happy to get something small from a servo or something similar. I wanted to visit South West Rocks because I had never been there before and have heard great things about it. It’s right next to Smoky beach so it made sense to at least visit it.

At first, we drove to the main beach. Going past the cafe’s and shops, it was packed. There didn’t seem to be much parking as well which was what I anticipated anyway. I did find a servo but as I pulled in, I did find an IGA as well. I went in there but they didn’t have much at all. I ended up going to the servo and getting a sausage roll. We then went down to the creek. There was a few parking spots available which surprised me but instead, found a driveway which led to an open grass area which several people had parked on including motor homes and caravans. So we parked there. I got the double camping chair out and we sat under some trees and had our lunch.

We then went for a walk along the creek. It was pretty similar to crescent head as they have a bridge crossing the creek. Towards the far side, the bridge is raised quite a bit over the water. There were several people jumping into the water as this part. It looked like low tide but must be deep enough at that point for them to be able to jump in. As we walked further along towards the ocean, there is a pier where people were fishing plus jumping into the water. The tide seemed strong going out to the ocean. So they would jump in, let the tide take them a bit then get out a a nearby ramp. We got to the ocean side and it the view was ruined a little by a big crane as they were doing some excavation. We couldn’t see the main beach from that side but there was a walk way which would go around. Swimming in the creek was on my list of things to do, but we weren’t up for a swim today. Maybe next time. We headed back to the car then back to the house at Crescent head.

Little Nobby - Crescent Head

Woke up very early to walk up to little nobby to watch the sunrise. It was very scenic, although it was a bit too cloudy, we still saw some amazing colours and was still such a beautiful sight to see.

Port Macquarie - Bels Bakery/Coastal Walk

I still wanted to do some more beach driving but didn’t want to do it without my air compressor working. We had called up ARB in Port Macquarie the other day while at Coffs to see if they were open on the 2nd and they said they were. So after our sunrise walk, we headed to Port. We stopped for breakfast at Bels Bakery. They had a lot of trophies from their pies. Because it was breakfast, neither of us felt like a pie so early. I did eat a sausage roll though while Kelly had a pastie. We both would love to come back and try their pies though.

Since it was still early, Kelly wanted to do a bit of the coastal walk. We started off at Flynns beach and walked on several beaches following the coastline. It was pretty hot though walking along the beach with no shade. Very scenic and everyone was friendly, saying good morning. We got to Miners beach and headed up the stair case through to the Sea Acres walking track back to the main road. We stuck to the road to have a bit of shade as it was quite hot. It was a bit of a walk, took us around 1hr 20min.

We then headed to ARB. I showed them the hose and they said yes, that shouldn’t have happened. They asked if I had a receipt but of course I didn’t have one. I couldn’t even remember when I purchased it. She tried to look me up in the system but I wasn’t there. She said because it was just a fast transaction they probably didn’t bother putting me in there. If they had, I could’ve gotten a new hose from warranty. Instead I had to pay for a new hose but I got her to add me and the transaction into the system. The only downside is, if the actual compressor goes, I still won’t have warranty on that. But I had a new hose and was happy to be able to drive on the beach again.

Settlement City/Settlement Point Ferry/Plomer Road

After ARB, we headed to Woolies in Settlement city to do some grocery shopping before heading back to the house. We then got the ferry across to the Crescent head side which cost $8 one way. We went to Pelican Point/North Wall as Rod and Melissa said they were headed there. When we got there though, they weren’t there yet so started to head back. It’s the back roads and it’s 4WD only back to Crescent head. Rod did tell me previously that it was a fun track and that he didn’t drop his tyre pressures last time. At first it was a normal gravel track. Then there was some sand but nothing soft. Then the sand got softer and softer. Then I found myself bogged. I tried reversing and still couldn’t get out. Two cars arrived and surprisingly it was Rod and Melissa in their utes. I lowered my tyre pressures but still couldn’t get out. Tried my maxtraxx but couldn’t dig deep enough to get it under the wheels. Then some 4WD’s came behind me. One of them snatched me out. It didn’t take much at all to get out. Once I was out and able to get through the soft sand. There were a few more sections where it was soft sand and very undulating. It was a little bit of fun. But after trying to dig through sand and get myself out, I kind of wanted just to get back to the house and have a shower. Once we got back to big hill where the sealed road started, I aired back up.

The Rainy Day

We had been pretty lucky with the weather the whole time. There were a few days or half days where it was a bit cloudy and overcast. But we were always able to swim or do something outside. It also didn’t get too hot. Never reached above 30 really. Although sometimes in the sun it did feel well above 30. But today was the day for rain. It didn’t let up either till dusk. My car was parked on the street and the water level was just under the halfway point of my rims. It was crazy to see it that high. We didn’t do too much today. We did have plans to go to Port Macquarie and watch a movie. Belinda, Rod, Melissa’s friend Anika and all the kids went and watched Sonic 3. In the end we didn’t end up going and just stayed to enjoy a little peace and quiet without the kids. We did go to the bakery and Kelly got some sweets for after lunch. The bakery has a lineup on normal days, so being wet and with not much other options, the line was a lot longer. I luckily stayed in the car but it did feel like a long time to be waiting. At dusk when the rain had subsided, we did go for another walk to little nobby just to get out of the house and do something active.

Killick Beach/Killick Creek

Today was our last day before heading back to Sydney. It was a Saturday, I wanted a free day on Sunday just to unpack everything and relax a little before going back to work on the Monday. I had the plan to leave at 1600 so that by the time we got to Newcastle or Central Coast, it would be a bit later and there wouldn’t be much traffic. We did have a later start than I wanted. We had planned to go beach driving again as Melissa wanted to do drive on it with her car for the first time. Kelly wanted to go swimming at the main beach so I was planning to go beach driving in the morning then go for a swim around lunch time or just before lunch time, then head back to the house to pack.

But as mentioned, it was a later start than I wanted. Rod wanted to come along too and getting the kids organised is always tricky. Kelly and I headed off first and aired down when we got to the carpark. Rod and Melissa arrived shortly after and aired down too. We then headed onto the beach. I was hoping it would be harder sand because of the rain the day before, but it was just as soft as the last time we drove. It was still good though. We got to the red lake and the kids were swimming in there again. Kelly and I didn’t feel like swimming there again. It was hot so I got the awning out and my double camp chair and we just hung out in the shade. It was getting a bit late and we wanted to be at the creek at high tide so we left Rod and Melissa there. They said they’d follow us a bit later. Belinda was worried we would be stuck on the beach because high tide was almost upon us. Driving back there was only one part where the water was coming up on the sand, forcing me to go towards the dunes a bit, but nothing bad at all. It’s a wide beach and the tide isn’t know to go all the way to the dunes.

When we got to the creek it was packed. No parking. Dropped Kelly off so she could get her coffee from the surf club. She likes the coffee there. I found parking near the shops. It’s a short walk to the beach from there. Met up with Kelly and there was quite a few people standing on the footpath looking out at the water. Kelly told me that there was a shark sighting so no one was in the water. There was a drone hovering over the shark which didn’t seem so far away from us. Others said they saw it but we didn’t. So we walked across the bridge, dropped our stuff off and walked towards the beach. We could still see the drone. We walked closer to where the creek meets the ocean and got into the water. The tide was going back into the creek so we let it takes us back in. It was nice and clear. Not as blue as Hat Head but still nice to swim in. It didn’t seem like it got to deep, maybe a few cm above our heads but that was it. Most of the time we could stand on our tippy toes. After the swim we decided to get lunch, we had discussed getting chips from Crescence, which is like a bistro. I ordered a burger with chips and Kelly got medium chips. She had bread back at the house and wanted a chip sandwich. The guy who served us said that it would be about 40mins. And it did take 40mins. We got back to the house to eat and the chips were very good. Not sure if it was worth the wait though but Kelly warned me several times about the wait times.

Crescent Head - Sydney

Once we had finished lunch. We had to strip our beds, wash the sheets and hang them up. I packed the car up. The great thing about a 4WD SUV is how much you can fit in. There was still a lot of space left as well. It wasn’t actually filled to the brim despite having my fridge, power station, huge duffle bag, double camping chair and my maxxtrax. Along with Kelly’s suitcase, which is actually my July suitcase, air compressor box and some other things as well. I did fill up before getting on the M1 and we had V’s ready to go in the cup holders.

The plan was to stop at Heatherbrae for dinner. Of course it was flexible though. There wasn’t much traffic at all. It seemed normal really which was good. We got to Heatherbrae and neither of us were hungry. We didn’t want to just stop and force ourselves to have dinner because we were there so we skipped it and kept going. We both wanted a toilet after finishing our V’s so we stopped off at twin servos. I had Oporto and Kelly and Olivers. We continued on and we were getting close to the turn off onto Pacific Hwy. It was about 8 at this time. The M1 seemed like normal traffic not holiday traffic which was great. Then it was smooth ride all the way to Dee Why.