Time to say aurevoir to the mountains and bonjour to the Gold Coast. Absolutely loved being  secluded so far in the wilderness but it was time to head for some sun, sand, a swim and a shower. The clouds were paticularly low today and the magnificent views we’d been treated to over the last few days wouldn’t have been possible today.

Where’s that wildlife?

Driving over a couple of hundred kilometres (approx 150miles) right through koala territory, well that’s what the signs keep telling us.  A cricked neck and googly eyes, with only a couple of false alarms to show for all that staring up in the eucalyptus trees.

Playing in the pond

It wasn’t all a wasted journey as we came across a pond with so much bird life it was deafening. But stood tall and proud on the perch in the middle of the water was another almighty pelican. By the time the camera was ready it was off the perch and having a paddle. 

Still no koalas, not for the want of looking.  Emergency stop as a water dragon was not letting anyone cross the bridge it was protecting by sunning on the road.  Eventually he moved and we followed the river and lakes passing through expansivefarmland.  Wait what’s that over there on that small island. 

After seeing the pelicans by the lake ït was time to stop for supplies.  As the supermarkets have free WiFi we tend to download all the pictures and do the blog while we are at them.  Usually there’s a coffee kiosk where the staff have always been happy to fill our flask with boiling water so I can make a cappuccino back at the car. 

Wait I see a koala.

We’ve been using Coles and Woolworths supermarkets on route to keep minimal supplies in the car because of the heat. Then filling as many water bottles as possible from the water stations, as the remote campsites we’re staying at don’t usually have drinking water.  Though very impressively they all have toilets usually ‘long drops’ and either electric or gas BBQ areas. They have picnic benches, covered and uncovered which is ideal as we only have a blanket and no chairs

Feeling smelly we stopped at Crescent Head to use the surfers showers as we’d been in the mountains trekking for three days, although we did have a swim by the waterfall.  Good to use soap and shampoo again. 

We took a short walk up around the very windy head and wondered what kind of night we were in for being so close to the sea. We arrived at Racecourse Campground, Goolawah Beach and started setting up camp but the tent felt like it was going to take off. We moved pitches and found a secluded spot elsewhere on the shore which was sheltered from all the elements yet with only a ten metre walk around the hedge to the beach.

Footsteps in the sand

Once setup we went for a nice walk along the beach.  No other footsteps to the left as all the surfers were toy the right corner for the big breaks.

We made dinner and had our picnic on the beach with a glass (cup) of red and a game of cards.

It was then we realised we were not alone.

Crazy sand fools

Can you guess what and who we are? Answers on a postcard please.