Got up early to see the sunrise. Even though it was very low cloud and it was raining during the night, the sun did keep popping through.

Again, the beach that looked deserted was full of life as the sand crabs kept peeping out of their holes.

Time for breakfast, coffee, pack up camp and hit the road. Still no elusive koalas but we did see plenty of other wildlife. One side of the road was the Macleay River we were following and on the opposite side were huge farms with the occasional banana plantation. We also knew we were very close to all the vineyards, but decided not to take a detour through them.

Our route was mapped out to take scenic routes 12, 16 and 17. The local  surfer’s shower block was closed for cleaning so we planned a stop for West Rocks.

After the shower and cheekily washing some clothes in them, we were on our way once more. This time clean and refreshed.

We stopped and had our picnic at Urunga. What a wonderful place with all it’s boardwalks. It’s all being reconstructed as the old ones were washed away in the floods of 2022. Once the new steel walkways are finished you will be able to walk for miles, taking you across the river, sea and mangroves, with an abundance of diverse marine life and wildlife. We walked a small part of it then decided to go down the steps and walk across the sand With the low tide in, keeping a close eye on anything lurking in the shallow waters.

Continuing on our scenic journey into the National Park and headed for Bookoom campsite.

After setting up the tent we went to survey our surroundings, heading straight for the beach.

We returned to the campsite to find two curious visitors hanging around our tent.

Dinner, cards and an early night to catch tomorrow’s sunrise

We also had a camping neighbour, Ociana, come and have a chat and a glass of our boxed wine, which had lasted us well.