3) The East Coast "vacation"

We innocently purchased a car from our friends Byron and Carolyn who left Oz a month ago after a sabbatical. Little did we know that here a Toyota Camry is considered a "large" car that feels to be wider than than the space allotted in a lane. We also successfully mis-underestimated (we HAVE to go someplace where they speak english!) the scale of the land. What was planned as a three day R&R ramble up from Canberra to Sydney to the Gold Coast turned into a race with time. However, Dirk and Marilyn took time to enjoy some fine pies at Fredo's (Nancy went for the veg, Dirk was tempted to try the rabbit mulligatawny and 'roo).

We also spent a night camped at Myall Lakes National Park, awakening to the calls of numerous unknown birds (we haven't un-earthed the Aussie bird book yet) and finding a wild dingo roaming nearby. We also saw 'roos (or were they wallabies?) grazing in a meadow! There are signs warning for koalas, but they have only sighted us as of yet.

The next day we heard (and saw) hundreds of Lorikeets at a Sikh temple, and spent the night at Corindi Beach watching a glorious electrical storm over the ocean. A beautiful sunrise started the next day of adventure.