Coffs Harbour and Yamba

June 11 – Coffs Harbour

The morning started off with rain and eggs Benedict yum! Nice to have a couple of mornings of change for breakfast. When we set out from South West Rocks it looked like the day might brighten up but our hops were quickly dashed by rain, rain and more rain. We arrived in Coffs Harbour and went into the info center. The towns is more known for it's lovely outdoors scene and since it was a public holiday the library was also closed. We asked about a good place for lunch and a beer and were directed to the Deep Sea Fishing Club. Beau and I got a jug and a window seat. The view would be lovely on a gorgeous day; it overlooked the historic jetty and bay. There was supposed to be free wifi but with the rain and wind it wasn't working properly. We split a pizza and another jug before heading out. We went into McD's for some quick internet and $1 fries. We found a holiday park up the road and checked in there for the night. It was raining so hard out we started taking on water. The roof vent usually leaks a little but it was dripping pretty good. Also, the roof at the end of the van, right where the pop top connects, dripping... on the bed. We scrambled for buckets and to mop up the drips. When the rain let up we grabbed our tarp out and put it over top of the van thinking it would help which it did. We figured we had done the best we could so we went out to make dinner. We combined beans, corn, tomato and avo into a wrap with cheese and made burrito like things. We are getting good at coming up with new ideas. We headed back to the van and didn't discover any new leaks although there was still a little bit of water coming in. Well we'll have to cross our fingers that it doesn't rain too hard over night... gulp 

Coffs Harbour Historic Jetty

June 12 – Yamba

Unfortunately our tarping didn't work out quite as well as we hoped and water still got in and dripped on the bed. Uggg and it's still raining. We investigated the source of our leak and it looks like the incorrect screws were used at some point to attach the pop top support at the back and water was dripping through the hole in the fibreglass. At least we know what the problem is now so when we eventually dry out we can fix it. We had breakfast and showered before heading out to the library. It's good to get caught up on the internet indoors while it's raining. It doesn't torrentially rain all the time, more bipolar with the sun out one minute and then crazy rain the next. We got sort of updated and then went to the grocery store. We also bought a box of wine so we'll see how that goes. We travelled about 120km today to Yamba with a stop at Sandy Beach for a windy leftover bbq lunch. We found a reasonably priced park in Yamba and got ourselves set up for the night. We assumed it would continue to rain so we set up the tarp again except with our posts to hold it up too. There was an indoor camp kitchen where we made dinner and watched a bit of the news and Myth Busters before heading back to the van for some bed time reading.

June 13 – Yamba to Byron Bay

We made some awesome egg mcmuffins for breakfast this morning. They had sausage patties, cheese and egg with onion, garlic and broccoli inside. While eating breakfast we watched the news and ended up getting pretty wrapped up in it, before we knew it it was almost 10 and we had to get out of the park. After a hasty departure we drove into town. We parked the van and started walking along the waterfront and out onto the breakwall. Some pretty major breakwalls were built here in order to create a deep sea shipping port. The ocean was extremely rough and the sky over the ocean was very black. Over land though there was patchy blue sky and the weather didn't seem to be coming in land at all. We walked out fairly far onto the southern breakwall, on the way back a huge wave hit the wall and we got majorly splashed. My body mostly shielded my camera and Beau. I had a huge wet patch on my left arm, back, and thigh as well as a big hunk of hair on my face. It wasn't a pretty sight. We headed back to the van and I started strategically placing my wet things in the van to dry. Fortunately it's warm enough out of the wind to just be in my t-shirt. We popped into a campstore in town and bought some waterproofing spray for the van. Now all we need is for it stop raining. We headed out of town and on to Byron Bay. We got off the highway in Ballina and stopped into the McD's for a quick e-mail check. While there we splurged on a 30 cent soft ice cream. We did some recon on caravan parks around Byron and were at first unimpressed with the options but we scored on one that was just out of town that had a 2 for 1 deal going on and free wifi. Done! Since the place was on our way into Byron Bay we checked into the park first and then made a late lunch. We got some tourist information for the lady at reception and saw a poster for the Byron Bay Brewery. We headed over to the brewery for some $3 schooners. Beau had a dark weisse and I had the Blonde. We also tried their brown ale. Later we ordered a pizza and two more schooners before the end of happy hour. I had the Pilsner and Beau the Premium Ale. After pizza and beer we headed back to the holiday park and lazed around in the van wasting time on the internet.

Yamba

The Breakwall

Auckland to Mt Maunganui

Feb 10 – Sushi

After many mornings of oatmeal I was super stoked to make crepes for breakfast. While I was cooking Beau got started on folding our laundry which was strewn around Elaine's family room. I made up a batch of crepes for Beau, Shane and I but it became clear quickly that more crepes were needed. The boys asked nicely so I made a second batch of crepes after which we were stuffed. Shane had some errands to run and since it was relatively complicated to add another driver to the rental car Beau took Shane out on an excursion. In the mean time I showered and was sadly excited to do my hair. The guys got back and had found some of our sushi supplies for this evening. We dropped Shane off at work and picked Elaine up from work. I had to go in to get her and Elaine introduced me to some of her co-workers. Many of them thought we looked very alike. I think we look like sisters but it also played apart that my hair is about shoulder length as is Elaine's (we never have had the same length of hair) and I was wearing her clothes. We went into the seafood market to pick up some nice fresh salmon for sushi tonight. We popped back to the house so Elaine could change and we could stick the fish in the fridge then it was off to the airport. Mom and Dad had a three hour layover in Auckland on their way to Tahiti so we were meeting them for coffee. We got to the airport, during rush hour, and Elaine and I went in to find the rents while Beau did laps in the car. We found Mom and Dad then walked outside right as Beau was coming around in the lot. We did get a dirty look from the traffic marshal as we quickly piled into the car. We headed to a near by shopping center and had coffee. We caught up on all that we had missed over the past few weeks and before we knew it it was time to take them back to the airport. We said our goodbyes as none of us know when we'll see each other next :( We popped into CountDown on the way home and picked up the rest of our sushi ingredients. Beau and I got started on our sushi prep which was relatively intensive with lots of chopping. We had salmon, shrimp, crab, sweet potato, carrot, cucumber, and avocado. We made a crap ton of sushi and gorged ourselves on it when it was finally done. It was way better to make it at home than to go out for it! After we decided to play a game of Trivia Pursuit. It was a good game and Elaine won, even in her sleep deprived state (she was up around 5am for work). After the game most of us headed to bed although Beau stayed up to work his website.

Yummy Sushi!

Feb 11 – Goat Island

Beau made seafood omelets for breakfast this morning with some of our left over sushi ingredients. After breakfast the three of us hung out for a bit. Elaine and I then headed out to the Green Stone Shop (Jade). We found a lovely pendant for Elaine's birthday and I bought myself some lovely jade earrings. We picked up some groceries for dinner and headed back to the house. Elaine and I made a yummy tuna melt sandwich for lunch but Beau had been pigging out on crackers and peanut butter so he declined. Once Shane had gotten home from work we set off for Goat Island Marine Reserve to go snorkeling. When we reached Goat Island it was starting to cloud over... boooo. Beau and I went snorkeling and saw lots of fishes but it was pretty chilly. I love my snorkel gear though, the mask is awesome and for what we paid for the rest it works pretty darn good. We went in then Elaine and Shane went out. I got showered and dressed while Beau chilled on the beach. Elaine and Shane came in and were totally pumped, they had seen a sting ray! The sun had hidden itself behind a big dark cloud so we headed up to the car and the other three got cleaned up. It started raining while they were getting changed so we got our snorkel in just in time. During our ride back into Auckland we discussed whether we should pick something up for dinner or still make bean burgers as planned. When we got back to the house we had decided to go ahead and make bean burgers. Elaine and I started on the burgers while the boys ran out to pick up lettuce and tomato. Man were they good. We were so stuffed, Beau could only eat one! The rest of the evening passed very quietly.

Goat Fish

Feb 12 – Shopping

This morning I made Elaine her promised crepes and I also made a pineapple ginger sauce to go with. The sauce turned out pretty good although it could have been more syrupy. Shane had to work at 10 so I made sure to be up in time so he could enjoy breakfast with us. After breakfast, clean up and showers Elaine and I headed down Queen street to do some shopping. We were shopping for my birthday present. We checked out a bunch of stores but unfortunately what's “in style” right now is awful. It's like 80's crossed with 50's mixed with pastels. Man am I glad this year I don't have to shop much. We did have fun in one store though. Elaine was bad and put the idea in my head that I could mail something home so we tried on some pretty dresses. We didn't get me one but that might change when I come back to Auckland. We were both famished so we headed back to the house and made left over bean burgers for lunch. After lunch we thought of another store to check out so decided to run out to them too. On our way out we ran into Shane on his way home for work. We didn't have any more luck with the other two stores but one way closed which didn't help. When we returned the boys were going to go for a walk. Beau and I had been talking about leaving Auckland tonight but we decided to stay even though we would have to park on the street over night and make sure we either moved or payed for parking. I started on my packing while they went walking. When the guys got back we started talking about what to do for dinner. We decided to go out and then proceeded to hunt through their entertainment book to find a deal. I was surprised and delighted to find a Thai-Laos restaurant nearby. We decided on this place and brought a bottle of wine with us. Many restaurants here allow BYO for wine for a small corking fee. The food was really good and they had sticky rice!! I was very excited to have sticky rice outside of Lao and to be able to share the fun with Elaine and Shane. After dinner we decided to pick up another bottle of wine and some ice cream, there was still pineapple ginger sauce left over from this morning. It was pouring rain out still (it started raining when we were trying to park for dinner) but Shane and Beau brought the car around for Elaine and I, such gentlemen. Back at Elaine and Shane's there were no handy parking spaces across the street so Beau had to park a fair ways away and book it back through the rain. We did have wine and ice cream at the ready when he got back in. We enjoyed our dessert with tv then headed to bed.

Feb 13 – Mt Maunganui

We left Auckland fairly early this morning. Elaine and Shane's room mates had returned the night before so we had to park on the street which is only free until 8am. Luckily Sam left with the car so we pulled into his spot for about half an hour to load up. We were on the road by 8:30. We were heading to Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty today. Along the way we stopped to buy some cheap gas and also got a deal on some avocados. We arrived in Mt Maunganui, which is just past Tauranga, and had a lovely Subway sandwich for lunch. We were full out of groceries and Subway is about the cheapest way for us to eat a healthy lunch. We wandered along the main drag checking out some of the little shops. It was fairly nice out at this point, it hadn't been promising earlier, so we decided to go for a walk around the base of Mt Maunganui. It was a leisurely 45-60min walk and was quite pretty. There were some other walks you could do too but I didn't feel like climbing a mountain today. While on our walk we noticed some guys with parachutes above the mountain. I'm guessing they had jumped out of a plane or something because they were too high to have jumped from the mountain. It would be a pretty awesome view from up there. After our walk we headed back to the car and drove along the beachfront and took in the view of the beach, the cafes and the condos. We headed into Tauranga to find a grocery store. We were successful with a Pak 'n' Save and got loaded up. We were headed to the Matata DOC site for the night. As we were driving it started to rain. It hadn't stopped when we reached the camp site so we decided to attempt sleeping in the car. We got situated by a tree and set up the tarp between the car and the tree. Our little set up let us cook in the back of the car with the hatch open and kept us dry. We got lucky though and the rain let up for a but and the sun came out. Sadly we could still see rain clouds in the not too distant distance. We got everything done before it started to rain again and then we snuggled down into the back of the car for a relatively comfortable nights sleep.

@ Mt Maunganui

Pukeko wandering by the car, they are a raptor-like bird

"Snorkeling" and around Nha Trang

Nha Trang is supposed to have good diving and snorkeling.  I'm guessing where they take boat tours isn't the best as the snorkeling was crap.  We spent a day wandering Nha Trang and have since arrived in Da Lat.  I had a paniced moment last night when I noticed my laptop although plugged in was not charging.  Fortunately we easily found a computer repair store in Da Lat (I was shocked at how easy it was) the guy replaced the cord on my power adapter and $5 later I was good to go! I felt so much better that it was fixed to easily.

Oct 28 – Boat Trip

We signed up to go on a snorkeling boat trip tour today. We were to be picked up at 8:30ish so we hit up the Pho restaurant down the street for breakfast. We were picked up and taken down to the pier. At the pier there was many boats waiting to take people out to the islands. Luckily our boat wasn't packed full of people, probably about 20 people compared to the 40 odd on other boats. Our first stop was Hon Mieu with Tri Nguyen Aquarium. The aquarium is used to breed species and study them. We saw some sea turtles, eels and lots of other fish. Afterwards we boated along to Hon Mot where we got to go snorkeling. Unfortunately the equipment provided sucked and we didn't see all that much fishwise. A bit of a disappointment. The current was quiet strong so it was easy to float away, the swim back to the boat was quite a work out. From this island we continued on to Hon Mun where we stopped for lunch. Lunch was also disappointing, we expected a sea food lunch but I don't think there was anything sea foody involved. There was some live music from the crew which also involved people on the boat singing. After that nonsense we all got in the water again and hungout at the floating bar, they were giving out free vodka fruit juice so we all got involved. The floating bar was a lot of fun. From this island we continued on to Hon Tam where we went ashore to chill on the beach. The sun had kind of gone in and the tide was high so there wasn't much beach to speak of. We played some cards with a nice Dutch couple we taught them asshole. We got back on the boat and were taken back to the harbour and the hotel. We made plans to meet up with the Dutch couple after dinner. Beau and I were craving burgers. We've been trying to eat Vietnamese as much as possible but we both were dying for a burger. We got a tasty, albeit thin, burger and some cheap beers for dinner. We met up with the Dutch couple, got some jars of alcohol and played some more asshole. It ended up being a good day and night even though the tour wasn't quite as expected.

The Aquarium

Me snorkeling

Our boat with Funky Monkey Tours

Oct 29 – Around Nha Trang

We were going to book our bus ticket to Da Lat for today but the bus was apparently full so we must wait till tomorrow. That did mean we got to sleep in! We weren't sure what to do with our day, Beau was talking about going to some waterfall but I preferred to check out Nha Trang city. It was probably a good thing we didn't rent another motorcycle because it rained on and off till late afternoon. We were undercover eating breakfast when the first down pour occurred. It was torrential. The rain stopped so we set off to pick up more sunscreen and shampoo. Don't worry Mom I'm wearing sunscreen everyday and making Beau too. After making our purchases we started walking along the beach.  It started raining lightly but we figured it would pour on us sooner or later. We back tracked to an ice cream parlour and no sooner had we sat down the heavens opened. We had some nice ice cream, I think it was technically gelato, and played some cards while waiting for the rain to stop. We set off down the beach again without any trouble this time. It was a cloudy day with a lot of wind so not idea for swimming. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll down the beach. We had to detour back to the hotel because Beau had some bites on his foot and his sandals were irritating them, so we went back for Afterbite which turned into a nap. After having a little snooze the weather had cleared to reveal some sun and blue skies. We continued our wander down the beach and then came back up through the city. We found our way to the restaurant area and after checking out several menus we settled on one. It had good prices on food and beer. I had fish in a clay pot, it was sooooo good. Beau had a burger again which was also good, much meater than the night before but apparently not as tasty. I think I had the longer stick on this one. We ate pretty early since we hadn't had lunch so we wandered some more. We found another restaurant with inexpensive beer (I think we all know what our priority is, but it's cheaper than anything else) and settled down for a couple. The bar across the street had a costume party going on. I keep forgetting it's almost Halloween, Beau wants to dress up though. We had some onion rings to go with our beers, I was majorly craving them. We went back to the hotel but not before picking up some bus snacks for tomorrow. Our bus picks us up at 7am and doesn't arrive till 2pm. Tomorrows going to be a bit of a wasted day :(

View from Nha Trang beach

View from Nha Trang beach

A little sand crab, actually one of the larger ones we saw