Campers Road Trips

[Camper]

New day and I decided to head back towards Byron and Broken Head, Broken Head is just south of Byron, some dirt roads to get in but easy driving.

I had gotten a tip about Whites Beach, really glad as it turned out to be beautiful;

ps. the beach before Whites, "Kings Beach" is a gay nudist beach, once again happy I got the tip beforehand and did not walk into that, the sign does not mention it.


























So I hadn't expected it to be this good, nor to spend much time down here, I had only brought a bottle of water, no towel/swimmers etc. after a bit of indecision and not seeing anyone else I stripped off and jumped in for a swim, water was warm enough but the breeze was fresh!

Had a nice swim, dried off on the rocks, got dressed and chilled out listening to music on my phone when I saw some Dolphins come past, sat a bit longer and saw multiple Whales out to sea, that did it, I was going nowhere for a bit. Was never quick enough to get a photo of the whales plus they were a bit far out for my camera, still beautiful to watch. Ended up spending 4 hours lazing about.

Eventually some other people came down, first group were some french backpackers, one of the girls stripped off and jumped in in front of me, gotta love the Europeans.

It started to get a bit crowded so I wandered off in a haze of happiness, a great start to the day.

[Camper]

.

After a bit more of a look around Byron Bay I headed out towards Nimbin, through the Nightcap Range National Park.

Stopped in at Rummery Campground to see if I wanted to camp there the next night, nice spot in the forest but no views/water etc. and there was some building/road works happening. So I kept driving, had a look at the Minyon Falls carpark but did not do the walk as it was getting late. I did not get back to the falls and now regret it.

I've gotta say the back roads in Byron Bay shire are some of the worst I've seen, tarred but so full of deep pot holes that you have no chance of doing the 80kph speed limit - most times I was around 40, talking to locals people break rims constantly.








Looking back out to sea





Deep in the forest





NO CAMPING!








Nimbin caravan park, pretty standard, clean - good facilities, only a few permanents, good views of the mountains behind Nimbin.


Stayed the night in Nimbin, went for a walk along the main street through the Embassy and museums etc. nice little town, more kids around than most country towns - lots of hippies, everyone seemed friendly.
Didn't see any junkies, a few undercover police, easy to spot.

Went to the bowls club for a few beers that night, quiet club. Was stood outside drinking a beer when 3 cop cars came screaming up, cops pile out and chase some people.
I read in the local paper that a 3 month police operation recently caught 31 locals for dealing weed, they used hidden cameras around town... as far as I could tell the cops did not prosecute the people buying the weed, bus's still run dialy from Byron full of backpackers.

[Kiwivan]

Beauty pics mate
Thanks for sharing
How much fuel did you use?

Cheers Kiwivan

[Camper]

How much fuel did you use?

Cheers Kiwivan

That trip, 2 tanks so near 150L over 5 days, I did lots of roaming around, the next day of this trip that I will post tomorrow I spent 6 hrs within 80 km, just looking around at the back roads through the Nightcap Range, Rocky creek dam and Protester falls.

Plus towards the end of the trip I went from the Gold Coast to Brisbane and back in the same day to see a comedy gig and drink with a mate. Was actually caught up in a police chase on the motorway on the way to Brisbane and was late to the gig!

I average around 7 - 8L per 100 Ks for combined flat/hilly roads as long as I don't put the boot in. I try to use 98 octane if on the highway so it costs around $90 a tank, I make up for it in cheap lodging.

I'm nearly at 20, 000 Ks already, the car turns 1 in November (factory date)

- - - Updated - - -

Just checked, I picked up the car March 11th so less than 5 months!

[Valencia]

That would be over due for a service by now ?

[Camper]

That would be over due for a service by now ?

Has had a 15, 000K service, next at 30, 000 and every 15, 000 after, capped at $240 for life

[Kiwivan]

Our old girl we get 7.5ks to the litre
Or in my old speak just over 21 miles to the old gallon.
Quite happy with how she runs.
And as you say we also make up for it with cheap accommodation

Cheers Kiwivan

[wbute]

Has had a 15, 000K service, next at 30, 000 and every 15, 000 after, capped at $240 for life

15000? Wow. They stretch them further and further. The amount of K's your doing it is probably ok. Imagine doing 15K around town over a year though! It's not going to end well no matter what the marketing gurus say.

[Valencia]

15000? Wow. They stretch them further and further. The amount of K's your doing it is probably ok. Imagine doing 15K around town over a year though! It's not going to end well no matter what the marketing gurus say.

Each to there own but with the LS3 engine in my SS ute my mechanic dropped my oil and filter at 2000 km from new then again at 10000km and i will keep changing it every 10000 km anal maybe but i know these engines like clean oil and i run Penrite fully synthetic oil expensive at $200 for 20 litres but i intend to keep this ute for a long long time
I wouldnt trust a dealer with my cars ever

[Camper]

Next morning and I had to hang around til the caravan park office opened to get my $10 toilet block key deposit back, then it was up into the hills heading to Protester falls.






I got sidetracked and ended up wandering all over the mountain range








Looking back down over the Nimbin valley





I couldn't figure out how to get across the valley and into this area with the big sandstone cliffs - seems the locals have brought a lot of the land to keep the farmers out, I also couldn't get into Tuntable Falls.

Not much to say on the roads, but the views were nice







This little creek crossing had me enchanted






The forest closed in as I got closer to the falls





The creek crossings became magical








The walk to the falls is beautiful











Some big trees and really impressive sized palms, I have not seen their like before










There are 2 smaller sets of falls before the main one








You can just the path top left, it follows the creek along the bottom of a valley towards the falls