Mar 27, 2012 - ballina, beach and peace and quiet

About halfway to Brisbane is a little place called Ballina which we thought was a bit tatty when we first arrived but that was mainly because the bloke that directed us to the supermarket didn't know his left from his right and we ended up in the middle of nowhere, cock. Anyway we eventually found our campsite and it was fab, right on the river and really well set out so we were chuffed. Never the less we had to go to the supermarket and after finding that and getting back to the site realised that i forgot something so had to trek back, oh...

Aug 7, 2011 - Ballina - Aug 3 -7

Another stunning day on the raod took us through the "Scottish" town of Maclean, where the lamp-posts are painted in the various tartans of the Clans. A really pretty river-side town. the rivers over here are amazing - in the number of them, the size of them and the amount of water in them!! "All the Rivers Run" could be taking place in any of these river-side townships!! Through Coffs Harbour earlier - very busy, stopped to see the Big Banana (Who doesn't??) and then on to Ballina, again right on the coast with the gorgeous Richmond River...

Jul 7, 2011 - Ballina

Ballina – 18 June to 25 June (7 nights) Ballina - Bal - in - nah is the correct pronunciation of the town. The 218km drive from Coffs Harbour to Ballina went off pretty smoothly, with most of the journey being on the Pacific Highway. There was fair bit of roadwork going on (if you can call groups of men standing around “work”) after all the rain that’s fallen in the area recently. Parts of Grafton were still flooded in the low lying areas, which is not really surprising, as there are so many major rivers in this area. You know you’re...

Mar 9, 2011 - Ballina

7th March. On the road again we are going to Ballina, the drive was similar to what we have travelled through, farm land, then mountains and at last the ocean. We arrived as usual about lunchtime and booked into the Lakeside Caravan Park, which is nice, very good amenities and facilities it’s rated 41/2 star. As the name suggests it is on the edge of the Richmond River, and is a popular fishing spot. 8th March. Dull and overcast again, but we decided to drive to Bangalow, which is a quaint little village, the scenery around the area is very...

Mar 13, 2008 - Mclean & Ballina

אחרי בוקר איטי וכייפי בפארק החביב בקופס הארבור; ארוחת בוקר ארוכה, עוד קצת עדכוני אינטרנט ומשחקי קלפים משפחתיים, יצאנו בדרכנו צפונה, כשהכיוון הכללי הוא ביירון ביי. בדרך עצרנו קצת במקלין שהיא עיירה סקוטית חביבה. מה שמאפיין אותה מעבר לרחוב הראשי ישן וחביב, עם בתים עתיקים משופצים, הם עמודי חשמל, שהתחתית של כל אחד מהם מצוירת בדגל שבטי סקוטי אחר ומסתבר שיש לא מטע כאלה. בחלק העליון של כל דגל כזה, כתוב השם הגאלי של השבט. העמודים ממש לא רחוקים אחד מהשני ודי מדהים לראות כמה דוגמאות סקוטיות יש ואיזה מגוון צבעים. העיירה יושבת על נהר קלרנס, שהוא נהר...

Oct 7, 2007 - Ballina, Australia

Drive from Surfers Paradise to Ballina......... We stopped several times along the Gold Coast to take pictures of the ocean. After only after two short hours we found our way at Tropical Fruit World. It is sort of a Disneyland of fruit. Definitely not a kid attraction. They grow about a zillion varieties of tropical and sub-tropical fruit and sell them. They had avocados as big as 5 lbs. They took us by tram through their growing grounds and then on a boat ride and train ride to see part of their park. They also took us to a small petting...

Apr 15, 2007 - Plankos place

stayed at surf instructors hostel in a tiny village called Evans Head just south of Byron Bay, with a few others (Charlie, Nat, Kristina, Jono, Irish Michael, Tobey) from Surf camp- was a self contained apartment below his house, really homely, could av stayed there for ages- there was just 1 other guy there called Pete & he'd been there 4 weeks already! Wicked place, we could use all his stuff for free- surfboards, kayak, canoe, fish rods, bikes, bbq. Needless to say we did everything! His bro was staying with his kids so they took me &...

Apr 10, 2007 - BYRON BAY - Australia

Uhh, aufatmen. Die Arts Factory Lodge obwohl nicht meine erste Wahl in Byron Bay stellt sich als alternatives, chill-out Hostel raus. Familiaere atmosphaere aber doch gross genug um unauffaellig sein eigenes Ding zu machen. Leider wollte das Wetter nicht so mitspielen, was schon ein bischen ne Entaeuschung war, da dies meine letzte Stranddestination auf meiner Reise sein sollte und ich ganz dringend noch etwas an meiner Farbe haette arbeiten wollen. Aber was solls. Waren 3 vorzuegliche Ausruhetage mit viel Schlaaf, kein Stress und nur ein...

Jan 6, 2007 - Byron Bay - Happy, Hippy, Surfin Paradise

Having said our goodbyes Queensland, an easy two hour drive had us in Byron Bay, New South Wales (NSW) by 6.30 pm on Friday evening. After checking in at the Lord Byron Resort we took a leisurely stroll along Jonson Street to watch the remaining surfers catching the last waves of the day, as the sun set behind us. We decided on a curry for our evening meal - a good choice as it turns out, and then stopped off at one of Byrons many Gelati vendors for our dessert, yummy boysenbury and choclate chip mint. During this trip the pounds are just...

Dec 9, 2006 - Byron Bay

9th Dec - We arrived in Byron about 12ish and checked into 2 cabins (treat!) for a couple of nights (then we're back to the tent for the rest of the week) & headed into town for lunch. Back at the cabins we split up so Fiona & Paolo could have some time on their own! Iain headed into town and checked out the sunset over Byron whilst Paolo and Fiona had a relaxed evening on the verandah with a couple of bottles of fizzy wine! 10th Dec - A lazy day for Fiona & Paolo, healthy fruit breakfast, reading on the verandah and then a hilarous hour of...

Dec 3, 2006 - Byron Bay

Sunday 3rd Dec 2006 Well I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong and in this case I have to admit I was wrong!! We woke up this morning to find that the wind had finally abated and given way to rain. The rain was OK though as without the wind we could actually do something. The beach conditions were much better as well, so with all this in mind we decided to postpone our departure and stay another day. After breakfast we headed into the markets which occur on the first Sunday of every month. It was here that we finally saw some of the Byron...

Oct 25, 2006 - More Diving ... and on to Ballina

Wednesday 25th October 2006 Byron Bay to Ballina (54km) It was perhaps bad karma that made us both wake up at 5am needing the loo. I had gut rot, either from dinner or the wine, and Tim felt a bit lousy too. He at least managed his 3 weetabix, I tried to force down one to line my stomach for diving but only managed about half of it. We left the bed down in the van and drove over to the dive shop for the allotted 7.45am - although it was nearer 8 when we got there. After getting kitted up we drove off in a very old landrover down to the...