Australia - Part 5 and #Jusjojan 18/1/18 (Revolt)

If you're here looking for the Revolt prompt of Jusjojan, bear with me and keep reading.

The final leg of our Australian tour took us from Sydney along the East coast as far north as Noosa and then home via Brisbane.

We picked up a different car this time in Sydney - a Toyota Kluger - another tank of an SUV.  It actually felt like there was more boot space than the Audi and you had to start it conventionally with a key.  So far so good. Oh but where is the parking brake?  Hmm let me take a few minutes to work that out.  Oh it's a tiny pedal above the foot brake pedal!  Different.  Ok.  Let me indicate we're leaving the parking lot. Oh, why are my windscreen wipers going?  Oh, the wipers and indicators are on opposite sides to what I'm used to.

Eventually we got on the road and headed north.  We followed the Pacific Highway stopping overnight in Nelson's Bay, then a tiny place called Mylestom, and then a couple of nights in Byron Bay.  We stopped off at places as we passed through too. 

Mylestom

Mylestom - river side

Mylestom beach

First swim

Byron Bay

Byron Bay

Brisbane

Merthyr Park History

Not a great picture of the history of Merthyr Park but it was interesting to me as my Dad was born in Merthyr Tydvil in Wales the same birthplace of Queensland's Premier Samuel Griffith who built his home in Brisbane in 1880 and named the area Merthyr.  It was a nice walkway along the river.

Brisbane

Of the places along this stretch of coast, Mylestom had to be my favourite and we found it almost by chance.  It nestles between the shores of the Bellinger river and the ocean.  It's a small place so very quiet and peaceful.

Byron Bay is much more touristy.  More spectacular beaches and a lighthouse that makes for a good hike.

One of the things we, coming from the UK which is of course small, don't realise until you're there is how big Australia is and how far it is between places.  We didn't actually clock our mileage (a note to self if we ever do another long road trip) but we must certainly have clocked up a lot!

Our final but one stop on our trip was Noosa.  We had 4 nights here in a fancy hotel which was great as we were able to relax and recharge the batteries.  Nathan also got to go for a swim in the pool and of course there was more lovely food.  It's lucky we were doing so much walking otherwise I would have gained pounds.

Then it was off to Brisbane for one final overnight stop before heading home.  We stayed in an area called New Farm which is an "affluent inner suburb".  It was certainly nice with a large park that was well frequented on the Sunday afternoon we were there.  We also visited what was once a power station but has now been turned into an arts centre known as The Powerhouse.  

Then all too soon it was time to take the long journey home.  I'd love to see more of Australia and New Zealand but the amount of time flying does put me off a bit.

But what of the revolt you're probably asking?  Well much as I enjoyed our trip I don't think I could live in Australia.  We didn't actually see any snakes, or any poisonous spiders but just knowing they could give me a nasty shock is enough to put me off.  And then there are the bugs.  As in very large cockroaches.  We didn't see too many of them fortunately but one did take a liking to my toothbrush as in it decided to sit on the brush head of my toothbrush one night.  That had me revolting.  No way could I put up with that.  I had to try very hard not to think about what else I might not have seen!

(Participants for #jusjojan can go here for Linda's site and today's prompt etc.)