FF Tour - Days 13 to 15, Evans Head

Lennox Head

In no hurry - an increasingly recurrent theme of the last five or so years of our touring - we left Byron along the coastal road which parallels Seven Mile Beach to the south, stopping for a few hours in Lennox Head.

With a lack of suitable parking along the main drag, we parked one street back from the beach, where there was plenty of space on a residential street. The first order of business was to track down the pharmacy and secure a 4th Covid booster. News reports in the previous few days had contained cautionary tales from clever looking bods in white coats, suggesting that another Covid spike was looming and a new booster was now available. As I qualified thanks to birthdays, we had rung the help line and they had lined up a vaccination in Evans Head.

The pharmacist was a locum, somewhat laissez faire in attitude, dress code and willingness to answer questions or follow protocols, which quickly led to my loss of confidence. With all of those elements seemingly rather loose, I wasn't going to trust my arm to this guy, especially given a previous mistake by the doctors I trusted back home. I passed but Sue, ever the opportunist, used his broad interpretation of the rules to secure a booster for herself, despite not being aged appropriate to the latest ATAGI announcement. We "discussed" the pros and cons over coffee, the upshot of which was she went off for the booster and I wandered to the beach to await news of her demise.

The paragliders were again operating off the headline and I spend a half hour watching them swoop and glide over a fair range of the southern part of Lennox Head. The view must be stunning, especially as it was another cracker of a day.

I took Sue for a makeup, recovery ice cream and then we had another splendid fish and chip lunch at Fishy Fishy. It was probably even better than on a previous trip.

With less than 50 kms to go, we took the easy drive down the M1, taking the off ramp at Broadwater and then along the access road straight to Evans Head. Having made our booking as we traveled north, arrival and booking in was a breeze. I took great delight in backing into a slightly tricky, angled site, in one fluid turn and reverse, aided as ever by Sue at the back of the site speaking via the mobile phone. Its something we team up on with a pretty easy expertise these days. If reversing cameras make hitching easy, then mobile phones and an informed assistant, make parking a doddle.

A short wander during the late afternoon oriented us to our surroundings and a Guinness at the art deco Illawarra Hotel closed out the afternoon.

On our first full day in Evans Head, we drove across the Evans River along Ocean Drive and up to the impressive Dirawong Reserve and picnic area. Also known as Goanna Headland, as the Dirawong was the Goanna spirit being of the Bundjalung Dreamtime. Some of the older locals still refer to the headland by its whitefella name of Razorback. The area's more recent development was as a result of it being chosen as a observation post and base station for Maritime Rescue NSW. There is an excellent walking trail which traverses this section of the coast, although we didn't avail ourselves of it. Like many places such places, it has a terrible history, as 100 Aboriginal men, women and children were herded up onto the headland by settlers and massacred. Only two small children survived. Sailors from two schooners, anchored in the bay below the headland, joined in the killing.

The gorgeous Dirawong Reserve

Such atrocities are hard to imagine in what is today such a beautiful spot. Sweeping views to the north expose the far extremities of Mount Warning and the Border Ranges beyond and Evans Head, Broadwater and Patches beaches stretched of into the distance to Ballina. 

Returning across the Evans River, we had a coffee back in the main street and then walked 100 metres down to a sheltered space behind the river to the Living Museum. Housed in what was the original school building, after it was moved from the main road through town, this is a little gem. Well curated - regular readers will know that is a common bugbear of mine - it is brimming with local history which, if you are lucky, is coloured by local volunteers. We spent an hour listening as the artifacts were bought to life and populated by the lives of locals during the last century. Evans Head was the origin of the prawning industry in NSW and our guide and her husband had been leading fishermen in the area. Such was their expertise that they gave new meaning to the proverb of "give a man to fish and you feed him today: teach a man to fish and you feed him for ever". They traveled all over the world, teaching underdeveloped communities how to use previously untapped ocean resources to feed themselves.

The history of the airbase that was a training ground for navigators during and after WWII is well documented and represented in uniforms and photographs. It was the characters our guides illuminated that we found enthralling.

The Illawarra Hotel called us to again enjoy a Guinness. It would have been rude to ignore the invitation.

The morning of the second day started with a return to the Sandpit Cafe in the morning, visited on our way north (FF Tour, Days 7-9), after which we drove to the local airport and the Evans Head Heritage Aviation Museum and its amazing collection of restored aircraft. Staffed and maintained by a volunteer workforce, this is an exemplar of the passion people can extoll on the things they love. Without doubt, the star attraction is an F-111C fighter bomber, decommissioned from the RAAF and donated and flown to Evans Head by RAAF pilots. They have a long history of Evans Head, not only because it was previously a base but because of the air weapons range located to the south of Evans Head township and off the coast. 

Decorated in its camouflage livery and accompanied by lots of hour soaking information, this F-111C is one of the very best display aircraft I have seen. There is also a Canberra bomber and Caribou transport plane which did service in Vietnam, where its ability to land and take off on truncated spaces, made it a superior vehicle, especially with Australian pilots. You can walk right on board and up into the cockpit! There is also a Mig-15 and a Bell Kiowa chopper  and much more. The incredibly rare Fieseler Fi103R Reichenberg ... otherwise known as a version of the V1 buzz bomb or doodle bug which terrorised London is here but what is unique about this version is it was intended to be flown by a pilot on a suicide mission to give greater accuracy in targeting. Luckily, the program was abandoned by the Germans before it really got going.

Fascinating place, not the least because of the video programs which play on continuous loops. I watched one about an RAAF pilot and his exploits in England, Nova Scotia, New York, the Pacific and finally his return home during the first half of the 1940's. 

Click to see today's photos

We could not recommend this museum highly enough. Definitely a must see if you are in the area.

The afternoon became stormy and as it threatened from the south west, we hunkered down in the van but were lucky when the worst of it split two ways, south and north of us and delivered only loud thunderclaps and a couple of minutes of heavy rain. 

Lovely spot Evans Head and one to return to.

F&F Tour, Days 7-9 - The Gold Coast

The view from the sandhills in front
of the Sandpit Cafe, Evans Head

For the seventh day of the tour, we managed to included some less traveled roads, with few people living or even visiting along them, on our way to the densely populated and attraction-over-sufficient, Gold Coast.

The first detour from an older section of the M1 north of the Clarence, was via the still recovering Woodburn - flattened by the flooded Richmond River in 2022 and still struggling and then east to Evans Head and a coffee at the Sandpit Cafe below the surf life saving club. Situated behind the back dunes of the main beach, it was a wet and windy experience but only in the getting there from the carpark. The coffee was good and the waitstaff wore a green Hawaiian shirt, making me feel much like family. While we were there, we made a forward booking for the return journey south.

Back on the M1, we made quick progress past the conspiracy of "B" towns - Broadwater, Ballina, Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads - before again leaving the straight and narrow for lunch behind the beach at Wooyung. Leaving the highway not long after the site of the annual Splendour in the Grass site, north of Byron, we navigated the narrow mostly bitumen and sharp bends that wind to the nowhere that is Wooyung and then turn abruptly north in an apologetic straight line to Pottsville. Our lunch spot was a roadside layby, only just long and wide enough for Forester and Avan. We were hidden amidst the dense paperbarks that hide the Tweed Coast Road which parallels Wooyung, Mooball and Pottsville beaches in one continuous stretch of sand and waves. I attempted to pierce the trees along a narrow sand track where the ground cover brushed my bare feet an either side, even when walking heel to toe and then decided I was a long way from even mobile emergency care which I might gamble on for the sake of a sight of a beach. Those of you who know of my affection for beaches will not be surprised I returned after a few steps to the comfort of my tuna sandwiches and glass of milk.

After lunch, we went north to Pottsville, seemingly a pleasant and tidy coastal town, a view garnered admittedly only on a drive-through, back to the highway.

Our view from the digs at Bundall

Thereafter, it was just highway lanes and rolling hills, well back from the coast, on the way to Bundall. We had a brief glimpse of the long sweep of Wonmin Bay just before we crossed the Tweed River and then again as we crossed the border into Queensland beside the Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta. From there it was just skyscrapers and multiple lanes and cars in a hurry and trucks opposing them until we reached the canals at Bundall.

Our little van looked most out of place as I squeezed it onto the driveway of the AirB&B rental we would be sharing for the night with the partial Gibbens Clan. 

This - one of the Family parts of the tour - was a celebration of survival of one of the younger members, diagnosed a year ago with cancer in his 17 year old sportsman's legs and the traumatic path he had trod to wellness since. We who have experience of the shitty parts of life should be expected to endure such, not young men who are still getting used to shaving ... nor their amazingly supportive close families. It was a grand night, full of great food, laughter and the lack of reserve only families can provide. The setting certainly helped, with a canal as the backyard and a covered deck providing the platform for the view. 

For photos of the Gold Coast,
click here

On our first full day of two at the Gold Coast, we left family behind and headed for the more familiar surrounding of a tourist park , this time at Kirra Beach, right at Coolangatta. Not much was memorable of this day and the next. I walked into a door handle of a heavy steel door and gained a hairline fracture in my twelfth rib. It poured with rain except when it just rained steadily. There were puddles and mud but the toilets were as clean as you can keep them when they lie in the middle of puddles and mud. We did manage a picturesque coffee at the Coolangatta Surf Club, picked up some medication from the friendly pharmacy, had a nice walk beside a crowded road and a surprisingly quick visit to the A&E dept of the local hospital.

The Gold Coast has never impressed me. Nothing has changed.

TOD Tour, Day 41 - Black Rocks to Lake Ainsworth

Our Daily Bread at Broadwater

The sun exploded on us at just the right time this morning, allowing us to dry the canopy, pack up and leave Black Rocks after two days of intermittent rain. Beautiful place.

We cut back to Woodburn on the Pacific Highway and then back out to Evans Head for lunch, down by the Evans River past the RSL club. We watched the tide recede as we ate lunch from the Avan. We find the best places for having lunch on the road.

From Evans Head, we went back to the Pacific Highway, finding it at Broadwater and had afternoon tea at the magnificent Our Daily Bread Cafe. Located in an old Catholic Church, it's reconstituted retro interior has been very cleverly organised by two partitions crossing in the middle and making four discrete "rooms". Each is a scene from a 1950/60's house, with furniture and other decor coordinated to represent the era. Over on one side of the space, the confessionals have been retained in their original condition. Outside, there are delightful spots to sit under 100% shadecloth, looking out over the cane fields. The kitchen provides meals and treats which cater for difficult diets and for once, we encountered lactose-free milk so I could have a mocha.

Great place.

Sue loves her prawns

We drove on through Ballina, stopping at Bunnings for some bits and pieces and capturing a photo of the Giant Prawn. Those who are regular readers of this blog will know we have a penchant for "big things".  From Ballina, we went along the coast road up to Lennox Head and our caravan spot at Lake Ainsworth.

The late afternoon gave me the chance to make some changes inside the van: adding a new powerpack which has USB chargers included and then mounting the old powerpack beside the table so that the toaster and electric jug can stay on the table. It will also mean that cameras and computers can be charged and run from the table.