Byron Bay redeemed itself a little bit this morning. There was little evidence of party animals as we drove through the town to Cape Byron, the most easterly point on the Australian mainland. We walked out along the headland which had terrific views to either side and saw lots of birds including a sea eagle which soared along the shoreline below us. We also spotted dolphins and a couple from Edinburgh who had been stranded in Oz for two weeks due to the Icelandic volcano.
We hit the Pacific Highway south through the sugar cane fields and over several large rivers. Whereas this road is motorway standard from Brisbane past the Gold Coast, in northern New South Wales stretches of it are very ordinary single carriageway road carrying huge amounts of traffic, all of it intent on driving at 10 kph above the speed limit. The traffic cannot be transfered to rail because the gauge in Queensland is smaller than that in NSW. After about 170 km we got bored with this road and cut inland through the mountains finishing up in a small town called Dorrigo.
At 3 p.m. on a Saturday Dorrigo felt like a one horse town with an equine deficiency and the picturesque hotel was fully booked, but a nice lady in the tourist office recommended a B&B which had a vacancy. We were able to take a look at what is claimed to be the world's largest collection of railway locomotives and rolling stock, all gently rusting and rotting in fields because of a planning dispute with the local council. After checking in to our digs where we were made to feel very welcome, we headed back into town for a beer and a meal. The hotel may look like Dodge City on the outside but inside the bar was very definitely Doncaster. Our B&B host had recommended the RSL (Returned Servicemen's League) for dining and her tip was pretty good. Rosena had Barramundi (again) and Dave had the best rissoles he has ever had in Australia.
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