After nine days of non stop, torrential rain and with the promise of many more to come, we decided to hook up the van and head north up the coast to Queensland to try and escape the cold and wet. 
Friends are always telling us we should be used to the cold, coming from England, but it is surprising what a short time it takes to acclimatise. Also, England does cold weather much better with nice cosy insulated houses and central heating. There is very little of that where we live because winter is so short and it is very unusual for the temperature to get as low as 10 degrees overnight. Some houses have wood burning stoves while others rely on reverse cycle air conditioning but generally people tend to just rug up until it is over. 

 We set off in more pouring rain and scooted off up the Pacific Highway. Our first break was planned for Port Macquarie to visit the Koala Hospital. We had been meaning to have a look at the hospital for some time because we are asked about it regularly by tourists who visit the Tilligerry Habitat where we volunteer. Well, I will be recommending it to everyone from now on, it is a fantastic visit! 

Free entry (although I hope everyone would see fit to make a donation) there is a really educational information centre and visitors can walk quietly around the pens to see some of the patients. Koalas are there for varying reasons, some are being put back together after run ins with cars or dogs, others are being treated for illnesses (mainly chlamydia) and there are a few who will never be released because they would no longer be able to cope in the wild. My favourite section was the dehumanising area where koalas who have needed intense nursing, often in the home of a carer, are sent to learn to be wild koalas again. Many of these are orphaned joeys who have been hand reared and cannot be released until they are about a year old so, although the area is screened off up to a couple of metres high, above that the branches of the trees are dotted with tiny koalas just waiting to get big enough to leave, wonderful!

 As if that wasn't enough, the koala hospital is on the site of the historic Roto House which was built in 1890 and stayed in the ownership of the same family until 1979 when it was handed over to the National Trust. For a gold coin donation visitors can have an introduction from a curator and explore the whole house, because it was in the hands of one family for so long much of the history is still intact making Roto House a worthwhile visit. 

Port Macquarie itself was pretty nice too, quite built up but with low level apartments. The beach is huge with beautiful gardens leading down to it.
It was still raining as we drove on up the Pacific Highway towards Crescent Head where we were planning to have our first overnight stop. we turned off at the Slim Dusty Interchange and headed for the Delicate Campground, a National Parks campsite which allowed dogs. If we are travelling inland we manage to find plenty of cheap or free camping but it is virtually impossible to find anything inexpensive along the popular stretches of coast so the national Parks are a good alternative if your camping set up is suitably equipped. We are self contained so always happy to take a risk but, as it turned out there were immaculate flushing toilets and cold showers all for $24.

 The campground was very quiet and set prettily amongst the trees, the rain had finally stopped so we explored and found a path to a huge, empty beach right behind us. The sand was squeaky and a rainbow arched across the dark clouds, gorgeous. 

After a lazy breakfast and another walk on the fabulous beach (sunny this time) we drove into Crescent Head to remind ourselves what it was like. It is a very nice town with a caravan park overlooking a huge beach, a magnificent clifftop walk to a golf course with panoramic views of the coast.

 The landscape was definitely getting dryer as we took a short jaunt up to MacLean. The Pacific Highway is being upgraded at the moment and it was fun to take the new bypass around Macksville which, until recently had the highway going right through the middle of town with a constant stream of cars and trucks thundering over the bridge. We could see the town in the distance, it looked wonderfully peaceful, what a change for the residents.