The Sydney to Brisbane drive (Day 2)

We had simple chocolate hazelnut spread on toast for brekkie and stopped by the flea market as Cate suggested to have a look see.

We drove back into Forster for a coastal walk on the Bicentennial Walk trail.

The trail also included Pebbly Beach and the Tanks Historic Rail Site.

See the frowning pebble?

The Tanks is a natural rock pool formed due to water tanks being situated there to provide water for the steam train, which transported rock from Pebbly Beach to the Breakwall.

We drove to Taree for lunch at Raw Sugar Cafe.

I had a focaccia served toasted with ham, tomato and tasty cheese topped with a seeded mustard mayonnaise and side salads.

Audrey ordered the Raw Sugar Club Sandwich.

Can you differentiate the three decks of grilled chicken, guacamole, bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, caramelised onion and mayo?

Raw Sugar Cafe
214 Victoria Street, Taree, NSW 2430
02 6550 0137 (Tel)
Open daily 7:15am to 4:00pm

Nearby was Wingham Brush Nature Reserve, situated along the banks of the Manning River.

Eight hectares in size, we also saw this gigantic Moreton Bay Fig and I thought I could fit into one of those gaps!

How many trees do you see in the following photo?

But we were not there just to admire trees. The main reason we were there was to see these:

Can't tell what they are? Well, this would help, I am sure:

The grey-headed flying foxes!

From there, it did not take us long to reach Ellenborough Falls.

Here is a view taken from the top.

We then walked 20 minutes on these narrow platforms.

Oh, and not forgetting these extremely steep steps (what is it with the places we chose to visit and steepness?!).

To get this view of the waterfall from the bottom.

After two hours of driving in the forest on gravel roads (we were 'shaking' and 'jiggling' so much in the car!), we reached our final destination for the day, Port Macquarie and checked into Port O' Call Motel.

We parked just outside our room.

Being a 3.5 star motel, they had all the usual utilities and provided continental brekkie, as well.

I went exploring the place and opened the back gate.

When I made the booking, I did not realise that they also had a swimming pool and barbeque pit.

Port O'Call Motel
105 Hastings River Drive, Port Macquarie, NSW 2444
02 6583 5222 (Tel), 02 6584 1277 (Fax), 1800 181 717 (Bookings Only)
Email: stay@portocallmotel.com.au

Reminded by hunger pangs to look for food, we drove into town in search of some. As the sun was about to set, we took a quick stroll along the waters.

Pretty cool, eh?

We decided to have dinner at Beau Thai Restaurant.

Pleasantly furnished, we found that we were the only ones there the entire time. Perhaps it was something to do with their pricing? We were naming restaurants in Newtown with lower prices for the same dishes.

We ordered similar dishes, though. We both had Thai fried rice but mine had the additional chilli and basil leaves.

I have to admit that the rice was well done, though. Fragrant and not too dry.

Beau Thai Restaurant
98 Horton Street, Port Macquarie, NSW 2444
02 6584 4600 (Tel)
Monday to Saturday 5:30pm to 10:00pm

Highlight of the day had to be the climb back up from the bottom of the waterfall, which nearly killed us!

Distance covered today: 230km