May 15, 2011- Day 20
Where: Port Macquarie to Hat Head, NSW
Dinner: Pork hamburgers with coleslaw and pineapple relish
Finally decided to leave Port Macquarie this morning after waking up in our super sweet parking spot. When we got up there were already a group of surfers out in the water and the sun was blasting in our front window, despite the curtains hanging there. We didn't try to use the butane stove in the wind this morning (we're learning) but the result was that I got a coffee headache a couple hours later. So I'm a coffee addict, OK, I admit it. We stopped at a funny little market on the way out of town which really felt more like a big town garage sale. We did get some cheaper bananas, but they still cost $5 a kilo. Better than the $10 a kilo they cost in the store right now. So expensive. We also bought some scones made by a woman who had a baked goods booth. Pat was super set on the idea of having a proper “devinshire tea” this afternoon, so we had to have scones. He also found a cheap fishing book so he can learn more about baits and hooks and such.
Once we got out of town we drove up to a small town called Crescent Head. It was recommended to us by a guy we talked to at a winery. Apparently it's where the long board got really popular in Australia and that's still what most people surf with there. It's Sunday so I think most of the town (all 1200 of it) was down by the water. There was a little market going on and there were a lot of people out surfing. There were a lot more people sitting along the grassy area overlooking the beach watching, and it felt like a big community event. I think this beach was a big inlet and the waves came in in huge swells. You could walk out along the beach up a hill out on a point so that you were looking back in at the inlet where all the surfers were. It was a really cool vantage point because you could see the swells coming from a long ways away, and then you could watch as the long boarders caught the waves far out and rode them all the way back into shore. A different way to watch the ocean for sure.
In the parking lot we made our Irish Breakfast tea and ate our scones with jam. It was funny how into Pat was, and it was a delicious midday snack. I can see the appeal. The town was really small and there wasn't much to do since it was too windy to lay on the beach, so we stopped to split a plate of calamari and then we hit the road again.
We just went a bit further north through Hat Head National Park to the small town we're staying in now. It's super tiny actually. We're parked down in a little parking lot by the beach. Pat thought up a great dinner using ground pork to make hamburgers, and we also made a garlic mayo which we used to make coleslaw and then used some left over pineapple to make a pineapple chilli relish. I would have been impressed with the idea anywhere, but was especially impressed that he wanted to make it out of the van. I was happy to make coleslaw for the first time myself. It all turned out really well, and we were eating just as the sun set. Perfect timing. Pat wanted to do some night fishing but with the wind it's just too cold. Instead we used the little DVD played hooked to the wall in the van to watch a movie. First time we have done that, but it was sort of a nice change. Don't know what the plan is for tomorrow, but since it's been a bit cooler I know we're thinking we'd like to move north somewhat quickly. And we're getting to close to Byron Bay which sound like is should be fun. Good times on the road.
No comments:
Post a Comment