Relaxing in Yamba

We started today from Port Macquarie with great plans to make it all the way to Byron Bay...the most easterly point of Australia and be there so that we could watch the sunrise Tuesday am. But, the laid back Australian ambiance has infected us. So, we took a little longer dallying around the Port. An extra coffee, a second breakfast ( on top of the muesli and yogurt we had in our room!) and a trip to the Koala Hospital and all of a sudden it was almost noon and we hadn't even covered one km on our journey.
A little bit about Koalas. They may be cute, but apparently they are dumb. They only eat one thing-eucalyptus leaves and are nocturnal. So in the hunt for food, they are often hit by cars at night, or caught up in trees by forest fires. At least that seemed to be a lot of the reason the Koala hospital gets calls to come pick them up. There are few of them left in Australia...confined to a small region due to habitat destruction and the stresses of human life. They are marsupial ( baby in a pouch) and when kept in a safe setting live into their 20's. This is the only indigenous live animal we have see in Australia. Kangaroos are also nocturnal and suffer the same fate on the roads that deer do at home. We have seen 3 dead ones along the roadside.
Back to the journey...we had to stop for some lunch- a traditional Aussie pie, same as in New Zealand. Meat pies with incredible variety that you eat with your hands...I think mine was apricot chicken. Then went on from there to Coff's Harbour- quite a large place on the sea. Regretted having the pie as at the Marina there was a Fisherman's Coop with recently caught fish and a wonderful fish restaurant- but we were too full to eat again!
The travel along the Pacific Hwy was mostly without sea views but we did cross the Clarence River several times. We went to Grafton to see the jacaranda trees in bloom and weren't disappointed. Beautiful purple blossoms that grace the city everywhere and litter the ground below the trees. Drove a lot more streets than expected as it was so beautiful. Then on to Maclean- a scottish heritage town where all the hydro poles are painted with Scotch plaid from different clans. Hundreds of them!
And then we drove down to Yamba, through sugar cane fields and pastoral herds of cattle grazing. A quiet beautiful seaside place, originally meant to be our afternoon stop but has become our overnight stay. In the morning we hope to get up early enough at least to catch the sunrise here and walk a little on the beach. Let's hope the weather cooperates. It was rainy most of today and cleared late this afternoon. Perhaps tomorrow we will see sun again!