April 18^th - Day 20

A long day in the car.

It was decided to cut across country, to avoid Brisbane and the Gold Coast. This meant crossing the Great Dividing Range at Toowoomba the driving down the western side.

The land is so different. It is dry around Upper Lockyer, but it is nothing compared to the "wide brown land" in the rain shadow of the mountains. It had the straight roads and open skies of the California desert but instead of desert, there are dry fields. It must be hard to farm there during the droughts.

I am not sure exactly how we managed it, but we ended up going through the mountains on a minor road. It would be in good condition for a stretch, then change to absolutely dreadful! It said that the NSW government were working to improve the road. They have their work cut out!

We were late setting off, so early afternoon, we were getting hungry. We didn't stop in Warwick or Killarny, so we thought we would go to a cafe near Queen Mary Falls. We checked online 8f it was open (it was) so we turned off and went up a scenic drive (more corners). We stopped at Daggs Falls which had water in them, then on up to the cafe. When we got there, it was closed due to illness.

So back down the hill. In the end, we got burger and chips from a shop in Woodenbong (good, but not as good as Wonglepong) Anyway, at least we had food.

There comes a point in a journey where the travelling stops being an adventure, and you just want to get there. We got to that point at about 4pm. We drove through state forests, which meant there was not much to see except trees. I think we were all glad to get to Sawtell.

It being Monday, not many places were open. We ended up in a bar-cum-eatery. It not brilliant, but we were too tired to care. The high point for me was a girl wearing a backless dress with a front that gaped open. I don't know why women wear dresses like that if they don't want to be stared at.