After leaving the gorgeous Coffs Harbor, we headed for Lennox Heads- the midway point between Ballina and Byron Bay.

Some of you may remember Lennox Heads for making the news in June last year when a twister rose from the sea and caused much wide-spread damage, including wiping out most of the caravan park we were looking to stay in.

Before heading to the park, we detoured through Ballina to have a look at the town and stop for lunch. Some friendly locals recommended a stop at Thursday Plantation, just north of Ballina. It turned out to be a gorgeous place to visit, with a (free) maze where the kids had to hunt down a dragon, a rainforest walk- filled with interesting sculptures, and displays/dvds regarding the main process of the plantation- tea tree oil and its products.We stocked up on a few products before heading to Lake Ainsworth Caravan Park in Lennox Heads.

There was absolutely no sign of the past destruction- the town has done a wonderful job at rebulding itself. The park is built right between the lake and ocean. The kids enjoyed feeding the very friendly ducks- finishing off most of our bread! They were also quite facinated by the red tint of the lake- which we found out later is due to the effects of the tea trees surrounding the lake.

The following morning, we headed into the Byron Bay fresh produce market. What a different world! The first thing we noticed was the amount of bicycles being ridden around the busy town. There was also a general lack of plastic bags (most were using baskets/heshian bags for shopping). Even the local clothing fashion was different- a gorgeous array of color bursting from woolen garments. We enjoyed a vast range of food from cheeses to sugar cane juice to stocking up our fridge with organic vegetables.

We spent the afternoon cooking, visiting the beach and cooking some more!

Leaving Lennox Heads on the 29th, we stopped in at Cape Byron and made a visit to the lighthouse, followed by a walk and pic at the most easterly point on the Australian mainland. We were also lucky enough to spot and eagle soaring around its nest.

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Then we visited the famous Byron Bay Cookie Factory and stocked up on some cookies. It was great to pick up a few bags of  ‘seconds’ (nothing wrong with them!) at quite cheap prices.

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Next stop was Tweed Heads for the famous ‘leg in each state’ photo- we are now in Queensland! Now we can offically say that we won’t be back in NSW until next year!

Next to Tweed Heads at Kirra Beach, we found a dine-in Pizza Hut with an all-you-can-eat pizza/pasta/salad/dessert bar. Mmmmmm- brings back childhood memories of special days out to the Bankstown one! We didn’t even realise they still existed!

Following a feast we headed through Surfers Paradise for our next stop-  Big 4 Treasure Island at Biggerra Waters…