Moved out of Yamba and in to Lismore for a week away from the coast; this was a good location to travel without the van to Nimbin, The Channon, Nightcap National Park, Casino and other surrounding areas.
The Caravan parks in Lismore are not really for the tourist set as they are 90% plus permanent residents. The park we stayed at was Roadrunner which was about 5km out of town near the airport but well back from the main Bruxner highway so relatively quiet.
Our site as shown above was one of only 9 sites available for the tourist or overnight stopover; these are at least at one end of the park away from the permanent dwellings (approx 85). One section of the park the homes were quite good but in the main it was old vans converted with the addition of solid wall extensions. Park cost was $132 for the week; it does have a pool, is fairly quiet and the casual sites do have a good country outlook.
The amenities whilst in fairly good condition were a strange set up with the male and female blocks running off the same corridor; hard to explain but 2 male and 2 female facilities were located in a common hallway, on alternate days they opened one of each and closed the other. This has been the only park where Lin used the van shower for the entire stay after some bloke was supposedly checking the female door for security reasons.
On to the good stuff. Lismore does have all you need some very good shops and a main city block which is quite extensive. Plenty of pubs, clubs, eateries and the regular markets.
The picture above is of Lismore’s famous pie cart which is a permanent fixture in the main part of town and the pies are to die for; they have tables and chairs to eat in or you can take-away, my recommendation is sit down with a pie, peas, mash and gravy, knife and fork and a few dribble cloths (napkins). DO NOT MISS THESE PIES IF YOU ARE AROUND LISMORE; DISMISS AT YOUR OWN PERIL. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.
Well lets move on to blissfully beautiful, off the planet, organically minded and totally spaced capital of NSW, if not Australia. Some of the characters we came across here are beyond belief; it was hard to comprehend how some of the locals could be in our opinion comatose but still move around, cross roads and be in the main oblivious to reality.
Good on em I say; as long as they do not make this lifestyle compulsory. Lin and I did have quite a few good hours in the town and it is somewhere that you should visit if you are nearby.
There are plenty of local artworks & crafts for purchase providing they are open when you want to buy, note below this joint opens at Noon; doors of business premises seem to open and close for siestas throughout the day, as they say “a puff a day keeps the customers away”.
We visited a small town called “The Channon” and the photo below is the view on our way in; this is the road into the Nightcap National park. The town for it’s size has a beautiful hotel (pub), well worth calling in for a quiet one.
Below are the “Nimbin Rocks”; this photo was taken on the way in to Nimbin.
On leaving Nimbin after a coffee, several home made biscuits and a few breaths of the townships fresh air they looked much more spectacular on the way out of town (don’t know why????).
We had a ball and please visit if you are near here; Nimbin does have a caravan park but I did not check it out. If anyone has stayed maybe add a comment to the comments section at the end of this post.
Will post again soon – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig
