Still in Bellingen

It's too good to leave because it's such a weirdo laid back hippy place.

The craft festival has started and it's got even weirder as a result - a man taking his chickens for a walk, wandering minstrels ( who are probably bank managers during the week) a big beardy bloke walking up another blokes back        (apparently a massage) plus an eclectic collection of people getting on with whatever they fancy. Great, just my sort of place albeit I'm a tramp not a hippy.

As we packed up, an old bloke came up and started chatting. Turns out he  is 75, originally from Leeds in the UK and has, it seems, been wandering the world forever. He arrived in Australia in 1969, having arrived from NZ and having already lived in Canada and the US. He got the tramp thing straight away, and was an interesting old bugger, currently riding an XT 250.

We also chatted to a couple camping under a tree not far from us. Frances was originally from the UK, Dave from Rhodesia (NOT Zimbabwe) and they live in Brisbane.

They're off to London later in the month to visit their daughter and new granddaughter - who live in Sutton, about 4 kms from our house. It's only a matter if time before we meet somebody connected to somebody we actually know.

Eventually we stopped jawing and left for Dorrigo, just 25 kms away. But not before we bought some monster garlic from a little house selling fresh veg. Woe betide any wandering vampires for the next few weeks.

Dorrigo is high up on Mt Dorrigo,on a plain, 762m above the drink, accessed by a road that winds up through the rainforest and bursts out above the treeline to overlook what seems like the whole world. 

Actually, it's just the coast and adjacent settlements but it's pretty impressive anyway, stretching out south to Port Macquarie.

It's a bit of a one horse town up here but with some pretty buildings and an all important bottleo.

Shortly after we found a place to camp, we met Steve and Marg, riding a Triumph Rocket. 

Then we kept seeing them as we rode about and back at where we're camping.

More nice people, very chatty and good fun. They live in  Port Macquarie and had spotted us there earlier in the week.

And the biggest thrill today was finding not one but two washing machines and a tumble drier at the campsite! Clean stuff at last!

Just looked outside the tent up check there are no dingoes or other naughty wildlife hanging about, and it's really foggy. Only the tops of the trees down the hill are visible, the lower parts being shrouded in strange grey light. Too dark for pics though.