We woke to an overcast morning in Glen Innes – ANZAC day – Lest we forget! It was very quiet in town, and we could not find anywhere for brekkie or coffee so we ended up at Maccas – first (and no doubt last) time eating at the Golden Arches…

The landscape was becoming more sub-tropical with rainforest and palm trees….we drove along through a very misty morning light through winding roads making our way across the Great Dividing Range…

We stopped at Heffron Lookout and the views down the valley below towards Grafton were spectacular…

The Mann River was really full with rapids evident as we drove alongside it for quite a way.

When we reached Grafton, we decided to just continue on the last half hour to Minnie Water rather than stopping as parking was difficult and nothing much was open…

The road out to Minnie Water was narrow but sealed. Road conditions generally in the area seemed to be quite poor due to the constant rain and floods – lots of potholes and soft edges…

We arrived at Minnie Water and had a quick look at the area – mostly holiday homes and a general store… the beach was pretty but evidence of the heavy seas and rains with erosion of a lot of sand could be seen all along the beach.

The drive into Illaroo North Camp through Yuraygir National Park was along an unsealed road – not very long but very full of potholes….

The sites were great in the campsite – well defined, allocated and clean with great landscaping and right on the beach. The trees and gardens provided good protection.

Across from our site we saw a resident goanna – very large and beautifully marked – Dave named him Barney…and I am sure Rosie will not be able to resist feeding him…..

After we set up we went for a long walk along the beach – the surf was wild and the beach had been quite eroded – there were a lot of washaways with water still flowing from creeks and gullies onto the sand and out to sea… The ocean water was a bit murky due to all the runoff up and down the coast with the huge floods over the last few months.

There were a few dead seahorses washed up on the beach… very sad…

That night we had our first fire of the trip – finally!! It was great to sit and talk around the fire – the campsite has designated fire pits at each camp site and firewood available at the camp managers site – this camping area has it all!!