Happy Canoe Year

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New year's eve was a bit unusual this time round.  Rather than going for the magnificant fireworks of Sydney we opted for a room behind a bookies in Bellingen (much nicer than it sounds, honest).  Most country pubs in Australia seem to have extensive gambling facilities next to the bar and we were in a room attached to a pub. We spent new year's eve day on a wild, windswept beach at Uranga, then treated ourselves to a meal out in the evening.

Bellingen is inland south of Brisbane and surrounded by subtropical rainforest National Parks (brilliant treeferns, lovely smelling eucalyptus, but no koalas to be seen). It also has a lovely river, so we spent a morning canoeing up and down that. Our canoe guide seemed to have the perfect life, having moved from Sydney to live in a beautifully converted wooden church overlooking the Bellinger river, and spending his days paddling around in the water.

Gone batty

How many bats?
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We had more weird weather in Bellingen and saw another monster rainstorm. The rain cleared for an incredible sunset and rainbows. There was still a lot of electricity in the air even after the storm had passed, which caused a man to stop in the street and point out that H's hair was all stood on end: "Your hair!" he exclaimed. M's hair was on end too but it wasn't quite as noticable. At dusk in Bellingen 50,000+ bats come out to play which was an amazing sight against the dramatic sky.