Jelly Belly’s Big Adventure

With a British mate, a psychedelic rental van and a plan to travel from the Gold Coast to Newcastle in a week, an Aussie expat goes off the beaten track to explore the east coast on a shoestring budget

Jelly Belly hits the road,
stopping for breakfast with
a view Photo: Kerrie HallWORDS KERRIE HALL

“Love your camper van,” says Elle, 27, a uni student and regular explorer of these parts. Covered in candy jelly beans, our psychedelic graffiti van is one of more than 700 Wicked Campers now roaming the country. Popular with backpackers, the company begun by a Brisbane mechanic in 2001 has grown from a small battalion of second-hand vans kitted in camping gear to one with depots around the world.

Elle is one of two Gold Coast girls who have joined our first barbecue under the stars. Andy from England is chief cook for the trip that he and I will make from the Gold Coast all the way to the Steel City. We have a thousand dollars in our pockets and the same in kilometres to cover before reaching our outbound flight.

Rainbow region

“Jelly Belly” rolls over the misty hills of Numinbah Valley, leaving the beauty of south-east Queensland behind. We head south for the border and Mt Warning – a natural icon of the rainbow region. Popular with dawn trekkers, this majestic

1,157m World Heritage-listed peak 30 minutes west of Murwillumbah is the first point in the country caressed by the morning sun. ‘

The colour and characters of The MardiGrass Festival
Photos: Naomi Busst

Flower child-central, Nimbin, is an hour southwest and cradled by national parks. This old hippy town brims with colourful aged relics from the Age of Aquarius. The MardiGrass Festival, held each May, attracts thousands of fans of a ’60s counter-culture with its controversial pro-hemp street parades, as does its famed Aquarius Festival, also in May.

We visit the ‘Embassy’ and nearby museum for a crash course on the heady hippy days. Happy High Herbs on the main street is a witches’ den of new-age paraphernalia, while the Candle Factory is a kaleidoscope of beeswax.

Jelly Belly heads east via Nightcap National Park, site of a historic 1979 protest to save this ancient forest from destruction. A 1.4km-walking trail through Bangalow palms leads us to Protesters Falls, where we frolic in a heavy rain shower, nearly deafened by the cacophony of protected Fleay’s barred frogs. There’s no swimming in this frog safehouse. Keen for some waves, we make the two-hour drive to Byron Bay’s glorious beaches.

Byron, here we come

Float up and away for glorious views
Photo: Byron Bay BalloonsMullumbimby – “Mullum” to the locals – is a laid-back village of artisans and gourmands. With neighbouring towns such as seaside Brunswick Heads a few minutes to the east, quaint hamlets such as Main Arm and the spiritual gardens of Crystal Castle 5km west, or funky Bangalow further south, Mullum is a great base for natural adventure lovers. Popular for air sports, river kayaking and café hopping, this fun little town is also a mere skip from the sophisticated action of Byron Bay, 20 minutes south.

Surfing at Seven Mile Beach,
LennoxPoint, Lennox Head
Photo: Ballina Visitor
Information CentreWe cruise up to Cape Byron and its famous lighthouse, which is Australia’s most easterly point. On a clear day one can see forever and from May to November, you can even spot migrating whales. In the distance, a hot-air balloon hovers silently below the heavens while the waves at Wategoes are near perfect this morning. I can see why it’s a surfing mecca.

“I would say that it’s a place where the atmosphere inclines people to find or remind themselves of our interrelationship with nature,” says Rusty Miller, a local surf instructor and publisher of Byron Guide. A former American surfing champ, Rusty has been a happy Byron resident since the ’70s.

Hand-carved from Java lava stone,
a Ganesh sculpture sits between
Australia’s tallest amethyst towers
at Crystal CastleHome to myriad creative minds, Byron’s 9,000-strong population includes artists, filmmakers, writers, musicians, actors and entrepreneurs. The Arts Factory Village, an internationally recognised live music venue in the ’70s and ’80s, is now a complex with a backpackers’ lodge, day spa, boutique cinema, recording studio and the famed Buddha Bar restaurant – a microcosm of all that is Byron Bay.

A quarter of an hour down the coast, we hit Lennox Head for a snorkel at “the moat” – a 1.5km long reef off Seven Mile Beach. Like Ballina, 10 minutes away, Lennox is teeming with fish, luring anglers out with their rods. It’s also an excellent surf break and Lennox hosts regular festivals like the Icon Australia All Girls Surf Showdown in June. Then there are the red waters of nearby Lake Ainsworth, reputed to have therapeutic benefits and a striking backdrop to one of the region’s
Cruising through Dorrigo National Park
Photo: Kerrie Hallmany weekend markets.

Coffs Coast

After a morning’s drive, we set up camp on Moonee Beach, about 20km before Coffs Harbour. Moonee is a secluded waterway village where beaches stretch long and white and goannas raid birds’ nests in the gum trees. This area is rich with diving, hiking, boating, rafting and arts and crafts.

Hyde St in Bellingen
Photo: Kerrie HallFor a detour, we head 70km west to Dorrigo Plateau, a thousand metres above sea level and “God’s own nursery”.An old-timer tells us former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist went to school here. Via Waterfall Way, a scenic road lined with cascades, we roll 36km east into Bellingen. The Coffs hinterland is home to the likes of actors Russell Crowe and Jack Thompson, journalist George Negus, singer Wendy Matthews and pianistDavid Helfgott. With so much talent around, it’s only natural the town is inspiring.

Coffs Coast is a magnet for surfers
Photos: Coffs Coast Tourism“There are more arts and music festivals here per head of population than anywhere else in Australia,” owner of Heartland Didgeridoos Tynan Alaom tells us. Originally from Melbourne, he came for a holiday and now specialises in collectable indigenous playing instruments. “I once sold a didge to an American astronaut who took it into space with him.” Bellingen also offers gourmet cafés, regular live music jams and top galleries. Don’t miss the Old Church or swanky Emporium for local handicrafts.

Port Macquarie to Newcastle

Port Stephens is a haven for
fun-loving adventuresThree hours south on Highway 1 is Port Macquarie, buzzing with Wicked Campers. The lure is obvious with coastal rainforest and wetland reserves in pride of place beside dolphin tour boats and fresh catches of seafood at the harbour. 

Another world away, Laurieton (42km from Port Macquarie) is the gateway to vast national playgrounds running all the way down to Newcastle. We take a slow discovery tour through the waters of Camden Haven to gourmet, adventure-loving Port Stephens with its boutique wineries, sand dunes and ocean tours. In awe of such contrasts, our van hits Steel City an hour away and Jelly Belly calls it a day. Tallying up the dockets, we had some small change left from our AU$1,000 budget. And the Brit was happy – he fi nally photographed a bush kangaroo. 

Find It:

Wicked Campers
tel: 1800 246 869

Happy High Herbs
58 Cullen St, Nimbin, tel: +61 (2) 6689 1365

Candle Factory
Old Butter Factory, Nimbin, tel: +61 (2) 6689 1010

Crystal Castle
81 Monet Drv, Mullumbimby, tel: +61 (2) 6684 3111

The Arts Factory Village
Skinners Shoot Rd, Byron Bay, tel: +61 (2) 6685 7709

Heartland Didgeridoos
SHOP 2/25 Hyde St , Bellingen, tel: +61 (2) 6655 9881

Old Church
8 Church St, Bellingen, tel: +61 (2) 6655 2885

Emporium
73 Hyde St, Bellingen, tel: +61 (2) 6655 2204