Moonee Beach Coffs Harbour.

Had a wonderful day out with Martin and Sandy in the Dorrigo National Park...

We did a 3 hour 'walk' through the rain forest....up hill and down dale (to me it felt more uphill!) which certainly helped us all to sleep well that night...

But the effort was worth ...because it took us through beautiful rain forest to the Crystal Showers...a waterfall which you can walk behind...

and then on to Crystal Falls....

Sandy on one of our 'catch ur breath stops'

We spotted some of the forest's wildlife on our trek including a red belly black, a pademelon and the elusive Lyrebird which I managed to get a reasonable photo of below...

Getting good 'shots' photography wise is not easy in rain forest on a sunny day, as there are too many contrasts of bright light and shadow ...never the less the experience was indeed magic.

Not far from the National park, on the way out to Dangar falls grows a unique species of tree...

Its called the Lavatree....I managed to get a good pic of it!

Here's a pic of the two brothers Hans and Martin...guess which one is the oldest!!!

Marty is an Arranger/Producer/Engineer of music as well as a /Songwriter/Singer ...in other words a man of many talents!

We went down to the beach at Coffs and did a 'photo shoot'...to give him a few pics he can use on the albums he creates... Here is a sample!

Here he is 'on fire' at work...making sparks fly!

Tuesday...21st October (which by the way was my daughter Rachel's Birthday...Happy Birthday again Rachel!!!)...mid afternoon the sky turned from blue to grey to black in a matter of an hour...the temperature dropped rapidly, and it became darker and darker....checked the radar before turning all the computers off...

Ran out and put tarps over Suzy...there was nowhere we could put her under cover...

Then all hell broke loose!...thunder and lightening, rain, small hail stones which became increasingly larger in size as they pelted from the sky....the size of golf balls (and that's no exaggeration!)....they were like comets!....the noise on the roof was deafening...and as they hit they ricocheted and hit something else...

The elderly lady across the road got bruised on different parts of her body trying to lay towels across her grand daughters car...bits of trees were being ripped off by the sheer force and size of the hail stones..

Came in handy as ice blocks for your drink!

Or a 'Sorbet'!...

After the storm it was time to assess the damage...Poor Suzy copped it bad...Dents all over her and not just little ones...The loaded roof rack at least 'saved' the roof.

We've counted 21 dents all up.

Guess it was just a case of being in the right place at the wrong time!...

Other cars and a caravan parked in the street copped the full blast as their owners weren't at home to move them or protect them in anyway....

So yet another experience to add to the adventure on our journey!