We had planned to stay at a campsite only two hours northwest of Shelly Beach, but when we arrived it was far from inviting. So we kept going, pushing further inland until we found a small campground near Scone. By the time we pulled in it was late, and the few remaining sites were nothing special — but that wasn’t what bothered us. It was the cold. Overnight the temperature dropped below eight degrees, and by dawn we were shivering our way out of the tent.
We were up at six, packed, and back on the road by seven. Half an hour later we found a patch of sunlight and stopped for breakfast, warming our hands on our mugs as we talked about our next move. That’s when we decided we’d had enough of the inland chill. The coast was calling us back.
By afternoon we were rolling into Red Rock, just north of Coffs Harbour, returning to the comfort of our familiar campsite and the promise of warmer days.
