Thanks Peter
will probably go via the New England Hwy and return by the Great Inland Way,although i learned quickly not to plan to far ahead.Simply have a final destination,if you are on a limited time frame, which we are,we then have an excuse to go back one day to see anything we missed.
i agree the central coast is beautiful and plan to see it all on some shorter trips later.
have stayed at Forster twice now on our Ballina trip, Lakeside Resort.

Thanks M&J
with that increase in population would you recomend we book somewhere in advance or take a punt? we have no problem staying 50 klm or more from Emerald and doing day trips. believe a place called Fairbairn Lake is worth the visit.
Is the wet season a problem or just afurphy to keep us southerners away.

John

Hi  Jandas fun
I dont consider floods a problem, had a wall of water 2 feet deep run throught my place this time last year, had a constant rainfall averaging about 3 inches a day for 4 days, then a downpour of 16 inches in 4 hours, the dam behind me overflowed the wall and the result was all the mines in the area collapsed, that was in Sapphire including mine ,enormous loss of machinary fortunatly no lives were lost 
the water continued down streams and creeks ending in the Nogae river at Emerald flooding the town, all he news people in the world got it
I was wandering in and around Kingaroy at the time
last time I was at Boultons crossing it was a freebie, but that has probably changed as it is such a nice spot,
Would suggest the park at the lake be booked, Dam is spectacular in flood,
coming to Sapphire the Lions park is a freebie as is the footy ground, and there is 3 caravan parks, dont bother to book, if you cannot get one , youlll get another
M&J



enjoy your sunrises

most Southerners fear "the wet" but apart from a few minor inconveniences such as a flooded road or a wash away I love it, I once seen 4" come down in less than two hours while we were in cairns, never seen so much water in all my days, but it was all gone within half an hour but the spectacle of it was unforgettable, but a common sight for the locals

I have actually deliberately set out on half a dozen occasions to catch the end of the wet just for the sounds, the sights, the smells of a big rainforest after heavy rain, nothing fills the senses more.

if you leave in march then flooding and big rains will not be a problem

I have been poo pooed on this forum many times for suggesting that folks go north during the wet, and I am glad that someone that lives up there is willing to take the same stance as me, so thanks for that Mike, anybody that has done the trip knows that it is fine, one may just have to wait for the water to subside, normally half a day is adequate, sometimes an entire road is gone, be prepared for that, get info before heading any big distance

I believe in living every experience that Australia has to offer, the Kimberley's in the wet are indescribable but not recommended for a novice, the cooper in summer is amazing but it has killed people (the desert), we were there once when a flash flood came down and the one thing we did not expect was the snakes, they hide in the rubbish in the bottom of the creek off shoots and when the water comes down they get picked up and carried along

port Lincoln and the west coast during winter is amazing, when the roaring forties are a little further north, crossing the nullaboar during a Gail, watching the play of the massive rollers breaking against the limestone cliffs, amazing stuff, wouldn't be dead for quids

the west coast of tassie in the winter when the storms come in, lets you know you are alive

I havent gathered enogh guts as yet to deliberately head in to a cyclone, but I would love to, I got a phone call from my mate in cairns one night, during the conversation I said to him that he had a cyclone heading his way, he calmly said "I'm watching it from my upstairs window right now, we just got a new shed, nup it's gone again, oop hang on now we got another fence nope thats gone, we just lost our palm thats a couple blocks up the road"

he stayed on the phone all the while the thing was hitting cairns, he held the phone up to a partially cracked open window and the noise was deafening at my end so I couldnt imagine what it was like to be there