Dorrigo and Bellingen

When our road trip took us to Sawtell, I realised that it would make a really good base to explore Dorrigo and Bellingen which I had been looking forward to visiting since my mum aka Dora the explorer recommended that I should go there last year. She described it as being very Glastonbury-ee. My English reader friends may know what I mean by this, as will anyone who knows of Glastonbury Festival. For those that don't, what she meant was it's abit hippy.

Dorrigo National Park has World Heritage Listing with stunning mountainous landscapes, waterfalls and rainforests. Dorrigo itself is a funny little country town and the community market was fun. We bought the best anzacs I've ever tasted, stocked up on honey and locally made soaps whilst listening to a local family play folk music (not this guy though, I just liked the picture).

Source: http://picasaweb.google.com/dorrigoyouthservice

Bellingen was more trendy and obviously a popular destination for Coffs area locals looking for a day out in the country and some hippy lovin' with lots of incense sticks, tie-dye, health food shops and cool cafes as well as some stylish clothes and homewares shops. But I didn't feel in the mood for these here and I would have loved to have more time to explore the area, take a walk and visit the local Stenier School to see it's crafted structure and wonderful classrooms that I had heard about.

Source: http://www.chrysalis.nsw.edu.au/

I also spent some time rummaging though another very cool vintage shop called The Vintage Nest that had lots of very funky furniture as well as all the usual pre-loved clothing and you could also enjoy a coffee and cake. I then discovered that it was actually a charity shop............what an awesome concept!

We enjoyed a lovely evening with our friends at Emerald Beach before continuing on our merry way. She is a fellow stitcher, crafter and a very talented lady with a good eye for style and beautiful fabrics. I hope to spend more time together on the way back down.......I wonder how we'll go op-shopping together.

I've been doing abit of op-shopping along our road trip and I plan to take some photos of my purchases to show you real soon.

Next stop Byron Bay:))))))))))