I packed up, said goodbye to Sue and Mick (the caravan park owners) and set off for Mylestom via Waterfall Way.

I took it very slowly on the mountains, especially on some of those tight corners.  But the drive from Lismore to Byron Bay was much worse, so I figured if I could that, I could handle Waterfall Way.

I arrived mid-afternoon, and started setting up camp.  After Armidale, it was very hot and humid here, and I was dripping with sweat by the time I finished.  Still, it’s a pretty nice site:

I’m near the beach, but that line of trees and the cabins beyond act as a windbreak, so I didn’t get much breeze.  It’s okay, though – air-con makes everything better.  After I had cooled down sufficiently, I went for a walk down to said beach – it’s so close I can hear the waves from my caravan.

This is the pathway to the beach:

I don’t know if it was because I went late in the day or because it’s isolated, but the beach was almost deserted – the only people other than me there were two guys just sitting on the sand and looking at the waves.

The beach itself:

There was some low mist rolling in from the ocean, making everything in the distance look extra-hazy.  I took a video for the sounds of the waves:

 

After it got dark, I heard something fly in and land on my awning.  I went to check, thinking it was a bat.

This is a Tawny Frogmouth, and according to Google, those mottled brown feathers mean it’s likely a female.  Also gleaned from the internet; tawny frogmouths are often mistaken for owls, but they’re more closely related to nightjars, and lack the powerful claws of owls.  Which you can see in the picture – she hasn’t got owl talons, she’s got little bird feet.

She was pretty bold, too.  Kept staring at me when I was taking pictures and flying right past me as she went between the ground, the caravan, and my car.

Here’s one of her judging my car:

Tawny frogmouth approves:

I also learned they have a very weird call.  I managed to get it on video, which is completely dark because the video doesn’t have a flash.  So, enjoy these moments of total blackness and weird noises:

 

That creaking noise that sounds like someone opening a rusty gate?  That’s the tawny frogmouth.  Weird, huh?  I was treated to that for several hours last night – I don’t know if I’d parked in a good insect-eating spot, or she just liked the look of my caravan, but she was scrambling around on the roof and awning for a while.