We left Grafton heading northeast on the western side of the Clarence River to Lawrence ( a small community about 30 kms away . It was one of those nice drives away from most traffic , which left us time to drive at our speed and not be rushed . We wound our way up the road through pasturelands and dairy's till we arrived at the side of the Clarence River - Big River Country ! The roads narrowed noticeably till it was one lane , skirting sugar cane fields and beside houses & sheds - fortunately we didn't meet another vehicle through this section .
Continuing on , we arrived at Lawrence , some of the town was sited by the river , but most was above flood levels . The jetty proved to be a good spot to grasp the size and the amount of water in the river . Big River Country Indeed !!!
We drove around the houses away from the river , deciding , it probably wasn't where we wanted to live , especially when you then discover that when it does flood , you may well be stranded , as access to the Pacific Hwy is on one of two vehicle ferries - that would be tethered somewhere till the water subsides .
We crossed the river and headed to Maclean , just up the road , and had a look around before heading out to Yamba . Now , we have been driving past Yamba for years and had never been there before , so today was the day !
Unfortunately the closer we got to Maclean , the heavier the traffic got , and stayed the same on the way out to Yamba - didn't faze Lyn at all !! Before long we had arrived and went about finding a nice spot for lunch , which we did overlooking the beach that stretched from Yamba to Angourie .
We headed up to the lighthouse that overlooked the entrance to the Clarence River , with two long breakwalls stretching out into the water .
The lighthouse was situated in a large grassy park , that also had two old houses that the boat pilots lived in . There was also a small replica lighthouse that was used for navigating the river .
From there we headed to Angourie , turning at a sign to Blue Pool - we were intrigued to say the least - was it a rock pool with waves crashing over into it ? - it kind of was , without the waves .
There was a story to it - here it is - in 1890 it was decided to erect break walls at the mouth of the Clarence River to enable safe passage for boats - Hmmm need some rock for this - that's right , there's bluestone at Angourie , we'll get it out and sent it up to the river head on a train that we'll build tracks for ( it will double as a road later when they invent cars !!! ) What forethought they had !! Anyway , they toiled away for 9 years , removing and transporting a much rock as they could . Yikes , what's that ?, there was water filling the excavation site - damn and blast , there goes that quarry , Here's another thought - we could let it fill with water , call it Blue Pool , and the tourists will flock to it in another hundred years or so - Brilliant !!
It may not have been the exact thoughts going through there heads , but it sounded good !!
There was also a second quarrie , that also filled with water - and they called that one Green Pool, you probably already guessed it - one looked bluish and the other definitely green .
Back to the car and up to the lookout , overlooking a small beach and Angourie Point . We sat and just soaked in the view for about ten minutes before realising that there wasn't too much more of Angourie , so we headed back to Grafton - down the highway !! we were reminded why we like the back roads , nice and quiet !!!
That's your lot for today , hope you enjoyed it as much as we did . The cheese & bickies & beer went down a treat .
Here's todays map link :-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z3uwp0IUF5HE.k3HZtA5UmmP4
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