Day 1, Sydney to Port Stephens
Collecting my rental car at the airport, I confess I am a bit nervous about crossing Sydney at 4pm on a weekday without knowing the roads, let alone driving by myself all the way to Brisbane.
"It's easy for you," says the Avis man.
"Just follow the 1s all the way."
And that's exactly how easy it turned out to be.
With enough signposts on the roads to reassure the most uncertain of navigators (me, for instance), I scarcely took a wrong turn on the whole 1000km trip.
Speed limits changed often - 110kmh, 100kmh, 80kmh, 60kmh, 50kmh - but who cares? I just made sure I wasn't the fastest or the slowest driver around.
I follow the signs north all the way to Nelson Bay.
It's dark when I get to Shoal Bay Bed and Breakfast, my home for the night.
But in the morning I see that Port Stephens is beautiful and I know I want to go back there with the family.
Day 2, Port Stephens to Port Macquarie
I've been so busy parasailing, surfing, camel-riding, eating and drinking at Port Stephens, I am shattered by the time I reach Port Macquarie in the evening.
I consider going out for dinner, but end up with fish and chips in my comfortable room at the Observatory, overlooking the beach.
Early to bed for me.
Day 3, Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour
Up and at 'em bright and early.
I enjoy eggs Benedict in the hotel's restaurant.
The waitress is new - it's her first day and she's desperate to get it right.
She does.
I have to get to Coffs Harbour by a little after noon so I'm off without much chance to look around.
However, I do stop at Ricardoes Tomatoes and Strawberries, a popular farm where you can see tomatoes and strawberries being grown hydroponically and pick your own strawberries from a sort of strawberry wall.
Yum.
There's a cafe and shop as well.
But I can't even stop for coffee.
I have to hurry to the Pet Porpoise Pool, Coffs Harbour, where I am going to swim with a dolphin.
I make it in time, get changed into my togs and line up with the others, who are all in wetsuits.
But the water is warm and I am only worried about sunburn.
It's going out of fashion to keep dolphins in captivity, but this one, Calamity, lives at the Pet Porpoise Pool because she kept getting caught in fishing nets and being injured.
She seems well used to tourists, and the only thing she gets annoyed about is when her 3-year-old baby, Bella, interrupts proceedings.
We don't so much swim with the dolphins as Calamity swims past us, letting us stroke her soft warm skin.
It's a special experience.
But dolphins aren't the only attraction at the pool.
During the school holidays, Steve McEwan's Reptile World is here, too.
There are snakes to touch (they feel like lino) and seals by which to be kissed (a very fishy experience).
And I learn the correct way to deal with a snakebite, which is not to hack it open with a knife and suck out the poison.
Actually, you should bandage the limb with an elastic bandage, immobilise it and get medical help ASAP.
My room at the Novotel resort, set in park-like grounds, has a kitchen, a washing machine and drier, so, ever the housewife, I do a load of washing and cook my own tea.
I am starting to miss the family.
Day 4, Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay
I just have to visit the Big Banana, which was the first Big Thing in Australia, built in 1969.
Here I learn the history of banana-growing in Coffs Harbour, walk through a banana plantation and taste a Coffs Harbour banana.
But I don't buy a stuffed banana, a frozen banana or a keyring with a banana on it.
On the way to Byron Bay I detour through Ballina, where there is a Harley-Davidson convention.
The weather is baking hot, and the Harleys look like the perfect way to travel.
Instead, I get back into my air-conditioned car and follow the easy-riding bunch up the coast road.
I am staying at The Byron at Byron, which is a resort tucked away in the rainforest and near the beach.
This is my ideal hotel.
My room has Japanese-style sliding partitions and a huge spa bath, as well as two fully insect-screened patios where I can sit and read among the trees and watch the bush turkeys stroll by.
I want to stay for a week, or a month.
I want my husband here so we can both enjoy it.
Just along the road, the Evolve Festival is running for the first time, and I go along to get the feel of Byron Bay.
The vibe is kind of like Nelson - arty and hippyish - and the festival is very family-friendly.
Kids run everywhere, pausing to listen to the music, look at the sculptures or watch the stilt-walkers.
Dinner in the hotel is excellent and so it should be - Kiwi sous chef Graeme Hennan trained at Otago Polytechnic.
Day 5, Byron Bay to Salt
My morning is taken up with the Byron Bay markets.
I love markets and I am suffering severe shopping withdrawal, as I have been travelling every day.
The place is heaving with interesting people and full of life.
So is the town centre and I wander happily around for ages, my mood hardly even spoilt when the man from Pizza Loca splashes tomato sauce over my white top without so much as an apology.
I only decide to leave when I realise I am seriously considering buying a photo of my aura.
Byron Bay is rubbing off on me!I head up the coast for Peppers at Salt, a cute name for a luxury hotel.
At Salt Beach, Kingscliff, I find a new beachside development which looks a bit Stepford-ish to me.
I realise I am becoming jaded from too much luxury and too little family, and I can't decide if I like the hotel or not, so I ask some kids in the lift.
They tell me the pool - a huge affair including a sandy beach - is great and "it's the best motel ever!".
I decide to go out for Thai takeaways and eat in my room.
Mistake.
The food is ordinary to say the least and I go to bed grumpy.
Day 6, Salt to Brisbane
I'm off bright and early, after breakfast in Roughie's restaurant.
It's quite a short drive to Brisbane, and I zoom past the Gold Coast and its high-rise horrors without stopping.
After all the unspoilt coastline I've seen this trip, Surfers Paradise has lost its appeal.
I have to fill the car with petrol before dropping it off, but there's a petrol station right at the airport, and I arrive with time to spare before my flight.
Once again it's boiling hot, and I decide to spend the last of my Aussie cash on a cold drink but they only come in one size - enormous - and I am 30c short of the price.
The woman will not sell me a smaller one, but another customer makes up the difference and my thirst for a cool drink is quenched.
But not my thirst for travel.
I want to do this trip again, with the family.
And when I do, I will take my time, driving all the byways, seeing all the sights - and shopping.
• Janice Murphy travelled to New South Wales as a guest of New South Wales Tourism. On the web: www.sydney.com
Janice flew Air New Zealand from Dunedin. On the web: airnewzealand.co.nz
