On this side of the Clarence river was a small town of Iluka, mostly holiday homes, many of the towns on the NSW north and central coast are holiday and fishing destinations. From Iluka we went back to the Pacific Hwy and over the old steel bridge into Australia’s Scottish town of Maclean.

Some of Maclean Tartan Poles

Nearly every power pole had a different tartan pattern painted on them, we had look around the town, headed up to the lookout which provided a nice view of the area back to the coast. From Maclean we stayed on the south side of the river and headed into Yamba, like Iluka, this town was very focused on holiday destinations though on a bigger scale. We bought fish & chips and headed down to the beach for lunch. There was a nice swell coming between the point and the river mouth groyne, and there where quite a few surfers taking advantage of it despite the relatively cool weather. We got chatting to a Victorian couple who recommended another little town further down the coast called Angourie. There are two old quarries right on the headland where they cut the rock for the groynes on the Clarence River mouth. Both quarries have since filled with water, one with fresh water (Green Pool) and the other was so close to the ocean that it filled with salt water (Blue Pool).

Blue Pool, Yamba

The Green Pool did look a little too green to swim in I might suggest. On the way back to the car park I took a different track and ended up dragging Jacky up and down several steep gullies before we came to dead end and had to back track. She was not happy, kept muttering something about sticking to the main track.