A new van and we have passed Brisbane

We returned to Nambucca to catch up with Judy, and she had made the decision to go home to Albury as it would be at least another 5 to 6 weeks before she would be able to join us. The target is for Judy to rejoin us at Alice Springs on about 26 September.



However while in the area we picked up a new van from Port Macquarie - yes only we would do this, but we decided that if we are to be on the road for the next 10 months then we would have a little more comfort (particularly good not to have to walk to facilities at 3.00am). The right offer was made on the old van so we decided to take the plunge. The new van is slightly larger (19ft) and has toilet and shower, hot water system, LCD TV and DVD, larger fridge and better heating / cooling etc.

After going through the saga of transferring everything from one van to another (did it in just under two hours) on 12 August we headed off to Ballina, only to find the pacific highway was shut due to an accident, so we stayed in the very small caravan park at Maclean and then had a short trip to Ballina on 13 August.

After stopping two days in Ballina, we then moved off to Noosa area, staying in Tewantin. Must say that we are not impressed by the Noosa area - too busy, too plastic and Peter says he has not seen so much makeup and spakel on so many "old shielas" for years.

While in Noosa we took the opportunity to have coffee with Gwen Robinson - a previous boss within ACT Health. For those people that knew Gwen - she has not changed, and retirement really suits her.

For those people that had money on Peter flying home from Brisbane - we have passed Brisbane and he is still here! He has not wet a fishing line - so still no fish.

Continuing the travels

There were no more events for the rest of our stay in Port Macquarie. While in PM we stayed right on the breakwater, which made it easy for Peter for fishing, a short walk to decent coffee shops and close for all other requirements – a very enjoyable stay, where we also met Jim and Mel from Cessnock. Jim took pity on Peter’s feeble efforts to catch fish and gave us 9 lovely bream rather than let us starve. Judy, was fitted with a “moonboot” engaged in physio and generally feeling a lot better and more mobile when we left for South West Rocks on the 18 July.

We stayed at a caravan park in Trial Bay – excellent facilities and friendly wildlife – visits from Kangaroos and a Kookaburra who thought he may be able to help when Irene was cooking. This really is a beautiful place, the views from the lighthouse (Smokey Cape), Trial Bay Gaol and the headlands and SW Rocks headland are fantastic! Peter went beach fishing one morning (still did not catch anything) and Irene packed a chair, book and coffee and had a brilliant couple of hours passing the time talking to those other healthy people taking their morning walk. It is funny how there have been good intentions to catch up on reading – but one does not seem to get the time! This is one place we will be revisiting.

The morning we left SW Rocks (22 July) it was very overcast, cool and blowing – but we were hopeful that Nambucca Heads would have some sunshine. Judy had arrived in Nambucca to stay with her sister Nancy and brother in law Brian, so we were also going to catch up with her. I am sure that Nambucca is a very nice place, however for the three days we were there it was cold, rained and not enjoyable. The site we stayed at was great except they put us in a spot which, after rain, was a bog-hole – we had mud about 4 inches deep outside the door. It was good to catch up with Judy, Nancy and Brian and we had two home cooked dinners thanks to Nancy. Judy much more mobile and we are hopeful her orthopaedic review on 5 August will be favourable and she may be joining us soon. Peter decided to give the fish a break and did not wet a line.

On the 25 July we left Nambucca (and yes it was raining) to head to Coffs Harbor and yes it was raining when we arrived. We had our first experience of packing up and setting down in the rain – all in all it went very well, mainly because we were pretty well organised. I am sure this will not be our first and last “wet” experience. We did not actually stay in Coffs, but at Emerald Beach which is about 20km north of Coffs. We loved Emerald Beach and other areas outside Coffs (eg Scotts Head – good park etc), but did not enjoy Coffs at all – it could have been any large town anywhere. While there we managed to catch up with Helen Van Wyck (Tim was on Navy duty in Cairns). There would be people in Canberra associated with health that may remember Tim and Helen – they moved to Sapphire Beach some 8 years ago. Helen has not changed at all – still very busy and still involved with baseball – it was good to catch up with her and both of us were envious of their housing arrangement – so close to the beach, with pool, tennis court, lagoon, ducks and a pet eel! Peter tried the beach – still nothing!! ( he is getting pissed off).

Emerald Beach was a delight – the park had a happy hour on the second day we were there, we thought we would go as a way to meet up with others. It was in the camp kitchen which was right next to our site, and which we used everyday. Well that proved the right thing to do – met some lovely people who we then met for drinks, nibbles, laughter and stories.

It was also Peters birthday on the 29 July – so he is officially retired now and soon to be pensioner. We went out for a birthday breakfast at the Coffs Jetty and decided we would have a celebratory dinner once Judy rejoined us and we were in warmer weather.

Yamba is our latest stop – arrived on the 30 July. Both Peter and I really like this area – particularly Yamba and the nearby town of Maclean (the Scottish town) – this town has the tartans painted on the power poles and has a beautiful Australian shopping street. We will be staying here until the 7 August. It is so easy to relax with this lifestyle, Peter usually finds a place to throw a line in and I “potter” - both of us tend to forget what day of the week is what and continually need to refer to a calendar – we hope this is how we will continue. The weather has been T-Shirt and shorts, with it being cooler in the evenings – something that we can put up with! We did not think a lot of Iluka but there was a camping area at Woody Head that at some time in the future we would like to stay at – good facilities and right on the beach, unfortunately it is National Park – so no pets. The view from the Iluka Bluff (which we both climbed!) was just fantastic – unfortunately we managed to wipe the photos from the camera.

Peter tried to catch a fish on the advice of the local bait expert. We tried the breakwater to Yamba which required a death defying scramble over the rocks and boulders to get near enough to the water to wet a line. Using all his agility and light-footed movement he got down to the water on two occasions and managed not to break his duck ( nor his neck). We are beginning to think we will be the only people who have travelled the length of the NSW coast line for 0 fish caught.

Had a surprise phone call from Peters cousin Glenn on Sun 3 August, he was going to Byron Bay the next day and we made arrangements to meet for a coffee in Maclean - had a good chat and caught up with news.

After all this excitement, we will be going back to Nambucca Heads (7 August) to meet up with Judy and figure out what is to happen next.