Day 21 - Coffs Harbour
The rain started this morning, just as forecast. I enjoyed my coffee whilst listening to the rain on the roof and followed it with a light breakfast in the van as I was saving myself for a big elevenses!
We headed to the Big Banana as we figured this was a good indoor activity while it was raining. Banana Belgian waffles were pretty yummy!
After wandering through the complex to kill some time, we decided to go for a drive. We had wanted to visit some markets harbourside but the rain was still very steady. So we did the tourist drive, out to the breakwater, past the Gallows surf beach (where there were many people surfing), and then out to Boambee Headland where the rain cleared enough for us to take a walk and look south at the stunning beach. Jude and I took the long path back so Neill went to get the car and met us at the lower carpark.
Even though that didn't really wear off the waffles, it was lunchtime so we headed to the fisherman's co-op and enjoyed some fish and chips for lunch. The sun was out by now, although the wind was pretty intense.
After lunch, we decided to tackle Muttonbird Island, just past the marina. A nature reserve with a large population of muttonbirds (a lot more human traffic around them than the muttonbird burrows in the Furneaux Islands!), we could walk the whole was across the island which was well worth it. They don't seem to eat the muttonbirds here unlike Tassie, and I smiled when a passing kid asked if he could put his hand down a muttonbird nest, remembering the Tasmanian Aboriginal saying that you aren't a "qualified" muttonbirder until you've pulled a tiger snake out of a muttonbird nest!!
On the way back, we decided to walk through the marina, rather than along the breakwater and got to admire some very sleek watercraft.
We were well and truly warm by this stage (and windswept) so it was time to do our grocery shopping before heading back to camp. As we drove in, I noticed another Sunland caravan the other side of the Bushtracker and sure enough, it was Brian and Jenny who had also been at the Sunland gathering in Mansfield! We had a bit of a chat before I had to finish putting away my groceries and starting dinner.
Another lovely evening around the fire, although we ate a lot less tonight after our big eating day. Thank goodness we did a fair bit of walking after each food session!
Day 20 - Manning Point to Karangi (Coffs Harbour) (254km)
I didn't sleep well again (it was very warm overnight as well) so was up super early and hence, ready to leave well before Neill and Jude! Didn't want to rush them though, but we still left before 10am. Pretty good for a caravan park pack up which is much more involved than free camp pack up.
Up the road to a place called Kew (I once had an office in the Melbourne suburb of Kew!) where we stopped for fuel. Neill missed the turnoff to the servo and Kew is a small town with not many side streets so he had to go a long way before he could turn around and come back! We then decided to have elevenses at the back of the pub in Kew because there was space!
Up the Pacific Motorway for boring driving. It was quite windy which didn't help fuel consumption but the drive was made bearable by a good audio book. We tried two places for a lunch stop but neither had room for us (as in, caravan parking) so we kept going until we eventually snuck into a reserve at Eungai Creek which was quite pleasant, and even had this very artistic mosaic bench seat which I really just photographed for my niece!
Another hour up the road and we arrived in Coffs Harbour, but we had found a campground up in the hills from Coffs, about 10 minutes out. We pulled in here at about 3pm and got set up. The weather was pretty hot, and it's really starting to get quite humid now that we are north. Jude whipped up a batch of scones (I don't know how she did that so quickly!) which we enjoyed for afternoon tea. Given we had sat in the car all day, we took the opportunity for a short walk up the hill which stretched the muscles. Pre dinner drinks, nibbles, then we lit the fire and enjoyed our dinner in front of it - although it is very much for ambience (and maybe to keep the mozzies away) as it is still 21C at this time of night. It's supposed to rain a fair bit tomorrow so we're planning a day in Coffs Harbour itself.
Meanwhile, this tree with all it's staghorns is right out the front of the campground (if you look carefully, you can see the Sunland and Bushtracker in the background.
Day 19 - Manning Point
Awoke early, the waves were crashing and my bed was a bit lonely so after my coffee in bed, I dressed and headed to the beach - all before 8am! It was beautiful down by the water at that hour, so I paddled and wandered and tried to take artistic photos like this one.
Back to the van for a shower and then I was sitting having breakfast in the sun just after 9am. There were a lot more clouds about than the last two days - possibly a sign of things to come over the next few days (predicting a bit of rain in these parts this weekend). We had planned on walking through "town" along the river this morning before elevenses and then doing a longer beach walk later but as we approached the cafe/restaurant where we had thought we'd have dinner and Neill went in for "have a chat", he then decided we could have coffee and caker there for elevenses. We sat on the deck over the river and enjoyed that very much, and heard stories from the owner of the massive floods last year that destroyed the oysters beds and ruined his jetty. As we left we spied a small park at the end of the street and decided to explore, as there seemed to be a path through the trees. So feeling very much like intrepid explorers, we wound our way through thick bush, up hill and down dale, coming out over a sand dune (difficult for short people like me!) at this.
From there, we walked back along the beach which made us quite hot by the time we got back to the vans so it was off to the pool for a cooling swim. The water temperature was pretty good and we were the only ones there so we enjoyed it very much - the two older "kids" enjoyed playing on the waterslide!
Back to the van for lunch, and a quiet afternoon reading. The wind picked up which made it a bit cool but we chased the sun and sat between the vans which sheltered us a bit. We had our pre dinner drinks and nibbles in the same spot but decided jeans and long sleeves might be in order for dinner, given we were to be sitting on the river.
We arrived at the cafe/restaurant, were greeted by Chilli the dog and took our seats on the balcony. Tonight was pizza night so we pre-ordered our seafood pizzas and they soon emerged hot and smelling delicious.
It was a very enjoyable evening and we discussed how small towns like this would often be overlooked by many visitors, aiming for the 'big name' coastal locations. But we really like this place - great weather, laid back, no commercialism, a stunning beach, friendly locals - we'd come back.
As we left the cafe and were saying our goodnights to the chatty owner - and who knows how we got onto this - but his girlfriend lives in the same place as my brother and of course, Andrew knows her! What a small world.
Day 18 - Manning Point
The halfway point of my trip - and we should have been checking in to the Clarence Valley Music Muster. But, mother nature had other plans. We recently saw photos of the paddocks we were meant to be camping in and there is no way hundreds of caravans would have been able to navigate the mud.
Mind you, you look at the weather where we are and you wouldn't say it was wet and muddy.
A very quiet, lazy morning. Two cups of coffee in bed, breakfast, shower, dishes and even put a load of washing on in my van. We went for a short walk before elevenses to check out the bowls club and decided to have dinner there tonight. Hung the washing out, then headed out on our most energetic part of the day - a walk to the point (Manning Point) where the river flows into the ocean. Turns out it was a 5km round trip from our vans but oh, so worth it. Not a cloud in the sky, brilliant blue water, white waves, glistening sand - and not a soul to be seen.
This screen shot of Google Maps shows the peninsula we walked on out to the point.
We had earned our lunch after that, and a rest with a bit of reading. I contemplated going for a swim but the pool had too many people in it and I wasn't convinced the ocean was warm enough (although I got wet up to my knees on our walk). Instead, Neill and I played with some of my new car/caravan toys until it was time for dinner. The Bowls Club is next door to the caravan park and surprisingly, there was quite a crowd in there for dinner on a Thursday night. It was a predominantly Chinese menu and was pretty good - all freshly cooked and well served. Our entertainment was the raffle draw for the 20 meat trays - some people won up to 4 of them!
A cup of tea around the campfire rounded out a beautiful day - made even better by the fact we didn't have to drive anywhere!
Day 17 - Lake Liddell to Manning Point (278km)
The last six days have all been driving days, which can get a bit wearing after a while. Given our music festival was cancelled, we had been exploring what we could fill our time in with. We had decided to head towards the coast at Newcastle and explore along this section of the NSW coast, none of us having done it recently or with vans. However, not being fans of caravan parks at the best of times, we didn't want to land at a commercialised, overpriced park just because of where it was. So last night's research led us to this rustic charmer. And with a beach like this alongside the park, who can complain?!
Neill's favourite geese were on hand to greet us this morning at Lake Liddell. I did see a peclian while I was having my coffee so that made me happy. In extraordinary timeliness on our part, we were ready to leave by 9:14am! On the road, and we knew most of our driving today would be on freeways. As we skirted Newcastle and headed north on the M1 Pacific Motorway, it did occur to me that this was my first time on a freeway since I left Berwick!
Elevenses was in the suburb of Beresfield - not quite where Jude had wanted us to go but we ended up at Cafe on Lawson in this lower socio economic suburb. The coffee was reasonably good, the banana bread also OK and we felt good for supporting a small business run by two young ladies who were giving it a go.
Up the freeway to Bulahdelah for lunch at the Showgrounds - and far fancier showgrounds they were compared to our campsite in Koorawatha the other night.
Back on the freeway for our last 95km and we turned off the freeway just near Taree and took some rather ordinary roads out to this peninsula. It's a fairly remote little town, with not many facilities, and a rustic caravan park (that still manages to carry the Big 4 brand!). After setting up, we went for a 3km walk along the beach and what a stunning beach it is. I'm looking forward to lying in bed listening to the waves crash all night long. So happy with our chosen site that we've decided to stay 3 nights. So, here's to sleep ins and walks along the beach.
Day 16 - Balliemore to Lake Liddell (251km)
A big day of driving today. The total trip mileage mightn't look it, but we spent a lot of time sitting in roadworks and behind/in front of trucks. The countryside was also not very interesting so thank goodness for audio books.
Early elevenses in Dunedoo; lunch and fuel in Merriwa and arrived at the Lake Liddell Recreation Area at about 3pm.
An interesting place - the lake has some dangerous amoeba living in it so you can't touch or fish in the water; there is a large coal fired power station easily seen from one angle which is in the process of being decommissioned; there is a site office for the decommissioning on another side; and coal trains running regularly (like between every half hour to hour) across the road. However, if you look at this view (which is how we have positioned our vans to look at), you wouldn't know any of that.
Plenty of birdlife, including my favourites the pelicans, and our not-so-favourite geese, no neighbours close by, water views - it almost ticks many of our campsite criteria boxes. But a strange place. We had a bit of a read in the sun, pre-dinner drinks, then we lit the fire (for ambience - it's warm enough again to not need it for warmth), had our dinner and watched the moon rise again.
If you look closely to the left in this picture of the stunning sky at sunset, you can see the power station.
Day 15 - Koorawatha to Balliemore (241km)
After the noisy rain and thunder of last night, the day dawned bright and sunny, although much cooler than recent days.
We were on the road by 9:30am, got fuel in Cowra, and kept going until Wellington where we stopped for lunch. Deciding to treat ourselves to lunch out, we searched for suitable caravan parking and headed to the Four Cats Coffee shop (located in the former Sacred Heart Kindergarten) for lunch, which was lovely. A small shop at the local Coles and we were on the road again. Imagine our surprise to see these solar farms just north of Wellington (obviously not my photo) extending for hundreds of acres. Ironically, I had just finished an audio book (fiction) based on the pros and cons of solar farms.
The rattle in my car is still bothering me and no Ford dealer I ring that might be along our route can fit me in. I got a bit overwhelmed with it all this afternoon - it's hard having to shoulder the responsibility for everything when you've been able to share the load for the last 24 years.
We arrived at the Hair of the Dog Inn at Balliemore in time for afternoon tea. Free camping out the front (along a railway line, but no-one can tell us when a train might come along so we're not too worried) and we had a meal inside. Really quite a lovely country pub, although it was very quiet in there tonight. Our meals were pretty good and we felt good for supporting them.
Back to the van before sunset and we thought we'd still have a fire as it really is quite cool tonight. Nice and warm, and we got to watch the almost-full moon rise over my caravan while we had our tea.
