The week before last, Rosy had a cooking accident. Well, it wasn't so much about cooking, but seasoning a new wok I bought. The hot oil splattered over her left hand fingers and the pain was most intense. We went to the Emergency ward at the local hospital. Rosy had put her hand into some water for about an hour and then another hour at the ER, before they smothered it in a special burns cream and wrapping it up. They gave her some pain relief so that she would be able to get some sleep during the night. The bandages are off now and the skin is starting to heal. Rosy knows why it happened (there are no accidents) and has promised not to do it again.
On Friday we dropped Angel off at Doggie-Day-Care at a kennel located near Tumblegum called Home For The Paws. It's run by Susan and her husband and they look after the dogs really well. Angel loves going there and bossing the other dogs around. She reminds me a little of Lucy from Peanuts as she says "I'm the boss of you". Each dog has a separate lock up area, which opens up to a grassy area where all the dogs get to run around. It gives Rosy and I a break from Angel, and it helps with socialising. We decided last week to keep Angel there for the week that Rosy and I go to Norfolk Island on 14 May. We have also decided to stay at Murwillumbah until after our trip to NI, so it gives us a chance to scout further north for a place to go to next.
Heading north via the Gateway bridge at Brisbane was not difficult, but the number of semi-trailers is something to be seen to be believed. It took us just over 3 hours to go to the first caravan park at Landsborough. It's near Australia Zoo and about 20km from the coast. This is where the Glasshouse mountains are. One of them looks like Devils Tower from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". The driving was fine until we hit the mountain to get up to the park. It was about 2 km of 10 degree incline. The Landcruiser handled it OK, but we were both a bit concerned about pulling the 2 tonne caravan. When we got to the park we went to the office and the manageress was on the phone to a long distance caller. She didn't get off the phone and gave us a map of the park. Rosy and I had a look around and considered it too difficult to manoeuvre our rig into such tight spots and narrow roads. It had a great view, strong winds and was about $30 per night. We decided to look elsewhere.
Our next stop was Caloundra. Again the tariff was $30 per night, but it also had tight spots and high rises all around looking down on the grounds. It was more suited to small pop-top caravans. We went to the main street of Caloundra and had lunch at Gloria Jeans. Do you know, how hard it is to get a nice tasting GJ coffee in Queensland? We still haven't found one. Must be the water. Caloundra is quite busy and much bigger than our first visit about 20 years ago. I can't personally think why someone would want to vacation in such a place. It's not for us. Oh well, the search goes on.
Rosy and I share the driving so the ritual we go through is that before we leave the caravan a coin is tossed and the other person calls it. If they win the toss, then they get to pick whether to drive or navigate. Rosy called it and loss the toss, so I said that she could drive there and I will drive back. Boy did Rosy get the good deal this trip. On our return trip it took us an hour and a half more. There was a break-down on the Gateway bridge and the traffic queue was about 2 km long, inching along like a slug. And we had to pay $2.60 for the privilege. Absolutely hideous. Then after the tolls we had about a km of driving at 80kph and then back to a slug crawl again. Lanes merging and merging and merging and merging. They are actually building a second bridge to the Gateway to relieve the traffic chaos. Why the hell didn't they think about this when they built the Gateway Bridge? We left Caloundra at 2pm and we thought we would have missed the peak hour traffic, but oh no. By the time we got off the Gateway Bridge we had struck peak hour head on at 3:30pm. It then took another three hours to get back to the caravan (including a mini stop-off). It was dark and rainy and a most hideous experience. After this trip Rosy and I decided to head inland and start to explore the parks at our next opportunity. Probably Toowoomba.
Congratulations to Rosy for getting her first paying customer for some sewing mending jobs. I'm very proud of her.
It has been a bit wet here at Murwillumbah for the past few days. The park is awash...there is a new lake in the camping area and everything is damp. The sun came out today, so we went off to the beach at South Kingsliff. I think we were all getting a little cabin fever. The other thing about heading inland is that it is not so wet there.
I am constantly amazed at the scenery around here. It is never the same. Such beauty.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Shade, roller coasters and mountains...
We're still here in Murwillumbah and have decided to stay put until the end of April when all the school holidays should be over.
Our new annex walls made of shade cloth are working out great. If you need anything made up of canvas or shadecloth, I recommend you contact Tony at ULTIMA Canvas & Vinyl Products, Lismore.
Last week we made it into Queensland, at last! We had a day riding the roller coasters at WB Movie World. If you are after a VERY fast , VERY smooth roller coaster, try out the Superman Escape ride. For $63 though, I think the park needs to offer a bit more as there didn’t seem to be that much there. Afterwards took a drive back down through Surfers Paradise and stopped off for a bit of shopping at Pacific Fair. Surfers hasn’t changed much except for a few more extremely tall buildings.
Yesterday , we took a drive up into the Boarder Ranges National Park. The view from Blackbutts Lookout is spectacular. The drive up there is a long, narrow, winding dirt road and unfortunately, it was a bit of a hazy day so I didn’t bother taking a photo. Hopefully, we’ll get up there again on a clear day.
While we were gallivanting around, Angel had a sleepover at the Home for the Paws kennel. It’s set on a cattle farm nestled on a hillside in a pretty place called Dulguigan. It’s run by a lovely couple who clearly love dogs. Angel was made very welcome and was given lots of play time with her neighbours, a pair of poodles. We've booked her in for one day a week for the next 3 weeks to give us some doggy free days.
Well, not much more to report for now. Take care all.
Our new annex walls made of shade cloth are working out great. If you need anything made up of canvas or shadecloth, I recommend you contact Tony at ULTIMA Canvas & Vinyl Products, Lismore.
Last week we made it into Queensland, at last! We had a day riding the roller coasters at WB Movie World. If you are after a VERY fast , VERY smooth roller coaster, try out the Superman Escape ride. For $63 though, I think the park needs to offer a bit more as there didn’t seem to be that much there. Afterwards took a drive back down through Surfers Paradise and stopped off for a bit of shopping at Pacific Fair. Surfers hasn’t changed much except for a few more extremely tall buildings.
Yesterday , we took a drive up into the Boarder Ranges National Park. The view from Blackbutts Lookout is spectacular. The drive up there is a long, narrow, winding dirt road and unfortunately, it was a bit of a hazy day so I didn’t bother taking a photo. Hopefully, we’ll get up there again on a clear day.
While we were gallivanting around, Angel had a sleepover at the Home for the Paws kennel. It’s set on a cattle farm nestled on a hillside in a pretty place called Dulguigan. It’s run by a lovely couple who clearly love dogs. Angel was made very welcome and was given lots of play time with her neighbours, a pair of poodles. We've booked her in for one day a week for the next 3 weeks to give us some doggy free days.
Well, not much more to report for now. Take care all.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
A word or two (or three) from Rosy
It’s about time I did a post to the blog. It’s the Easter long weekend and there are quite a few people here at the Murwillumbah Caravan Park, but no where near the crowds that there would be closer to the coast. Murwillumbah is a pretty town with a historic township atmosphere and a long block of shops on the main street plus a small shopping centre with Coles. The Tweed River flows through the town and Mt Warning can be seen not far away. This whole area sits in a (well and hopefully truly extinct!) volcanic crater.
Our time at Sandalwood Caravan Park (Wardell) seemed to go quickly and it was sad to be leaving. Staying as long as we do in most places, we become nearly like locals and it‘s nice when friends we’ve made and even the managers give us a goodbye hug. In the caravan park, Stephen became known as the a computer guy so people would stop by to ask questions, sometimes bringing their laptop. I have been a bit slow hanging out my sewing shingle but now with my new Singer I have decided to hang it out while we are here in Murwillumbah to let people know that I'm open for business to do sewing, dressmaking and some alterations. This site is ideal for sewing as we are on a double concrete slab - no dirt!
We seem to set up the annex a little bit differently at each caravan park we visit, largely due to which direction we are facing and what the weather is like. Inside the annex it’s all about making it a doggy leash tangle-free environment. We quickly found we need to block Angel’s multiple access routes to underneath the caravan so that she only goes to and fro from one spot near the door.
As we’ve said before, everywhere we go, we pick up some new tips about caravanning and find out something we didn‘t know about our van. A couple we met in Wardell had their 3 annex walls made of shade cloth. They told us that in this climate they are better than using the canvas annex walls which are better in winter. The shade cloth walls give them much needed airflow plus shade and even keeps most of the rain out too. I know that often when the sun would hit our annex it was just too hot to be in there. Our annex doorways didn’t let much air through and the canvas seems to hold the heat. Now that we are here in Murwillumbah, we have only put up the long wall of the annex with the big window open so that the air will flow through each end. A canvas and shade cloth company in Lismore is making up 2 shade cloth side walls and a 4m long wall for us and they should will be ready at the end of the week. The 4m wall will go on the opposite side of the caravan to shade our fridge and Stephen‘s work area.
I had a short trip down to Sydney while we were at Wardell as it was in easy reach of Ballina airport. I stayed at the YHA for 4 nights which was an experience, but a good one. My main reason for the trip was to visit my podiatrist. They were able to do a small adjustment to my orthotic plus tell me that the shoes I was wearing were too flexible and not giving my foot enough support. Aaaagh!!!! So now with ANOTHER new pair of shoes (Brooks this time) and an adjusted orthotic, I’m determined to FIX THIS FOOT and wear them 100% of the time until the pain is gone. Wish me luck!!! While in Sydney, I also got to spend a day with my father and have lunch overlooking Narrabeen Beach. Well, that’s all I can write for now but will try to get some photos of the area and update them to the blog in the next few days.
Till next time….take care and have fun over Easter everyone.
Our time at Sandalwood Caravan Park (Wardell) seemed to go quickly and it was sad to be leaving. Staying as long as we do in most places, we become nearly like locals and it‘s nice when friends we’ve made and even the managers give us a goodbye hug. In the caravan park, Stephen became known as the a computer guy so people would stop by to ask questions, sometimes bringing their laptop. I have been a bit slow hanging out my sewing shingle but now with my new Singer I have decided to hang it out while we are here in Murwillumbah to let people know that I'm open for business to do sewing, dressmaking and some alterations. This site is ideal for sewing as we are on a double concrete slab - no dirt!
We seem to set up the annex a little bit differently at each caravan park we visit, largely due to which direction we are facing and what the weather is like. Inside the annex it’s all about making it a doggy leash tangle-free environment. We quickly found we need to block Angel’s multiple access routes to underneath the caravan so that she only goes to and fro from one spot near the door.
As we’ve said before, everywhere we go, we pick up some new tips about caravanning and find out something we didn‘t know about our van. A couple we met in Wardell had their 3 annex walls made of shade cloth. They told us that in this climate they are better than using the canvas annex walls which are better in winter. The shade cloth walls give them much needed airflow plus shade and even keeps most of the rain out too. I know that often when the sun would hit our annex it was just too hot to be in there. Our annex doorways didn’t let much air through and the canvas seems to hold the heat. Now that we are here in Murwillumbah, we have only put up the long wall of the annex with the big window open so that the air will flow through each end. A canvas and shade cloth company in Lismore is making up 2 shade cloth side walls and a 4m long wall for us and they should will be ready at the end of the week. The 4m wall will go on the opposite side of the caravan to shade our fridge and Stephen‘s work area.
I had a short trip down to Sydney while we were at Wardell as it was in easy reach of Ballina airport. I stayed at the YHA for 4 nights which was an experience, but a good one. My main reason for the trip was to visit my podiatrist. They were able to do a small adjustment to my orthotic plus tell me that the shoes I was wearing were too flexible and not giving my foot enough support. Aaaagh!!!! So now with ANOTHER new pair of shoes (Brooks this time) and an adjusted orthotic, I’m determined to FIX THIS FOOT and wear them 100% of the time until the pain is gone. Wish me luck!!! While in Sydney, I also got to spend a day with my father and have lunch overlooking Narrabeen Beach. Well, that’s all I can write for now but will try to get some photos of the area and update them to the blog in the next few days.
Till next time….take care and have fun over Easter everyone.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
It's Time to Move On
Rosy decided to trade in her 15 year old sewing machine on a new model and to get one that is lighter than the one she has and does overlocking stitches. She did very well and was able to get one. Rosy made good friends with Lyn who with her husband look after Sandalwood's maintenance. Lyn was very impressed that Rosy had an overlocker and now that Rosy had her new machine, she didn't need the overlocker any more. So she gave it to Lyn and gave her a lesson on how to operate it. Rosy is going to start putting her shingle out to let people know in the parks that she will do sewing jobs. It's a great way to meet people in the park.
Last Friday, Rosy, Angel and I went on a scouting mission to find our next location. We drove up to Tweed Heads and then followed the coast down. There were only two caravan parks at Chinderah that allowed pets and they both sucked. They were right on the freeway and one of the receptionists was really cold and prickly. We then went to Kingsliff where they have a dog beach at the north of the town, but the two caravan parks don't allow pets. Even in the main street they don't allow you to eat alfresco with your pet. Bunch of "dog haters"! We resigned ourselves to having to find other locations. The highlight of the day was going through a little town called "Mooball". It's claim to fame is that the only shop, the telegraph poles and some large rocks are painted white with black dots, like the markings on cows. It makes us chuckle everytime we go through it.
We had to move spots at Sandalwood at Wardell last Monday as the families start arriving for Easter. My intuition was telling me not to move on the Monday, so I cleared it with the park owner to move on Tuesday. Meanwhile on Monday Rosy, Angel and I went scouting inland for a suitable spot. We went up to Murwillumbah and found a great location, which is about 15 minutes drive to the coast (for Angel's beach running exercise). We thought that seeing we had to pack up anyway to move spots at Sandalwood, we might as well move on to Murwillumbah. On the way back to Wardell we went via Nimbin. This is he place where all the young and old hippies from Byron Bay ended up after the price of Byron Bay got too exclusive. I must say I only got asked once on the street if I wanted some drugs. It's only a little town, but all the shopfronts are coloured in great detail. All rainbow colours. We had lunch there and the owner of the cafe allowed us to have Angel with us at the table. They even provide for dogs with a water bowl. All the older men all look the same. Long grey hair with a grey beard with cheesecloth material pants and tops, looking like they needed a good hearty meal. It was really an experience. We then headed back to Wardell via Lismore.
On the way back we bought a decent air compressor. We have been finding it difficult to find a service station big enough to check our tyres on the van. So with the gadget I hook it up to the car battery and it fills up the tyres with a minimum of fuss. I don't want to risk anything with the tyre pressure as they are the only things between us and the road at 90kph.
Just as an aside, we found out that if we stay at any caravan park in Australia for more than 27 days, the GST reduces by 50% on the 28th day to our departure. Not many people are aware of this and the parks generally pocket the difference, or build it into a discount price. But know we know what they get up to.
Today was a sad day as we made many friends of Sandalwood and they each wanted to say good bye and wish us well on our trip around Australia.
It took us and hour and a half to get to Murwillumbah from Wardell and the rest of the day to unpack and relax. I don't know how the grey nomads do it. Moving from one spot to the next. A Welsh couple we met at Sandalwood did Australia in 6 months! The wife said they drove it but they didn't see much of it.
Anyway, must go now. Things to do and not do.
Stephen
Last Friday, Rosy, Angel and I went on a scouting mission to find our next location. We drove up to Tweed Heads and then followed the coast down. There were only two caravan parks at Chinderah that allowed pets and they both sucked. They were right on the freeway and one of the receptionists was really cold and prickly. We then went to Kingsliff where they have a dog beach at the north of the town, but the two caravan parks don't allow pets. Even in the main street they don't allow you to eat alfresco with your pet. Bunch of "dog haters"! We resigned ourselves to having to find other locations. The highlight of the day was going through a little town called "Mooball". It's claim to fame is that the only shop, the telegraph poles and some large rocks are painted white with black dots, like the markings on cows. It makes us chuckle everytime we go through it.
We had to move spots at Sandalwood at Wardell last Monday as the families start arriving for Easter. My intuition was telling me not to move on the Monday, so I cleared it with the park owner to move on Tuesday. Meanwhile on Monday Rosy, Angel and I went scouting inland for a suitable spot. We went up to Murwillumbah and found a great location, which is about 15 minutes drive to the coast (for Angel's beach running exercise). We thought that seeing we had to pack up anyway to move spots at Sandalwood, we might as well move on to Murwillumbah. On the way back to Wardell we went via Nimbin. This is he place where all the young and old hippies from Byron Bay ended up after the price of Byron Bay got too exclusive. I must say I only got asked once on the street if I wanted some drugs. It's only a little town, but all the shopfronts are coloured in great detail. All rainbow colours. We had lunch there and the owner of the cafe allowed us to have Angel with us at the table. They even provide for dogs with a water bowl. All the older men all look the same. Long grey hair with a grey beard with cheesecloth material pants and tops, looking like they needed a good hearty meal. It was really an experience. We then headed back to Wardell via Lismore.
On the way back we bought a decent air compressor. We have been finding it difficult to find a service station big enough to check our tyres on the van. So with the gadget I hook it up to the car battery and it fills up the tyres with a minimum of fuss. I don't want to risk anything with the tyre pressure as they are the only things between us and the road at 90kph.
Just as an aside, we found out that if we stay at any caravan park in Australia for more than 27 days, the GST reduces by 50% on the 28th day to our departure. Not many people are aware of this and the parks generally pocket the difference, or build it into a discount price. But know we know what they get up to.
Today was a sad day as we made many friends of Sandalwood and they each wanted to say good bye and wish us well on our trip around Australia.
It took us and hour and a half to get to Murwillumbah from Wardell and the rest of the day to unpack and relax. I don't know how the grey nomads do it. Moving from one spot to the next. A Welsh couple we met at Sandalwood did Australia in 6 months! The wife said they drove it but they didn't see much of it.
Anyway, must go now. Things to do and not do.
Stephen
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
It's been a while...
Rosy and I are still in Wardell and plan to stay here until after Easter. Most of the caravan parks up north are charging extra for the Easter break and the park we are staying at have agreed to only charge us the normal rate. Colin and Wendy who own the park are really nice people, so are the caretakers Lyn and William and not to mention Craig the groundskeeper. Then we have also met some very nice people, Michelle and Ron and Ernie and Betsy. It's just like one big happy family.
Anyway, we haven't updated the blog because we have been so busy. I flew down to Sydney to get our passports from storage for our impending trip to Norfolk Island to celebrate my youngest sisters birthday. I stayed at the Youth Hostel in Central and it proved to be quite good digs for the price. I stayed just long enough to get to the Southern Highlands to grab a few things, spend a little time with my friends William and Jonathan, get back to Sydney and fly back.
Then the flood of work hit. I have been basically sitting in front of my computer, being very creative and systematic with some big jobs. Rosy has even had to give me a hand to cope.
The next week Rosy flew down to Sydney to catch up with some of her friends in the city and her Dad, but the trip was really to attend to a few doctors appointments for her foot and other things. She was away for 5 days, but I was so busy that it seemed like she was only away for 2 days. I did manage to go to Lismore for a few hours to get out of the van. Rosy has had to take control of taking the dog to the beach, cause I just get away and I am a bit brain tired from all the thinking I have had to contend with.
One of the big projects finished yesterday and hence why the blog update.
The sun is finally out all day and the temperature is quite nice. The air conditioner comes in handy with the humidity, but we have only really used it once or twice in the past few weeks.
A few of my dreams has been pointing me towards having fun, so i got a collection of the old Carry On movies to give me a chuckle. They were such characters.
I have been also helping a neighbour (Michelle) with her new computer (Vista -Aghhhhh!!!) and her husband Ron is really into music. I can sometimes hear him playing his guitar as the sound is carried along by the wind. It's so relaxing and quite ethereal. Anyway, Ron told us about these neat gadgets that you can put on the car and caravan tyres to let you know when they need more air. They are called tyrecheckers and they come with a locking device to stop thieving. You buy the tyrechecker that is as close to the preferred pressure setting for the tyre. Having the caravan it's a bit harder to find air at a service station that can handle the size of the rig, so we are getting an air generator that keep our tyres at the right level. I don't like taking chances with tyres when they are the only thing between us and the ground.
The other thing we recently got, which took a bit of finding, is a book on TV Across Australia. It shows where all the TV antennas are in the area, what stations are available and whether they transmit in analogue or digital and whether polarity is vertical or horizontal. Generally it takes an hour or so to get the TV turned in to a new area. It gets a bit frustrating when you don't know what stations are available cause I don't know if the antenna is pointing in the right direction. This will help me no end.
We have done a little touring. Lismore is pretty much like Ballina and Casino really isn't worth the effort. It's still pretty green there so it looks like they got a fair bit of the rain. I must say though, I have discovered Wendy's Mango Smoothies. Just the thing for warm sultry days. The semi-trailers are a bit of a nuisance here and it is not a place we would like to stay for a prolonged period.
One thing I would like to comment on is Roadwork speed at 40kph. I was driving over the Wardell bridge the other week and there were some roadworks being undertaken on it. I was at the head of the queue, there were no signs to reduce the speed, but I was still doing 40 kilometres below the normal speed limit. One of the workers yelled at me to slow down and that made me think that roadwork speed is the same as school zones speed and the reason that school zones have such a slow speed is that children have not got fully developed brains. So what does this say about road workers?
That's enough from me.
Anyway, we haven't updated the blog because we have been so busy. I flew down to Sydney to get our passports from storage for our impending trip to Norfolk Island to celebrate my youngest sisters birthday. I stayed at the Youth Hostel in Central and it proved to be quite good digs for the price. I stayed just long enough to get to the Southern Highlands to grab a few things, spend a little time with my friends William and Jonathan, get back to Sydney and fly back.
Then the flood of work hit. I have been basically sitting in front of my computer, being very creative and systematic with some big jobs. Rosy has even had to give me a hand to cope.
The next week Rosy flew down to Sydney to catch up with some of her friends in the city and her Dad, but the trip was really to attend to a few doctors appointments for her foot and other things. She was away for 5 days, but I was so busy that it seemed like she was only away for 2 days. I did manage to go to Lismore for a few hours to get out of the van. Rosy has had to take control of taking the dog to the beach, cause I just get away and I am a bit brain tired from all the thinking I have had to contend with.
One of the big projects finished yesterday and hence why the blog update.
The sun is finally out all day and the temperature is quite nice. The air conditioner comes in handy with the humidity, but we have only really used it once or twice in the past few weeks.
A few of my dreams has been pointing me towards having fun, so i got a collection of the old Carry On movies to give me a chuckle. They were such characters.
I have been also helping a neighbour (Michelle) with her new computer (Vista -Aghhhhh!!!) and her husband Ron is really into music. I can sometimes hear him playing his guitar as the sound is carried along by the wind. It's so relaxing and quite ethereal. Anyway, Ron told us about these neat gadgets that you can put on the car and caravan tyres to let you know when they need more air. They are called tyrecheckers and they come with a locking device to stop thieving. You buy the tyrechecker that is as close to the preferred pressure setting for the tyre. Having the caravan it's a bit harder to find air at a service station that can handle the size of the rig, so we are getting an air generator that keep our tyres at the right level. I don't like taking chances with tyres when they are the only thing between us and the ground.
The other thing we recently got, which took a bit of finding, is a book on TV Across Australia. It shows where all the TV antennas are in the area, what stations are available and whether they transmit in analogue or digital and whether polarity is vertical or horizontal. Generally it takes an hour or so to get the TV turned in to a new area. It gets a bit frustrating when you don't know what stations are available cause I don't know if the antenna is pointing in the right direction. This will help me no end.
We have done a little touring. Lismore is pretty much like Ballina and Casino really isn't worth the effort. It's still pretty green there so it looks like they got a fair bit of the rain. I must say though, I have discovered Wendy's Mango Smoothies. Just the thing for warm sultry days. The semi-trailers are a bit of a nuisance here and it is not a place we would like to stay for a prolonged period.
One thing I would like to comment on is Roadwork speed at 40kph. I was driving over the Wardell bridge the other week and there were some roadworks being undertaken on it. I was at the head of the queue, there were no signs to reduce the speed, but I was still doing 40 kilometres below the normal speed limit. One of the workers yelled at me to slow down and that made me think that roadwork speed is the same as school zones speed and the reason that school zones have such a slow speed is that children have not got fully developed brains. So what does this say about road workers?
That's enough from me.
Friday, February 15, 2008
View our web album of Sandalwood & Wardell
Click on the changing photos to view the web album with some pics of Sandalwood caravan park and of the little town of Wardell. Hope you enjoy seeing the photos.
We're enjoying our stay here so far. As expected it's been raining off and on this week but last week was mainly sunny. There are quite a few markets operating in this region and last weekend we did the Lake Ainsworth markets just north of Lennox Head. Stalls line a long driveway into the carpark of the beach and it was packed with people. There was a good mix of crafts & produce but things were a bit expensive in my opinion for markets. I didn't really enjoy walking through the crowded, narrow market stalls with Angel as there were too many people. So we really didn't stop to look at much until it opened out at the end. Although Angel got to have a run along the beach, which is dog friendly from the end of the Lake Ainsworth Reserve, I really wouldn't recommend taking your dog to these markets. Live and learn.
We're enjoying our stay here so far. As expected it's been raining off and on this week but last week was mainly sunny. There are quite a few markets operating in this region and last weekend we did the Lake Ainsworth markets just north of Lennox Head. Stalls line a long driveway into the carpark of the beach and it was packed with people. There was a good mix of crafts & produce but things were a bit expensive in my opinion for markets. I didn't really enjoy walking through the crowded, narrow market stalls with Angel as there were too many people. So we really didn't stop to look at much until it opened out at the end. Although Angel got to have a run along the beach, which is dog friendly from the end of the Lake Ainsworth Reserve, I really wouldn't recommend taking your dog to these markets. Live and learn.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Goodbye Iluka - Hello Wardell
Our last few days at Iluka were spent mainly under umberellas and keeping out of the rain. Luckily on Saturday morning the it was fine so we finally caught the little ferry over to Yamba for morning tea and back. The trip across and down the Clarence River takes about 30 mins and is quite scenic. There were only 4 of us on the trip over but about 15 on the return trip. We even had a dolphin travelling with us for a bit of the trip across. Yamba is a much larger town than Iluka and it's an easy walk from the wharf into town to the shops. I highly recommend The Sound Cafe on Yamba Street for morning tea or breakfast. By the time we caught the ferry back the rain was starting and it stayed with us until Monday afternoon.
Despite all the rain, we enjoyed our stay in Iluka and the Clarence Head Caravan Park. While it is very basic and the amenities are old they were cleaned daily. The manager, Trevor is a nice guy too who was always happy to help, he even opened up the shop one afternoon for us just to buy a couple of ice creams.
We had planned to head off on Monday morning to our next stop at Wardell near Ballina but the rain was pouring down so we stayed put another day to see if it would clear up. Unfortunately, we in the middle of a rain system that stretches from Qld all the way down to Sydney. When the sun came out late on Monday afternoon we dashed out and pulled down our annex and packed up as much as we could ready to head off the next morning. So yesterday we hit the road again - in the rain. It was my turn to tow the caravan and although the road was very wet, we had a good trip thanks to the 4 new tyres we put on Herc last week and the fact there wasn't much traffic to speak of.
We're now settled in at the Sandalwood Van & Leisure Village in Wardell just 10kms south of Ballina. It's a very nice caravan park with a pool (hooray!) and good amenities. Plus the best thing is that the caravan sites are drive-through which made my job fairly easy. I just had a bit of trouble lining the caravan up to be straight alongside the concrete slab where the annex goes. But we're sort of straight and the annex is up - so life is good. Although the caravan park is technically it's not on the Pacific Highway, the highway is only across the other side of some horse paddocks (yes, people can come here with horses as well as dogs). You don't notice the traffic noise during the daytime but last night the sound of the distant trucks rumbling up and down the highway never stopped. Thank god for earplugs! That's all for now.
Despite all the rain, we enjoyed our stay in Iluka and the Clarence Head Caravan Park. While it is very basic and the amenities are old they were cleaned daily. The manager, Trevor is a nice guy too who was always happy to help, he even opened up the shop one afternoon for us just to buy a couple of ice creams.
We had planned to head off on Monday morning to our next stop at Wardell near Ballina but the rain was pouring down so we stayed put another day to see if it would clear up. Unfortunately, we in the middle of a rain system that stretches from Qld all the way down to Sydney. When the sun came out late on Monday afternoon we dashed out and pulled down our annex and packed up as much as we could ready to head off the next morning. So yesterday we hit the road again - in the rain. It was my turn to tow the caravan and although the road was very wet, we had a good trip thanks to the 4 new tyres we put on Herc last week and the fact there wasn't much traffic to speak of.
We're now settled in at the Sandalwood Van & Leisure Village in Wardell just 10kms south of Ballina. It's a very nice caravan park with a pool (hooray!) and good amenities. Plus the best thing is that the caravan sites are drive-through which made my job fairly easy. I just had a bit of trouble lining the caravan up to be straight alongside the concrete slab where the annex goes. But we're sort of straight and the annex is up - so life is good. Although the caravan park is technically it's not on the Pacific Highway, the highway is only across the other side of some horse paddocks (yes, people can come here with horses as well as dogs). You don't notice the traffic noise during the daytime but last night the sound of the distant trucks rumbling up and down the highway never stopped. Thank god for earplugs! That's all for now.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Scouting out our next stop
I just had to write about the great day we had today scouting out the location of our next stop.
With sun shining and blue skies above, we all headed 90 kms up the Pacific Hwy to Ballina. It had been a few years since we had driven this stretch of road and it was great to see places like Broadwater and Woodbine along the Richmond River looking so good. We remember Woodbine as being windy so it's always been "windy Woodbine" to us but it certainly didn't apply today.
Ballina is much bigger than I remember but to be honest I've never really looked around the town before. It has a long main street of shops along Pacific Hwy but then there is also a shopping centre with Big W, Target & KMart, etc, etc a few streets away. (The first KMart we'd seen in a long time). As I had my breakfast REALLY early thanks to an ant biting my leg in bed (damn those ants) finding somewhere to eat was top of my "to do" list. We found a Starbucks where we could sit outside in the shade to have a lunch of pies and yummy cold iced mochas. It was a great spot for Angel and I to hang out while Stephen did a quick once around the shops. So with Angel spying on everyone going by from underneath the table I caught up on today's newspaper.
After hearing some dubious reports about caravan parks in Ballina we thought we should drive up here to check them out before we left Iluka. There are not many caravan parks in Ballina that take dogs. 2 of them are right on the Pacific Hwy near the town (yuck!) and the other 2 were on the other side of the river. We caught the vehicular ferry (insert "punt" for people like me) over to South Ballina where there were 2 possible caravan parks to see. It's only a short 4 mins trip which costs $3.50 per car but it's the only access to Ballina from that side of the river if you don't want to drive all the way back to Wardell (10kms). The South Ballina Caravan Park looked promising however the only caravan sites available were on top of ants nests and there wasn't much shade. Next, we went 10 kms south to Wardell to see the Sandalwood Van & Leisure Park. Dawn & Jim who are travelling with their dog, Mr Spock recommended it to us back at Moonee Beach and having a recommendation is a good sign. We liked it very much. It's a shady caravan park (with pool - yeh!) and a doggy friendly off-leash beach only 6 mins away (Patches Beach). So we booked in there from next Monday 4 Feb. I must say though that the drive from South Ballina to Wardell is VERY pretty as it runs alongside the Richmond River on one side and pretty sugar cane farms on the other.
Back on the Pacific Hwy again, we took the Evan's Head turn off to see what was down there. About 11 kms down the road is a little township, an estuary with a pretty harbour and marina. Sorry no pictures today as I left the camera behind. We'd like to get back there to put the canoe in. We had a fun trip back to Iluka singing along to lots of old Monkees songs.
Anyhow, we're here for one last week so will try to do some of the things we hadn't gotten around to like taking the ferry across the Clarence River from Iluka to Yamba. I've discovered a great little beach called Iluka Bluff Beach in the Bundjalung National Park. If your car survives the 1km of pot holes you'll find the carpark to the Iluka Bluff lookout and access to a pretty swimming/surfing beach which is patrolled in the peak season. Unfortunately, no dogs allowed. The water is clean, warm and the view from the beach in both directions looks out onto waves crashing against rocks (one of my favorite views). I'll try to get some photos updated tomorrow. Cheers, Rosy
With sun shining and blue skies above, we all headed 90 kms up the Pacific Hwy to Ballina. It had been a few years since we had driven this stretch of road and it was great to see places like Broadwater and Woodbine along the Richmond River looking so good. We remember Woodbine as being windy so it's always been "windy Woodbine" to us but it certainly didn't apply today.
Ballina is much bigger than I remember but to be honest I've never really looked around the town before. It has a long main street of shops along Pacific Hwy but then there is also a shopping centre with Big W, Target & KMart, etc, etc a few streets away. (The first KMart we'd seen in a long time). As I had my breakfast REALLY early thanks to an ant biting my leg in bed (damn those ants) finding somewhere to eat was top of my "to do" list. We found a Starbucks where we could sit outside in the shade to have a lunch of pies and yummy cold iced mochas. It was a great spot for Angel and I to hang out while Stephen did a quick once around the shops. So with Angel spying on everyone going by from underneath the table I caught up on today's newspaper.
After hearing some dubious reports about caravan parks in Ballina we thought we should drive up here to check them out before we left Iluka. There are not many caravan parks in Ballina that take dogs. 2 of them are right on the Pacific Hwy near the town (yuck!) and the other 2 were on the other side of the river. We caught the vehicular ferry (insert "punt" for people like me) over to South Ballina where there were 2 possible caravan parks to see. It's only a short 4 mins trip which costs $3.50 per car but it's the only access to Ballina from that side of the river if you don't want to drive all the way back to Wardell (10kms). The South Ballina Caravan Park looked promising however the only caravan sites available were on top of ants nests and there wasn't much shade. Next, we went 10 kms south to Wardell to see the Sandalwood Van & Leisure Park. Dawn & Jim who are travelling with their dog, Mr Spock recommended it to us back at Moonee Beach and having a recommendation is a good sign. We liked it very much. It's a shady caravan park (with pool - yeh!) and a doggy friendly off-leash beach only 6 mins away (Patches Beach). So we booked in there from next Monday 4 Feb. I must say though that the drive from South Ballina to Wardell is VERY pretty as it runs alongside the Richmond River on one side and pretty sugar cane farms on the other.
Back on the Pacific Hwy again, we took the Evan's Head turn off to see what was down there. About 11 kms down the road is a little township, an estuary with a pretty harbour and marina. Sorry no pictures today as I left the camera behind. We'd like to get back there to put the canoe in. We had a fun trip back to Iluka singing along to lots of old Monkees songs.
Anyhow, we're here for one last week so will try to do some of the things we hadn't gotten around to like taking the ferry across the Clarence River from Iluka to Yamba. I've discovered a great little beach called Iluka Bluff Beach in the Bundjalung National Park. If your car survives the 1km of pot holes you'll find the carpark to the Iluka Bluff lookout and access to a pretty swimming/surfing beach which is patrolled in the peak season. Unfortunately, no dogs allowed. The water is clean, warm and the view from the beach in both directions looks out onto waves crashing against rocks (one of my favorite views). I'll try to get some photos updated tomorrow. Cheers, Rosy
Sunday, January 20, 2008
A day out to Ulmarra and Maclean
The other day we drove to Grafton via the westbank of the Clarence River through Tullymorgan and Lawrence rather than go via the Pacific Hwy. We came back via the Pacific Hwy to have lunch in the old historic riverport town of Ulmarra at the old Commercial Hotel and then went on to have a look around Maclean. We highly recommend the food at the hotel. Not far from the hotel is a park alongside the riverbank with a noticeboard full of great old photos of the town. There's one of them building the Pacific Hwy back in 1934 and the year the town was swamped by a flood.
I hope you enjoy seeing some photos of our day out in the attached slideshow (I'm trying out something new).
I hope you enjoy seeing some photos of our day out in the attached slideshow (I'm trying out something new).
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Mail Call
I forgot to mention in my last post that the mailing house we are using (Landbase Aust) sent us all the mail they were holding from 15 Dec to 9 Jan while they were closed for their Christmas break. Thank you to everyone who sent us Christmas and birthday cards and even a few presents. It was like Christmas all over again.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Wet, Wet, Wet...
We've been here at Iluka nearly 2 weeks and I think it's rained nearly every day. Our first few days here the weather was wet, windy and wild. The caravan park is fairly protected as it has a world heritage rainforest on 2 sides and we're about 2 streets back from the Clarence River. It's actually a great location. Just a short walk away at the river bank is a little white pub overlooking the river where you can sit outside to enjoy a drink or meal from their bistro. Also, a bit further up is the fisherman's co-op where you can get fresh or cooked seafood just caught by one of the trawlers that is docked nearby. The beach is then just another kilometer or so further up the road. There is a ferry you can catch to cross the river to get to Yamba (dogs allowed on the ferry, too!) which we haven't done yet. The shopping centre is small but has nearly everything you need plus 2 great bakeries. One did a great job decorating Stephen's chocolate sponge birthday cake. The other one does these great little caramel tarts ~ yum!
Although it rains most days it doesn't rain all day, thank goodness. It tends to rain at night and/or in the mornings then fines up for a sunny afternoon. At least our washing gets dry. The facilities here in this caravan park are clean but old and pretty basic. I've started washing by hand as the park only has 2 washing machines and one dryer which are in constant demand and in my opinion the machines are a bit scungy. This seems to be working out quite well as not only are we saving $3 each time we need to wash but I'm surprised how much cleaner the clothes are this way. Our clothes horse is always coming in and out of the annex depending on the weather but this beats running back and forth to the clothes lines to rescue the washing when it rains.
The day after we arrived, we took a drive 40 mins to Yamba to stock up on provisions. Yamba is also a fishing town but is much larger than Iluka. It is located directly opposite Iluka on the southern side of the mouth of the Clarence River. The Clarence River was on a "flood watch" alert and with one road leading into Iluka it was still OK. The road leading into Yamba runs alongside the river and flood waters had come quite close to either side of the road and had nearly surrounded a pretty B&B. The town has a lot more tourist shops and cafes plus a shopping mall of about 30 shops and Bi-Lo. The caravan park just near the Yamba shops looked like a tent city covered in tarps.
Unfortunately, all this bad weather put the fishing fleet into dock for quite a few weeks and they have only just started to go back out to sea. Fresh seafood which would normally be readily available and inexpensive is quite pricey at the moment. Also sea water brown and the beaches are full of foamy stuff that doesn't look very pleasant. I've been told that the beach a bit further around in the National Park isn't too bad but we can't take Angel there.
We took a drive to Grafton last week while Angel spent the day in Doggy Day Care at the Maclean Kennels. Grafton is about an hour and a half drive and follows the Clarence River most of the way. It's an impressive river when you see it from the Grafton bridge. Grafton reminded us a bit of Goulburn...same era. We had a walk around but not too far as my foot is still a problem. There is a bigger shopping centre with Big W and Woolworths there plus a Bunnings in south Grafton. In the afternoon we went to the movies at the Saraton Theatre built in 1927. It was one of those lovely big old cinemas with a dress circle upstairs and a section of red velvet seats (with detachable arms I found) and the rest of the seats are in that old brown leather. Full of atmosphere and old aroma. We saw National Treasure Book of Secrets and highly recommend it - plenty of action.
Aside from that we have been keeping close to camp. Stephen has had a lot of work on the last week so hasn't really been able to get out much. Our neighbours are here with their 15 yr old dog for 3 months from Darwin and they decided to come here to get away from their summer monsoon rains and have a summer at the beach for a change. Unfortunately, they've said the rain here has been much like what they get up there in N.T. but at least they can swim in the water here without worrying about crocodiles and stingers.
Anyway, that's all from me for now. Take care all.
Although it rains most days it doesn't rain all day, thank goodness. It tends to rain at night and/or in the mornings then fines up for a sunny afternoon. At least our washing gets dry. The facilities here in this caravan park are clean but old and pretty basic. I've started washing by hand as the park only has 2 washing machines and one dryer which are in constant demand and in my opinion the machines are a bit scungy. This seems to be working out quite well as not only are we saving $3 each time we need to wash but I'm surprised how much cleaner the clothes are this way. Our clothes horse is always coming in and out of the annex depending on the weather but this beats running back and forth to the clothes lines to rescue the washing when it rains.
The day after we arrived, we took a drive 40 mins to Yamba to stock up on provisions. Yamba is also a fishing town but is much larger than Iluka. It is located directly opposite Iluka on the southern side of the mouth of the Clarence River. The Clarence River was on a "flood watch" alert and with one road leading into Iluka it was still OK. The road leading into Yamba runs alongside the river and flood waters had come quite close to either side of the road and had nearly surrounded a pretty B&B. The town has a lot more tourist shops and cafes plus a shopping mall of about 30 shops and Bi-Lo. The caravan park just near the Yamba shops looked like a tent city covered in tarps.
Unfortunately, all this bad weather put the fishing fleet into dock for quite a few weeks and they have only just started to go back out to sea. Fresh seafood which would normally be readily available and inexpensive is quite pricey at the moment. Also sea water brown and the beaches are full of foamy stuff that doesn't look very pleasant. I've been told that the beach a bit further around in the National Park isn't too bad but we can't take Angel there.
We took a drive to Grafton last week while Angel spent the day in Doggy Day Care at the Maclean Kennels. Grafton is about an hour and a half drive and follows the Clarence River most of the way. It's an impressive river when you see it from the Grafton bridge. Grafton reminded us a bit of Goulburn...same era. We had a walk around but not too far as my foot is still a problem. There is a bigger shopping centre with Big W and Woolworths there plus a Bunnings in south Grafton. In the afternoon we went to the movies at the Saraton Theatre built in 1927. It was one of those lovely big old cinemas with a dress circle upstairs and a section of red velvet seats (with detachable arms I found) and the rest of the seats are in that old brown leather. Full of atmosphere and old aroma. We saw National Treasure Book of Secrets and highly recommend it - plenty of action.
Aside from that we have been keeping close to camp. Stephen has had a lot of work on the last week so hasn't really been able to get out much. Our neighbours are here with their 15 yr old dog for 3 months from Darwin and they decided to come here to get away from their summer monsoon rains and have a summer at the beach for a change. Unfortunately, they've said the rain here has been much like what they get up there in N.T. but at least they can swim in the water here without worrying about crocodiles and stingers.
Anyway, that's all from me for now. Take care all.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
We're on our way to Iluka
Well, we have actually been at Iluka for 4 days now, but we have had 4 days of rain and wind and strong winds and strong rain and gale force winds and gale force rain and thunder, lightning and yet no flooding. There is a strong low off the coast and it is staying around for a while.
The drive up was pretty nerve wrecking. It was raining, but thankfully the traffic was less than normal. It took us 2 hours to get from Corindi to Iluka. The more people we meet up with the more horror stories we hear about and these all run through my head at one time or another as we are moving up the Pacific Highway. Even though we have electric brakes fitted it still takes a while to stop the train. I just drove at the speed I was comfortable going. rosy reckons I was doing pretty well. Thank goodness I could I could turn the radio up to take my mind off things.
Iluka Clarence Head Caravan Park is only small and is surrounded by the Iluka World Heritage Rainforest. It's pretty basic but the facilities are clean. One good thing is the Manager offered to back our caravan into its spot because it is really only big enough for a large pop-top caravan. We jumped at his offer. Even with his small tractor he only missed the other dwellings by inches. Anyway, he got it in the spot and when we checked out the levels it was perfectly flat both length ways and width ways. Wahoo!!
On the second day we knew the gale force winds were going to hit us, so we put up the annex to give extra strength to the awning. Then we sat and waited for it to happen. To tell you the truth, even though the wind gusts were to get up to 90kmh we were as snug as a bug in a rug. Everything was fine. The van and annex stood firmly in it's spot. It's been quite exciting, actually.
The beach is about 1km away from the park, so I tend to drive it as the beach is a 4km return trip.
Oh, speaking of the car, a friend of ours suggested we use a water spray to stop Angel kicking up a stink when we turn the engine off. She gets squirted at the first squeak of a noise and she has now got the message. Thanks Carol. Today I was just sitting with Angel on my lap, giving her ears a tickle and I said "A pat is better than a squirt in the face, isn't it?" Rosy and I both burst out laughing. I guess you had to be here. Oh, that's right. You're not! Ha. Ha.
The drive up was pretty nerve wrecking. It was raining, but thankfully the traffic was less than normal. It took us 2 hours to get from Corindi to Iluka. The more people we meet up with the more horror stories we hear about and these all run through my head at one time or another as we are moving up the Pacific Highway. Even though we have electric brakes fitted it still takes a while to stop the train. I just drove at the speed I was comfortable going. rosy reckons I was doing pretty well. Thank goodness I could I could turn the radio up to take my mind off things.
Iluka Clarence Head Caravan Park is only small and is surrounded by the Iluka World Heritage Rainforest. It's pretty basic but the facilities are clean. One good thing is the Manager offered to back our caravan into its spot because it is really only big enough for a large pop-top caravan. We jumped at his offer. Even with his small tractor he only missed the other dwellings by inches. Anyway, he got it in the spot and when we checked out the levels it was perfectly flat both length ways and width ways. Wahoo!!
On the second day we knew the gale force winds were going to hit us, so we put up the annex to give extra strength to the awning. Then we sat and waited for it to happen. To tell you the truth, even though the wind gusts were to get up to 90kmh we were as snug as a bug in a rug. Everything was fine. The van and annex stood firmly in it's spot. It's been quite exciting, actually.
The beach is about 1km away from the park, so I tend to drive it as the beach is a 4km return trip.
Oh, speaking of the car, a friend of ours suggested we use a water spray to stop Angel kicking up a stink when we turn the engine off. She gets squirted at the first squeak of a noise and she has now got the message. Thanks Carol. Today I was just sitting with Angel on my lap, giving her ears a tickle and I said "A pat is better than a squirt in the face, isn't it?" Rosy and I both burst out laughing. I guess you had to be here. Oh, that's right. You're not! Ha. Ha.
A bit about our stay at Corindi Beach
We've been a bit slack since Christmas and although we are now at Iluka, I'd like to tell you a little about our stay at Corindi Beach.
The weather was nice for the first few days until 30 Dec. but then the high winds, rain and big seas moved in. Corindi Beach has a long, long beach which we accessed from to the south end of the caravan park. At low tide you can walk right around the rocks, below the headland, to another little beach which seemed to be popular with fishermen. Dogs are allowed on both beaches but not beyond the end of the beach to the north as it is then National Park land.
We did a bit of exploring around the area, visiting Woolgoolga which is the closest town with supermarket, chemist, etc. On the day we were there the big seas were creating a spectacular view from the headland - pity I didn't have a camera with me. On the way to Woolgoolga we called in at a little coastal town called Mullaway to visit the Skee Kayak Centre. It's run from the backyard of a home but the owners are avid kayakers who seem to really know their kayaks. We were looking at a 2 man kayak plus roof racks but this was going to set us back $2,000 so we decided to think about it.
A few days later with Angel in doggy daycare, we had another day out together. We had been saving up things that we wanted to do before leaving the area as a little celebration for our birthdays. The day started out great. We bought ourselves an inflatable 2 man canoe. It suits us perfectly as it's light weight, packs up to transport easily without roof racks and it was under $1,000. Next stop was morning tea at The Clog Barn (or I should say Oma's Coffee House) who make those little dutch pancakes that I can't spell. Then it was off to the Coffs Jetty for some seafood from the Fisherman's Co-Op and finally we drove down to Sawtell to see The Golden Compass at their historic cinema. Sawtell is a lovely little town with a beautiful shady main street.
For New Years Eve, our neighbours invited us over for a drink so we popped next door at 8pm with a bottle of bubbly, dip and biccies that we were going to have to celebrate the NY. They were a first time camping family who had just turned up the previous day when the rain and wind started. So they had a good indoctrination to camping holidays. They quickly found out what we found out years ago - putting up a tent makes it rain. I feel the government should have issued tents for everyone living in the drought affected areas as I'm sure that rain would definitely follow.
Anyway, while we were enjoying a drink with our neighbours, Angel was roaming around us off leash enjoying all the pats from the kids. Someone in a neighbouring site then decided it was time to set off some fireworks. Mind you it was no where near midnight. Well, all I saw of Angel was her darting off into the dark towards the amenities block. Her dislike of fireworks is even more than her dislike of thunderstorms. Stephen and I headed grabbed our walkie talkies to go in search of her knowing that she could be hiding absolutely anywhere, under a car or a caravan. Unbeknown to us, our neighbours and their kids had also split up to look for Angel. Sometimes people are just in the right place at the right time...the 2 girls had been in the amenities block discussing which direction Angel would have gone, when the lady next to them asked if they were looking for a little white dog. What was the chance of that? Angel had run into the annex of their caravan at the other end of the caravan park to us. The girls brought her back just as I got back to the caravan to see if she had turned up. What a relief!!! So, an angel must have been looking after Angel that night.
Well, they are the highlights of our stay at Corindi Beach - the 8 days just flew by. Next stop Iluka which I'll let Stephen tell you about.
The weather was nice for the first few days until 30 Dec. but then the high winds, rain and big seas moved in. Corindi Beach has a long, long beach which we accessed from to the south end of the caravan park. At low tide you can walk right around the rocks, below the headland, to another little beach which seemed to be popular with fishermen. Dogs are allowed on both beaches but not beyond the end of the beach to the north as it is then National Park land.
We did a bit of exploring around the area, visiting Woolgoolga which is the closest town with supermarket, chemist, etc. On the day we were there the big seas were creating a spectacular view from the headland - pity I didn't have a camera with me. On the way to Woolgoolga we called in at a little coastal town called Mullaway to visit the Skee Kayak Centre. It's run from the backyard of a home but the owners are avid kayakers who seem to really know their kayaks. We were looking at a 2 man kayak plus roof racks but this was going to set us back $2,000 so we decided to think about it.
A few days later with Angel in doggy daycare, we had another day out together. We had been saving up things that we wanted to do before leaving the area as a little celebration for our birthdays. The day started out great. We bought ourselves an inflatable 2 man canoe. It suits us perfectly as it's light weight, packs up to transport easily without roof racks and it was under $1,000. Next stop was morning tea at The Clog Barn (or I should say Oma's Coffee House) who make those little dutch pancakes that I can't spell. Then it was off to the Coffs Jetty for some seafood from the Fisherman's Co-Op and finally we drove down to Sawtell to see The Golden Compass at their historic cinema. Sawtell is a lovely little town with a beautiful shady main street.
For New Years Eve, our neighbours invited us over for a drink so we popped next door at 8pm with a bottle of bubbly, dip and biccies that we were going to have to celebrate the NY. They were a first time camping family who had just turned up the previous day when the rain and wind started. So they had a good indoctrination to camping holidays. They quickly found out what we found out years ago - putting up a tent makes it rain. I feel the government should have issued tents for everyone living in the drought affected areas as I'm sure that rain would definitely follow.
Anyway, while we were enjoying a drink with our neighbours, Angel was roaming around us off leash enjoying all the pats from the kids. Someone in a neighbouring site then decided it was time to set off some fireworks. Mind you it was no where near midnight. Well, all I saw of Angel was her darting off into the dark towards the amenities block. Her dislike of fireworks is even more than her dislike of thunderstorms. Stephen and I headed grabbed our walkie talkies to go in search of her knowing that she could be hiding absolutely anywhere, under a car or a caravan. Unbeknown to us, our neighbours and their kids had also split up to look for Angel. Sometimes people are just in the right place at the right time...the 2 girls had been in the amenities block discussing which direction Angel would have gone, when the lady next to them asked if they were looking for a little white dog. What was the chance of that? Angel had run into the annex of their caravan at the other end of the caravan park to us. The girls brought her back just as I got back to the caravan to see if she had turned up. What a relief!!! So, an angel must have been looking after Angel that night.
Well, they are the highlights of our stay at Corindi Beach - the 8 days just flew by. Next stop Iluka which I'll let Stephen tell you about.
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