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
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
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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