This is a beautiful spot to spend a few nights or weeks. It's only 10 minutes drive from Coffs Harbour and we've only just started to explore. Moonee Beach Caravan Park is at the very end of the road opposite a large wide creek which flows to the beach and the only way to get across to the beach is to cross the creek at low tide. So there is no traffic passing by and we wake up to the sound of the birds. The caravan sites are all fairly level (hooray) and most come with a cement slab to put your outdoor chairs, annex, etc on. Nearly every site also seems to have it's own large timber table with benches each side. We've moved ours off the slab to give us room for our chairs & BBQ.
Here are few photos I took yesterday.
More later.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Downs and Ups...
Sorry, it's been a while since our last update. This month has had it's share of ups and downs.
We drove down to Sydney on Nov 6 and were lucky enough to stay at Robyn and Garry's house at Caringbah for the whole 2 weeks we were there. Their backyard is fully fenced so Angel could stay too which was company by their lovely dog, Bella. Although Angel took over Bella's home, beds, backyard and food, I think Bella enjoyed having the company of another dog too.
Cathie and Joel's wedding was held on a beautiful Thursday afternoon at the Gunner's Tearooms, Mosman overlooking Sydney Harbour. It had been pouring with rain most of the morning so it was touch and go whether their wedding would be able be held outside. But the skies cleared up to a beautiful sunny afternoon and the wedding went ahead outside as planned. Everything was beautiful (especially the bride) and we all think she can go into the wedding planner business if she tires of legal work.
The rest of our stay in Sydney went very quickly catching up with family and friends for dinners or lunches, whatever we could arrange. While we were in Sydney, I was able to go along to the ING Direct dinner to celebrate people with 5, 10 (me) and 15 years service this year. There was 1 person with 15 years service, 8 of us celebrating with 10 years and 62 with 5 years. Quite a crowd. It was lovely to be invited as I am on a career break and luckily it coincided nicely with our trip to Sydney. Although it was a good night good to catch up with friends from work again. But don't get me wrong, I'm still not missing work!
We headed back up to Bonny Hills on Friday 16 Nov and made it back to our caravan at about 5pm. As we were planning to leave and head further north in 3 days we decided to leave the caravan on the site where we left it. Out of the blue the following day I received a phone call to say that my 86 year old father who had an existing heart condition, had been admitted to Mona Vale Hospital with chest pains and was waiting to be transferred to the San for an angiogram as soon as a bed opened up. I wanted to go back down in Sydney to be there in case I could do anything to help him. So the next day, I jumped on the XPT in Wauchope and was back down in Sydney by dinner time. Thankfully, tests showed that Dad's heart was not the cause of the chest pains and while we still do not know what caused the pains he is feeling much better now. Meanwhile, Stephen stayed with Angel back in the caravan and had to put up with the van being on a slope for a while longer.
I stayed 5 nights in my father's unit at the retirement village while he was in hospital. His retirement unit is set in lush rainforest with a duck pond at the bottom of the footpath below his unit. One morning while I was making my breakfast I a family of young ducks decided to come up the steps to the front door while mother duck stood patiently on the footpath below. They came right up to the wire door but as soon as I went to get my camera they all waddled back down the stairs again. However as soon as I returned and opened the door they headed back up the steps again long enough for me to take a few piccies.
After 5 days in hospital Dad was given the OK to go home and feeling like he had a new lease on life, decided to come back up to Bonny Hills with me to see our caravan and stay a few days with us. We arrived back up there last Friday and Dad stayed 3 nights in one of the fantastic cottages in the caravan park overlooking the ocean. He's now heading back down to Sydney staying at a night at few places along the way.
So, with all the visiting and being visited out of the way we finally left Bonny Hills yesterday and headed north. With Stephen behind the wheel, we towed the caravan up to a very hilly caravan park overlooking Nambucca Heads, but after seeing how steep the sites were decided to go further north to Coffs Harbour. We're now settled in a caravan park at Moonee Beach, about 12 kms north of Coffs Harbour. Moonee Beach has a small shopping centre with a Coles, pharmacy, newsagency, post office, bakers and a Best & Less opening this Thursday. Across the road from the caravan park is a wide tidal creek leading into the beach which is around the corner. It's nice to be in a level caravan park for a change after being on a hill for 8 weeks.
That's all for now. Cheers, Rosy
We drove down to Sydney on Nov 6 and were lucky enough to stay at Robyn and Garry's house at Caringbah for the whole 2 weeks we were there. Their backyard is fully fenced so Angel could stay too which was company by their lovely dog, Bella. Although Angel took over Bella's home, beds, backyard and food, I think Bella enjoyed having the company of another dog too.
Cathie and Joel's wedding was held on a beautiful Thursday afternoon at the Gunner's Tearooms, Mosman overlooking Sydney Harbour. It had been pouring with rain most of the morning so it was touch and go whether their wedding would be able be held outside. But the skies cleared up to a beautiful sunny afternoon and the wedding went ahead outside as planned. Everything was beautiful (especially the bride) and we all think she can go into the wedding planner business if she tires of legal work.
The rest of our stay in Sydney went very quickly catching up with family and friends for dinners or lunches, whatever we could arrange. While we were in Sydney, I was able to go along to the ING Direct dinner to celebrate people with 5, 10 (me) and 15 years service this year. There was 1 person with 15 years service, 8 of us celebrating with 10 years and 62 with 5 years. Quite a crowd. It was lovely to be invited as I am on a career break and luckily it coincided nicely with our trip to Sydney. Although it was a good night good to catch up with friends from work again. But don't get me wrong, I'm still not missing work!
We headed back up to Bonny Hills on Friday 16 Nov and made it back to our caravan at about 5pm. As we were planning to leave and head further north in 3 days we decided to leave the caravan on the site where we left it. Out of the blue the following day I received a phone call to say that my 86 year old father who had an existing heart condition, had been admitted to Mona Vale Hospital with chest pains and was waiting to be transferred to the San for an angiogram as soon as a bed opened up. I wanted to go back down in Sydney to be there in case I could do anything to help him. So the next day, I jumped on the XPT in Wauchope and was back down in Sydney by dinner time. Thankfully, tests showed that Dad's heart was not the cause of the chest pains and while we still do not know what caused the pains he is feeling much better now. Meanwhile, Stephen stayed with Angel back in the caravan and had to put up with the van being on a slope for a while longer.
I stayed 5 nights in my father's unit at the retirement village while he was in hospital. His retirement unit is set in lush rainforest with a duck pond at the bottom of the footpath below his unit. One morning while I was making my breakfast I a family of young ducks decided to come up the steps to the front door while mother duck stood patiently on the footpath below. They came right up to the wire door but as soon as I went to get my camera they all waddled back down the stairs again. However as soon as I returned and opened the door they headed back up the steps again long enough for me to take a few piccies.
After 5 days in hospital Dad was given the OK to go home and feeling like he had a new lease on life, decided to come back up to Bonny Hills with me to see our caravan and stay a few days with us. We arrived back up there last Friday and Dad stayed 3 nights in one of the fantastic cottages in the caravan park overlooking the ocean. He's now heading back down to Sydney staying at a night at few places along the way.
So, with all the visiting and being visited out of the way we finally left Bonny Hills yesterday and headed north. With Stephen behind the wheel, we towed the caravan up to a very hilly caravan park overlooking Nambucca Heads, but after seeing how steep the sites were decided to go further north to Coffs Harbour. We're now settled in a caravan park at Moonee Beach, about 12 kms north of Coffs Harbour. Moonee Beach has a small shopping centre with a Coles, pharmacy, newsagency, post office, bakers and a Best & Less opening this Thursday. Across the road from the caravan park is a wide tidal creek leading into the beach which is around the corner. It's nice to be in a level caravan park for a change after being on a hill for 8 weeks.
That's all for now. Cheers, Rosy
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Angel Update and Getting Ready for Trip to Sydney
Angel is doing well after the tick attack. Her breathing is still rhaspy and she is ever so eager to get out and do the beach walk again. I am under strict orders not to let her exercise too much and she is allowed only a very short walk out each day this week. I think she is past the danger period.
Bonny Hills Caravan Park has a facility that allows you to store your caravan for $5 a day for a period of up to 2 weeks. The van was in the forest area, which doesn't have many people around, so Rosy and I decided it would probably be better to move the van to the more popular open area. The Manager, suggested we put it in the lot that it next to their residence.
So this morning, we got the van ready for the move and headed out. There was a bit of a tight curve and some exposed tree roots that caused the van to jump. And jump it did. Right off the tow ball!! Luckily I had the chains on so it didn't run away from us. Also lucky for us, we decided to buy a bottle jack, just in case we needed to fix a spare tyre. We were able to get the van connection up high enough to get back on the tow ball. And then off we went to the other side of the park.
We got to our spot and drove onto it and amazingly the van wheel axil was level, which is the first thing you have to do. We were in exactly the right spot. Then the Manager comes over (Judy) and tells us that people who use this spot usually bring it side on, instead of facing down the slope. Remember I said the spot was near the residence? Well it sort of stops the drive through thing happening. So back and forth and back and forth I go, trying to get the van on the levelest part of the lot. Turning the wheel all the way. Back and forth and back and forth. Then....the steering wheel stops turning. I can't change the direction of the car. Shit!!!! We decide to leave the caravan where it is on a 5 degree lean from the left side of the van to the right, unhitch the caravan and try to move the Landcruiser. The power steering stopped working and it was like having to manually turn a semi trailer. Then I called the NRMA. Terrible thoughts were going through our minds as we were off to Sydney on Tuesday, or maybe not.
It was time for lunch, so Rosy cooked this great steak and we each had a glass of wine to calm our nerves.
An hour later the guy from the NRMA arrives and shows us what happened. All the manouvering of the van with putting the steering wheel in lock position (going all the way until it won't turn any more) caused one of the tubes to pop off. He said that the best thing to do, when manouvering a van is to not turn the wheel all the way and keep it there, but to turn it all the way and thing bring it back a little. He was a nice guy and it cost us $10 for the automatic transmission oil.
So the moral to this story is - follow your gut instinct and do what you are capable of doing. Irrespective of whether someone else comes along and tells you differently. Next time someone does that to me I am going to say "Thank you for the advice, but my experience level is only capable of doing this." I mean the caravan was initially in exactly the right spot. Why did I feel obliged to move it?
By the way the caravan is still leaning, but we are only going to be in it for two nights, so we will live with it.
Bonny Hills Caravan Park has a facility that allows you to store your caravan for $5 a day for a period of up to 2 weeks. The van was in the forest area, which doesn't have many people around, so Rosy and I decided it would probably be better to move the van to the more popular open area. The Manager, suggested we put it in the lot that it next to their residence.
So this morning, we got the van ready for the move and headed out. There was a bit of a tight curve and some exposed tree roots that caused the van to jump. And jump it did. Right off the tow ball!! Luckily I had the chains on so it didn't run away from us. Also lucky for us, we decided to buy a bottle jack, just in case we needed to fix a spare tyre. We were able to get the van connection up high enough to get back on the tow ball. And then off we went to the other side of the park.
We got to our spot and drove onto it and amazingly the van wheel axil was level, which is the first thing you have to do. We were in exactly the right spot. Then the Manager comes over (Judy) and tells us that people who use this spot usually bring it side on, instead of facing down the slope. Remember I said the spot was near the residence? Well it sort of stops the drive through thing happening. So back and forth and back and forth I go, trying to get the van on the levelest part of the lot. Turning the wheel all the way. Back and forth and back and forth. Then....the steering wheel stops turning. I can't change the direction of the car. Shit!!!! We decide to leave the caravan where it is on a 5 degree lean from the left side of the van to the right, unhitch the caravan and try to move the Landcruiser. The power steering stopped working and it was like having to manually turn a semi trailer. Then I called the NRMA. Terrible thoughts were going through our minds as we were off to Sydney on Tuesday, or maybe not.
It was time for lunch, so Rosy cooked this great steak and we each had a glass of wine to calm our nerves.
An hour later the guy from the NRMA arrives and shows us what happened. All the manouvering of the van with putting the steering wheel in lock position (going all the way until it won't turn any more) caused one of the tubes to pop off. He said that the best thing to do, when manouvering a van is to not turn the wheel all the way and keep it there, but to turn it all the way and thing bring it back a little. He was a nice guy and it cost us $10 for the automatic transmission oil.
So the moral to this story is - follow your gut instinct and do what you are capable of doing. Irrespective of whether someone else comes along and tells you differently. Next time someone does that to me I am going to say "Thank you for the advice, but my experience level is only capable of doing this." I mean the caravan was initially in exactly the right spot. Why did I feel obliged to move it?
By the way the caravan is still leaning, but we are only going to be in it for two nights, so we will live with it.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Angel's visit to Doggie Hospital
Rosy and I have had quite a few anxious days regarding Angel recently. It started 5 days ago when Angel stopped eating her normal meals. 3 days ago I took Angel out for her morning constitutional 6km run/walk. After Rosy had pointed out to me that Angel's hind legs were a bit wobbly. I started getting concerned when Angel would fall over herself while she was running around. She had been eating some strange things off the beach and the thought had crossed my mind that Angel had had some sort of food poisoning. I cut the walk short and brought Angel back to the van.
Rosy called the local vet and they said it sounded like a tick. And armed with that information Rosy started scouring Angels thick coat. Low and behold, underneath Angel's collar was a dirty big (5mm) grey tick - a paralysis tick to be precise. Rosy knew what to and she instructed me on how to extract the little bugger, which I was able to do without leaving some of it embedded in Angels neck.
Off to the vet we went, with Angel and tick. The vet was a nice guy called Dr Steve (nice name, I trusted him immediately). His main concern was whether we got the tick off in time. Apparently, the tick will cause a bacteria to progress through Angel's body, which will cause difficulty with her breathing and eating, apart from causing paralysis in her limbs and eye lids. What they did was give her a blood transfusion, and overnight stay to enable them to keep an eye on her deterioration. Rosy was visibly upset and I didn't know what to expect.
The following day, the vet gave Angel the all clear to recuperate with us back at the van. She is under strict instructions not to do anything that would cause excitement as her breathing has not completely been cured. She is a van-bound dog for one week and then she can go on very short walks during the second week. Our task is not to allow another paralysis tick on Angel this season as she may not recover.
Angel has made some doggie friends here at Bonny Hills, so I went over to their owners and just told them what had happened, just in case they were wondering why Angel hadn't made her presence known for a few days.
So now I have Rosy bound to her banana lounge chair waiting for her foot to heal, and Angel laying on it with her, not understanding why we haven't taken her for her walks of late.
I can't wait until all three of us are back on the beach.
Rosy called the local vet and they said it sounded like a tick. And armed with that information Rosy started scouring Angels thick coat. Low and behold, underneath Angel's collar was a dirty big (5mm) grey tick - a paralysis tick to be precise. Rosy knew what to and she instructed me on how to extract the little bugger, which I was able to do without leaving some of it embedded in Angels neck.
Off to the vet we went, with Angel and tick. The vet was a nice guy called Dr Steve (nice name, I trusted him immediately). His main concern was whether we got the tick off in time. Apparently, the tick will cause a bacteria to progress through Angel's body, which will cause difficulty with her breathing and eating, apart from causing paralysis in her limbs and eye lids. What they did was give her a blood transfusion, and overnight stay to enable them to keep an eye on her deterioration. Rosy was visibly upset and I didn't know what to expect.
The following day, the vet gave Angel the all clear to recuperate with us back at the van. She is under strict instructions not to do anything that would cause excitement as her breathing has not completely been cured. She is a van-bound dog for one week and then she can go on very short walks during the second week. Our task is not to allow another paralysis tick on Angel this season as she may not recover.
Angel has made some doggie friends here at Bonny Hills, so I went over to their owners and just told them what had happened, just in case they were wondering why Angel hadn't made her presence known for a few days.
So now I have Rosy bound to her banana lounge chair waiting for her foot to heal, and Angel laying on it with her, not understanding why we haven't taken her for her walks of late.
I can't wait until all three of us are back on the beach.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Rest, rest and yes, more rest
We're still here at beautiful Bonny Hills. Last week it rained a little but most days have been lovely with a gentle coastal breeze except for yesterday, which had quite a strong NE wind blowing. The annex did a bit of flapping but is still standing.
Stephen and Angel are both great. Stephen is looking so relaxed (beard and all) despite completing all the bookkeeping for the last 3 months and working on some websites. Angel is having a great time too, though I think we should rename her "Itchy" or "Scratchy". Something seems to be irritating her and we can't see what or anything on her skin. It could be that she keeps lying underneath the caravan in the long grass with whatever bugs live there. Tonight we're trying her with a different treatment to see if this will give her some relief. So far, not a scratch in sight.
Meanwhile, I've been adjusting to the fact that my foot (heel) needs plenty of rest and time in order to heal. So I'm staying off it and have put just about everything on hold for a while including the sewing I was going to do. I didn't realise how much I was on my feet while sewing the other week. As chance would have it, the sewing course at Spotlight I was going to start last week was cancelled due to lack of numbers. I'm enjoying the rest though and Stephen bought a banana lounge for me to laze about on with my foot up, so I lie there looking out at the ocean (as long as no one has their caravan in the way) and only be a few feet away from the caravan. It's great!
Today is battery recharge day. Every week we need to recharge a 12V battery that runs all the lights in the caravan. Gradually the lights get dimmer and dimmer until eventually it's like dining by candle light. Not that I mind that. When we finally remember to set up the recharger it needs to run from morning until night and even though the completed light doesn't come on, the lights are nice and bright again. Some of the caravans we saw had 2 switches for every light so they can be run from 240V or 12V. I don't know what it is but there's something quite nice about this little weekly ritual.
Anyway, that's all from us.
Stephen and Angel are both great. Stephen is looking so relaxed (beard and all) despite completing all the bookkeeping for the last 3 months and working on some websites. Angel is having a great time too, though I think we should rename her "Itchy" or "Scratchy". Something seems to be irritating her and we can't see what or anything on her skin. It could be that she keeps lying underneath the caravan in the long grass with whatever bugs live there. Tonight we're trying her with a different treatment to see if this will give her some relief. So far, not a scratch in sight.
Meanwhile, I've been adjusting to the fact that my foot (heel) needs plenty of rest and time in order to heal. So I'm staying off it and have put just about everything on hold for a while including the sewing I was going to do. I didn't realise how much I was on my feet while sewing the other week. As chance would have it, the sewing course at Spotlight I was going to start last week was cancelled due to lack of numbers. I'm enjoying the rest though and Stephen bought a banana lounge for me to laze about on with my foot up, so I lie there looking out at the ocean (as long as no one has their caravan in the way) and only be a few feet away from the caravan. It's great!
Today is battery recharge day. Every week we need to recharge a 12V battery that runs all the lights in the caravan. Gradually the lights get dimmer and dimmer until eventually it's like dining by candle light. Not that I mind that. When we finally remember to set up the recharger it needs to run from morning until night and even though the completed light doesn't come on, the lights are nice and bright again. Some of the caravans we saw had 2 switches for every light so they can be run from 240V or 12V. I don't know what it is but there's something quite nice about this little weekly ritual.
Anyway, that's all from us.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
A Whale of a Time
Unfortunately, for the next month or so at least, I can no longer go on the morning beach walks. My foot injury (plantar fasciitis) which I've had for 12 months now has flared back up again despite wearing the recently purchased expensive orthotics and joggers on my walks. After a phone call yesterday to the Heel Pain Centre to get their advice, it seems I've been doing all the wrong things to aggravate the injury plus the ONE time I went barefoot on the beach last week sealed the deal. Beach walking, walking up and down hills, going barefoot are all big NO, NO's. So, feeling a bit sad and sorry for myself I stayed at the caravan this morning and did the washing while Stephen and Angel went off on their respective walk and run.
It was while I was hanging out the washing that I noticed several people standing around looking intensely out to sea. Like the busy body I am, I took a glance toward the sea as well and there to my delight were 3 or 4 whales close in to the headland just in front of me slowly making their way northward. WOW, this was the first time I'd ever seen whales this close in the wild. They were magnificent to watch. They were just hanging around off the coast leisurely rolling around in the sea taking their time to get to where they needed to go.
I realised how very lucky I am to be here, that the foot will get better eventually (although I've had it now for 12 months) as long as I give it time and that there'll be plenty of time for walking along beaches. In the grand scheme of things, it's not that big a deal.
So now that the annex is up, I've got somewhere to do my sewing. I've got a little project underway to make something to wear to our niece's wedding next month. Also, I've signed up to do a short overlocking course at the Spotlight in Port Macquarie. Although I've had my overlocker for over 20 years, I've never done anything more with it than neaten seams and I know there's a whole lot more I should be able to get it to do. The course is only 3 hrs a week for 4 weeks and hopefully, my ancient overlocker will be able to do all the things they are going to teach.
Anyway, that's all for now. Good night!
It was while I was hanging out the washing that I noticed several people standing around looking intensely out to sea. Like the busy body I am, I took a glance toward the sea as well and there to my delight were 3 or 4 whales close in to the headland just in front of me slowly making their way northward. WOW, this was the first time I'd ever seen whales this close in the wild. They were magnificent to watch. They were just hanging around off the coast leisurely rolling around in the sea taking their time to get to where they needed to go.
I realised how very lucky I am to be here, that the foot will get better eventually (although I've had it now for 12 months) as long as I give it time and that there'll be plenty of time for walking along beaches. In the grand scheme of things, it's not that big a deal.
So now that the annex is up, I've got somewhere to do my sewing. I've got a little project underway to make something to wear to our niece's wedding next month. Also, I've signed up to do a short overlocking course at the Spotlight in Port Macquarie. Although I've had my overlocker for over 20 years, I've never done anything more with it than neaten seams and I know there's a whole lot more I should be able to get it to do. The course is only 3 hrs a week for 4 weeks and hopefully, my ancient overlocker will be able to do all the things they are going to teach.
Anyway, that's all for now. Good night!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Up went the caravan annex!
It has been a few weeks since we bought the caravan and we thought it was time to try and erect the annex that came with it. We only got shown once by Watson's and there were quite a few processes involved. So, we both took a deep breath and attempted to get it done, before the sun set in 6 hours.
Slowly, but surely, bit by bit, we remembered what we had to do and within 90 minutes we had another room, which by the way, Angel has taken up residence in. Rosy is going to use the room for her sewing. Our large table fits in there quite nicely. We are both quite proud of ourselves as we didn't bend or break anything, and seeing the annex costs around $2000 to replace, it's a good thing.
Now all we have to do is wait for it to rain and for it to be windy to see how it will hold up. There's a picture of it on the right.
On the beach this morning, during our walk along the beach a woman walked passed us, after being sussed out by Angel, who was 'off lead'. She said "I didn't recognise your dog without the lead!". It's quite a looong lead that Rosy put together. It's 20 metres long and causes much talk amongst the other walkers. We need a lead that long to keep Angel happy and a little free, while we are around a lot of people. Angel tends to lose us in a crowd, maybe intentionally.
Another guy we met on the beach couldn't believe how much Angel runs. She normally does 10 lengths of the beach to our one, and all in running mode. I am thinking of changing her name to 'Everyready' - it just keeps on keeping on.
I wonder who we will meet on the beach tomorrow.
Slowly, but surely, bit by bit, we remembered what we had to do and within 90 minutes we had another room, which by the way, Angel has taken up residence in. Rosy is going to use the room for her sewing. Our large table fits in there quite nicely. We are both quite proud of ourselves as we didn't bend or break anything, and seeing the annex costs around $2000 to replace, it's a good thing.
Now all we have to do is wait for it to rain and for it to be windy to see how it will hold up. There's a picture of it on the right.
On the beach this morning, during our walk along the beach a woman walked passed us, after being sussed out by Angel, who was 'off lead'. She said "I didn't recognise your dog without the lead!". It's quite a looong lead that Rosy put together. It's 20 metres long and causes much talk amongst the other walkers. We need a lead that long to keep Angel happy and a little free, while we are around a lot of people. Angel tends to lose us in a crowd, maybe intentionally.
Another guy we met on the beach couldn't believe how much Angel runs. She normally does 10 lengths of the beach to our one, and all in running mode. I am thinking of changing her name to 'Everyready' - it just keeps on keeping on.
I wonder who we will meet on the beach tomorrow.
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