Mar 21, 2020 - North of Eden, Aslings Beach

Yesterday before we left on an arduous 1 hour journey to Eden we thought we would visit Gypsy Point for some lunch. Needn't have bothered nothing there, except it is the departure point for "wilderness river cruises". The only thing of interest was that there were bell birds calling... This morning we rose early and packed up to get to Eden where we arrived around 1100. Nice van park, last time we stayed here we had Gracie with us. I left her moored outside the $2 shop and went inside for something. On egress Gracie had found the tennis...

Mar 15, 2020 - at Kingscliff - drive to Murwillumbah

SUN Mar 15 - Day 21 Dawn has brought a cold wind from the south, fully overcast with occasional very light showers. Good morning to stay inside and attend church back home via the web LiveStream. Dan Paterson speaking again. “Has Science Buried God?” Great service. Finished about midday and Jan had thought she would like to do a load of washing before going home - there is a huge amount of blue sky and sunshine but still windy. She decided not to. After lunch we did a bit of reading and decided to go for a drive at 3:00pm. It’s still a nice...

Mar 14, 2020 - at Kingscliff

Sat Mar 14 - Day 20 The day has dawned with blue sky and no wind but we don’t expect that to last. Minute by minute the clouds are building up over the sea and moving in. The weather almost echos the current state of the nation with the Corona Virus. Uncertain, gloomy prospects, plans being reconsidered or cancelled. Yesterday the news was all about the declared Pandemic and last night’s address to the nation by the PM stated the measures being taken by the Fed Govt to deal with the expected rapid increase in the number of identified cases...

Mar 13, 2020 - Evans Head to Kingscliff

Fri Mar 13 - Day 19 Time to move on and take some rain to the Northern Rivers area. Last night the TV weather said that they were expecting the rain to clear by Monday/ Tuesday. So when did we say we were coming home!!!! Todays trip is only an hour 20mins so that should be an easy run. Not long after departure, Jan suggested we detour into Lennox Head for morning tea. No idea what’s there. First time we think. We have 1km at 95km/hr to make up our minds. Done - take the exit. It’s a windy and overcast day but not raining. Morning tea was...

Mar 13, 2020 - Day 49 to Young - UPDATE NOTES

Hi All, Leaving Burra we headed into what is regionally called the Riverland Region being the agricultural area along the Murray River from about Morgan in SA to Mildura in Victoria, years ago citrus was predominate crop grown but now grapes, not a lot of cellar doors, but a hell a lot of grapes along with citrus, almonds and olive oil. On the way we looked at a silo at Waikerie which is unique as it’s done on all sides by 2 different artists. Due to the route we were taking this part of the trip involved some interesting river crossings on...

Mar 12, 2020 - at Evans Head

Thu Mar 12 - Day 18 Jan wants to re-cook the lemon butter a bit more to try to get it to thicken more - and then she’s put on a piece of silverside to cook (in the Dreampot during the day) so that’s what we’ll have for dinner tonight. All morning it has rained on and off - no incentive to get to the beach. Late morning we went for a drive to go to Razorback Lookout which is high above the south breakwater wall. Didn’t spend much time there as the squalls chased us back inside the car. On to the carpark at Shark Bay and then the carpark...

Mar 11, 2020 - at Evans Head

Wed Mar 11 - Day 17 First up today Jan put a load of washing on - and as soon as it was under way we had a rain shower come over. Never mind, it will dry eventually under the awning. Which it did, because a strong wind blew up after the shower and kept up all day - so we did another load and got all the washing up to date. After lunch it was time to walk the entire Evans Head shopping centre - 20mins later it was all done and time to head home. Exciting!!!! Actually what was even more exciting was when Ron tipped over a cup of coffee into...

Mar 10, 2020 - Grafton to Evans Head

Tue Mar 10 - Day 16 On the move again for a 1hr 45min drive. But why does the GPS on my iPhone want me to go via Casino for 2 and qtr hrs? I ignored it initially until we were on the Highway again when I pulled over and tried again unsuccessfully to get it to give me a route straight up the highway. I can only assume that it (Apple Maps) considered the road cut and impassable because of all the work being done on the highway in bits and pieces. We arrived at Evans Head ‘Reflections’ park at about 12:10 and took our time settling in before...

Mar 9, 2020 - Bonny Hills to Grafton

Mon Mar 9 - Day 15 Time to farewell this quiet place just north of North Haven. We left at 9:30 and set the GPS destination for “Ricardoes Tomatoes” which is just 15min N of Coffs Harbour. This is a working hydroponic farm growing tomatoes and strawberries and making and selling products made from those ingredients. Two big attractions for us - pick your own strawberries and devonshire tea in the cafe. We picked about a half bucket of strawberries and bought some jam and pasta sauce and some tomatoes. The scones, jam and cream were beaut...

Mar 8, 2020 - at Bonny Hills

SUN Mar 8 - Day 14 Today we had a slow start after Jan’s poor sleep night. Breakfast at 9 would have made it difficult to get to local church so we elected to stay in the van for NBC live at 10:30 (9:30 Qld time). It was good with Karen preaching again and it is so special to be able to see it live even though we are in the van at Bonny Hills just south of Port Macquarie. After lunch we searched options for parks for the coming week and made a booking for Kingscliff Beach for next Friday, our last stop before getting back home on the 16th....

Mar 7, 2020 - Fingal Bay to Bonny Hills

Sat Mar 7 - Day 13 We got away at 9:30 and in view of my fears about getting the van through the boom gate (tight U turn from our site) I did a very long three point turn and went back towards the office to use the other exit gate - no problems. I tried to convince Jan that we needed another cannelloni for the road from the cafe in Shoal Bay but she wouldn’t hear of it - and so we kept going. On the way we spied on the map a curious place called Coolongalook who’s claim to fame is a shop called “Andy’s Cherry Pie Cafe”. The urge was too...

Mar 6, 2020 - at Fingal Bay

Fri Mar 6 - Day 12 All yesterdays grey sky and rain has disappeared and left us with blue sky which in turns gives us blue water. Yay! Great day to get the washing up to date before we move on tomorrow. Jan put on the washing while I looked up details re last awning replacement and put in place the start of arrangements to get the current damaged awning replaced. Also left a message with B&B to ring back regarding getting the door fixed and aircon serviced (? no gas OR worse ?dud compressor). Unfortunately they didn’t ring back so will have...