WARMER WEATHER AT LAST

This entry contains a few firsts. I wore shorts for the first time on this holiday in Coffs Harbour. I had my hair cut by someone, other than my regular hairdresser in Raumati, for the first time in 25 years and we have had 4 days without rain for the first time in 3 weeks!

Coffs Harbour has been one of the nicest places we have stayed in on this trip. It had a real holiday atmosphere there and the caravan park was top notch. We walked to the top of Muttonbird Island where muttonbirds nest for 9 months of the year and on the way a blue tongued lizard crossed the walkway in front of us. It was about 1 ½ feet long and was like a small pre historic animal. It was in no hurry to get out of our way but I was glad I had a chance to see it up close. There is a lovely golf course at Bellingen, a small town about 30 kms. inland from Coffs Harbour. The brochure said no booking was necessary so off we set on a beautiful sunny day. When we got there we found a tournament was under way with about 80 participants and we couldn’t tee off for another 5 hours. We gave golf a miss and walked around this little historic town, some of the buildings dating back to 1827. The locals seemed to be mostly hippies or alternative life stylers and the shops sold all things organic, even children’s clothing. Things were very expensive. It was a very interesting place.

We met lots of caravanners in Coffs Harbour from Victoria and South Australia who come to Coffs Harbour every year for 3 months from the beginning of June to escape the winter. Some of them have been coming there for over 20 years. The roads are very busy now with dozens of vans moving north and as usual the Pacific Highway had very rough surfaces.

Our next stop was Ballina. We knew there had been a lot of rain on this coast over the past few weeks but we were very surprised by the amount of water lying in the paddocks between Coffs Harbour and Ballina. There is definitely no water shortage in this area, but there are still drought conditions in inland NSW. We were going to go to Byron Bay but there is a shortage of van spaces there and with space at a premium, they charge premium prices so we decided to stay in Ballina instead and go to Byron Bay for a day trip. Up to now, we haven’t bothered booking ahead as we have always got into the place of our choice. However, things are getting busier now and we had to try 3 van parks before finding a space in Ballina. Another lesson learnt. We walked to the end of the break water in Ballina one day and saw whales out at sea but a pod of dolphins came really close in and then came up the river playing in the waves. It was a great sight.

We went to a lovely golf course in a little place called Tevern, near Ballina. The grounds and settings were beautiful with lots of bird sounds. I have included pictures of the golf course together with the whales at Byron Bay.

We were going to go for a walk in a rain forest just down the road from us but a notice as we entered caused me to have second thoughts. The sign read “ Beware. There are snakes in this area. Do not disturb them as they enjoy the sun”. I’m afraid the walk in the rain forest just lost all its appeal after that and I decided I would leave the snakes to their sun bathing on their own.

We had our day in Byron Bay and it was a magical day. The weather was just the best; blue skies, no clouds, no wind and a temperature of 23C. There was a storm in Byron Bay in 2005 and it caused a part of the roadway and walking track to the Lighthouse to be washed away. Three years later this has still not been repaired due to cost blowouts; arguments between local councils, state government and federal government and planning disputes. Doesn’t that sound just like NZ? We decided to park our car down by the beach and walk along the beach and up the coast walkway to the lighthouse. We saw 3 pods of whales going past on their way north and one lot was only about 200 metres below us. They really turned on a show for the crowds who were lining the walkway. We spent nearly an hour watching them This was the shortest day of the year and lots of people were swimming in the sea. We had a wander around the shops later and they were all having sales. I needed some new shorts as I have lost some weight since being on the road and managed to get 2 pairs and a t shirt for just over $25. I was very pleased with my purchases! We finished the day with drinks at an old pub right on the beachfront in the sun.

We have now moved into sugar cane growing area. The last time we were here about 18 years ago we never saw sugar cane further south than probably Maryborough so I don’t know if it is a sign of climate warming or if sugar is a more profit making venture.

We are often finding strange things here that are quite different to the way things are done in NZ. One thing we noticed in NSW is there are speed cameras all along the Pacific Highway but for some reason, drivers have to be told where they are. There will be a sign telling drivers there are speed cameras in NSW; then about 500 metres down the road another sign telling them there are speed cameras in that area, then after another 500 metres another sign beside the speed camera. It may be that Aussies take a while to work things out for themselves or that civil libertarians wanted the signs put up so no one’s civil rights would be upset.

A sign of what the drought has done to this country was on TV last week. Instead of schools wanting computers, new classrooms etc. like they do in NZ, Australian schools want water tanks. A contest is being held to find schools that need the water tanks and these are being donated by the TV channel.

We arrived in the Gold Coast today and we are staying at a lovely park right on the broad water at Southport opposite the Mirage resort and Sea World. We intend staying here for at least a week, depending on the weather. We met some fellow caravanners in Ballina who we got on with very well and they are staying here also. I can see a few happy hours and drinking sessions over the next few days. We are getting quite tanned and with another 8 – 10 weeks to go before we leave the coast and start heading back inland we’ll have a head start on our tans for the NZ summer.

SAD TIMES AND LOTS OF RAIN

The last few weeks have been a very sad time for us. My sister Colleen who had suffered from bad health for a long time was admitted to hospital in Christchurch on Saturday 24th May with respiratory complications and pneumonia and passed away peacefully on Sunday 1st June. She will be sorely missed by all of us.

Our good weather has left us. There has been a big depression on the northern coast of Queensland and over the past few weeks it has slowly worked its way down to NSW leaving floods and high seas in its wake. Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast have had flooding and lots of road closures all along the coast and now Sydney has had heavy rain also, enough to say that some of the water restrictions will be lifted this weekend. I know that the rain was desperately needed but it would have been nicer to get it in small doses. The winds have been gale force and it was so bad the other night that we got up in the middle of the night to take down the awning that was moving so much that the van was shaking really badly. We haven’t seen sun for over a week so to show you what it is like in a caravan; when it has rained for umpteen days and we have limited clothes. I have attached the photo of “Wet Wash Day” We put the clothesline up, attached them to the cupboard doors and turned on the air conditioning. Voila! our own drying room. It was nearly dry when we got back from shopping. The joys of caravanning!

We had some preconceived ideas of some of the places we were going to visit, and how wrong we were with Newcastle. We had driven down the main street a few years ago and now that the Pacific Highway bypasses it, most tourists give it miss. We decided to stay at Stockton Beach, which is on the opposite side of the Hunter River from Newcastle but accessible by ferry. Newcastle is a very busy industrial city with up to 5 coal freighters a day leaving for China. These huge carriers went right by our camp so it was a very interesting sight. We counted 22 freighters sitting off the coast one day just waiting their turn to come into port. It is just on a year ago that he freighter “Pasha Bolker” came ashore on the beach at Newcastle. The earthquake in 1989 ruined a lot of the shops and these have been rebuilt with lots of cafes and bars down by the river. There are loads of walkways with fantastic views.

It was then on to Port Stephens, another preconceived idea out the window. We had called into what we thought was Port Stephens in 1990 but there were just sand dunes and it was blowing a gale so we weren’t getting too excited about going back. We stayed at Anna Bay this time and there are lots of beautiful beaches and homes in the Port at Nelson Bay and Salamander Bay. We climbed up to the top of Tomaree Head, 164 metres. It was pretty tough going at times but worth it at the top. This is the time of the year that the whales make their way north to mate in the Whitsundays and we saw a group just off the coast. Luckily we had the binoculars so we had a great view.
The beach photo is of Fingal Bay in Port Stephens. This is the beach where the “Where The Bloody Hell Are You?” ad was filmed. It certainly is a beautiful spot.

Our next stop was Forster / Tuncurry a twin town centre on the Wallis Lake. This is where the weather decided to go to the pack so we didn’t get much of a chance to see it at it’s best. My favourite memory of Forster is the huge waves that hit the beaches during the king tides that we had during the storms. We stood up on the cliffs and watched loads of surfers having the time of their lives riding what were probably some of the biggest waves they had ever seen.

We then moved to Port Macquarie. A lovely beach resort, but with the king tides, high winds and storms, we decided to just stay put and ride out the storms. There is fantastic growth in this area and with lots of apartments, canals and housing developments, there is no shortage of work. We visited a koala hospital to watch the koalas being fed. I wasn’t too keen to see any sick animals but the really sick were in intensive care and unable to have visitors so it wasn’t too upsetting. These koalas are ones that been hit by motor vehicles or burnt in bush fires and, as they get stressed very easily, they get urinary infections that turn to Chlamydia. Most of them only stay for a few months and are then returned to the area in which they were found, as they are very territorial. There were one or two there with eye infections and another had arthritis. These koalas are too old to be returned to the wild, some are 20 years old, so they have a great life in their own little compound with occasional visits from other koalas in the area and some have successfully mated and we saw 2 baby koalas who have been born in captivity. It was a very interesting afternoon.

The roads in NSW are a national disgrace. Pacific Highway, which is the main highway between Sydney and Brisbane, is just full of potholes and corrugations, some of which have just been roughly patched over and cause all sorts of humps and bumps. We took a socalled tourist route into Forster and it was like a donkey track. One part of the main highway is made of concrete so you get all these bumps as you go over the joints. At one stage the road, which looked relatively new, caused the bonnet to vibrate badly. It was very off putting. I will never complain about the NZ roads again! One noticeable thing on the road between Port Stephens and Forster was the tubular crossings placed high across the highway between the eucalyptus trees. These are for koalas and possums to save them from crossing the four lane roadway. I just hope they have told the koalas and possums about them!

We had a game of golf in Anna Bay at a course called “The Palms” A very upmarket name and the course looked top of the range also. How mistaken we were. The course was totally water sodden and the balls just got bogged down when they hit the ground. The score was unmentionable and when we got home we had to wash clubs, shoes and our legs to remove all the mud. It wasn’t the best day out.

We have met some very friendly people on our trip and while we were in Stockton a group of 6 of us went out for dinner to a club. One of the guys was a magician so he put on a real show for us. Lots of card tricks which had all of us fooled. My grand children would have loved it but so did the adults.

In some ways Australia is way behind NZ. There was a big announcement on the news last week that soon Australians will be able to have pin numbers on their credit cards instead of having to sign the receipt all the time and now Australian shops may soon be able to open on weekends and holidays! At the moment they have to make special applications to do this. All malls open most of the time but on the Sunday we had in Sydney a lot of the shops were shut.

After a couple of very hard weeks we are waiting for the weather to clear and move onto Coffs Harbour and the Gold Coast where my next blog will come from.