"No matter where you go, there you are."

SOUTH WEST ROCKS

Tuesday 14^th November:

It was a beautiful day to be on the road. We traveled east from Armidale through Dorrigo, Bellingen, Nambucca Heads and Macksville arriving at South West Rocks by lunchtime. We have a perfect site overlooking the river. We called into the local dive shop and made a booking to dive Fish Rock Cave in the morning.

Wednesday 15^th November:

We were at the SWR Dive Centre by 8am kitting up our tanks and meeting the other divers. It took about 30 minutes to get out to Fish Rock. Our first dive was through the cave which runs the length of the rock. It was amazing, the cave was full of crayfish. We stopped in a bubble inside the cave and we were able to take our regulators out and breathe, a weird sensation. There were masses of small fish at the cave entrance. We did our second dive outside the cave and saw lots of Wobbegongs and Grey Nurse Sharks. The visibility wasn’t very good and it was very cold but the cave dive is well worth it. We took a drive out to the Trial Bay Gaol in the afternoon.

Thursday 16^th November:

A cold front came through overnight and the temperature has dropped to 15 degrees. We have dug out the jumpers and fluffy slippers. John took a bush walk near the Smoky Cape Lighthouse. Too cold for me, I went to the South West Rocks Country Club. We spent the afternoon indoors with the heater cranked up.

Friday 17^th November:

On the move again today, south through Kempsey and Taree. We stopped at a great spot in the Buledelah State Forest for lunch. We ended up at The Entrance just north of Gosford. It was a nice area but the van park was packed like sardines so we only stayed the one night.

CANBERRA

Saturday 18^th November:

Sydney here we come, yuk, goodbye Sydney. Too many cars, houses and humanity! We kept on driving and decided on Canberra as a good place to park for a few days. We are staying in the Exhibition Park (showgrounds) for $12 per night. Good value and only 5 minutes from Parliament House.

Sunday 19^th November:

We visited the Old Bus Depot Markets this morning. Great markets, lots of interesting crafts, flowers and food. The food section was delicious, we got to taste all the goodies. Nuts, olives, fudge, bread, wine, fruit, cheese….. yes and all in that order….. YUM! No need for lunch! We also visited a textile gallery in the morning. I caught up with my friend Simone and we had dinner with her husband and family in the evening.

Monday 20^th November:

We got up early today for a walk along Lake Burley Griffin. There were lots of cyclists and joggers about and the hot air balloons were flying overhead. Back to the van for breakfast then off to do some sightseeing. Our first stop was the National Museum where we saw our next caravan! Then on to the National War Museum which overlooks Anzac Avenue down to Parliament House. We spent a good hour wandering around all the displays. That was enough walking for one day. Late in the afternoon we got to watch the local Trots meet as our van overlooks the racecourse.

WOOLI - ARMIDALE

Friday 10^th November:

We farewelled Pete and Marlyn as they had another busy day ahead of them at work. The rain was clearing so we finished packing and had hit the road by 10am. We drove south past Byron Bay, Ballina, Maclean and turned east towards Wooli just before Grafton. As we were coming into Wooli we saw five emus making their way along the road. We booked into the Solitary Islands Caravan Park which is right on the Wooli River. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a riverside site. Our bad luck continued when we visited the local dive shop. They didn’t have a boat going out so we had to miss out on our much anticipated dive at the Solitary Islands. We took a drive down through the township to the ocean and rivermouth.

Saturday 11^th November:

Awoke to a beautiful morning, great diving weather (bugger!). We drove down to the oceanfront and took a walk along the beach. After breakfast we drove over to Minnie Water township. The houses are perched on cliff tops overlooking the ocean. The village is still quite unspoilt. Back in Wooli we tried our luck with a spot of fishing. We got a couple of bites but no fish. Back in the van park we were overrun by kids on a weekend camp. (Glad we are leaving tomorrow!)

Sunday 12^th November:

We left Wooli and drove through Grafton, unfortunately we had missed the jacarandas in full bloom. We took the Nymboida road south which was steep and winding. We stopped at the Ebor Falls for lunch, lovely spot. We arrived in Armidale at 4pm and found Guy’s place. His driveway was too narrow for the van so we ended up at the Pembroke Caravan Park a short drive away. We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Guy and his family and caught up on old times.

The picture above was taken specially for Mr John Edwards (who wanted to be mentioned in this blog! So consider yourself MENTIONED!)

Monday 13^th November:

We arose early for a walk through the Armidale State Forest. It was a beautiful morning and we met several other walkers with their dogs. Spent the rest of the morning wandering around the Armidale checking out the shops and heritage buildings. We popped into have a farewell drink with Guy in the afternoon.

MURWILLUMBAH - STOKERS SIDING

Week One - 13th October to 19th October:

Friday: We travelled the western route through Woodenbong, Kyogle and Uki on our way into New South Wales. We arrived at my brother's place in Stokers Siding just after lunch. We set up the van near the house nestled in amongt some tree ferns. Our first afternoon was spent painting the decking on Pete's boat.

Saturday: We joined a working bee to clean up a house that Pete and Marlyn had just purchased in Murwillumbah. We scrubbed walls and pulled old staples out of the floor. Walls were being knocked out and the old kitchen was demolished. It was very satisfying to see the transformation. In the evening we called into Ross (my nephew) and Carly's place for drinks and nibblies.

Sunday: A day of rest for some of us. Pete and Marlyn had to work while Ferg and I got to relax around the pool. It is solar heated so it was quite pleasant in the water. We had a wander around the property to check out all the species of bamboo.

Monday: We took a drive up to Tweed Heads in the morning and had a wander around the Tweed Mall shops. It was drizzling rain when we returned home so we spent the afternoon indoors.

Tuesday: More shopping today, we drove further up the coast to Robina Shopping Centre and then into Pacific Fair at Broadbeach. We mostly window shopped and had some lunch before heading home again. We helped out with some cleaning at the new house in the evening. We were all pretty tired so we ended up eating nibblies for dinner and getting stuck into the red wine.

Wednesday: Oh dear, we were very seedy this morning. We spent most of the day recovering. Drew (another nephew) came out for dinner and stayed the night. He is moving into the new house that we have been cleaning.

Thursday: Drew's furniture was arriving this morning so we all went into unload at the new house. We had to be back at Pete's place by 9.30am as the Daily News was coming out to take some photos of his boats. They were doing a story on the Tweed River Boat Classic which was being held on the weekend. In the afternoon we slipped up to Tweed for Ferg's dental appointment then we helped Pete clean down the boat.

Week Two - 20th October to 26th October:

Friday: It was a very busy day. Pete and Ferg took off early to take a couple of trailer loads to the dump from the new house. I did a grocery shop then spent most of the day preparing a picnic feast for tomorrow's Classic Boat Festival. The boys got the boat out of the water and spent the afternoon finishing off the painting and cleaning. Late in the afternoon we drove into Murwillumbah to pick up Marlyn then headed up the coast to Tweed Heads. It was the festivals meet and greet evening and we had a lovely twilight cruise on the Tweed River.

Saturday: It was an early start this morning. Pete and Ferg took "June Rose" down to Condong to launch. Marlyn and I packed the picnic feast and headed into Murwillumbah to meet the boat at Drew's new house on the river. We headed down river to Tumbulgum to pick up some friends, Bob and Janet. The rest of the classic boat fleet were heading up from Chinderah. We all gathered on the beach at the Murwillumbah Rowing Club to check out the boats. The fleet moved furthered up river to a lovely picnic spot. We all enjoyed a scrummy picnic and a couple of glasses of champagne. Poor Janet slipped off the side of the boat and fell in the river, camera and all. We had a slow trip back as the boat steering had a problem and Pete had to steer with his foot poked through a very small hole to the rudder. Drew came out to meet us on his canoe. Bob and Pete worked on the steering late into the afternoon. We joined all the festival entrants in Chinderah for a BBQ and award presentations.

Sunday: Up early again for a breakfast cruise down the river. We met another couple of riends, Jenny and David at Drew's place at 7.30am. We had a lovely morning cruising up and down the river. Ferg and I helped Pete pull the boat out at Condong and bring it back home to his dam. We had a quite afternoon getting over the hectic past week.

Monday: We didn't do much today, just pottered about in the garden. I cooked a dinner for the workers, Pete and Marlyn.

Tuesday: Ferg and I took the Pajero into Murwillumbah Mitsubishi for the 15000km service. It hasn't taken long to run up the kilometres. We had a wander around the Murwillumbah shops while waiting for the car. I cooked a delicious dish of steamed ginger fish and rice for dinner.

Wednesday: Pete and Marlyn headed off to the USA today. They are visiting their son Christopher in Dallas, Texas. We headed up the coast to Tweed with Bob to go snorkeling at the Tweed bar. We had a great drift snorkel along the rivers edge. I saw three octopus and a large flathead plus a large variety other fish. It was a little chilly but well worth it. We relaxed around home in the afternoon. Twistie decided to get into Pete's coal pile chasing lizards and came up covered in coal soot. Guess who got a bath!

Thursday: We booked Twistie into the local vet to get a clip today. We dropped her off on our way up the coast to meet some friends at the Tweed Heads Bowls Club. We had a chat and lunch with Syd and Shirley who were down from Townsville. We picked up Twistie on the way home and boy didn't she look good. She had been given the whole "day spa" treatment. Wash, cut, blowdry, full body massage, nail clip, walkies and a treat! She came strutting out with a little bandana tied around her neck!

Week Three - 27th October to 2nd November:

Friday: We left early this morning to drive up to Currumbin to meet Bill. We took the scenic route up over the mountains through Tomewin then down into Currumbin Valley. Bill had brought my embroideries down from the Port Douglas gallery on his way back to Tasmania. We went up to Harbour Town Shopping Centre for a wander through all the factory outlets.

Saturday: What a beautiful morning, the birds are chirping and the sun is slowing spreading across the lake. We are going for a snorkel again today up in the Tweed River. Both Bob and Janet are going in as well. Bob dropped Ferg and I off further up river so we got quite a long drift snorkel. The viz wasn't as good as the other day but it was still very enjoyable. We stopped for fish and chips by the river on the way home.

Sunday: It's the first day of daylight saving and we have moved all our clocks forward an hour. We took a drive over to Chinderah and Kingscliff and found a market. We bought a large bag of fresh strawberries to nibble on. We drove further down the coast to Cabarita where we stopped to watch the surfers. The swell was running and there were lots of surfers in the water. We continued south through Hastings Point and Pottsville before heading back to Stokers Siding via Moobal. It was a pleasant mornings drive. Twistie found a snake by the pool later in the day. It had been attacked by a bird but was still alive. A bit of drama for the afternoon!

Monday: A quiet day today, just stayed around home. Ferg hopped on the Ride-on and did some mowing for Pete.

Tuesday: We again spent the morning at home. Ferg went bowling at the Murwillumbah Bowls Club in the afternoon. I filled in the time wandering around the Murwillumbah shops.

Wednesday: We both got stuck into the garden this morning. Ferg finished off the mowing while I did some weeding and tidied the nursery area. We treated ourselves to lunch at the Tumbulgum Pub overlooking the Tweed River.

Thursday: Ferg went bowling again today so I took off up to Pacific Fair for another shopping fix. Ferg had a good game, he played against a previous Australian champion and won.

Week Four - 3rd November to 9th November:

Friday: It was tidy up day today as Pete and Marlyn arrive back from the States. In the afternoon we both went bowling. We played a game of mixed pairs with the club president and his wife. It was a fun afternoon, the people are very friendly at the Murwillumbah Bowls Club and have made us feel very welcome. Pete and Marlyn arrived home late in the evening full of stories from Dallas and very tired.

Saturday: It was raining today but we braved the markets in Murwillumbah for some fresh fruit and vege. We also visited the Murwillumbah Show and had a wander around all the pavillions. We spent the afternoon indoors out of the rain.

Sunday: We took a drive up the coast today looking for a new wetsuit for me. I got a new Paragon 5mm at Sporty's Warehouse in Bundall. We called in on Bob and Janet and ended up staying for a late lunch. Pete and Marlyn were there also and we had an enjoyable afternoon overlooking the Tweed River.

Monday: We packed our dive gear and headed for Byron Bay on the chance we could get a dive with Sundive out to Julian Rocks. We got the last two spots on the 11am dive. I got to wear my new wetsuit. The dive was great even though the viz was only 8-10m. We had a Grey Nurse shark cruise right by us and we also saw lots of Wobbygongs nestled amongst the rocks. We had a picnic lunch overlooking the beach after the dive. I cooked a lovely lamb roast for dinner. Pete and I had a swim in the pool after dinner.

Tuesday: Melbourne Cup Day! We spent the day at the Murwillumbah Bowls Club. We played two games of triples with a break for a chicken and champagne lunch in between. It was a fun day, lots of members dressed for the occasion. Ferg's team were the overall winners and my team won the second round so we both had a win. As usual I didn't do any good in the sweeps but Ferg got a place bet at the TAB. Overall we had a most enjoyable day.

Wednesday: Pete had another newspaper visit this morning to do a story on his boats. We spent the day tiding up the van and car as we will be on the move on Friday. The afternoon brought a thunderstorm. Luckily the worst of it missed us, the Gold Coast most of the damage. We all went out for a farewell dinner at the Olive Tree. A good time was had by all.


Thursday: We were suppose to go diving this morning at Cook Island but due to the weather it was cancelled. It has rained for most of the day, hopefully it will clear up before we leave tomorrow. We finalised our packing of the car and van in readiness. Ferg and I helped out again at Drew's place, there is still quite a bit of work needed. It's been great staying with Pete and Marlyn but we are now looking forward to the next leg of our journey.