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

SOUTH WEST ROCKS REVISITED

Tuesday 8^th May:

Ferg went for a last long walk out to the breakwater before we packed up slowly and headed off to Port Macquarie. After checking out the two parks that took dogs we decided to keep going north to South West Rocks. We hadn’t booked and were very lucky to get the last spot at the Horseshoe Bay Beach Park. It’s in a fantastic position right on the beach. Unfortunately there are not many of these council parks left.

Wednesday 9^th May:

We settled in nicely and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the park. We took Twistie for a nice walk along the beach. In the afternoon we played bowls at the local club.

Thursday 10^th May:

The good weather has left us today and the rain has set in. We stayed in the van most of the day. We found a good spot for internet and spent an hour on the laptop.

Friday 11^th May:

It was overcast again this morning but eventually the sun broke through. We didn’t do much just soaked up the sun and chatted to our neighbours.

Saturday 12^th May:

We had to move spots today as someone is booked into this site. It was no problem we only moved two sites over and we still have a view of the ocean. The markets were on in the park next door this morning so we spent some time wandering among the stalls. We put up our side annexe for the first time today. It gives us a bit of privacy from people passing buy and protects from the wind. We played bowls again in the afternoon.

Sunday 13^th May:

Mother’s Day! Jess gave me a call. We went out to lunch at the bowls club with another couple from the van park. We enjoyed a lovely smorgasborg then adjourned to the lounge to listen to a country music band. It rained all afternoon which suited us for a snooze after the big lunch.

Monday 14^th May:

It was a glorious day, Ferg, Twistie and I went for a long walk along the beach. The water is quite warm. We spent an hour on the net then did a grocery shop. When we got back the water looked so inviting that we decided to go in for a surf. It was great, Ferg caught a few waves and I had a nice swim. Later we bought an icecream and sat up on the headland soaking up the sun.

Tuesday 15^th May:

We are off diving today and we were geared up and at the dive shop by 8am. They mucked around for awhile but finally we were heading out through the bar by 9.30am. The bar crossing was a bit hairy, the last wave broke over the top of us and swamped everyone. We came through Ok though, lucky we had our wetsuits on to keep us warm. We did two dives at Fish Rock Cave and saw lots of grey nurse sharks. The viz was good and it was another glorious day. Once back on dry land we cleaned our gear then snoozed all afternoon. It’s very tiring work this diving caper!

Wednesday 16^th May:

It’s another lovely day in paradise. Ferg and I went down to the bowls club for a roll up in the morning. When we got back we went in for another surf. The water is crystal clear and we could see schools of whiting and bream through the waves. We played mixed bowls in the afternoon.

Thursday 17^th May:

I played ladies bowls in the morning and played atrociously. I don’t like the heavy greens, you have to throw the bowls down rather than roll them. We went out to dinner with a group of friends from the van park. We all enjoyed a lovely Chinese dinner.

Friday 18^th May:

We awoke to overcast skies and a very strong on shore wind. Luckily we are moving on today. The wind left us by the time we hit the highway and we had a good run north to Coffs Harbour. We decided on a van park just north of the city at Moonee Beach. The park is set in a reserve overlooking a tidal estuary out to the ocean. There are lots of parrots, plenty of shady trees and an added bonus of free internet access.