It started raining last night, it has not stopped yet!
As people will tell you, there is nothing quite like the sound of rain on a tin roof, but the sound of rain on a thin sheet of fibreglass on a caravan is not so soothing. One can hear every individual drop land, loudly, continuously, all night.
This too shall come to pass........(I hope).
Having a great time with the family.
Monday the daughter came to say welcome. Tuesday we planned to go out for dinner but could not get a booking at the chosen place so ended up having Chinese take away at our place with daughter and the two grand daughters. Wednesday we had dinner at the daughters house which was lovely and allowed us to finally catch up with the son in law and the grandson. They all lead such busy lives full of a good mix of work, school and sport but it is not often now that they are all home at the same time and even yesterday we only saw them all by staying still in the one place long enough!
Today I think we will go for a wander around the local shopping centre, it will be warmer and so much brighter than the cold wet and miserable day visible out the window of the caravan!
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Monday...27 April 2015
Moving day. Up early to break camp and move. What is it about moving day? I NEVER sleep well the night before, constantly waking to check the clock!
Today we left Casino, great place. well worth the time to stop and will come back again one day. Weather was wonderful, park is great, loved the peace and quiet.
We took the road back to Bangalow and from there it was onto the M1 just north of Byron Bay. Words cannot describe the wonders of the modern motorway. For over 300 km we were on a divided road that had at least two lanes and sometimes five depending on the location (Think Gold Coast), Into a capital city (Brisbane) and out again without a single traffic light and all at 80 - 100 km/h. This folks is the wonder of modern engineering and road design. I have said it before and I repeat again, it was a Rocking Chair Ride from one side of the city to the other and from one state to another. The only comment I will make is that I missed the sign that said Welcome to Qld! How did I miss the border? Was it marked? And when are they going to take into account my aversion to heavy traffic flow on the roads I am travelling?
The eldest was pleased to see us and came for a visit. We are in a caravan park that is literally over the road from the local big shopping centre and only a couple of hundred metres from the many popular restaurants and shops of the main street. Bring on happy hour, we can walk to every thing from here!
Today we left Casino, great place. well worth the time to stop and will come back again one day. Weather was wonderful, park is great, loved the peace and quiet.
We took the road back to Bangalow and from there it was onto the M1 just north of Byron Bay. Words cannot describe the wonders of the modern motorway. For over 300 km we were on a divided road that had at least two lanes and sometimes five depending on the location (Think Gold Coast), Into a capital city (Brisbane) and out again without a single traffic light and all at 80 - 100 km/h. This folks is the wonder of modern engineering and road design. I have said it before and I repeat again, it was a Rocking Chair Ride from one side of the city to the other and from one state to another. The only comment I will make is that I missed the sign that said Welcome to Qld! How did I miss the border? Was it marked? And when are they going to take into account my aversion to heavy traffic flow on the roads I am travelling?
The eldest was pleased to see us and came for a visit. We are in a caravan park that is literally over the road from the local big shopping centre and only a couple of hundred metres from the many popular restaurants and shops of the main street. Bring on happy hour, we can walk to every thing from here!
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Sunday...26 April 2015
Road trip today.
Casino to Lismore to Ballina to Byron Bay to Bangalow to Clunes to Lismore to Casino!
At Ballina we saw the big prawn. It weighs 35 tonne and is made from concrete and steel.
After a quick stop at the local Information Centre we took a side visit to the Ballina Lighthouse. Now this is not an overly big structure but it is all by itself in a huge grassed area and can be accessed by car if desired. Just as we arrived a white station wagon pulled up beside it and the occupants were not there to sight see. They sat in the car in the shade of the lighthouse to have a nice quiet chat without any consideration to folk who were genuinely interested in the actual structure. Getting photos without them in it was very difficult!
From there we headed north along the coast road to Byron Bay via Shelley Beach and Lennox Head, both well known and popular surfing beaches.
Byron Bay....boards, boardshorts and boobs! This area has lots of the pretty young things wandering barefoot and wearing as little as possible. And why not in such a lovely setting. Lots of places to eat and/or drink and shops selling surf boards and bikinis. People and traffic all move at a slow steady pace that is both soothing and annoying!
One of the more popular things to do here was to hike to the Byron Bay Lighthouse. We drove out and got to glimpse it as we did a go around because parking was very limited and we were not the only ones to drive out.
We went back into town for a fish and chip lunch then made our way back to base. We took the Bangalow road and found out too late that Bangalow has a very very popular Sunday markets. Traffic in the town was bumper to bumper and the entire town looked like one big parking lot and given that it only had a main street I have no idea where the actual markets were as all we could see was the mobs of people in the main street and cars cars and more cars along the main street and up every little side road available. There was no signage for the markets. Perhaps it is so well known that everyone knows and there is no need to advertise it any more. Our loss.
Casino to Lismore to Ballina to Byron Bay to Bangalow to Clunes to Lismore to Casino!
At Ballina we saw the big prawn. It weighs 35 tonne and is made from concrete and steel.
After a quick stop at the local Information Centre we took a side visit to the Ballina Lighthouse. Now this is not an overly big structure but it is all by itself in a huge grassed area and can be accessed by car if desired. Just as we arrived a white station wagon pulled up beside it and the occupants were not there to sight see. They sat in the car in the shade of the lighthouse to have a nice quiet chat without any consideration to folk who were genuinely interested in the actual structure. Getting photos without them in it was very difficult!
From there we headed north along the coast road to Byron Bay via Shelley Beach and Lennox Head, both well known and popular surfing beaches.
Byron Bay....boards, boardshorts and boobs! This area has lots of the pretty young things wandering barefoot and wearing as little as possible. And why not in such a lovely setting. Lots of places to eat and/or drink and shops selling surf boards and bikinis. People and traffic all move at a slow steady pace that is both soothing and annoying!
One of the more popular things to do here was to hike to the Byron Bay Lighthouse. We drove out and got to glimpse it as we did a go around because parking was very limited and we were not the only ones to drive out.
We went back into town for a fish and chip lunch then made our way back to base. We took the Bangalow road and found out too late that Bangalow has a very very popular Sunday markets. Traffic in the town was bumper to bumper and the entire town looked like one big parking lot and given that it only had a main street I have no idea where the actual markets were as all we could see was the mobs of people in the main street and cars cars and more cars along the main street and up every little side road available. There was no signage for the markets. Perhaps it is so well known that everyone knows and there is no need to advertise it any more. Our loss.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Tuesday...21 April 2015
After a couple of months of having our internet connection drop in and out more often than a drunk at his local, we took our mobile internet dongle to the dongle doctor. They said it was terminal and our best option was to do the humane thing and put it down! In its place we now have a nice new 4G Advanced II wifi dongle. It took two days and five calls to Telstra but it is finally working the way the nice people who sold it to us said it would! It is faster than lightning. This is good. Sorta. Now we are chewing through our monthly data faster than ever before......
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Tuesday...14 April 2015
Still in Casino, still waiting for the NSW and Qld school holidays to end.
While we wait we have been blessed with nice weather, now that it has stopped raining! The nights are cool to cold and the days are perfect, warm and sunny without being hot enough to turn on the air conditioner.
We can sit and watch the light aircraft leaving and landing at the airport beside the park and at night we hear trains somewhere not too far away. Last night we had a helicopter hovering over us, Himself thinks they may have been waiting for the landing lights to be turned on at the airport.
The bays of the park are separated by lovely high hedges of lilly pilly and they in turn provide homes and hideaways for all sorts of little birds and tiny skinks. We often see blue wrens and lorikeets roost in a gum tree at the end of our allocated space.
Part of this whole set up is a "Over 55's" Village. Believe me, some of them are way over 55! Zimmer frames and gophers nearly out number cars around here. Still it is interesting to watch them going about their day as they stroll, play golf, bingo, cards, snooker, bowls and a dozen other activities available to them (which we as guests are also welcome to join in) and keep active.
Casino has all the usual country town services. There are lots of shops as well as a Coles, Woolworths and Aldi. I have passed a large nursing home so I gather there is a hospital somewhere.
Down the road 30 km is Lismore. Lismore is a fairly large town. It is big enough to have a Masters and a Bunnings! Himself was a happy camper when he spotted that. Another 30 km past Lismore is Ballina which is larger again and from there it is only 30 km to Byron Bay. Perhaps we should research this district in more depth?
While we wait we have been blessed with nice weather, now that it has stopped raining! The nights are cool to cold and the days are perfect, warm and sunny without being hot enough to turn on the air conditioner.
We can sit and watch the light aircraft leaving and landing at the airport beside the park and at night we hear trains somewhere not too far away. Last night we had a helicopter hovering over us, Himself thinks they may have been waiting for the landing lights to be turned on at the airport.
The bays of the park are separated by lovely high hedges of lilly pilly and they in turn provide homes and hideaways for all sorts of little birds and tiny skinks. We often see blue wrens and lorikeets roost in a gum tree at the end of our allocated space.
Part of this whole set up is a "Over 55's" Village. Believe me, some of them are way over 55! Zimmer frames and gophers nearly out number cars around here. Still it is interesting to watch them going about their day as they stroll, play golf, bingo, cards, snooker, bowls and a dozen other activities available to them (which we as guests are also welcome to join in) and keep active.
Casino has all the usual country town services. There are lots of shops as well as a Coles, Woolworths and Aldi. I have passed a large nursing home so I gather there is a hospital somewhere.
Down the road 30 km is Lismore. Lismore is a fairly large town. It is big enough to have a Masters and a Bunnings! Himself was a happy camper when he spotted that. Another 30 km past Lismore is Ballina which is larger again and from there it is only 30 km to Byron Bay. Perhaps we should research this district in more depth?
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Thursday...9 April 2015
Here we sit in Casino. Casino is a town in NSW. Must be careful to say we are in Casino not at the casino! We were lucky enough to make camp before it rained for four days. And we got another roof leak! (Same place as last time) Definitely not a happy camper! We paid a bloke an awful lot of money not too long ago to fix the last leak and that repair came with a ten year warranty and that was in November 2013. So we spent another few nights sleeping on the mattress on the lounge room floor while water dripped into buckets in the bedroom.
Eventually it stopped raining and the long wait for the fine weather to dry out everything (including us!) began. Once it was dry enough Himself was able to look on the roof to see what our problem was and has managed to do a spot repair that should get us far enough up the road to have the head office of the fix it company look at our problem. Fingers crossed that they honour their warranty.
So ever noticed that when one thing goes wrong lots of other little things go wrong too?
Because we leaked, I needed to dry the feather doona, woollen underlay and foam eggshell off the bed as well as wash and dry the doona cover, the top sheet and the bottom sheet and the four pillowcases, or in other words all the linen that goes to making a bed! This needed lots of one dollar coins to feed the washing machines and dryers. It is Easter and the park is packed and it is raining. Many people wanted to use the laundry facilities. I was happy to take my turn but alas, myself and several others could not do our washing as none of us had the correct change to work the equipment. The office had no change for the entire Easter break and it did not occur to them to empty the machines to get some change! By the time we gave up asking and Himself went into town to the bank to get me some change, the linen was going mouldy! Well at least it did eventually get washed and although it was not hot, it was not raining and a cool breeze was blowing which meant I could put the washing on the line and not have to use the dryers. The first sheet I hung on the line, the line broke and dumped my clean sheet on the muddy ground. That did it! That is when I finally lost my cool. The pegs in my hands got thrown in the air and the air turned a black shade of blue for several yards around my vicinity! And to add more insult to the story, not long after picking it up and rehanging it and its mates on another line to dry, it started raining again. Back to the line to get the washing and put it into the dryer after all.
In the meantime it continues to stay dry and our little house is slowly drying out both inside and out and life is starting to feel normal for us again. The days are warm without being too hot and the nights are cool enough to allow comfortable sleep. But more rain is forecast later in the week.
Eventually it stopped raining and the long wait for the fine weather to dry out everything (including us!) began. Once it was dry enough Himself was able to look on the roof to see what our problem was and has managed to do a spot repair that should get us far enough up the road to have the head office of the fix it company look at our problem. Fingers crossed that they honour their warranty.
So ever noticed that when one thing goes wrong lots of other little things go wrong too?
Because we leaked, I needed to dry the feather doona, woollen underlay and foam eggshell off the bed as well as wash and dry the doona cover, the top sheet and the bottom sheet and the four pillowcases, or in other words all the linen that goes to making a bed! This needed lots of one dollar coins to feed the washing machines and dryers. It is Easter and the park is packed and it is raining. Many people wanted to use the laundry facilities. I was happy to take my turn but alas, myself and several others could not do our washing as none of us had the correct change to work the equipment. The office had no change for the entire Easter break and it did not occur to them to empty the machines to get some change! By the time we gave up asking and Himself went into town to the bank to get me some change, the linen was going mouldy! Well at least it did eventually get washed and although it was not hot, it was not raining and a cool breeze was blowing which meant I could put the washing on the line and not have to use the dryers. The first sheet I hung on the line, the line broke and dumped my clean sheet on the muddy ground. That did it! That is when I finally lost my cool. The pegs in my hands got thrown in the air and the air turned a black shade of blue for several yards around my vicinity! And to add more insult to the story, not long after picking it up and rehanging it and its mates on another line to dry, it started raining again. Back to the line to get the washing and put it into the dryer after all.
In the meantime it continues to stay dry and our little house is slowly drying out both inside and out and life is starting to feel normal for us again. The days are warm without being too hot and the nights are cool enough to allow comfortable sleep. But more rain is forecast later in the week.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Thursday...2 April 2015
So driving up the road today from Macksville to Casino via Coffs Harbour and Grafton we passed some interesting signs. Yes we saw The Big Banana as we came through Coffs Harbour, but back to my story.
The first sign said Watch for Koalas. Fairly standard around these parts. The warm and fuzzy koala bear is definitely not endangered here. Now a koala in the wild will rip you or anyone else for that matter to pieces should you be silly enough to attempt to give it a hug or to lift it off the road before some other less caring motorist should iron it flat with a nice new set of Coopers. Those things are lethal weapons. The koalas, I mean, not the Coopers. The claws on their feet and hands are more deadly than a kangaroo in mating season. And speaking of which, we also saw a sign that said Watch out for Kangaroos. After living in the north all those years, I have never really stopped watching for kangaroos. Every tussock of grass blowing in the wind on the side of the road is a possible kangaroo sighting to me!!
The next sign I noticed said Watch for Wild Cattle. Now cattle really are warm and fuzzy creatures with their soulful eyes, so what on earth would make them wild we asked ourselves? The next sign said Watch for Horses. There was a riderless horse prancing across the sign and no one seems to have a problem with them on the loose and out of control, or animals like koalas and kangaroos wandering at will about the country side, but the poor cow that is probably lost and desperately trying to find its way home, is described as a wild animal. You know, I would be wild too if someone described me to the world that way!
And while I think of it, we actually saw a sign recently that said to watch out for deer. Crikey, is there any thing we do not have running loose in this big country of ours?
Along the way today we had alternate patches of bright sunshine and pouring rain. As it is the beginning of the Easter break there were extra police patrols and lots of motorists flashing lights at each other. NSW is also very fond of the fixed speed camera. We should be ok with them, we never go over the limit with the caravan hitched on. Way too dangerous if you have to stop in a hurry.
The first sign said Watch for Koalas. Fairly standard around these parts. The warm and fuzzy koala bear is definitely not endangered here. Now a koala in the wild will rip you or anyone else for that matter to pieces should you be silly enough to attempt to give it a hug or to lift it off the road before some other less caring motorist should iron it flat with a nice new set of Coopers. Those things are lethal weapons. The koalas, I mean, not the Coopers. The claws on their feet and hands are more deadly than a kangaroo in mating season. And speaking of which, we also saw a sign that said Watch out for Kangaroos. After living in the north all those years, I have never really stopped watching for kangaroos. Every tussock of grass blowing in the wind on the side of the road is a possible kangaroo sighting to me!!
The next sign I noticed said Watch for Wild Cattle. Now cattle really are warm and fuzzy creatures with their soulful eyes, so what on earth would make them wild we asked ourselves? The next sign said Watch for Horses. There was a riderless horse prancing across the sign and no one seems to have a problem with them on the loose and out of control, or animals like koalas and kangaroos wandering at will about the country side, but the poor cow that is probably lost and desperately trying to find its way home, is described as a wild animal. You know, I would be wild too if someone described me to the world that way!
And while I think of it, we actually saw a sign recently that said to watch out for deer. Crikey, is there any thing we do not have running loose in this big country of ours?
Along the way today we had alternate patches of bright sunshine and pouring rain. As it is the beginning of the Easter break there were extra police patrols and lots of motorists flashing lights at each other. NSW is also very fond of the fixed speed camera. We should be ok with them, we never go over the limit with the caravan hitched on. Way too dangerous if you have to stop in a hurry.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Wednesday...1 April 2015
Yesterday we took a drive up to Coffs Harbour.
It rained most of the way there and all they way back! And...... Although it is only 56 km, they are doing upgrades of the highway for all but a couple of km and this means the top speed allowed is 80 kph. There are signs all over saying it is a high crash zone. I am not surprised. Most drivers would lose concentration stuck in the snail trail it has become.
We went to the jetty for lunch. When in doubt always go to the sea front for local fish and chips, you are sure to get the best. And always go where the crowds are. It usually means the food is good. Not so yesterday. Maybe I was having an off day but the fish smelt like last weeks left overs and my potato cakes were inedible. They smelt and were overcooked and ultra greasy, one mouthful and I threw them out. The chips were alright but totally lacked flavour. Even with extra salt they were still bland. Himself said the fish was ok too but I could not eat it. I think he has a cast iron stomach!
Now something Coffs definitely has is all the big name stores. So we gave up on the tourist stuff and went shopping. We need a new outside table as the last one has died of old age. Two visits in the pouring rain to two big outlets and two times we struck out! Just not our day.
Maybe we will find what we need at the next town. Note to self, look out for the Big Banana as we go through Coffs again tomorrow on our way north
.
It rained most of the way there and all they way back! And...... Although it is only 56 km, they are doing upgrades of the highway for all but a couple of km and this means the top speed allowed is 80 kph. There are signs all over saying it is a high crash zone. I am not surprised. Most drivers would lose concentration stuck in the snail trail it has become.
We went to the jetty for lunch. When in doubt always go to the sea front for local fish and chips, you are sure to get the best. And always go where the crowds are. It usually means the food is good. Not so yesterday. Maybe I was having an off day but the fish smelt like last weeks left overs and my potato cakes were inedible. They smelt and were overcooked and ultra greasy, one mouthful and I threw them out. The chips were alright but totally lacked flavour. Even with extra salt they were still bland. Himself said the fish was ok too but I could not eat it. I think he has a cast iron stomach!
Now something Coffs definitely has is all the big name stores. So we gave up on the tourist stuff and went shopping. We need a new outside table as the last one has died of old age. Two visits in the pouring rain to two big outlets and two times we struck out! Just not our day.
Maybe we will find what we need at the next town. Note to self, look out for the Big Banana as we go through Coffs again tomorrow on our way north
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