TOD Tour, Day 25 - Bellingen

After 18 nights in the one place - some sort of record for us - there are lots of things to pack away when its time to move. You don't realise how many of your secret compartments get opened and gear put to use until its time to pack it all up!

To add to the work this morning, I had also reorganised the car ... adding some different containers and removing others. As a result, I had to say goodbye to an old blue box which has traipsed about the country with us for many years, another large plastic box, some tent poles and several books. It all took time, so we were on the road later than I would have liked but as our drive was only to Bellingen (40kms), there was no need to hurry. Hopefully that will be a theme from now on.

Our eighteen night in Nambucca Heads has been made all the better for having stayed at the Nambucca Beach Big 4 caravan park. Our hosts, Sean and Janice provide a great example of service which is infectious to all the staff. Time and again, they made us feel like their special guests ... just as they did everyone who was staying there. Its a tidy, clean and quiet park, with lots for the kids to do, the beach just one minute away and with all the facilities one comes to expect from Big 4 parks.

Today was significant, because it marks the real start to our trip. We've made the best of this inconvenience, enjoying some wonderful scenery already but it wasn't what the journey was supposed to be.

Last drinks at the
Vee Wall Tavern

We made a nice intermediary stop at the Boatshed Cafe, which ended being our favourite spot in Nambucca Heads ... even more than the Vee Wall Tavern. Morning tea by the Nambucca River for one last time.

Its only about 35 minutes to Bellingen, even with the van on but time enough for three people to cut me off or discount my existence because they see the van on the back. I'm starting to understand what others have told me about driving with a van. You have to be more defensive and expect people to take right of way from you that they wouldn't normally dare. At least I had the satisfaction of seeing one of them being booked in Urunga as we passed through. I really am starting to sound like a GN aren't I.

Our digs tonight will be the Bellingen Showground. Its a venue which comes recommended through a number of on line guides. Trip advisor reviews are complimentary and its not hard to see why. There is plenty of shade and space, power and water supplied and the showers are the best we've used on the trip so far.

The girls from
"Honey & Knives"

Tonight was our one night out per month and we spent it wisely at Lodge 241 Gallery & Cafe. Earlier in the week, we called in for coffee on the way to Tamworth and purchased a stunning artwork from the proprietor, Laurie Crooks ... sound name for a business man! He invited us back tonight for live music and we got more than we bargained for. Apart from the delicious meal and a rather fetching bottle of Rosemount Cabernet Sauvignon, we also met Tanja Karl, the artist who created the piece we purchased and were entertained by the blues/bluegrass/folk quintet, "Honey & Knives". Good songwriting, well constructed harmonies and some really high performance qualities.

If all our monthly extravagances will be as good as this, they will be something to look forward to.

Laurie has a great venue. An old Federation, three storey house, it has a lovely intimacy for live music. Nothing to fault about our evening except t was an hour too short!

Meeting an old school chum tomorrow at Saphire Beach.

TOD Tour - Day 8, Nambucca

It rained last night ... correction ... during the early hours of this morning. It was loud.

In the morning, the rain sparked an interest in the weather forecast for the next week. It usually has only scant interest and mostly only when we are planning an outdoors type of activity, so it was only a cursory glance; until I discovered that up to 200mm of rain is predicted to fall in the next three days.

Gulp!

For those playing at home, that's 8 inches on the old scale. We were so distraught, we needed coffee, so chose the Bookshop Cafe, across the road from the Nambucca Post Office. It has a collection of pre-loved books, not many of them in the really old category and some wonderful looking tucker, most of which are on my heavily banned list. Long black and English Breakfast ... again. We are yet to discover a cafe on the coast which provides lactose-free milk. Sue wandered for the next hour or so while I wrote. Somewhere during the morning I arranged two poetry gigs for the next few weeks - one at the caravan park and one at the cafe.

View from behind our
lunch plates

It was lunch time by the time I was finished with morning tea, so we went to the very pleasant but simple Boathouse Cafe, set on what is called the Inner Harbour of the lower reach of the Nambucca River. It is so close to the water, the only thing between the building and river were a narrow band of oysters and barnacles. We had grilled fish and salad and a pleasant hour.

After lunch - as tempted as we were to go straight to afternoon tea - we sought out a hardware/camping store and purchased some additional pegs and ropes to erect the annex we had gifted to us in Tamworth. By gifted I mean left on our front doorstep without so much as a silver bullet. Whoever you are, thank you. We ran out of time to see if it would fit our Avan before we left Tamworth, so I rather reluctantly included it in our pack so we could try it out when we had time. With lots of wet weather coming, it seemed opportune. It proved a lovely surprise. Apart from the special attachments needed to fit the skirt along the bottom of the van, the new annex fitted perfectly and will be our saving grace in the days ahead.

Kelp me if you can,
I'm feeling drowned ...

In the late afternoon, we walked along the beach which is just through the grass and dunes. On the other side of us is rainforest. There was an extraordinary collection of kelp in one section of the beach and an extraordinary number of marathon-class old women in bikinis almost everywhere else. These were women whose buttocks could crack walnuts and the sad examples of old blokes who walked beside them, half stumbling while their female companions strode out and then waited and then strode out again, gave rise to the distinct impression that men are a doomed section of the genetic mix. Mind you, afterwards in the the caravan park pool, the collection old dears doing self-regulated aqua aerobics somewhat evened the balance. Not one hair on their head was either wet or out of place and their Olympic event was giggling.

After our swim, we retired to beers and books.

The sky is darkening and the ocean has raised to a roar beyond the dunes. The tops of the tall eucalypts are acting out the stronger winds but we are reasonably sheltered. A check of the forecast indicates the maximum rainfall has been downgraded to just 130mm in the next three days. Small mercies.