Epilogue - an eventful trip home!

Life is never boring for us at least.  Boring would be good.  Boring would be much, much less expensive!  As I said, boring would be good.

We set off from Stuart's point on Thursday and got as far as our younger daughter Kirstie's place.   It was a great evening with her and her family - her husband was home from work, and her four precious children were very excited to see us.  They had been waiting for our arrival.  Her family has our youngest and oldest grandsons and our only two granddaughters and they are growing up far, far too fast.  We had booked into a  caravan park for the night even though Kirstie thought we'd be able to park in the driveway of their new house.  She was correct, we could have but it would have been quite a hassle setting up electricity and water.  It is easier at the caravan park.  They had visitors too, a couple they have become friends with and the wife's parents who were over from Singapore.  The parents were very interested to see how people lived in a house, because they were used to apartment living in Singapore.  Kirstie put on a lovely dinner and we had a great evening then came back the next morning to spend more time with the family.

We wanted to also call in to see a friend on the way home.  She only lives a couple of hours from Kirstie, and we stopped at Cessnock which is quite near Cooranbong where she lives.  After spending Friday night and Saturday there we were ready to set off on Sunday morning, went to start the car and - nothing.  The starter motor wouldn't turn over.

We called the NRMA, the roadside assistance and while we were waiting for them we took some photos of these Eastern Rosellas, which were having a great time on the grass opposite us.

The NRMA mechanic arrived in fairly good time, and he just tapped the starter motor and it started fine.  Something loose, he said. So we figured that we'd still visit our friend and just give it another tap when the time came to start up again, if we had problems.  So off we went and had a great time with our friend Karen.

But poor thing, she got more than she bargained for when we came to visit!  Time to go, Peter said (at 2.30).  Okay, and off we went.  All settled in the car, turned the key - nothing.  Tapped the starter motor - nothing.  Tried again - nothing.  Called the NRMA again, the mechanic arrived and gave the verdict - the starter motor was dead.  Whatever was just loose before was now totally broken.   So they called for a tow truck - but because there are three of us it had to have a dual cab instead of just an ordinary towtruck, so that the three of us would fit into it.

Finally it arrived - at 6pm.  He lives at Stockton Beach, on the northern edge of  Newcastle, over 60 kms away but had come from another job in Newcastle proper.  He hoisted our car onto the rear of the truck and hooked the caravan behind and towed us all the way home to our place - 127kms.  We have a premium level of membership with the NRMA so it is free, thank goodness.  We just used our eTag for the tollway because that isn't covered by the NRMA.  This morning we called them again and another tow truck came and took our car to the autoelectrician.  A new starter motor is not an inexpensive item ;-(

So - as I said, boring would be great!  This trip we've had the awning and annexe damaged and now need a new starter motor.  So it has been quite eventful.   We are grateful however, that it didn't start at our friend's house then decide not to start when we stopped at the service station a few kilometres away to fill the car with diesel.  Imagine how popular we would have been if we'd broken down at the only diesel pump and blocked  the way through :-)

It was a slow trip home in lots of rain, a late night to bed and I woke up at 5am.  Thankfully it is fine and sunny today and I have been feeding our washing machine continuously all day.  Then I will tackle the pile of minis that my nephew has piled haphazardly onto the lounge 'so that he could do some housework' and see how many of them are damaged!  So far I've found two.    But the first thing I did last night was to open the five parcels waiting for me: some kits from Petite Properties, some furniture for the Fairfield, some fabrics and two absolutely gorgeous dolls that I had commissioned.  But you'll have to read the Fairfield blog to see all of those - when I get the energy ;-)
Blessings
Sandie

Last day at Stuarts Point - and something a bit different for you

The last day here at this lovely place and I feel really sad.  I wish it was the start of a big trip for us as it is for so many of the campers here.  The people opposite for example are heading off around Australia for a year or maybe two, depending on how they feel.  They are fortunate indeed.  But we have our Tasmanian trip next year to look forward to!

I have something a bit different for you this time - sorry it's so amateurish!  I wandered around this morning with my little camera taking a video of the bird calls.  It's not the best quality but it does give an idea of what I mean.  Please pardon the wobbly photography - I am not the steadiest of people when it comes to taking a video!  Just fast forward when it gets boring. I also call my son Nathan to say g'day, and Peter too and there's another short one later on where I say goodbye , although my grandson tells me that it's not what I really sound like :-)  Thank goodness for that, is all I can say lol!  I have since found out that 75 different varieties of birds have been identified on the campground, and 5 species of birds and animals that are 'at risk' are happily living there.  It has taken me several days to get blogger to accept this video - I shortened it and had to teach myself how to do that, then teach myself how to save it in a different format.  Finally, it took over an hour for it to upload, so I had to wait until I had time for it to do that.  Whew!

In case you happen to wonder about the 'stuff' around our caravan, we were drying things out ready to pack them away.

Peter and I also drove over to Stuart's Point and as we arrived a chap was cleaning some fish opposite a caravan park there.  As if by magic a whole group of pelicans arrived from the sandbank way downriver and I took heaps of video of them carrying on while waiting for him to throw them some scraps, as well as some still photos.  I love this shot of one of them coming in for a landing.

Some of them came quite close to us, eyeing us off to see whether we had anything tasty to offer.  One in particular came really close to me and he was a good 4 foot tall, edging closer and closer.  A bit too close for comfort in fact, considering that huge bill of his!

We then walked back to this footbridge and over it.  On the other side is a track to yet another beach, but by this time I was weary.

It's quite a long way over the bridge.  Before camp I could barely walk around the house, so I've made great progress.

We enjoyed having lunch with our friends back at the caravan.  We're the last two campers left in the park now and we watched the caretaker and his assistant move all the vans that were still here, with a forklift.  We were intrigued - they hook the fork under the A-frame at the front and drive off in reverse, towing the van.  Those that are stored there are put in a large area at the rear of the campground and those that are being picked up soon are placed in another area ready.

Later in the afternoon, Marilyn and I took a long walk around the campground.  There are 7 long avenues for caravans and the same for tents, plus a lot of unpowered sites as well.  So it was a long walk.  I was really tired by the time we got back!  But our walk gave us the opportunity to have a talk to Neil, the Caretaker and have some questions answered, especially about the caravans and wildlife.

Now to say farewell for this trip have have another very short video for you.  Really unglamourous too - well, I am still in holiday mode after all :-) but heartfelt nevertheless.  Even if I did have to guess where to aim the camera - not as easy as it is with a video camera.

Hope you'll visit next holiday - cheerio!
Blessings
Sandie

The birds have it!

 I keep thinking I must take a video with sound on my camera, and put it on the blog because all the birdsong is just lovely.  Our kookaburra friend still comes to visit each day, and several of them greet the morning at around 6am with lots of laughter.  One of them was sitting on an electrical pole today, where the vans connect their cords.  We said hello and he promptly turned his back - he does that a lot.

 There is also a pair of Tawny Frogmouths in a tree nearby and they have been there all camp.  They move around a little bit but not much.  You can hear them at night.

There are also a lot of fruit bats (also called flying foxes) in the trees, and their squeaks and sounds can be heard a lot at night because they are nocturnal.

Yesterday (Monday) one lot of our friends went home.  We took this group photo before they left.  From left to right it is Marilyn, her husband Rick behind, then moi  with Nathan beside me and Peter hidden behind Nathan, then Leona and Ian.  Leona is holding Pebbles, who is the dearest little dog - so placid and friendly.

After Leona and Ian (and Pebbles) left, Marilyn and I sat in the sun and I did a fair bit of stitching while she read.  After lunch we all came into our caravan and had a huge discussion about our Tasmanian trip. We've decided we'll try and book to leave on 2nd February from Melbourne and return on April 30th.  The list of places we want to see is growing minute by minute so both couples will do more research, consult another pair of friends who know heaps about Tassie (Laraine grew up there and they return frequently to visit her mother) and we'll gradually refine our itinerary.  Which will remain flexible anyway, apart from needing to be back in time to catch the ferry back to Melbourne at the end.  We've already decided that we'll probably have to go back another time because we'll not be there in time to see the wonderful lavender farms in December or the wildflowers in October.

Today we went to Scotts Head, which again is close by.  The headland is fringed by several beaches.  We stopped to have a look at Scotts Head beach and as we walked towards it we saw these lovely murals on the public toilets and showers at the top of the beach.  They have been there for 12 years and still look pristine.

This was the largest one, being about 8 ft long by 5 or 6 ft tall.  What do you see in the main figure?  A wave? A nautilus shell? A whale? A seal? A lizard? Or.......

These next ones were about 4 ft long by 3ft high, I think - we've had some discussion about measurements so I wouldn't swear in court about them :)

 And I think that this last one was about a metre on each side.

 The beach is a long one but again showed signs that it had suffered in the torrential rain last week.  It looked as though some of it had been washed away and there was debris on it.

Marilyn and I walked to the end (the opposite end to that shown in the photo above) and there was a lot of debris caught up against the rocks at that end.  Being me, I couldn't help taking my usual type of photos as I went:  I love shells, always take photos of shells and seagulls when we're at the beach (it's a signature of my scrapbooking pages)

 And I love taking photos of odd things - bits of driftwood like this

Or some of the flotsam that was caught up  like this section of quite a large fishing net that was mostly firmly buried in the sand

 In amongst the timber and other flotsam was this Old Man Banksia cone

 When I'm scrapbooking I often print out this sort of photo, crop it and use them as accent points on the page.  I like to sometimes have a frame border with a series of squares cut out and place such pictures in it.

We walked up onto a park above the beach and there was this unusual table, with even more mosaic work.  Note the 'tail' and the front 'fins' on the table that form the legs.

 Each of the seats had a different design

 And the design on the table was really attractive.  I had to take it in 3 sections and I don't know how to stitch photos together yet.

And of course now I can't get them to line up across the page either - and even if I did they wouldn't do so when I publish the page anyway!  So I hope it gives an idea of what it is like.

After I took lots of photos of the waves crashing on the rocks below at the edge of the headland, we walked up some quite steep steps to a lookout.  Apparently (we learned later) it is a great spot to watch dolphins.  Nathan didn't want to walk up the steep track to the top of the headland - fair enough, he would have needed a lot of support.  Peter walked up to the top then I did too, and took a photo of some of the tiny native violets snuggled in amongst the other growth.  They are only little but I really love them - I've bought a heap of them from the nursery and am trying hard to get them growing around my jacaranda tree at home but they are having a hard time because our grandchildren trample all over them when they climb the tree.  Here are some that were growing in areas with enough light to photograph them today.

And here are some that Peter picked for me to press for my scrapbook page (it isn't a National Park so it should have been okay to pick them - I hope!)

At the top of the headland, we looked out over Little Beach on the other side.  Again, damage from the rain was evident.  Some of the sand had just given away above the beach and the seating that had been there was upturned on the beach.

Returning to the car, we found a nice restaurant and had a delicious lunch: A stack with kumara, pumpkin, capsicum, baby spinach, tomato, beetroot, carrot and reduced balsamic dressing.  Yum-meee! Followed by freshly squeezed juice: beetroot, orange, celery, apple, carrot and ginger, served over ice.  Very tasty - I'm going to try and reproduce it at home.

In the carpark I had to take another of my 'texture' photos.  This time it was of a paperbark tree.  You can see why it is called a paperbark.  The bark consists of fine, almost translucent layers.  I held the camera up to the hole and took photos into it to see if anything was living in there but no-one was home at the time.

 Driving back into Macksville we did some shopping then on the way back to the caravan park we stopped to take a photo of this Queenslander house.

It's quite low-set as Queenslanders go, but a nice example of one nevertheless.  If you've read my blogs a bit you'll know that I have a fondness for this type of architecture, found in north New South Wales and as the name suggests, in Queensland.

Traditionally they are set high, to allow air to circulate underneath for coolness.  Today, with the widespread use of air conditioners, many are closed in downstairs to double the living space.  Previously they provided a cool place below, a place to dry the washing in the wet tropical weather, and somewhere for the children to play plus a myriad of other functions.

The wide verandahs - often as much as 12 feet- provided shade from the harsh tropical sun and a cool place to sit or to sleep at night.  Typically a hallway goes from the front door straight through to the back door to allow a through breeze, with rooms going off each side.  These rooms often have french doors allowing access to the verandahs.

All in all this style of architecture is not only practical but attractive.  And one day I will make one of these houses in miniature.  Quarter scale of course.

Tomorrow is our last day.  I might just try and capture that bird song to cheer me when I'm back in the bustle of the traffic outside our house.
Blessings
Sandie

The day after the day before.....

Sunday 26th May
Camp is over....but we are still here: two lots of our friends and us.  We will be staying here until Wednesday or thereabouts.  This morning I started by putting through all the clothes and bedding that had been soaked in the collapse of the annexe - three large loads.  While we were sorting things out and hanging out the washing etc, the the audio-visual men were dismantling the sound equipment and the ministers and Church workers were loading up the chairs and things for storage then taking down the meeting tent.  I noticed that they had started to take down the tent and asked Pete to take some photos - he is much faster moving than I am.  They were just taking down the first part when I saw them but by the time Peter got there they were well advanced, even in those few minutes.

Tent has been lowered to ground level using the pulleys attached to the rings around each pole

End sections are being pulled apart  - each section of the tent is approx 6 metres wide

Rolling up each of the end sections 

 Removing the spring clips that hold the tent around the pole

 Separating the main tent at the joins after it has been released from the pole

 Starting to flatten out the sections of the main body of the tent

 Moving along the line of poles

Almost there.....

At lunch time we finally found out which birds were using the hollow in a nearby gum tree as a nest - it is a pair of pink and grey galahs.  We had seen just a glimpse of tail disappearing into the hollow but hadn't seen what bird it belonged to until today.  Now they posed prettily for us and Peter managed to get this photo before they flew off.

After lunch we all set off and did a bit of sightseeing.  We went up the dirt road on Yarrahappini Mountain to Yarabinni Park and were going to go further but the road was closed off.  We gather that there must have been a wash-out with all the rain.  The road was quite rough and steep and it was good that we were in a 4WD.  we stopped for me to take a photo on a smoother part but it doesn't show how steep it is - in reality the road itself is even steeper than the slope at the side of the road.  It was fun doing some 4WDriving, through water and over the deeply eroded areas where the water from the rain over the last few days had gouged deep gashes into the dirt surface.

So we had to go back down and decided to go to Grassy Point, and look at the beach there, thinking that a walk on the beach would be just the thing.

This involved turning off the highway, going through a caravan park and then on to another off-road track at the end of that road.  We got to the beach and found it covered with a solid pile of wood - some that had been felled and a lot of rubbish timber - that had washed up on the sand.  It stretched the entire length of the beach, was about 6metres or 20 ft wide in front of where we were standing, and although it doesn't look it in these photos because we were looking down at it, it was 1-1.5 metres (3-4 feet) high or more.

A local told us that it wasn't there on Friday, but that it would have washed down the river at Kempsey and travelled all the way down with the tide.  He was going to fetch his mate who has a chain saw and they were going to stock up for winter.  I think there was enough wood there for hundreds of people to stock up for winter!

While we women were taking photos and looking for some pieces of weathered wood small enough for me to use as 'driftwood' for my beachside Petite Properties and Sea Shanty, the menfolk were trying to extricate Rick and Marilyn's car, which had become bogged in the sandy track.  Nothing they did would move it.  Finally the local bloke came back from walking his dog and he offered to pull the car out using a snatch strap.  He got it a certain way forward but it was still in soft sand and he couldn't go any further forward or he would have toppled over the drop onto the beach.  At this point another 4WD vehicle came up behind us and he was able to pull Rick's car out in reverse.  Whew!

So we drove off thankful that we were able to get Rick free.  Though at a pinch we could have towed him out with our car after a bit of manouvering to get it into a suitable position, the risk was that trying to do so would have bogged us too because of where we were parked.
Blessings
Sandie