A week goes by so quickly....

We enjoyed watching the majority of the campers depart from Stuart’s Point Convention Ground on Sunday but by Monday it was our turn to pack up and take our leave for another year.  It is always difficult to leave such a lovely spot – I particularly enjoy the birdsong.  Between us we managed to be packed and ready by a bit after 10am – the first out of our group of three to be ready.  We all left in convoy just after 10.40, and first stop was Macksville for some shopping.  We needed to visit a pharmacy then do some grocery shopping and if you have ever tried to park a car and caravan in a town that doesn’t provide dedicated parking for tourists, then just try to park two cars and caravans!  Our third friend didn’t need groceries  but did need fuel so he waited outside town – smart fellow.  It was a long trek for Peter to the pharmacy and back (I had to stay in the car with Nathan) and he returned just as our friends had finished their grocery shopping so they set off to meet our other friend, and to make a stop in Coffs Harbour for a lead they needed for the caravan.

Grocery shopping done (and lunch brought at the same time) we finally set off, stopping further along the road at Urunga and we had lunch by the river.  So nice.  Then off we went again, to be met with lots of roadworks and variations in speed limits.  In the end the three hour trip took us six hours from the time we left Stuart’s Point, with all the shopping, stopping for lunch, and roadworks but we finally arrived at Broom’s Head.  We don’t have the same position in the caravan park that we had last year because we one of our friends has his little dog with him and we all want to be together so we are in the section where dogs are permitted, and our view isn’t as nice but we don’t have to walk many steps to see the beach and we can see the ocean from our vantage point sitting under the awnings of the vans.

The beach is as beautiful as ever, 

and the weather was gorgeous until Thursday when it rained during the evening.  But we can’t complain can we, we have been spoiled by perfect weather for two weeks now.  I am feeling somewhat better now, just wish I could get rid of this cough but hopefully the sea air will help.  And I’ve started to go for short walks along the beach – making them a bit longer each day, so that’s progress too.  We are leaving tomorrow so of course the wind we've had for the last two days has stopped and the weather has been perfect all day.

Nathan isn’t impressed that we have no phone or internet reception at the campground though.  So we drive up to the lookout on the headland (only a few minutes, it’s at the other end of the caravan park) and get great reception up there.  It gives us time to get our emails in, answer the most urgent, do a couple of phone calls etc.  And if I have the text done for the blog I can just copy it across, and then upload photos that I have previously chosen and have handy in a folder on the desktop.  It’s the photos that take the time when blogging.

It's amusing at the headland.  There are lots of cars - obviously locals - that pull up, people dash out with binoculars and scan the horizon.  Disappointed, they hop back in the car and drive off again.  Whale watching season is about to begin as the whales begin their migration north for the winter but none have been seen while we've been there, at least.  The view is good though.  

This is looking along the shoreline from one side of the headland

It does present an interesting quandary with our new printer though.  We bought it on the morning we were leaving, so we have one for the caravan.  One reason is so that I could do the church Bulletin while we were away and email it to someone at church, who would then print it out.  I do a children’s ‘find-a-word’ on the back cover.  This involves doing the puzzle on the internet, printing it out (can’t save it), rearranging the word clues so they fit better on the page, then scanning it and saving it as a jpeg so I can insert it into a text box on the back cover.  Quite straightforward.  Except – this new-fangled printer prints wirelessly.  Can’t print wirelessly in the caravan park because no reception.  Can’t take it up to the headland to print where we have reception because then there’s no power for the printer.  And of course the printer didn’t come with a USB cord so I could print the old-fashioned way.  Why would one want to do that when one can print wirelessly?  Obviously not the best solution for people caravanning where the internet reception might be less than perfect.  Lesson learned: take the spare connection cord that we have sitting at home, wherever we go J.  And in the meantime, sorry kids, no word puzzle.

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It was also a bit of a nuisance because my friend Marilyn and I wanted to find a pattern for a cowl on the internet.  But having found a couple that we liked, and downloaded them, we cannot of course print them out at the moment.  Not a problem for me because I have other knitting that I am doing but not good for her because she hasn’t packed a printer and will be travelling on further when we all leave here next Monday.  I guess good old-fashioned handwriting will be the way to get a written copy for now.

So technology is a wonderful thing but when its limitations kick in it can really catch you unawares.

On a different note, the birdlife here is nice.  Not as outstanding as at Stuart’s Point but the three men have been on lots of photography walks and taken shots of sea eagles –Peter is still trying for a really good one, he took one that seemed good but when it was cropped it wasn’t what he wanted..

He also took this nice one of a blue-faced honeyeater

After all the effort to get this photo, today at lunchtime we were all sitting under the awning of our friends' caravan when one of these birds sat on their clothesline just three feet behind my head, in full view of us all!  And of course not one of us had our cameras with us.

And this cheeky rainbow lorikeet was looking at us from the tree beside our caravan awning the same day that Peter took the blue faced honey eater, and Peter managed to snap him.  

There are flocks of these, anything from 30 to 50 strong and when you are looking up and they come in low and the sun shines through their feathers as they fly they are really beautiful.  And of course being parrots they are chatterers and you hear them all day long.

And to end off with, here’s what we see if we walk about 20 steps straight ahead from our caravan.  It wasn’t a nice bright day when I took this

(Thursday) but you get the idea……

Peter also knows I like to have photos of seagulls at every beach we go to.  So he took some for me the other day.  I really like them, because they not only have pelicans and seagulls together but they were taken at sunset and although it's not a spectacular sunset, the colour of the sky is reflected in teh wet sand and I think the effect is really pretty.

And for a friend who did an extensive tour of Aus and only saw kangaroos in the wild once, in Western Australia, here is one of our regular visitors.  They come at night all around the caravans and leave their ‘calling cards’ to show that they’ve been there.  This one was just one of a mob nearby during the day and our friend snapped several shots of him.  So this is for you, Julia. 

So tomorrow we up stakes and start on our trip back south.  We will take two days to reach the town where our daughters live and spend some time visiting them and our grandchildren.  Apparently it is predicted to be -2degC on Tuesday night there - quite a change (and shock) after nights of 13 degC or so and days in the low to mid 20's.  Brrrr.  Then head home to Sydney where by all accounts winter has also arrived.  

And yes, Tarnya, I am feeling much improved.  Thanks for caring, 'Mum'.
Blessings
Sandie