Nambucca Heads

My My, how time flies!! Where did that month go?

We have had a lovely time in Nambucca Heads, getting to know our new caravan, and we are loving it!! Luxuriating in all the extra space. Lounging with our feet up, as we watch TV. It is all an absolute delight.

But first a bit of business. You will remember the recent wedding of our friends Mark & Jodie, who we featured in a recent post. Well Jodie has been selected as a candidate for "Bride of the Year" in the magazine "Bride to Be". You all have to vote for her.  You can vote once every hour as many times as you like. Here is the link so get voting! 
brideoftheyear.bridetobe.com.au/vote_year.php?show=2774&year=2012

The White Albatross is a favourite.

So, what have we been doing in Nambucca Heads? Well, the answer as usual, is lots. Lots of relaxing, lots of friends, lots of sightseeing, and lots more. We are in the White Albatross Holiday Park, which is a real favourite of ours, with its big saltwater lagoon, the breakwall along the river, and a leisurely walk to the river or the beach. Oh, and it does have a pub right at the front gate! We couldn't get a lagoon front site, which shows how popular it is, as we booked months ago, but we still have a great big site, one row back. We arrived last week of the school holidays, so kids everywhere. The poor old manager is run off his feet trying to stem the flow of bikes, skateboards etc. A few days later, and all the kids have gone, replaced by the serious caravanners, and they are here to stay, most of them for weeks. School holidays impacts us caravanners too, you know. Outside school holidays, our powered site costs $35.00 per night. In school holidays its $75.00 per night!! Thankfully, we arrived just as the rate had come back down.

Nambucca from the lookout.

Breakwall artworks.

Weather on arrival was lovely, and Nambucca really shines where the river meets the sea. We set up with the new full annexe, to make sure everything is working well, and because the weather forecast is not good, with the aftermath of cyclone Oswald on its way with big winds and flooding rain. Lovely!! We make the most of the couple of good days, taking leisurely walks along the breakwall and boardwalk which winds its way along the river for 3.5 kilometres back to the Visitor Information Centre. The breakwall itself, is a feature with its brightly painted rocks carrying messages of recent (and not so recent) visits, love, births, deaths, inspiration, and prophecies from around the world. When do theses people arrive here with their paint and brushes? We didn't see one work in progress, and many of these are not 5 minute jobs.

Shrimp on the BBQ.

The coffee scene isn't great. It lacks the refinement of Sawtell. I just wanted to get behind the coffee machine!! We worked out that the Wild Terra bakery was great for bread and sweet things, with OK coffee, but the best coffee was undoubtedly at the Take Away opposite the Golf Club entrance. But mostly, just headed back up the road for 30 minutes to Sawtell!! As usual, the food scene at Chateau Relaxeau II was first class. The local seafood shop along the river, is first class, and what better way to celebrate Australia Day, than to throw some shrimp on the BBQ.

Inside looking out at "Oswald"

"Oswald" arrived with a vengeance. We got a real test for the caravan. One leak in the hatch at the toilet cassette, which I was able to temporarily fix, but thankfully that was it. We caught up on a lot of reading and thank heavens for Foxtel, and all those movies that Carolyn had recorded! Our cosy little home was a safe haven.

A day at the Bowraville Races.

When the rain finally stopped and the sun came out, we resumed normal activities. Huge seas pounded the breakwall for a few days and the previously blue waters of the river were brown and filled with flood debris, but after a few days it seemed all was back to normal. We had seen a sign advertising the Bowraville Picnic Races, and decided that it sounded like a lot of fun, so we got dressed up (no thongs!), and headed out to Bowraville, just 25 kilometres away, in bright sunshine. We had a great day. There were 5 races. You wouldn't have seen the fields at the TAB, but all the horses had four legs, and real jockeys, and with our picnic table right beside the track near the winning post, we were right in the action. The track went up hill and down dale. In fact the hill at the back of the course was really quite steep! We picked 3 winners and two seconds from the five races, which only proves that if you follow the local money and back the track specialists, you have some chance, but will never get a good price! The catering won't rival Royal Randwick, but hey, there is nothing wrong with a sausage sandwich, especially when it has lettuce, tomato and beetroot, and you get a choice of sauce,  all for $4.00! Bloody beautiful!

With "friends" at Licks Ice Cream.

We booked the car in for service, and had to drive down to Port Macquarie to get it done as the Coffs Harbour Toyota dealer, was booked out for weeks. They were very efficient, and dropped us into town. We had a look around. Some Sushi for lunch at a new Sushi Train restaurant, that was quite good, and then back to pick up the car. On the way back we stopped at the little town of Fredericktown just north of Kempsey. "Fredo" is famous for two things, Fredo Pies, and Licks Ice Cream. Having sampled some of the dozens of varieties of pies (even crocodile!), on a number of occasions, we decided to give Licks a go. Great decision! All the furniture is moulded fibreglass in the shape of Waffle cones, animals and ice cream, and some of the huge animals are even for sale. The place is a fun stop, and the ice cream is delicious. Looks like another regular stop from here on in!

The Island Golf Clubhouse.

Golf at the Island Golf Club.

We had a golf fix at the Island Golf Club at Nambucca. It is really quite unique course, built on an island in the Nambucca River. The course was in excellent condition, and is a challenging layout, with quite a bit of water to contend with, as you can well imagine.
After the round, there can be no better clubhouse to sit back and have a cold beer, looking out across the river and the course. Lunch was also very good, with an excellent $10.00 lunch menu. We had a really nice day, and didn't hit the ball too bad, just too often! As the guy in the clubhouse lamented, "when I played cricket, all I wanted was to get a century. Now I play golf I get one every week!"

Happy Hour on the veranda.

Week three, and our friends Bev & Fred arrived for a weeks holiday. Fred towed the boat up, and they took up residence in one of the Deluxe Lagoon Front Villas. Their back veranda, looking out over the lagoon, was the perfect place for Happy Hour.

Happy Hour at the Caravan.

Lunch with Fred, Bev Lesley & Jim.

It was a huge week! Fred and John got to do a bit of river fishing, which is Fred's least favourite. We caught some fish, but seeing as we didn't have any tins with keys on top, we decided to throw them back, and wait until they grow up! Fred has promised some real fishing when we get back to Shellharbour in April. The bar at the entrance to the Nambucca River is notoriously dangerous, and with the heavy seas, we decided that it was not worth the risk to get outside to fish. The girls got in some retail therapy in Nambucca, which took 5 minutes, and then headed off to Sawtell and Coffs Harbour, for the more serious stuff. We also got to catch up with Lesley & Jim, who have been friends of Bev & Fred for more than 40 years. It now seemed as if we've known them all our life as well! We visited their new home in a wonderful over 55's Lifestyle Centre called Lakes Village in Coffs Harbour, and then followed up with a fantastic lunch at The Yacht Club, where the restaurant has the wonderfully nautical name of "YKnot". The food was excellent, in a great location looking out over the harbour and the surf beach. Later in the week, Lesley & Jim came down to Nambucca Heads, where we did it all again at The Island Golf Club.

The new annexe worked a treat.

Valentine's Day fell during the week. We all headed to the RSL for a romantic dinner. Now romance didn't seem to be really big in Nambucca Heads. The night started with a meat and chook raffle, which really set the mood. But all wasn't lost, as a waiter kept bringing out trays loaded with free champagne! We didn't win a meat tray or a chook, but we did have a wholesome meal and a lot of fun. Seems like Burger and Fries has knocked Strawberries and cream from the top of the Food of Love list at Nambucca RSL! Highlight for me though, was the brightly dressed lady with mad hair, who was trying to give samba lessons to an amazing array of  participants. If this was Dancing with the Stars, it closely resembled the meteor crash in Russia!

On our last day, we took a leisurely spin up the river in the boat, a rare nautical outing for the girls, but it was a lovely smooth day. We followed it up with a break up party at the V Wall Tavern, perfectly placed at the entrance to the caravan park. Dinner was good, and a fitting big end to a big week. We waved Bev & Fred goodbye early the next morning.

Dinner with Ian, Lynette, Belinda & Nathan.

Our next visitors arrived the same day. John's brother Ian, his wife Lynette, and their two youngest kids, Belinda and Nathan, were in Coffs Harbour for the Combined High Schools Inter zone Girls Cricket Carnival. Belinda is in the Sydney South Western Zone team. It was a shame that the weather played havoc with their cricket schedule. 

Ian, Lynette, Belinda & Nathan.

On the Monday night they drove down to Nambucca Heads to see our new home, and join us for dinner at the V Wall Tavern. Belinda's team had had a rain interrupted win, but the next day was a total washout. They did get some cricket in on the Wednesday, and remained undefeated. They were unfortunate to just miss the final on a count back, but went on to easily win the playoff for third, which was a great result. By the afternoon, the rains had really set in, and we were forecast to get another drenching over the coming days. Boy were they right!! We enjoyed a last dinner together, where Nathan devoured another chicken parmigiana, followed by some gooey chocolate brownie with ice cream. That boy's got hollow legs. It had been lovely to catch up with family again. They headed back to Sydney on Friday morning, and it was just as well they did, as the rains come and the wind blew, and by night the highway was cut at Macksville and Kempsey.

Fallen tree next door to the Showground.

On the Thursday morning we had been up early to get the caravan to Coffs Harbour to get the leak fixed. We had booked a few days back at the Coffs Harbour Showground, where we knew we would be out in the open and away from large trees. We battened down the hatches, as the worst weather we have ever encountered, hammered us day and night for two days. The showground resembled a lake, and we were safe from attack as we were surrounded by our own moat! In the middle of the night, there was an almighty crash, and a giant gum tree had come crashing down in the caravan park next door to the Showground. Thankfully, it missed everything, but it was a good reminder that big trees and caravans don't mix.

We are due to head down to Port Macquarie on Monday, but the highway is still blocked by floodwater. We will wait it out here at the Showground. The rain has eased a lot, and the floodwater are receding but it will take a couple of more days to get back to normal.

What happened to summer?