Trip North, February 2015

After a wonderful few weeks in and around Sydney catching up with family and friends, it was time for us to head north to catch some sun, and relax by the beach in search of that Endless Summer. Along the way, we reflected on how lucky we are to have such an amazing, and ever growing, network of family and friends, that make our travels all the more special. Still the most asked question we receive is, "how long do you think you will keep travelling?" After four years the answer remains the same, "until we stop enjoying it!" There is no end in sight!

The Lake Entrance Forster/Tuncurry.

Dinner with Dianne & Peter.

The first stop on the trip north was Forster. There can be no doubt that the waters around Forster, make it one of the prettiest spots on the NSW Coast. As you drive across that long low bridge that separates Forster and Tuncurry, the water just sparkles, framed between the rock walls of the breakwater. We are again staying at the Forster Beach Caravan Park, purely on the basis of its wonderful location, wedged in between the breakwall, the surf Beach and town. Sadly, the same manager is in residence. Our booking has been lost, our

Forster to Tuncurry Bridge.

Breakfast at Tartt Cafe Forster.

requested large site with no trees, is in fact a small site surrounded by trees, so after three goes, we finally tell him which site we will be on, and get settled in. We are only here for 3 nights. We want to catch up with Dianne & Peter Balle, who we met when staying here, back in year 2. They have been holidaying here for years, and have now settled in Forster. They are a lovely couple, and such fun to be around. They have now retired, and just traded in their old van, on a new Retreat Off Roader, and will be hitting the great out doors later in the year. We enjoyed a visit to their lovely, newly renovated home, and a nice dinner down by the river. It was quite funny really. We arrived at the restaurant around 7.15pm, just as the owner was closing up! Said she had no bookings, but gladly opened up for us! We were also pleased to find that the lovely Tartt Cafe, was still churning out excellent food and coffee. Great breakfasts!!

Marg & Carolyn at Badminton.

Picking strawberries at Riccardo's.

Next stop wasn't far up the road. Port Macquarie is another favourite. We got a good spot at The Sundowner Breakwall Caravan Park. We like this park, even though it has gone downhill a bit as regards presentation. At least this time the ground maintenance was being done! We like the walks along the river and the coast. There are heaps of good coffee spots, and of course there are Charlie & Marg to catch up with. It didn't take Marg long to get Carolyn organised, and next morning they were off to

Along the Hastings River.

Surprise visit with Lindsay & Myrelle.

Badminton. The weather sparkled while we were in Port Macquarie. We walked, and took a drive out to Riccardo's Tomato & Strawberry Farm. We just have to go here. The tomatoes are to die for, as is Grandpas Tomato Chutney, and the strawberries you pick yourself are just yummy. Talk about smart marketing, letting you pick your own! We always pick too many, but they are so sweet, we have no trouble eating them. On the Saturday, Carolyn announced that she needed to go back to Forster. For some

The Coastal walk.

Sundowner Breakwall Caravan Park.

strange reason, she had shown restraint whilst shopping, but had now been overcome with grief, and needed to rectify this sudden lapse in concentration. I agreed, but only if we could have breakfast at Tartt Cafe! God, we can justify anything!! So off we went. The clothes were still available at the shop, and breakfast was sensational. Mission accomplished! On the way home we decided to detour through Laurieton & North Haven, and in one of those "it was meant to be moments", drove by Lindsay & Myrelle's holiday

Chinese with Charlie, Marg & Arthur.

The lighthouse.

home, and there they were, mowing the lawn and doing the garden!! I don't know who got the biggest surprise! We stayed for lunch, and had an unlikely catch up.It was their first weekend off from the farm for 16 weeks, so Carolyn's late decision to go back to Forster was meant to be! That night we enjoyed a lovely Chinese meal with Charlie and Marg and Marg's brother Arthur. As usual, we were the last to leave. We tried to get a coffee, but no one in Port Macquarie was serving coffee at 9.30pm on a Saturday night, so we adjourned back to the caravan where John did coffees all round. It was lovely sitting down by the river on a warm balmy night. For our last night in Port Macquarie, we had a Mexican fix at a delightful little place called Poco Loco, out at Flynn's Beach. It was delicious, fantastic food.

With Julie & Ron at Hat Head.

The Inlet at Hat Head.

Leaving Port Macquarie, we were on our way to Hat Head for an overnight stop. Our North Haven friends Julie & Ron, were there, giving their caravan a shakedown trip after it had undergone a major repair resulting from severe hail damage last year. We had never been to Hat Head, and were pleasantly surprised at what a lovely spot it is. The caravan park is right on the beach, and wasn't very crowded. The sites were very poorly marked. We had booked a sight so we wouldn't have to unhook from the car for just one night. It was hot, and I had just finished hooking up power and water and putting the support legs down, when one of the staff who had been watching and talking to a guy across the road, came over and told me I would have to move the caravan one metre to the right! I said you've got to be kidding, the park is less than half full and we are only here for one night. He wasn't kidding. I hate people like him. Thankfully they are a minority, and probably trained by the guy from Forster!! The scenery is much better than the staff!! There is an inlet, a very protected beach, and a

Walking along the Inlet.

Protected corner of the beach.

Bowling Club right next door! There isn't much in town, not even a supermarket, but South West Rocks isn't too far away. We had a lovely catch up with Julie and Ron, who are loving their North Haven life. We enjoyed a swim in the warm waters and a walk around the beach, the inlet and the caravan park, and contemplated a week or more relaxing here at a future date. Unfortunately, we couldn't extend our stay as we were booked in at Coffs Harbour the next day to have our annexe repaired. We had to book well ahead for the appointment, and couldn't afford to put it off.

River front at Hacienda Holiday Park.

A great site on the river.

After a leisurely breakfast of tea and toast, courtesy of Julie, we were off to Coffs Harbour. Tony and the team at Coffs Canvas, needed o make some changes to our annexe, as a result of us having the awning replaced under warranty, after it got a small tear in it. The new awning was both longer and wider than the old one, meaning our walls had to be adjusted. Tony quickly did the measurements, and asked us to give him a couple of hours so he could cut and sew the walls. We headed down to the Marina area

More interesting locals.

Some interesting locals.

and had a nice lunch, then we were back to collect the annexe walls and back on the road. We were going to stop overnight at Coffs, but decided we would press on to Kingscliff, three and a half hours away. Friends Kerrie and Gary, with whom we had spent the Australia Day weekend, have a holiday unit at Kingscliff, at the well known Salt complex, and were there for the week. The further north we got the worse the weather was getting, and by the time we got to Kingscliff it was bucketing down.

With Kerry & Gary at Kingscliff.

From Kerry & Gary's balcony.

 We had phoned the caravan park we always stay at, but were surprised to hear that it was closed for a makeover! We phoned 4 other parks before finding a spot for two nights at Chinderah on the Tweed River, at the Hacienda Holiday Park. Being dark and after hours, our keys were under the mat, and it was teeming with rain. We backed in blind, hooked up power and water, and got the legs down in record time. Nonetheless, we were drenched. Carolyn managed to cook up a storm, the stormy weather was playing havoc with the satellite, so it was early to bed. In the morning we were surprised by a mostly fine day, and a lovely river view out the back! Our site was lovely, a River Frontage, with a lovely lawn area and gardens right to the river edge. There were also lots of water dragons of all sizes scurrying in all directions! A walk around the park revealed it to be a residential village, more akin to a movie set for a B grade movie! I was hearing banjo music at every turn!! We called Kerry and Gary, and headed over to their place for lunch. The weather was playing havoc with our plans for a swim, but it improved as the day went on, and culminated with some good take away Pizzas, courtesy of Galileo's Pizza Bar, at the picnic table behind our caravan, on the banks of the Tweed. We had a lovely long day with Kerry and Gary.

In the morning we were not in a rush. With no Daylight Saving north of the border, we were turning back time, and heading into Queensland, and the Sunshine Coast.

A New Year Begins

Our fifth nomadic year has begun!
Yes it is true. We Gypsies have now completed 4 years, living our wonderful life on the road, using Australia as our home address! And, there is no end in sight for our amazing journey. Who said it wouldn't last!!!

At Shellharbour Caravan Park.

Xmas is a wonderful time.

We have had a wonderful few weeks catching up with family and friends, in and around Sydney. We checked into the lovely Shellharbour Beachside Caravan Park in mid December. This is a unique spot, right on the ocean, and is a highly sought after location during the Christmas school holidays. It is almost a case of someone dying in order to get a spot after Boxing Day! Consequently, the day after Boxing Day we had to move, but as luck would have it, we jagged a spot back in the park from 10th January for two more weeks! Talk about lucky. As regulars to the park, our friendship with the managers may be paying off!! Between visits it was off to Bluey's Retreat, an exclusive bush camp in the hills around Menai, or more accurately, friend's Wayne & Debbie's, front yard!!

Dinner with Robyn.

Floral tribute to the Lindt Cafe victims.

The weather for our first two weeks was ugly! Mostly overcast, and oh so windy! We had a busy time. Bev & Fred had the graduation ceremony for daughter Leia to attend in Albury, so we took the opportunity to head up to Sydney for an overnight stay at Robyn's house, so we could head into the city and see all the amazing Christmas lights and decorations. It was a lovely night, sobered by a walk through Martin Place to see the shrine of flowers left in memory of the two people who lost their lives in the

St Mary's Cathedral.

David Jones Xmas Window.

terrible Lindt Cafe terrorist attack. The city was packed with revellers, all with the same idea as us. The highlight for me was the incredible light show being projected onto the facade of St. Mary's Cathedral. It was beautiful, especially the portrayal of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Next morning, we backed up again and were at David Jones Department Store early, to listen to their incredible choir doing the morning free concert of carols. Truly lovely. We wandered down to Darling Harbour, which is undergoing a huge makeover, and so was missing its famous Christmas tree, but it did have a huge row of floating Santas! It was a lovely couple of days, and our thanks to Robyn for putting it all together. The DJ's choir was a first for me, and I

Lobster tails with garlic butter. Yum!

Lobster by the sea!

couldn't believe how good they were. I guess after 60 plus years, you know a thing or two about Xmas carols! We headed back to Shellharbour in a real festive mood, ready for the festivities to commence. As usual, we managed to spoil ourselves for Xmas, and as usual, our spoiling revolved around food!. There is so much great seafood around at this time of the year, you just have to get into it, and we sampled our share! The local seafood market does some fantastic green lobster tails, so we indulged ourselves with a nice bottle of Mumm to wash it all down. DEEEElicious!!

Xmas lunch is served!

Traditional Xmas ham.

For the rest of our pre Xmas time in Shellharbour, unfortunately, fishing trips with Fred were out of the question due to the weather and huge seas. The girls did manage to fit in some Bingo, but alas, no big wins! Apart from that, we just did our Christmas shopping and got ready for Christmas Day, which this year was with Bev & Fred, their daughter's Leia, and Katrina and her hubby Malek. We locked up the caravan, and moved in and stayed two wonderful nights, sharing lots of amazing food and drinks, with delightful company. As usual, we had too much of everything! But boy did we have a good time. We

Carolyn with Leia, Katrina & Malek

Good friends at Xmas.

did our traditional Xmas ham recipe, which hadn't been out for a while, and it turned out great. Malek did the biggest bowl of a traditional couscous dish. It was huge, and delicious. Leia did a slow roasted lamb, Fred roasted a chook, and there were lots of vegetables, and of course gravy, and it all finished off with Bev's traditional Christmas pudding. No wonder we were all stuffed! Add champagne and nap time wasn't far away!!

Xmas with Mum.

The Anderson Clan 2014.

Boxing Day, was the traditional Anderson Family get together, this year at Neil & Adrienne's home. Not having seen the family for many months, it was really looked forward to, and thoroughly enjoyed by the now four generations of family. The group keeps getting bigger, with nephews and nieces now bringing boyfriends and girlfriends. We knuckled into a second round of fantastic food and drinks, and caught up with all the family news. My mum is so enjoying her first great grandson, who was into everything. It was just a lovely day, and the time flew by, culminating in the group photo that brother Neil has now perfected!

New Year with Nancy & Keith

Half the old Tennis Team!

Next morning we packed up and headed up to Menai. We are very lucky to have this option available to us, tucked away down a quiet right of way, backing on to the bush. It is a really exclusive resort! Throw in their pool and its heaven. We had a busy round of engagements ahead. In addition to catching

up with our friends, we had a huge clean up of our caravan, as well as all the things we have in storage. Wayne and Debbie have added a fantastic outdoor living area to the

Wonderful Sydney.

The 1999 Centenary Red was good.

back of their home, built by mate Graham. It is fantastic, complete with BBQ, Bar, Flat Screen TV and sound system. Most evenings and several afternoons were spent watching the cricket with a cold beverage! I'm telling you, this is an A1 caravan park!!! One note of sadness over this period, was the passing of my brother-in-law David's mum, Muriel, at the grand old age of 100. What a world of change she has witnessed. A grand life for a truly grand lady. 

On the Manly Ferry.

A Sydney icon.

New Year was seen in at Nancy & Keith's place. Always lovely to catch up. Some golf for the boys and some shopping for the girls, all interspersed with lovely dinners out. On New Year's eve we cooked up a feed of scampi on the BBQ and saw in the New Year fireworks from the comfort of their balcony. After golf on New Year's Day we took ourselves off to Manly for a day trip. Sydney is such an amazing city and a ferry ride to Manly with lunch at Manly Pier Hotel is one of the best days you can have anywhere in the world. The fact that as seniors, we can do all the transport for $2.50 each, is outrageously good!!!!

Cheers Wayne & Debbie.

The 1999 Centenary Red
was surprisingly good!

Returning to Wayne & Debbie's, we now really threw ourselves into finalising the revamp of our worldly possessions, now stored at Neil's second office, at nearby Menai. We were pretty ruthless, taking the stance that if we haven't worn it or needed it for four years, we probably don't need it at all. EBay copped a flogging, where we surprisingly sold a good number of items, and our place in heaven has been secured by the huge pile of goodies we dropped off at St. Vincent d' Paul! All in all we were happy with the results. Thanks Neil & Adrienne. We also managed some quality time out, with John enjoying a marathon day at the cricket on the first day of the Sydney Test. It was a huge day, leaving at 8.00am and returning at 11.00pm! The cricket was great, the dinner and drinks afterwards were also great, and it was fantastic to

Farewell "for now" dinner.

Lovely lunch with Alan & Sue.

spend the day with my old mates Wayne, Graham & son Jacob and Mark. Carolyn took a nostalgic trip to Balmain catching up with friends, and on our free evenings we lazed around with Wayne & Deb, mostly reminiscing! In the storage clean up, I'd found a couple of boxes of old wine, so we had a bit of fun trying some great, and one particularly awful, wines! Another lovely afternoon was spent at Engadine, where we had a delicious lunch with Alan & Sue Gray, who we first met on our overnight trip to the Horizontal Waterfalls in the Kimberley, last year. That night was hilarious, and we were the last to bed! I remember this guy was sitting with us, who hardly spoke a word. We had him in stitches, at one stage laughing so uncontrollably, that he had tears rolling down his cheeks and he was hee hawing like a jackass, which just set us all off!! We met Allan & Sue again in Kalgoorlie, and will now always be friends, with a shared passion for caravan travel. Lunch almost became dinner as we talked about places we've been, and plenty we haven't yet been. Great new friends with a truly happy outlook on life. No wonder we got on so well! It was almost time to leave Menai. After a lovely dinner night out a Grissini's restaurant in Menai, we said farewell to Wayne & Debbie, and headed back to Shellharbour.

Breakfast by the sea.

Fred & the ever hopeful pelicans.

We settled back into our waterfront site, and this time the weather was much kinder to us. It is the most wonderful location when the weather Gods are smiling. Fred and I took the opportunity to go fishing, in the much better conditions. There was still a big swell running, but we did manage a couple of great days, getting amongst the Flathead and the Morwong. The fridge will be well stocked with fish when we head off. The girls were off to Bingo, chasing the big money. Whilst they didn't win the big

Champagne Girls.

A good haul of flathead.

$2000.00 jackpot, Carolyn was over the moon with winning not one, but two Bingo prizes over the week! She then topped the week off by winning $235.00 on the pokies! Go Baby! We were also visited by various family and friends, who made the trip down to Shellharbour. Nancy & Keith drove down for a lovely lunch, with Bev & Fred making up the six. Delicious Prawn Caesar Salad, followed by you guessed it, Millionaire's Pie!! The weather was lovely and we

Ian & Lynette called in.

A lovely lunch.

had a great day. The girls got into the champagne, and it was a lot of fun. My little brother Ian and wife Lynette, took advantage of a night without kids, and headed down our way for lunch. They were booked in at the Sebel in nearby Kiama. The weather wasn't as good, following a tremendous downpour the previous night, but we still had a good catch up and lunch before they continued on their way. Cheryl & Phil Wall, who just live up the road a

Shellharbour waterfront.

A common Shellharbour sight!

bit at Figtree, were other very welcome visitors. They share our passion for caravanning, so we had lots to talk about planning future trips, and comparing places we've seen. So all in all, we had a very busy time in Shellharbour. By the time we had added in trips back up to Sydney for golf, and catch ups with mum, the two weeks had just flown by. We had one last week to go before setting off again, but with no room at Shellharbour to extend our stay, we headed off to our other favourite Sydney base, Camden, for catch up time with Cheryl & Chris.

The Nepean River.

Along the river walk.

It was hard to believe we hadn't been at the Poplar Caravan Park at Camden for over two years! It is just the same, and we settled in on our large grassy site, down the back on the river flat. It is a lovely country setting with the horses next door and the lovely trees all around, and the Nepean River along the back boundary. Saturday afternoon we headed up to Cheryl & Chris' for a swim on a hot summer afternoon, and that evening we all wandered down town for a lovely Italian meal at

Lunch with Mario & Cheryl.

With proud grandparents Chris & Cheryl

the always reliable Salute Restaurant. Wonderful home cooked cuisine, and it was just the same. Sunday, we were off to the city to catch up with Kerry & Gary, neighbours and workmates from our days at Illawong. They have recently sold up and moved to the inner city, at Harold Park, where they have bought a lovely new apartment. We are having a sleepover, as we haven't caught up for some time, and it was the Australia Day weekend. What a wonderful couple of days we had, just whiling away the time talking about our travels and families and friends, and how much things have changed in our lives. We didn't leave the apartment! It was just a lovely time with good friends, good food and wine. We had such a good time, we didn't even take one photo!! I can't believe that!! The weather changed dramatically on the Monday, and

Isaac, Belinda & Josh.

Happy Grandparents with not so
happy grandson Isaac.

we copped a drenching for a couple of days, which meant no golf, but a time to catch up with Robyn and Mum again. Carolyn called in to see our old Illawong neighbour, Jo Higlett. She is now in a Retirement Village quite near Robyn's place. She was wonderfully surprised. The week was drawing to a close. A lovely Thai dinner in Camden on Friday night, with Cheryl & Chris her brother Garry and wife Pam, plus friends Bobbie and Alf. We followed this on Saturday with lunch at our caravan with Mario & Cheryl who bought our Gaymoir Products business, and who had groomed our little April all her life. This was a really lovely lunch, after which we were back up to Cheryl & Chris' house to see the rest of the

We have loved catching up with all.

Sydney, even beautiful on a cloudy day.

family, who had come for dinner. We were too full to eat, but we wanted to catch up with the family who have been a big part of our life for too many years to remember. It was lovely to see sister Deb & hubby Wayne, plus the boys Mark & Josh with their lovely partners, Jodie and Belinda. They are all grown up now, with Mark and Jodie married, and older brother Josh and his partner Belinda becoming proud parents for the first time. You can't get the smile off the faces of Cheryl & Chris. It is so wonderful for them to be first time grandparents. Little Isaac was born in early December, and we are so happy for all. From all accounts he is a dear little fellow, and we can vouch that he sure has healthy lungs!!

So our Sydney odyssey has ended. We are exhausted, but have had a wonderful time. Thank you to everyone for making our Sydney stay so memorable. We are now heading to sunny (better be!!) Queensland, for some well deserved R & R.