Laurieton 2010

25th May, Travelled to Laurieton with a lunch break at Taree. Val found a new supply of wool, from BigW, to continue knitting scarfs. We booked a week at the Christmas Cove Caravan Park, very cheap at $100.00 for the week. It’s not the greatest of Parks but was the only one right on the water, and had a narrow wharf. I was planning to put our boat into the Lake and do some fishing. After setting up the Van we drove into Laurieton to check the place out and had dinner at the RSL. A nice Club with very good meals.

26th May, It rained all night but had stopped by Breakfast time, so I put out the awning and our table and chairs. I went to North Haven to buy some bait, get some fuel for the boat and get info. on the local fishing spots. By the time I had finished talking with the Tackle Shop man and he told me to be careful, the Lake is shallow, I had decided not to worry about putting the boat in the water. Val sent me back to the RSL Club for Dinner and to watch the first match of the NSW/QLD State of Origin Football, as she wanted to watch “Masterchef” which started at the same time. I enjoyed my meal but was disappointed with a loss by NSW.

27th May, Put together a fishing rod and took off to try out some of the fishing spots I had been given. At Stingray Creek I snagged the bottom at every throw in, needed to be in the boat, so gave that away. Then went to the wharf in Laurieton and the current was running strongly and the wind came up and made it totally unsuitable for fishing. Travelled through Laurieton to Dunbogan and had a try in the channel leading into Gogleys Lagoon. Went home without any fish and had a nice steak for tea, while Val had flathead that I had caught back at The Entrance.

28th May, Decided to throw a line into Queens Lake from the little wharf at our Caravan Park, and after 10 minutes had caught a 35cm flathead. It was my only catch but would do Val for one meal.

30th May, It rained most of yesterday and overnight. The sun was shining this morning so did some reading after breakfast, then went for a fish off the wharf. I caught 2 flathead to-day, 36 & 37cms long, so was happy with that. Typical of Lakes, although it’s salt water and tidal, it is very muddy looking. You can’t identify your catch until it comes up to the surface.

31st May, This is our last day in Laurieton and the sun is out this morning. Had a bit of shopping to do, so while out, I drove up to the North Brother Lookout in the Dooragan National Park. A local told me not to miss it and I’m glad I didn’t. The views are absolutely fantastic. The photos do not do it justice. You can see the waterways around Laurieton and up and down the coast. I packed up to-night ready to leave in the morning, for somewhere North. We will be calling in at Urunga to catch up with our friend, Sandra, who is on Holiday there.

Stockton, 2010

17th May, To-day we are reverse travelling, ie, backtracking. Val is still suffering with a lower jaw ache so we have made an appointment for her to see the Dental Specialist in Newcastle. We booked into Stockton Beach Caravan Park (FPA) and had a drive around Stockton. Val made an appointment to have her hair done to-morrow and we checked out the local RSL. Val won $180 on the Pokies and I found out that they have Table Tennis on Wednesday Night. I found out that this, Council Owned, Tourist Park will not sign a Centrelink Rent Assistance form (Crazy,eh?).

18th May, Rained all night and still raining. Had a quiet day with Val taking herself off to the Hairdressers at 1pm

19th May, Drove down to Glendale NIB Dental Clinic and Val’s problem was a huge infection in her lower jaw, around an implant pin, so she is now on a course of antibiotics which should solve all her problems within a week. I went to the RSL for the special steak dinner (delicious) and played Table Tennis. They had around 16 players turn up (that was about half what they normally have) and was teamed up with a young local, to play doubles. I had a great time, winning the lucky door prize of a $10 voucher and young Jim & I reached the finals & won, collecting $15 each for our efforts.

20th May, Another quiet morning, rain has stopped and I had just finished breakfast, when I heard a loud long TOOT and realized that one of the big Tankers was leaving Newcastle Harbour. I grabbed the camera and made my way to the beach to see it heading out to sea through the narrow breakwall channel. From now on I will be ready and hopefully get to the breakwall in time to see the whole ship and the Tugs. We went to the RSL for Dinner & Raffles. Meals are very good but prices a bit high for an RSL, they only have a Restaurant. Val won a meat tray and come home with some money out of the pokies.

21st May, Another quiet day, I’m not complaining, Val has gone for a pedicure and now we have an afternoon storm coming up. Val’s jaw is starting to get better so we will leave here next Monday for Laurieton. I had the opportunity to talk to the Park Manager to-day, about them not signing my Centrelink Rent Assistance form. This was the first time I had been refused. He was instructed 6 weeks ago by the group of Council Parks that they belong to, not to sign anymore forms pending a Courtcase involving one of their Parks on the Central Coast. A Caravaner booked into this particular Park for 150 days (Max. allowed stay) and overstayed another day and because he had a signed rent ass’t form, claimed that he was permanent resident and wouldn’t leave. This is now in the hands of the Court and because these Parks are on Crown land, that could also have a bearing on the case. The outcome of this Courtcase could affect all homeless Travellers, like us.

22nd May, We are just filling in time waiting for Val to get over the side effects of the antibiotic that she is on, for her infected jaw. Her jaw is getting better but she is getting continuous headaches and not sleeping at night. We met Joan & Robert at the Wests Club, Mayfield at 6pm for dinner and a flutter. This was the last chance for them to give us our mail before we start travelling again.

24th May, We decided to stay another day so will be off in the morning for The Christmas Cove Caravan Park at Laurieton. We have had a couple of fine days and I have been enjoying a daily walk to the end of the breakwall and back, it takes 30 minutes , so it’s good exercise. I’ve had a few opportunities to photograph some of the big Tankers coming in & out of the Newcastle Port. The Tankers seem to be coming and going 24/7, you never know at what hour they are going to blast their horn.

Gloucester, 2010

May 13th, 2010. To-day we left Anna bay and travelled to Gloucester. The Bucketts Way hasn’t improved a lot, too narrow in places and used by a lot of Timber Jinkers. We are here for the Shakespearean Festival, so picked up our tickets for the “Feast and Show” from the Information Centre. After a nice lunch in Town, we drove around Town then up to Barrington Township. Lovely countryside, rolling hills nestled in amongst the mountains.

May 15th, After a quiet day yesterday we had a big day to-day. We went to the Fair/Markets at the Bert Gallagher Oval, a short walk from the Caravan Park. They had food, wine tasting, craft and the main entertainment was the “Jousting” Displays. We had fresh home made sausage rolls for lunch, very delicious. 5.30pm we were back for the Play and feast. The Hall was decorated in a medieval theme and the feast was excellent. The play was a modern slant on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, which was disappointing in as much as, the sound did not carry to the back of the hall, so we had a lot of difficulty in hearing the performers. They really need individual microphones for each of the players. A saving grace was the last 10 minutes of the play, it was extremely funny and had us all in tears from laughing.

May 16th, We went for a drive through the Barrington Tops, passing through the Village of Barrington and taking in the great views from the Kia-Ora Lookout and then on to Gloryvale Reserve, where the gentle sounds of the shallow rapids contributes to a relaxing atmosphere. A very enjoyable drive. To-morrow we are heading back to Newcastle, as Val is having more trouble with her teeth and we can’t continue our Travels until her problems are permanently fixed.

Port Lincoln 09 to Anna Bay 2010

Hello family and friends, it’s time to start recording our ongoing “travel adventure”. We have been through a trying period, which I will outline in this posting:




We left Port Augusta, SA, on the 8th December, 2009, to make our way back to Sydney for Christmas with the Family. Val’s Mum had told us that she wasn’t feeling well and the Doctor was sending her for a scan. Val was worried about her Mum’s health, so we decided to get back to Sydney to be with Mum for the cat scan. With overnight stops at Orraroo, Cobar, Dubbo & Lithgow, we arrived at Sydney Gateway Holiday Park on the 13th December. Mum had her scan and unfortunately it showed that she had a nasty, very aggressive stomach Cancer and the Dr’s estimated she would only have 8 to 12 weeks. We took her to numerous tests that the Dr’s sent her for, all to no real avail. We packed up her belongings from her Cardinal Gilroy unit and moved her into the Hostel. On the 30th January, Greg & I flew down to Melbourne to see the Woman’s Final at The Australian Open Tennis Final. Val & I had already purchased our tickets and felt that they could still be used, as Mum was still holding up well at that time. Greg volunteered to go with me. It was a great trip and exciting to watch a live final. We appreciated the support given to us by our Family during this trying period. Mum passed away 9 weeks later on the 21th February, 2010.



We organized Mums Funeral through Hills Family Funerals, held on the 25th February, using a Celebrant recommended by the staff from Cardinal Gilroy Village. It was a lovely Service held at the Village Church hall, with 120 friends attending and the close Family Members from Brisbane, Mt. Isa, Port Macquarrie and Sydney.



We left Sydney on the 11th March, having finalized all of Mum’s affairs and on our way to Bays Holiday Park at Anna Bay, called in to The Entrance to spread Mum’s ashes on the water, which was her final wish. After 2 days in the Bay, to put some of our excess gear into our storage shed, we moved to Dunleith Caravan Park, at The Entrance, for a 5 week stay. A relaxing time, fishing and generally doing nothing. We booked a 14 day Cruise around NZ, leaving Sydney, on the 2nd January, 2011. Something to look forward to for next year. We moved back to Sydney Gateway Holiday Park at Parklea, to welcome home our Boys. Greg, Dianne and the girls had been on a 4 week American holiday and Steven was holidaying in China. They all had a great time.



On the 27th April we moved up to Bays Holiday Park at Anna Bay, to visit our Dr’s, Dentist and Skin Cancer Clinic for our annual check-ups. We will leave here to follow the sun, heading north, to who knows where, on the 13th May. We will keep you posted.