Sydney, December 2011

December 20^th, Drove to Sydney Gateway Holiday Park at Parklea and booked in for 9 days. Jessica and Annaliese were being looked after at Pa’s place today, so we had all afternoon to get set up. I even set up our Christmas lights, so we were fully in the “Merry Christmas” mood. We went around to Greg and Dianne’s late afternoon, to catch up and give Dianne her belated Birthday present.

December 21^st, Dianne dropped the girls off on her way to work and Greg picked them up in the afternoon. The weather was good so they were able to play on the Jumping Pillow, ride their scooters, spend some money in the games room and get in 2 bouts of swimming. Sometime they managed to fit in some snacks and lunch as well.   

December 22^nd, Dianne dropped the girls off again but today it was very overcast. The rain started about 10 minutes after they got here and didn’t stop till mid-afternoon. So today’s activities were colouring in, painting, hang the man, noughts and crosses, constantly being hungry, so eating all poppy’s choc chip cookies, and making pink and white meringues under nanny’s supervision. We took the girls home around 6pm and stayed for the most delicious Chicken Baked Dinner and vegies, that Greg had cooked on the new BBQ and I finished that off with Trifle and a coffee. This was the last day we were looking after the girls till the 9^th January when both Greg and Dianne go back to work.

December 23^rd, We did a bit of shopping, just to buy all the ingredients for the Trifle that Val is going to make tomorrow for Christmas lunch at Steven and Margaret’s new Apartment at Centennial Park. We ducked around to Greg and Dianne’s in the afternoon, so that Dianne could paint Val’s toenails, ready for Sunday. Karina(Dianne’s Friend) dropped in with Chloe and Riley and it was good to catch up and wish them all a Merry Christmas. Greg was pottering around in the garage, doing nothing much, but after we got chatting about the Pergola lights and ceiling fan, that still hadn’t been wired up, he got the incentive to make a start on that project.

December 24^th, Christmas Eve, had to go to the shops to replace the Sherry, when “strangely” there wasn’t enough left to make the Trifle. The Trifle looks great, the presents are in the car and we’re ready to party tomorrow. We watched the “Carols by Candlelight” from Melbourne, on TV, a spectacular show as always.

December 25^th, We drove to Steven and Margaret’s place in record time. I couldn’t believe how little traffic was on the road this morning and we, first time ever in Sydney, arrived 10 minutes early at our destination. Steven gave us a tour of their new Apartment, which we both liked. It was bright, roomy and had a good view off their balcony. It was on the second floor at the back but was the only Apartment that had any sort of view, as the others all looked onto the roof of the front Apartments. They had the dinner table beautifully set up to seat 21 people for Christmas Lunch. Our family had all arrived by 10.45am and we were able to do our Secret Santa Presents before the other guests arrived. We enjoyed a great lunch, nice wine and good company and left for home around 5.30pm. Typical of Sydney Council, parking was only 1 hour and we couldn’t believe they had a Parking Officer working on Christmas Day. So every hour we had keep rotating our cars around the street, so I’m hoping that I have avoided a fine.

December 27^th, We had all the family over to the Park for Dinner, in the Camp Kitchen. Val did tempura fish, chips and salad with Meat pie for the non-seafood people. A very enjoyable night.

December 28^th, I took the Christmas lights down and packed them up. They won’t be needed until next year. I went over to Greg’s place, after lunch, and supervised the wiring up of a set of lights in his pergola. I went back to the Park at 5.15pm to pack up all the outside gear ready to leave in the morning, for Wangi Point Lakeside Holiday Park. Val and I went back to Greg and Dianne’s for a roast pork dinner and little meringues with cream and fresh fruit, delicious.

Anna Bay, December 2011

December 6^th, We travelled to Anna Bay, with a coffee break at the Caltex McDonalds Roadhouse on the Expressway, and booked into Bays Holiday Park for 2 weeks. We had a break in the rain that allowed me to get set up, then I dropped Val at the Salamander Shopping Centre while I went into Nelson Bay to lodge my Centrelink paperwork. We were looking for changes in the area since we were last here and knew that Bunnings were building at Taylors Beach 12 months ago, but now it has expanded with Supercheap Auto and BCF joining them and other new buildings are in progress.

December 7^th, We drove around Salamander Haven Village, which is part of the Retirement and Aged Care Group that we have our name down with. It looks the same as Fingal Haven, our 1^st preference, but newer and more expensive to buy into. We went to our Storage Shed and spent some time going through boxes and took out some things we thought we needed. Tomorrow Val will be going through the Van looking for stuff to pack up and put in the shed. I dropped Val off at the Salamander Shopping Centre to get started on our Christmas Shopping, always very stressful, and went to the RTA in Nelson Bay and fixed up the registration for both the car and the van.

December 8^th, Vans started arriving at the Caravan Park from 8am onwards. It was the Hunter Coastal Caravan Club getting together for their Christmas Party, held at this Park every year. First thing they did after setting up their Vans was to put up Christmas lights and decorations. I hadn’t planned on putting ours up until we went to Sydney but outvoted by the “Boss”, I had to put ours up as well. Only 3 rope lights, not very impressive but bright. More Christmas shopping during the afternoon, more looking and deciding, than buying.

December 9^th, Val pulled everything out from under the bed and started packing boxes for the Storage Shed and a separate pile for The Salvation Army. I filled in the day with a few little odd jobs around the Van when Val didn’t need my assistance.

December 10^th, I went to The Nelson Bay Community Hall at 9.30am to play Table Tennis. The group that I used to play with at the PC/YC had got fed up with the way they were being treated and joined the Community Hall group. Lex was the only player from the PC/YC group but we had 6 players for an enjoyable couple of hours. They play again on Monday afternoon but that will be the last game for this year. After lunch we enjoyed a drive through Nelson Bay, Shoal Bay and out to Fingal Bay, just to check the place out and see what had changed. The Caravan Club had their Christmas Party in the Camp Kitchen tonight and it sounded like they were having a very jolly time, but they didn’t disturb us.

December 11^th, I went to the shed this morning, swept it out, put our new boxes away and replaced the baits for mice, rats and cockroaches. It had been very hot today, I checked our thermometer and under our awning, it was 29deg. Around 1 pm. The dark clouds rolled in during the late afternoon and during the night the rain started.

December 12^th, I went to the Nelson Bay Community Hall at 3.30pm for Table Tennis. This was their last day for this year as they close up for the Holidays. This was a thorough workout for me, as it was some of the old team that used to play at the PC/YC. Lex, Karl, Paul and Brett really put me through the wringer, I didn’t win any games and I lost around 5 kg in perspiration. It was good to catch up with them again.

December 14^th, We went to our local Doctor this afternoon, Val needed her prescriptions and we both had a general/cancer check up, which we both passed with flying colours.

December 17^th, We drove to Kotara Shopping Centre this afternoon to finish off our Christmas Shopping. Westfield have taken over this Shopping Centre now and it is huge. We were amazed at the changes. We picked up a bottle of “Red” from Dan Murphy’s before getting to Joan and Roberts place at Cardiff around 6.15pm, for pre-dinner drinks and nibbles. Joan put on an excellent roast dinner then we watched the Carols at the Domain on TV, while catching up.

December 19^th, Packed up today ready to leave in the morning for Sydney, to spend Christmas with our Family.

Sydney, November 2011

November 28^th, Hooked up the Van to the new towing hitch and was very happy that it all looked good, so said good-bye to Carole and Rob and set off for Sydney. Booked into Sydney Gateway Holiday Park for 8 days and went around to Greg and Dianne’s in the afternoon. Greg’s new “Pride & Joy” (boat) was taking up one side of the driveway. Very impressive! Dianne had the day off work to take Annaliese to the Dental Hospital as she had a back tooth with a huge hole in it that had to come out and the Dentist wanted to remove it under anaesthetic, as this was her first extraction and would be too traumatic to be done under local anaesthetic. Annie was still drowsy from the aneasthetic but wasn’t in a lot of pain. Greg had cut fillets off a recent catch of flathead and bonito, caught on a fishing trip in his new boat, so we stayed for dinner. Greg and Val made a curried fish dinner from the flathead and bonito pieces and I BBQ’d some nice t-bones for Dianne, the girls and myself.

November 30^th, Yesterday and today have been stifling hot, typical western suburbs weather. Jessica walked home from School today, so I had to take her back to School at 4pm for Guitar practice, which was followed a Recital. Each student had to perform for an audience of parents, before getting their certificates for the past years achievements. This was an after school subject run by an outside musical company. My photos aren’t very good as I was one of the last to arrive and had standing room only, out in the vestibule, so had to take long shots over peoples shoulders. I’ll know better next year. We got back to the Caravan Park in time for the girls to have a swim, before Greg picked them up to go to their piano lessons.

December 1^st, I picked Jessica and Annaliese up after school and brought them back to the Caravan Park for a swim, while Val was making dinner. Greg and Dianne joined us for dinner and Karina, Cloe and Riley paid us a visit after dinner.

December 3^rd, Set an alarm for 7.15am so that I could get to watch Annaliese playing Netball at Castle Hill at 8.30am. At 7.30am I got a phone call from Greg to let me know that Netball was starting at 8am, so had to get my skates on with breakfast and hope I found the Sports Arena without any problems. Foresaking a coffee at home, I made it to the Sports Arena with 5 minutes to spare and Greg had a coffee waiting for me. Annaliese played a great game in the goal shooters position, all her team mates were in great form and came out winning 9-0. After the game, the girls came back to the Caravan Park with me. Greg and Dianne went home to finish packing and drop off the girls clothes to us before heading off to The Hunter Valley for The Elton John Show. Jessica and Annaliese were fully occupied with swimming, jumping pillow, games room and other activities. At 2pm we all went over to Steven and Margaret's place, at Balmain, for a farewell drink and afternoon tea, while sitting a the waters edge on the Harbour. We are not going to see them before they move to their new Apartment at Centennial Park. We had a lovely afternoon, the girls were waving to all the passing boats. We left for home around 6pm. After dinner Annaliese challenged me to a game of “sequence” and beat me 6 – 3. She has picked the game up quickly and I just could not get the right cards.

December 4^th, I took the girls for a swim after breakfast, but ½ an hour later we were chased from the pool by a Thunder Storm. It rained all day with only a few short breaks. Greg and Dianne arrived back from the Hunter Valley around 4pm, having enjoyed the Elton John Show and their visit to some of the Wineries. They brought a nice bottle of “red” back for Val and I got some lovely chocolates. After a cuppa and catching up they took the girls home.

December 5^th, Dropped Val at Greg & Dianne’s, to do our washing, then took the car down to NRMA Motor Serve Depot, at Seven Hills, to get a pink slip. When I paid my car Insurance, they sent me a voucher for a free pink slip inspection. No problem with the pink slip but I was told they had to replace 2 wiper blades for it to pass. So my free inspection still cost me $20 but I didn’t worry as I had replaced the passenger side wiper blade a week ago, so that left 2 old blades, one on the driver’s side and one on the rear wiper. Later on I checked the blades to confirm which ones had been replaced and Guess what! they had replaced the 2 front ones, so much for my free pink slip. Val made a really delicious lasagne for dinner, which we all enjoyed. We all left around 6.30pm, when Greg was taking the girls to piano lessons, as I still had some final packing up to do ready to leave in the morning for Anna Bay.

The Entrance, October 2011 Cont.

November 12^th, The day started off with an electrical storm and settled into steady rain, so no fishing today. The weather cleared during the afternoon so we had a happy hour get-together with Carole and Rob at Terri and Patrick’s RV, who were leaving on Monday.

November 13^th, Val had a hankering to go crabbing, although we had been told that the crabs weren’t around. I had saved up 3 bream heads, from my catches, for this purpose. We went up the main channel and anchored just short of Pelican Island, just off the weed. We both fished while waiting for some crab action and caught a small flathead and several small bream, between us, all throwbacks. It was a very pleasant outing but not a crab was interested in our fish heads. On the way in we stopped near the shallows and fed the fish heads to the Pelicans.

November 14^th, Carole & Rob bought us some beach worms, while out shopping, that the Tackle Shop guy assured them would catch Whiting. The whiting were everywhere in the Lake, but would not touch my bait (cooked prawns). We had early lunch and headed out to try our luck, Carole and Rob went out at the same time. We had used most of our worms and still could not get a whiting to take the bait. We headed in around 5pm, no fish and Val was looking red around the shoulders and arms after 2 days out in the boat, in the hot sun. Carole & Rob did well by catching some whiting, flathead and bream

November 15^th, I went out fishing by myself this morning. I had a few leftover worms and picked what looked like the perfect spot to nail myself a whiting. I anchored in the shallows just off a deep hole and I could see the whiting swimming all around me in the shallow water. I had rigged up with a smaller sinker and hook and in desperation changed to no sinker, with the last of my worms. Still no luck, I was losing the bait and not even feeling a bite, very frustrating. I went to using my cooked prawns for bait and caught a 46cm Flathead, in the hole, so was able to go in feeling happy with my catch. The prawns were running, so I spent the afternoon getting all our gear set up for tonight and checking that all the boats navigational lights were working. Val couldn’t miss “Junior Masterchef”, on TV, so it was dark when we ventured out on our prawning trip. We navigated the shallows and the prawners, walking around the shallows with their hand held lights and nets and made our way to our usual prawning area the other side of the Bridge and decided on a spot inbetween 2 other boats already set up. Val drops in the front anchor and I can see it wasn’t holding, so I grabbed the torch and wouldn’t you know, were over thick weed. Up anchor, reverse out to clear the weed patch, this time we get set up with front and back anchors out, despite Val having trouble tying her anchor rope to the boat. I handed Val her prawning net and proceeded to connect  the prawning lights to the battery. Suddenly Val yells, “I’ve dropped my prawning net into the water, I just let it go” and sure enough, it was floating with the current and out of reach. Fortunately, the boat downstream from us had long handled prawning nets and was able to rescue Val’s. Up come the anchors again, Clatter, clatter, clatter, we must be annoying everybody out there trying to catch prawns. We drifted down to the other boat and collected the prawning net. We thanked them and they kindly lied by saying, that’s OK, no trouble, and I motored back to our spot to set up again. Val dropped her anchor out front and was again having trouble tying it up to the boat. I told her, calmly, that she has to tie up to the rope coming from the anchor, this she could not understand,  and continued tying to the rope inside the boat and pulling vigorously to tighten the knot, but we still continued to get further from the anchor. So after telling Val that I will have to teach her how to tie up an anchor and I can’t believe you can’t do it or understand, I then said “Do you want to go in”. Answer YES. Up anchor again and in we head with Val, in a bad mood, telling me she is never going out in the boat again. As soon as the boat nosed into the shore and I was getting out to pull the boat up onto the sand, Val jumped off into the shallow water, the boat came up and she fell into the water, up to her waist. After I helped her up and set her on her way dripping wet, I secured the boat and brought all our gear in. What a night to remember and I’ve vowed never to go out prawning after dark again, it’s just too difficult to set up.

November 18^th, After 2 days of Storms and rain, it finally cleared, so I went out for a fish after lunch but didn’t catch any keepers. When I came in and got out of the boat my back was killing me (lower back pain) and I was struggling to walk. My back kept collapsing on me, so I cancelled our outing, with Carole and Rob, to The Bateau Bay Sports Club, for raffles and dinner. I took a couple of nurofen and lay down, flat on my back, for a couple of hours.

November 19^th, I woke up with by back still a little bit sore but it wasn’t going to stop me going with Greg, Dianne and Rob on our planned fishing trip to Budgewoi Beach tonight. Dianne had told me they would be up for lunch, after Annaliese had been to her 8am Volleyball match. At 12 noon I decided to find out where our visitors were, as we were ready for their arrival. I rang Greg, to find out that he was still at work and wouldn’t be knocking off for another 40 minutes and didn’t expect to be up here till 4.30pm. We had rolls, meat and salad organized for lunch, so invited Carole and Rob to have lunch with us and the leftovers we would use to make up rolls, for the fishing trip. So far so good, then another phone call from Greg to say they were on their way but in his haste to leave home he had packed their rods but left their reels and line at home. But, hang on, that’s not all! Somehow he had also got the tide times wrong and we would not be fishing under the optimum conditions. We were to be fishing around the high tide at Budgewoi Beach, 6pm until 9pm (that sounds great) but because Greg obviously had a “seniors moment” we would be fishing around the low tide. However, they arrived with a new reel, line, purchased on the way up, and borrowed a reel off me and the fishing trip was on anyway. It was good to see Jessica and Annaliese again, it has been a while, and are they growing up fast. We loaded up my car with all our gear, including chairs and rod holders and drove to Budgewoi. Gathering up our gear the 4 of us head up the path to the Beach, into gale force onshore wind, Oh No! Still determined we trek up the beach to Greg’s designated fishing spot, with Rob and myself lagging behind. It  is difficult walking in soft sand, so with extra sinkers on our lines, good company and fresh rolls for dinner we enjoyed the experience and Greg did catch a small flathead, not a keeper. We will be talking about our beach fishing trip to Budgewoi for years to come. Back at the Caravan Park, after coffee and relating the highlights of our fishing trip, we all went down to the waterfront to admire the view. The prawns were on, so we quickly fetched our prawning nets and dolphin torches and Greg and Dianne wandered around the shallow water and very soon had caught a dozen prawns. This was Dianne’s first prawn catching experience so was very excited. The Girls had a sleepover in our Van while Dianne and Greg stayed at the El Largo Motel, just across the bridge.

November 20^th, We started off the morning with Greg and Dianne fishing off the waterfront with Jessica and Annaliese, until the bait ran out. They caught a few small bream, so that kept the girls amused. The funniest sight was watching Greg trying to teach Jessica to get the fish off the hook and return the fish to the water without feeding the Pelicans, who were hovering around waiting for the free feed. Steven called in around 11am, on his way home from a Wedding at The Hunter Valley, so we had all the family together for a short time. Steven didn’t stay for lunch as he had to get his borrowed vehicle back to Sydney. Greg, Dianne and the girls stayed for lunch before they left for home. After a light dinner we spent the night playing “Tiles” with Carole and Rob.

November 21^st, Not a great day today, overcast and showery rain all day but we drove up to Blue Haven for lunch at Sandra’s place and had an enjoyable day, catching up. Those girls never run out of something to talk about.

November 24^th, It hasn’t stopped raining for the last 3 days but a little break in the afternoon allowed me, with Rob’s help, to get the boat out of the water and back up on the car rack. After dinner we had another great night of “tiles” with Carole and Rob, they have picked up the game very quickly.

November 25^th, Still raining and it was very noticeable that the water in the lake was rising, my estimation was around 18 inches higher. We went to the Bateau Bay Sports Club for dinner, raffles and karaoke with Carole, Rob, Joan and Robert. We had a very enjoyable night and came home with a meat tray from the raffles. We leave for Sydney tomorrow.

November 26^th, Early start this morning, still had the car to pack, awning to put down etc. before being ready to leave. I walked around behind the car and noticed that I had no towbar! I knew that the towbar was attached to the car to pull the boat out of the water and was still there when we left for the Club last night. I did a quick search of the garbage bins around the area including the public park outside the fence. I was hoping it was only some practical joker. I then drove down to the Club to check around the grounds and report it to the Club Security Officer. No luck, I had to accept that my Hayman Reece Towbar had been STOLEN. I rang Sydney gateway Holiday Park and changed our booking to Monday and extended our stay at Dunleith Caravan Park to match. I still had the sway bars so Rob and myself went to a Caravan place near Erina to see what he could come up with to get me out of trouble. Rob knew the guy and had always found him helpful and honest. After a lot of raking around, he came up with 2 different length right angled support bars and a hitch mount for the sway bars and towing ball. Back at my Caravan we measured the required height of the tow ball and came up with an assembly that was OK. After returning the unused part to Erina, we did a final fit and tighten and installed a locking pin to prevent this problem from ever happening again. So, $163 later, a little wiser, and we were ready to leave for Sydney on Monday morning, until Rob came wandering over and asked me if I had tried the sway bar for fit. We had been told that they would fit the new hitch, but to be sure I tried them and “You Guessed It”, the locating lugs were too big. So out came the side grinder and after sparks flying in all directions and a lot of noise, I was definitely ready to leave.

The Entrance, October 2011

October 29^th, Dianne, Jessica and Annaliese came to the Sydney Gateway Holiday Park this morning for a final good-bye, before we left at 10am. The girls took the opportunity to play on the jumping pillow while Val and Dianne checked out the Saturday Markets put on by the permanent Residents. We checked into Dunleith Tourist Park for a 4 week stay and, after setting up, caught up with Carole and Rob who also arrived today. After a quick walk around the Park, we found a lot of regulars that we know are also here. I unloaded the boat off the car and started setting it up.

October 30^th, I finished setting up the boat, put it in the water and took it for a short run around the island, to make sure everything was in working order. No problems, so drove into shore and chained the tinnie up to the retaining wall. It is very windy and showery today so not my type of fishing weather.

October 31^st, First job today was to put my paperwork into Centrelink, then place our bets for tomorrows Melbourne Cup, at the TAB. I re-acquainted myself with the local Library and borrowed 3 Westerns, did a bit of shopping and checked out the entrance to the Lake. Surprisingly the entrance channel was the widest I have never seen it, 3 or 4 times wider than usual and the locals tell me it was opened out by the bad weather that they had recently. I arrived back at the Park to find that Val had done the washing and I was just in time to help hang it out. What lousy timing! Only kidding. Our good friends, Gwen and Neal, arrived today and are here for 3 days in a Cabin. After dinner we went to Carole and Rob’s Van for a game of “sequence” and wound up an enjoyable night around 12.30am. 

November 1^st, Typical Melbourne Cup weather today, overcast, windy and threatening rain. The girls dressed up for the occasion and as you can expect and looked very lovely, the guys did very little. The owner of the Park put on a “Melbourne Cup” Lunch for all the residents, free of charge, and provided an 8ft Fishing Rod and Reel as a lucky door prize, with our site number as entry. David and Cheryl (Managers) organized $2 Sweeps, the Tables, seating and booked caterers to provide the food. David dressed up as a (very tall) Jockey and Emceed the whole proceedings. We put a table together with Carole & Rob, Gwen & Neal, Val & Ken and Val & myself, and all enjoyed a great lunch with desert. Beer, Sparkling Wine, Orange Juice and soft drink were also provided. David did a fabulous job as emcee and had us all in stitches. They took up a collection of donations for the Starlight Foundation and raised $630, which was a very poor effort for 95 attendees. If everybody had put in just $10 each, very cheap meal and entertainment and a free raffle for a very good fishing rod, that would have been $950 for The Starlight Foundation.

November 2^nd, Finally the clouds cleared away and the sun was out, so I’m off for my first fishing expedition since I launched the Tinnie. Its sounds like I’m travelling a long way out to sea and in a huge sleek launch but in fact I’m only motoring about 50 metres out to fish by the bridge. Success! I caught my one and only fish, a 29cm Bream. We had a BBQ dinner tonight in the camp kitchen with our Melbourne Cup group and Terri & Patrick (friends of Carole and Rob), which was great. After dinner we played “Sequence” with Carole and Rob until the early hours of the morning.

November 3^rd, It rained all night and was wet and miserable, so we went to Bateau Bay to make enquiries at the Southern Cross Retirement Village, as we are now thinking to find an alternate option to The Fingal Bay Village, that is closer to the Family in Sydney. The area manager was away but is back at work next Monday, so we will ring for an appointment then. After putting away our shopping and having lunch, I went out fishing. This time I ventured to the other side of the bridge but the bites were few and far between, although I had caught a small bream and a flounder, which were throw backs. I moved back to the other side of the bridge and with the guidance of some people from the Caravan Park, who were walking across the Bridge, was able to cast a line into a large school of bream. The water was very clear and it was an amazing sight to watch these fish swimming along the shaded area under the bridge. Most of them were in too much of a hurry to stop to eat but I did manage to catch one beauty, who put up a great fight. It came in at 34cm and the fillets will do Val for 2 meals.

November 4^th, Went out for a fish at 5pm and caught 3 throwbacks and a 40cm bream. Val raced all around the Park showing the fish to everybody. It was the biggest bream I have ever caught and people in the Park were telling Val it was the biggest they had seen, caught in the lake, for a long time. Very exciting, it weighed in at 1 Kg.

November 5^th, Joan & Robert came down after lunch, with our mail. Nothing exciting, mostly Bills that I didn’t want. After catching up on all the news I had planned to take Robert out for a fish, but he didn’t have a current fishing licence and all our efforts to buy one failed, as it was late and all the shops were closed. We enjoyed a game of “sequence” after dinner.

November 7^th, Went out fishing after lunch and came in with 2 bream, 29 & 31cm. After dinner we had another “sequence” night with Carole and Rob.

November 8th, Sandra came down from Blue Haven this morning, for lunch with a water view. Fortunately we still had a water view to see, as there wasn’t anyone on the site behind us. It was great to catch up and Val got her fill of family news and gossip.

November 9^th, 10am we met with the Area Manager of the Southern Cross Retirement Village at Bateau Bay, to check out their accommodation and cost. We were thinking that this is an area we like and it is central to our group of friends and family. Both Val’s Mum and my Dad lived at the Southern Cross Head Office/Village, in Merrylands, Sydney. It was a good layout with all levels of Aged Care available on site, but the 2 bedroom Apartments were too small and the cost was more than we could afford. So it’s still Fingal Haven Retirement Village at Port Stephens, for now. We drove on to Erina Fair Shopping Centre for lunch and shopping.

November 11^th, Only caught a 28cm bream today, they are getting smaller each day. We went to the Bateau Bay Sports Club with Carole and Rob for raffles and dinner. We won a leg of lamb, first number drawn, and Val had a bit of luck on the Pokies and came home with $95.

Brisbane to Sydney, Oct 2011

October 19^th, Arrived at Trail-a-Van at 7am and sat in the car while Rod, the boss, fitted our decals and after admiring the finished job, only 30 minutes later, we headed directly for Brisbane and booked into Brisbane Gateway Resort, at Rochedale, for 2 nights. Just as I was going to open the Van door, I noticed that one of the gold stripes was missing. I couldn’t believe that Rod and myself has admired the finished job and that we didn’t notice the missing decal. I rang them to tell them of the problem and followed that up with an email and photo of the area in question and asked them to send the missing decal to Cardiff and I will fit it myself. After an afternoon nap, we went to Brian & Julies for a BBQ and family catch up.

October 20^th, I rang Nerida & Rob, caravanning friends that we met in WA a few years back, and arranged to meet for lunch at the Redland Bay Hotel. After a nice lunch and a catch up, we went to Brian & Julies. It was our shout for a takeaway Chinese dinner and then I cleaned them up at a game of Tiles (Rummycube). Tomorrow we leave for Coffs Harbour.

October 21^st, Drove to Coffs Harbour, after putting clocks forward 1 hour for NSW daylight savings, and booked into Park Beach Holiday Park for 2 nights. When setting up the Van, I found the power switch was broken, we only had 240V power, so no lights or TV as lights and aerial booster are on 12V. We had a quiet night doing crosswords, reading and cross stitch.

October 22^nd, After buying a $19 replacement switch, I installed the new switch and was back to normal power supply for the Van. After lunch I went to the Coffs Harbour Over 50’s table Tennis Club and enjoyed playing with my old friends. Tomorrow we head for Foster/Tuncurry for a 2 night stay before heading for Sydney.

October 23^rd, left Coffs Harbour and had a great run down the coast. It was still early when we reached the turnoff to Tuncurry, so we kept driving and eventually pulled into Karuah and booked into the Big4 for 2 nights. We walked around the Park and decided that this would be a good spot to spend some time, when next up this way. It’s on the River and there are places to tie up the tinnie near the jetty. The locals told me they are catching flathead up near the road bridge.

October 24^th, After a quiet day we went to the Karuah RSL Club for dinner and Val played Bingo at 7pm. She won a $10 club voucher on the first game. The Club had been completely renovated since we were there last and we were very impressed. The meals were very good.

October 25^th, Arrived at Sydney Gateway Holiday Park to find out that it had new owners. The NRMA took an offer “too good to refuse” and the old managers have moved to another Park down the coast. At 4.30pm I dropped Val off at Greg & Dianne’s house and went to pick up Jessica and Annaliese from School. The girls were excited to see me and I couldn’t believe how much Jessica had grown. It was good to catch up with Greg, Dianne and the girls. We bought Chinese for dinner, which was very enjoyable.

October 26^th, We met up with Steven and Nikos at the Duck Inn (which is a Pub) at Chippendale, for Dinner. It took us 1½ hours to drive from the Caravan Park to the Pub, the traffic was horrific. We had a great meal and catch up and then drove Steven home, to Balmain. We went in for coffee and caught up with Margaret, before heading home.

October 27^th, After picking the girls up from School we went to Greg & Dianne’s and Val made Lasagne and salad for dinner. It was delicious and we followed that with Mulberry and Apple Pie with custard, Wow!

October 28^th, Dianne got me a great deal on 2 tyres for the Territory, from Jax Tyres at Blacktown. I had been putting this off for some time now, but the back tyres were badly worn on the inside edges. I picked Jess and Annie up and brought them back to the Caravan Park for a swim and some playtime on the jumping pillow. Greg and Dianne came over after work and we all enjoyed Val’s Stroganoff and rice, followed by rice custard and rhubarb. We finished off a great night with Greg and myself playing Table tennis with the girls. We leave for Dunleith Caravan Park at The Entrance in the morning.