December 6th, 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 7th, 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 1st 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 8th, 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 9th, 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 10th, 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 11th, 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 12th, 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 14th, 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 17th, 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 19th, Packed up today ready to leave in the morning for Sydney, to spend Christmas with our Family.
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