Darawank, December 2012

December 1^st, It was very hot today and the good weather had attracted a lot of ski boats and jet skis to the Park for the weekend. The day was especially great for a family group, that were just in front of our Van, when SANTA Skied in to deliver some presents.

December 3^rd, After a lovely hot weekend, it was raining this morning. The rain had petered out by lunch, so I took Patrick out for an afternoon fish but we didn’t have any luck, as what we did catch were all undersize.

December 4^th, went to see Dr. Islam again this morning. He was happy with the progress of my leg wound and the swelling had gone down. To give me value for money, he took my blood pressure which he said “was the blood pressure of a teenager” and to come see him again in 2 weeks for a final check up before we leave.

December 5^th, Stayed in today expecting to have TV guy call to see what could be done to about our TV digital reception, all part of the Government Program to make sure all us Pensioners were digital ready. When he hadn’t arrived by 4pm I rang their office to be told that he was called away to attend a Bushfire and another appointment would have to be made. I then went into Beaurepares at Tuncurry and had our car inspected for Rego. Gladly it passed without any problems.

December 7^th, Went out fishing with Patrick this morning, no luck again. It seems that all the larger fish have dropped their litter and left the area. After lunch I went around to Patrick’s place and helped him put together a colourbond locker that he had bought to store some of the excess that was in his shed. Val wasn’t hungry so Terri asked me to stay for dinner with them.

December 9^th, Terri and Val went to the local Sunday Markets in Forster while Patrick and I went out on another fruitless fishing trip. The girls arrived home around lunchtime, after a good morning out that included more than just Markets, as they did all the Opp. shops as well. During the afternoon while Val was going through her mornings purchases, she dropped her bottom partial plate (teeth) on the floor and they landed on the leg of a fold up chair and broke cleanly into two pieces. Fortunately we knew a Dental Mechanic in Forster that had done some work on Val’s teeth before, so we will go to see him tomorrow.

December 10^th, We called in to see Tim the Dental Mechanic and he said he could do the repair for $100 and to come back in 2 hours. We went to the Forster Shopping Centre and filled in the time then picked up Val’s teeth on the way home. We went around to Terri and Patrick’s place for a few drinks and a Roast lamb Dinner, which was delicious.

December 12^th, We rang Dianne to wish her a Happy Birthday for today and let her know that we would have her present when we came down to Sydney. Finally we had a visit from the Digital TV Guy today and He was completely thrown off with the “Winegard” aerial fitted to our Van and could not do anything to help us. He reported back to his office with our situation (never encountered before) as this was the first time he had come up against an aerial situation for a “mobile” Caravan. I had researched our problem and passed on my information. The best solution was to change our aerial to a satellite dish and that would give us the best reception anywhere we were in Australia, as we travel. We now have to wait for them to have their technical people assess our situation and get back to us.

December 14^th, Went out with Patrick fishing and came home with a 36cm flathead. Let’s hope the big ones are back again, as our time here is running out. Only 3 more days before we leave for Rouse Hill.

December 15^th, We went to The Tavern at Forster for Chinese Lunch with Terri and Patrick. We had a very enjoyable meal and a little flutter on the Pokies. We all pulled enough out of the Pokies to make it a very cheap outing.

December 16^th, Patrick was not well this morning as he had been up all night with the “runs”, so I went out for my last fishing trip on the Wallamba River by myself. I took some hand lines to see if I could catch a mud crab on a hand line, as we do at The Entrance. I didn’t have any luck with the crabs but I landed a 63cm Flathead. That was a PB for me and very exciting to catch. A few minutes later, I thought I had caught a snag on the bottom and started up the motor to try to get my line back. I realized that I had something on my line as I was chasing my line around the river and was able to reel it in a bit then it would run away pulling out the line off my reel. Finally it stopped and seemed to just be sitting on the bottom of the river. When I then pulled on my line to get it moving again, the line gave way at the hook. The popular belief of the locals was that I had hooked a Stingray.

December 17^th, I took the boat out of the River, loaded it up on the car, and packed up as much of our gear as I could. Terri and Patrick came around for a farewell dinner at our place and we had an early night, as we wanted an early start in the morning as we were calling into our storage shed at Salamander Bay, on the way, to pick up two boxes that belonged to Steven.