June 28th, We packed up and headed off for the
Budgewoi Holiday Park. We decided to stay in that area as this is where we are
very likely to settle, when we find the right Village to settle into. The trip
from Sydney was only to be a 90 minute drive to the Park but unfortunately that
wasn’t to be! A V-Double caught fire on the Sydney to Newcastle Freeway,
blocking 2 lanes just before the Hawksberry River Bridge, and we took 1 ¼ hours
to get past that accident. After calling into The Caltex on the freeway, for a
quick lunch at Maccas, we finished our trip to Budgewoi Holiday Park. We booked
in for a 2 week stay, with the option to extend. Our site is on a corner, as
close to the lake as you could get, and there is a road and then a strip of
grass to the water (perfect). A gale force wind was blowing across the lake so
did a minimal set up and decided to leave setting up the awning and annexe
until tomorrow. The Amenities here are very good and spotlessly clean. I took a
walk down to their boat ramp and wasn’t very impressed. The water is very
shallow and the edge was piled up with seaweed blown in by the wind, good for
launching a canoe or hopefully a 3 metre Tinny.
June 29th, It was still very blowy this morning
but with a little perseverance I managed to put up the Annexe and finish
setting up. I took the Tinny off the car and started to fit my “clamp on”
wheels, only to find that one of them had stripped a thread and would not
tighten up. Just what I need, another problem to sort out.
June 30th, We drove down to Toukley to check out
the Shopping Centre. I put my paperwork into Centrelink, then found the Library
and took out a few Westerns while Val browsed around the shops.
July 1st, Today we drove a little further and
travelled 10 minutes to Lake Haven Shopping Centre. It is a large Complex with
a K-Mart, where I was able to buy a cheap battery ($66) for my Tinny.
July 2nd, I took another trip down to Lake Haven
to have a look around Bunnings. I was thinking that I could rebuild my boat ‘clamp-on
wheel’ with a new piece of threaded rod and a nut, however, being undecided on
the repair job, I left for home with a fold-up camp shovel and an under cupboard
mounted light, to put over the kitchen sink in the Van. After lunch I did the
priority job (for Val) and fitted up the light over the sink.
July 3rd, I pulled the Boat wheel assembly apart
and got the idea that if I turned the threaded rod around, re-drilled and
re-fitted the handle, that the worn section would be in a different position
and have enough thread contact to tighten up. After doing all that, I tried it
out and it didn’t work, Bugger. After lunch we went to Lake Haven Shopping
Centre again and bought a new Kettle from K-Mart (our not very old cheap Kettle
was leaking) and I went to Bunnings and bought a length of screwed rod and some
nuts to fit, as I should have done yesterday.
July 4th, Today’s project is to rebuild the boat
clamp-on wheel assembly. I made up a new threaded rod piece and fitted the old
handle. I then cut off the old nut from the lower section, ground down the nut
to fit into the square tube and knocked it into position in the tube, ready for
welding. I will get it welded up on Sunday by Cory, Joan and Robert’s son.
July 5th, The boat ramp (in the Park) was used to
launch a Jet Ski today, so it’s suitable for them as well. We went to Lake
Haven so Val could buy a “Baby Shower” present for a party on Sunday. We went
to the Christmas in July event in the Park and had a great Spit Roast Dinner
and Entertainment (including Santa).
July 6th, I dropped Val off at the Baby Shower
Party at 1.30pm and went to Robert’s house and Cory did my welding job. Robert
got a phone call to take a chain saw and fuel to his daughter (Kirrie’s) place,
as Rick wanted to cut down some trees in his yard. We all jumped into Robert’s
car and went over to watch them working, somebody has to supervise. Cory did
all the chainsaw work, while Rick, Scott and Callan stacked it all on the
nature strip, ready for the Council clean-up. We went to pick up Val and Joan
from the baby shower and go back to their place, to pick up our car and head
home. It was late, so we stopped off at Maccas in Swansea for a burger and chips;
it was easier than getting something to eat when we got home.
July 7th, I went to Specsavers at Lake Haven for
an eye test and ordered new glasses, then did a bit of shopping. After lunch, I
fitted the repaired clamp-on wheel to the Tinny and started on setting the boat
up.
July 8th, I finished setting up the boat and put
the cover over it. When I went to get out my fishing rods from the Tunnel Boot,
they were all caught up with the other stuff in there. I started to pull things
out of the tunnel boot and then thought I might as well clear it all out, sweep
it out and repack everything back, tidily. The battery that I bought for the
boat was flat, so I put it on the charger overnight.
July 9th, I put the new battery into the boat, so
now the fish finder was working but I had to make some repairs to the lights
before they were working. I’m not likely to be out in the boat after dark but
it pays to be prepared. I set up my fishing rods with new hooks and sinkers, so
now I’m really ready to go for a fish, when the weather improves.
July 11th, Joan and Robert came down for Dinner
and Tiles and we had a very enjoyable night.
July 13th, Steven and Ed came up from Sydney
today for Lunch and at 2 o’clock we took them over to Bevington Shores, to show
them where we hope to live and we had a look at 2 “pre-loved” homes while we
were there. No.134 was over our price range and the bedrooms were very small
but didn’t need any work to be done. The 2nd house, No.34, was in
our price range at $99k but we could only look at the outside as the key had
been misplaced. We looked through the front door and could see that the carpets
had already been removed. The front verandah was new and we had a view down to
Lake Munmorah. There is work needed but we said we would come back tomorrow,
when they had a key, and finish our inspection. Steven and Ed said they were
impressed with the look of Bevington Shores, it was better than they had
expected.
July 14th, The key to No.34 had been found, so we
went back to Bevington Shores to look through it. We liked the layout and size
of the rooms but that was where it finished. The old style kitchen was very old
and tired; definitely have to be replaced, including the floor covering. The
bathroom and laundry were combined, that would have to changed by moving the
laundry out to the shed, which also has to be replaced. The shower is a plastic
module, so new glass shower and tiles are needed. All the internal walls are
timber wall paneling, which we don’t want, so we would replace them with
Gyprock. Finally, the carport roof has to be raised, as it runs across the
kitchen window. Our general impression
is this place is overpriced as it will need a complete renovation. However we
can see the potential and we put in an offer of $85k and we would replace the
carpet in the lounge and 2 bedrooms, at our cost. Now we have to wait for the
Vendors to respond.
July 15th, I dropped Val at Charlestown Square,
for her appointment at “Ella Bache” for a Facial. She has an Ella Bache gift card
that was a Birthday present. I went down to Robert’s place, at Cardiff, to help
him with an old Compressor that he had and needed an electric motor tested and
fitted. We were happy to see the motor running and the pressure coming up on
the gauge, so a few drinks and we headed home.
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