Iluka, 2010

June 26th, This is a great Caravan Park, right on the Clarence River, clean amenities and has its own boat ramp. I won’t be using the boat ramp, as it is far too steep for me and there are other places close by to put the boat into the River. We spent to-day checking out the local Shops. No big Shopping Plaza s in this Town, still they have all that’s necessary, 2 Supermarkets, Bakery, Servo and Bottle Shop, which covers our necessities. We were recommended to visit the Marina, as the seafood is fresh local caught and delicious.

June 27th, I decided to design a hitch for the front of the tinnie so that I could use the car to get the boat out of the water. I noticed 2 boats, like mine, that had clamp on wheels and had made up a towing bar using the standard trailer hitch. I priced a trailer hitch at the local Boat Shop and they were $50. By the end of the day I had a rough design that I thought would work and should be cheap to make. My problem would be finding material locally, so that’s a task for to-morrow.

June 28th, Went to the local Hardware Store looking for anything that I could make my boat towing hitch from and did see a large shelf support bracket, made of flat bar material, a bit narrow but had possibilities. Then I went to the Chandlery and was unable to find any suitable material but his trailer hitch was only $30. A thorough search of the shelves could not locate the one the computer said was in stock. After discussing the problem with the Chandlery Guy and showing him my sketch, he suggested a search of the old workshop out the back to see what we could find. Lo & behold, he found a strip of scrap 3mm thick aluminium, long enough to make up my design and we agreed that it would be strong enough to meet the towing requirements. After passing over $1.45, all the change I had in my pocket, I rushed back to the Caravan Park to begin moulding my design into shape. After a trial tow around the Caravan Park, I was happy but needed to make some minor improvement to my hitch design.

June 29th, I went back to the Hardware to buy some more bolts to finalise the boat towing hitch. All up cost was now around $4. I completed the modifications and fixed the clamp on wheels with screws that located in holes drilled through the rib along the side of the boat. This was necessary to ensure that the wheels could not twist while being towed. I drove to the little beach area at the end of the Park and put the boat in the water. The towing hitch passed the test with flying colours. I set off to locate the local fish population, my new fishfinder was working well, with water depths up to 40 ft in places and plenty of fish on the sonar screen. I did catch 3 flathead and a couple of bream, but all babies. Disappointing not to get anything to take home. I had 2 problems with getting the boat in & out of the water. The sandy bottom in the water was too soft and the wheels kept getting bogged, making it difficult to maneuver and it was impossible to re-fit the wheels to the boat while still out in the water, due now to the need to position the locating screws into their mating holes. I have decided to try leaving the wheels on the boat to avoid the refitting problem.

June 30th, Went out fishing, leaving the wheels on the boat and it did not make any difference to the way it performed, so, happy with that solution. Took a cut lunch with me to-day, at Val’s suggestion, so I could stay out as long as I wished. Great Idea

but still didn’t help me catch “keepable” fish. Disaster struck as I was trying to drag the boat out of the water on to the beach ready for hook up to the car. The wheels had buried themselves in the watery sand and as I wrestled to free them, the boat moved forward sharply and knocked me back to fall into the shallow water, never a dull moment with me. Of course I had an audience, two other boats were coming in at the same time, so, wet to the waist, gumboots full of water, I carried on hooking up the boat and heading home. Yes, I did have my wallet in my back pocket, will I ever learn!

July 1st, It’s overcast and bitterly cold to-day so I’m giving the fishing a rest. I have decided to use the concrete boat ramp down at the other end of the Park, next time I go fishing. It will be a lot safer. Val is busy patchworking with her last “Spotlight” purchases.

July 2nd, Rained all day and was very cold.

July 3rd, To-day we moved from site 6 to site 40, on the waterfront, for our last 3 days. We would have stayed at Iluka longer, as we do like this area and it’s a nice Park, but it meant moving to another site and that’s a lot of work. It is School Holidays so I wasn’t surprised. We went into Maclean for lunch and to do some shopping, Val needed some patchwork supplies. We were pleased to find that they were having a Scottish Tartan Day Celebration and watched some dancing & pipe band music. I finished setting up the Van when we returned to the Park.

July 4th, Cold southerly winds all day which made the river too rough for fishing. I likened it to the surf at Bondi.

July 5th, It was overcast and cold but I was determined to go out fishing, even though rain was threatening. This is our last day as we leave in the morning for Tweed Heads. So with my cut lunch on board, I set off at 11am to try my luck. As you can imagine, we did get a shower of rain but I had taken my trusty umbrella, which must have been a strange sight to the other fisherman out there. I arrived back at the Van at 3pm and my only catch for the day was a Stingray, very disappointing. A quick coffee and I packed up ready to leave in the morning.

Coffs harbour 2010

June 23rd, Rained off & on all day & night, but we walked into Town to keep Val’s 2pm appointment, at the Post Office, for her British Passport application. I decided to do my Aussie Passport renewal while I was there. No problems for me, just fill out the form, have my photo taken and get it signed by someone that has known me for more than 12 months and go to a Post Office to lodge it all. Val on the other hand was another story, first, I have to go onto the Internet and print her Application Form, then, because she has changed her name since her Birth Certificate was issued, she has to provide our Marriage Certificate. No problem, we had it with us in our folder, but it was only the Official Certificate issued by the Church back in 1965 and is now not acceptable as a valid document by the Passport Office. So Val had to fill out another form to get a copy of the Official Marriage Register, at a cost of $85 and a 10 day wait for it to be sent to our mailing address. What a hassle, Val was quite distraught by now so off to Spotlight we went, to chill out, and a visit to Coffs Ex Services Club for dinner, a few wines and a flutter finally calmed her down. Nikos rang to chat with Val and between himself and Steven they were able to help us decide on the course of action to follow to finalise our Passport problems. We will now be able to fix that all up when we reach Brisbane.

June 24th, The rain stopped, the Sun is shining, so we decided to stay another night in Coffs Harbour before moving on. This Caravan Park is very good, is in Town, an easy walk to the Shops and the amenities are being updated. Our main reason to come here, on this visit to Coffs, was to check out the boating/fishing opportunities in the adjoining creek. I decided against its suitability, too small and not inviting.

June 25th, Left Coffs Harbour and headed for Iluka and on the way, called into Red Rock to visit Gerry, a friend of Val’s Mum who spends 2 months each year at the Caravan Park there. We were impressed with Red Rock Caravan Park and will return for a stay some time in the future. It’s a suitable place for putting our boat into the river to do a bit of fishing. We booked into the Riverside Tourist Park, at Iluka but could only get a 10 day stay, as it is a popular spot.

South West Rocks, 2010

1st June, Headed up the Highway for South West Rocks and booked into the South West Rocks Tourist Park, for a week. Got a waterfront site on Back Creek and I’m told the fish are biting. Sounds good to me and depending on the weather could stay longer. We drove around Town to see if anything had changed since our last visit and top up our grocery supplies. Dropped into the Country Club for a chardy and a flutter on the pokies, no luck. I put my name down for Poker, only $5 to play, started at 6.30pm. It was Texas Hold’em Poker, which I had never played but had watched on late night TV. I only lasted 3 hands before I was cleaned out, no idea what I was doing, so I’m not surprised. I stayed to watch the Tournament to its conclusion, that really is my best position in this card game.




2nd June, It rained all day, so no chance to put the boat in the water. We were shocked to see the devastation caused by the Cyclone that hit Lennox Head to-day. It’s not that far up the coast from here and passed through their Caravan Park, wrecking some of the Vans.

5th June, The rain has gone, the sun is shining and the boat is finally in the creek. With 1.5 hours of daylight left, I decided to try the fishing in the creek. I came home with 2 flathead, caught on the drift with the tide running out.

6th June, To-day is my 70th Birthday, boy that sounds old, and after breakfast I am ready for the expected family phone calls, mobile in my pocket, etc. I went into the Van to do the breakfast dishes and was brushing my teeth when, there was a loud banging on the wall of the Van. I opened the door, false teeth in hand, to find Greg and Steven smiling from ear to ear and wishing me a Happy Birthday. WOW, what a surprise, they had flown up to Port Macquarie then hired a car and driven up to South West Rocks, to surprise me. After a settling down cuppa, they gave me a joint family present of a Fish Finder for the boat, something I have wanted for a long time. Greg also gave me hand made Birthday Cards from Jessica and Annaliese, they were fantastic. I was then told to get changed as we were going down to Port Macquarie for lunch. Lunch was at Sails Resort and was thoroughly enjoyed by us all. We saw the boys off on their return flight to Sydney. On the drive back to South West Rocks we couldn’t believe what a totally unexpected and thoroughly enjoyable day we both had.

7th June, Started fitting the fish finder to the boat but ran out of time, so will finish it off to-morrow. Went out fishing for the last hour of daylight, but no luck to-day.

8th June, Booked another weeks stay at this Park, so that means that we will be leaving on Tuesday 15th June, unless we change our minds. I finished fitting the fish finder and went out for a test run. It works but I need to work out how to set up the program and understand the picture on the screen. I can read the depth but didn’t see any indication of fish on the screen, even though I caught 5 bream and 3 flatheads. They were all undersize so went back into the creek to grow bigger. I had an early dinner and went to the Country Club at 6.30pm for Poker. It was a lot more enjoyable to-night, as I played conservatively and stayed in for approx. 1.5 hrs before I was knocked out. A lot of fun for just $5.







9th June, Quiet day doing a bit of reading & relaxing. Not enough water in the creek to go out fishing. After dinner we went to the Country Club, Val played Bingo and we had a little flutter on the pokies.

10th June, We had a wander around the shops in Town and then did a round trip drive out to the Trial Bay Goal, Smokey Beach Lighthouse, Bi-Lo Shopping Centre then back home to the Caravan Park.



11th June, Clean up day for us, Val did inside the Van and I took everything out of the Car, then culled and re-packed. We went to the Country Club at 6pm for the Surf & Turf Raffle and Val won on the last draw, a tray of prawns. The Park filled up to-day with The Queens Birthday long week-end starting to-morrow.



12th June, We went to check out the local Markets and were surprised how good they were. They had a good range of most things found at any small markets but included a lot of clothes and shoes, as well. Val picked up a few things for the girls, to go into their next parcel.



13th June, I took the boat out and did a little fishing in the creek and came home with 2 small flathead. Started to rain again to-night, no good for the families up for the long week-end.



14th June, It rained all night and still overcast and showery to-day. Went out for a fish, in-between showers, no luck to-day. Our Socceroos lost to Germany 4 nil in the World Cup last night, not a good start. We extended our stay here for an additional week, so will now be leaving here on Tuesday 22nd June.



15th June, The tides are right for me to go out fishing after breakfast each day, so to-day I caught a 35cm Bream & a 48cm Flathead, couldn’t be happier. We went to Kempsy to replenish Val’s knitting and craft supplies. After dinner, I went off to the Country Club for Poker, still learning.

16th June, I now have a favourite fishing spot, to-day I caught a 54cm Flathead, impressive eh! That’s 4 fish meals for Val & she loves that. State of Origin was a big disappointment to-night, I don’t know the answer and we don’t seem to be able to topple the Qld. Team.



17th June, It’s Val’s Birthday (21 again) and was the coldest day this year, never saw the sun at any time and rained through the afternoon. I had planned on taking her to the Country Club for dinner but a late decision was made to celebrate to-morrow night to do the Turf & Surf Raffle, as well.



18th June, We went to the Country Club for Surf & Turf Raffle and had the “all u can eat” buffet dinner. Val won a meat tray and we enjoyed the Buffet. I watched the football while Val had a flutter on the pokies. Val enjoyed her Birthday celebration night out.

June 20th, Over the last 2 days, Val has been busy with her knitted “ping pong” scarves, sewing and craft work, while I went out fishing. I caught 3 Bream, all around 26-27cms. Val has decided that Bream is her favourite fish to eat. Val has also kept the local birds happy with a daily feeding.



June 21st, The car went in to the local Mechanic to-day to get a complete brake pad replacement and all the discs machined, at a cost of $560. We spent the afternoon packing up the boat, caravan and car ready to leave in the morning.



June 22nd, We left South West Rocks for Coffs Harbour and on the way through, stopped off in Urunga to have a coffee break with Sandra, a very old and dear friend, who was up there on Holidays. At Coffs Harbour we booked into the Harbour City Tourist Park, for 2 nights, as Val has an appointment to renew her British Passport at the Post Office in Town.

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.