Banaraby, 2010

August 17th, We left sunny Brisbane and travelled to Maryborough, with a stop for lunch at a Matilda Roadhouse, just before Maryborough. We stayed at Wallace Caravan Park. They were very full so, to save unhooking the Van, we accepted a road site in the back corner where we could still connect to a power point. The TV reception was not too bad with the old analogue connection. They are on digital but you need to have a vertical aerial to receive a signal and our windguard was of no use.

August 18th, On our way to Benaraby we stopped for fuel and light lunch at Mirriam Vale. We booked into the Boyne River Tourist Park (Big4) for 13 nights. It’s a nice park, on the river and has 2 boat ramps and we are told there are plenty of fish. We drove into Gladstone, only 20 minutes away, for me to visit Centrelink while Val did some food shopping. When we arrived back at the Park, we drove down to the river for a quick look around only to find the typical North Queensland “Crocodile Warning” sign. There had been a recent sighting, so it said. I checked with the Office and they told me that The Parks and Wildlife People had been out and checked the river without finding any sign of croc activity, so the general consensus is that it has moved out of the area.

August 19th, Took the boat off the car today and got it ready to launch into the Boyne River. I pumped up the tyres on the boat wheels and found that one had a slow leak. My spare boat tyre was also flat so when we drove to Tannum Sands, to check out their Shopping Centre, I had a new tube fitted at the Tannum Tyre Centre. We were surprised to find that Tannum Sands was a large Coles Supermarket Centre and about half the distance than going to Gladstone. I rang the Windscreen Wizard (found them in the local phone book) and booked the car in to have the cracked windscreen replaced, 8.30am to-morrow.

August 20th, About 9.15 am The Windscreen Wizard arrived (Shannon) with a young assistant. Rain was threatening so I raised the Caravan awning up a couple of notches and drove the front of the car under the awning, just in case it rained. The old glass didn’t want to come out easily but 1-1/4 hours later the job was completed. They just got the new windscreen in place as a shower of rain arrived and was blowing under the awning. A great job, professionally handled under slightly difficult conditions. After lunch we went for a drive to Tannum Sands and Boyne Island then back to The Awoonga Dam which backs up Awoonga Lake. As we entered the Dam area we came upon a Wallaby with a joey in its pouch, how special. It was very tame, so obviously used to seeing people and cars. The Awoonga Dam has been stocked with 3 million Barramundi and is one of the Dams on the “Barra Trail”. There was a Barramundi Competition starting to-day and finishing to-morrow. It was a catch and release, lure only, competition where each catch had to be photographed and entered on their “brag” sheet. We couldn’t go and watch the fished being weighed in, which was a pity. A few of the competitors were staying at our Caravan Park.

August 21st, Caught up on a few caravan repairs and took a rod down to the river at dusk, to try my luck. I came back with a 27cm Bream, which I filleted and Val enjoyed for her dinner.

August 22nd, Launched the boat and spent a couple of hours fishing, on a run-out tide, without any luck. I was using cooked prawns for bait, same as last night but couldn’t get the fish interested during the day.

August 23rd, Same story as yesterday with this mornings fishing expedition. Decided to try off the bank again, just on dark, and came home at 7.30pm with a 39cm unidentified fish. I had no idea what it was and nobody in the Park was any wiser. It was fun to catch as it put up a good fight and at one stage jumped clear out of the water. Val wasn’t having anything to do with this fish until it was properly identified and specified a good table quality. I gutted the fish and put it in the fridge until I could go to the Tackle Shop to-morrow for identification.

August 24th, No fishing to-day. I went to Boyne Island Fishing Tackle Shop and put in a fishing rod for repair. They were able to positively identify my unknown fish as an “Oxeye Herring”. On the rating scale for table quality it was rated as 1, which is the lowest. They said it was edible but would be full of bones. When I think of Herrings I picture those small fish soaking in oil in a tin, so once again we “live and learn”. Val is passing on this one so I might use it for bait. On the way back I had a haircut and then dropped off my spare boat wheel into the Tyre Centre at Tannum Sands, to have a new tube fitted. Not much point in carrying a flat spare around.

August 26th, It was overcast yesterday and rained all last night and to-day. So, nothing to report. Did a lot of reading and picked up my repaired boat wheel.

August 28th, The weather is back to “Beautiful one day and Perfect the next”, so yesterday went fishing in the boat but caught nothing. To-day I decided to just throw a line in off the bank and caught 2 bream (25cm & 30cm) and 2 throwbacks (a hairtail bream and a butterfish). I was given a 34cm grunter by a couple fishing next to me. Val had the grunter for tea and said it was good.

August 30th, Didn’t catch any more fish and spent the afternoon packing up the boat and getting it up onto the car, with Val’s help. Picked up my repaired fishing rod from Boyne Island Marine and Tackle.

August 31st, Left Benaraby this morning and drove to Biggenden with a stop at Gin Gin for morning tea. We walked around Biggenden Township and grabbed some lunch before booking into The Mountain View Caravan Park for the night. We were surprised to find that if you book in for one night, they give you the second night “free”. This is a great spot to stay for people interested in National Park, hiking etc. There are 3 National Parks around Biggenden. We will be moving on to Toowoomba to-morrow, we are now on the return trip back to Sydney.

Brisbane, 2010

August 7th, While driving to Brisbane we decided to stay at a better Caravan Park than the two we had used previously, when staying in Brisbane. We booked into the Gateway Village Resort (Big4) at Rochedale. Very impressive Park, so we were pleased with our choice and will now make this our place to stay, whenever visiting Brisbane. We couldn’t believe how cold it was at night here, much colder than Tweed Heads.

August 8th, Went to Brian (Val’s brother) & Julies place at Thornlands for a BBQ lunch. Rebecca, Nigel and little Sophie were there also. Brian, Nigel, Val & myself are all dieting so we had a nice steak, seafood and salad lunch, very healthy. It was good to catch up and Val was looking forward to meeting & playing with Sophie (Rebecca and Nigels 11 months old daughter). She was very cute and a happy smiling baby.



August 9th, Took my Centrelink Rent Assistance form to the Caravan Park Office for signing only to find that this Park does not sign off any Centrelink forms. So, off to Centrelink I went armed with my receipt to prove my payment of site fees. After lunch I decided to find the cause for the slow drainage of water from the sink in our Van. Lo and behold, I not only found the cause of the problem but also Val’s missing peeling knife. It had slipped down the small drain hose until it reached the bend that then ran underneath the floor to the back of the Van and there it was stuck. I tried to get the knife to come back up the hose using a straightened wire coat hanger but that didn’t work, so I had to remove the fitting on the outlet end of the drain hose, crawl under the Van to remove the clamps holding the hose to the floor, allowing me to open the bend in the hose then flush the knife through. That worked, so it was only a matter of putting it all back to-gether.



August 10th, It rained all last night and stayed with us right through the day and night. We went shopping in preparation for an arranged family BBQ at our Caravan Park to-morrow.



August 11th, It stopped raining around 8am this morning but still looked likely to rain some more, so a quick phone call had us packing all our BBQ food up and heading to Brian & Julies for lunch. As it turned out the skies cleared to a fine afternoon, typical. We went to Redlands Bay RSL for a flutter and left having made our donation to the Clubs continued financial success.

August 12th, We went to Garden City Shopping Centre at Mt. Gravatt, to keep our 12 noon appointment, at the Post office, to have our Passport Applications processed. That went without a hitch and my Australian Passport will be at Cardiff in 2 weeks, Val’s British Passport will be there in 4 weeks. We then made our way to Forrest Lake to visit an old friend, Doreen, who had moved up here from Salamander Bay to be with her Family. Our navigator (Doris) was totally confused as the road works in progress were not known to her and we arrived much later than expected and rather frustrated. It was great to catch up with Doreen and she took us to see the site where her new house is being built and was pleased to find the Concreters there pouring the slab. Doreen then took us to the Golf Club, within the Estate, for a very nice lunch. On the way back to her place we stopped at her Storage Shed and picked up 2 “Porcelain” Dolls to take back to Sydney for Jessica & Annaliese. Doreen had promised a doll for each of the girls before she moved up to Brisbane. After a coffee with Doreen we bid her good-bye till next time and headed for “Spotlight” on the way back to our Caravan Park.

August 13th, To-day we headed for Redland Bay to visit our friends, Nerida & Rob, who we met last year while travelling through WA & SA. It was good to catch up and to have a few quiet drinks with them. We drove into the City to pick up Nikos from the Emporium Hotel at 7.30pm and walked across to the Makabah Restaurant (Turkish cuisine) for a very enjoyable meal. After Dinner we went to the Airport to pick up Steven, whose flight from Sydney had come in early, and then all went back to the Emporium bar for a few drinks and to catch up.

August 14th, Picked up Steven & Nikos from their Hotel and brought them back to the Caravan Park for lunch. After lunch we all went over to Brian & Julies place for afternoon tea then back into the City to have dinner at the Liber-Tine Restaurant (French cuisine). After a great meal we dropped Nikos back to the Emporium and Val, Steven & myself went on to The Treasury Casino to try our luck. Our first problem was to find a street parking spot, I had the boat on top of the car so Parking Stations are out. We eventually found a place to park down by The Botanical Gardens and walked back to the Casino. Val went off to play the poker machines and Steven & myself headed for the $15 minimum, Blackjack Table. We were both doing well, at one stage Steven had well over $200 in front of him and I was holding my own. We called it quits around 10.30pm, Steven was down to his $100 starting money, I had $170 so had won $70 and Val had lost all her $100 to the Pokies. It was a great way to finish off a great day.

August 15th, To-day Steven, Nikos, Brian, Julie, Rebecca, Nigel and Sophie all came to our Caravan Park for a BBQ lunch. Sophie ran all around the concrete paths, in her walker, and wore right through the toes of her leather shoes. It was a great family get together, enjoyed by everyone, with Sophie being the life of the party, of course. We have never seen a more happier baby, always smiling. We dropped Steven & Nikos back to the Airport at 5pm for their 6pm flight back to Sydney.

August 16th, Caught up on our washing in the morning and went to Brian & Julies for afternoon tea, to say our final goodbyes. To-morrow we travel further north to Benaraby (just below Gladstone) with an overnight stop at Maryborough on the way.

Tweed Heads, 2010

July 6th, We left Iluka in the rain and travelled to Tweed Heads, along the much worked on winding Pacific Highway. It was the slowest trip as we were stopped at roadworks, many times. We booked into the Boyds Bay Holiday Park at Tweed Heads, for 2 weeks. The rain had stopped so I was able to set up the Caravan and get the boat off the car as well. This Park is on the Tweed River and has its own boat ramp, we can see the ramp and water from our site, so this is our type of Caravan Park.

July 7th, It was wet and windy all day, so went to the Tweed City Shopping Centre for a wander around. Joan rang to let us know that Robert & herself were driving up from Newcastle, to spend a week holidaying with us from the 30th July. We have now extended our stay until the 7th August and secured a Cabin for Joan & Robert. We booked our tickets for the Australian Outback Spectacular 2, featuring the “Heroes of the Light Horse”, on the 4th August. The State of Origin was a great game to watch and just when NSW thought they had it won, Qld. scored in the dying minutes of the game and secured a white wash, so sad.

July 8th, Wet and windy again to-day, so no chance of getting the boat in the water.

July 9th, It was overcast this morning but I put the boat into the water and went to try the fishing. It was bedlam on the river, there was a Bream Fishing Competition on this week-end and powerful speed boats were ripping up and down the river. I managed to catch a 32cm Flathead, undersize, so it went back into the water. We were supposed to have a “Welcome for the Winterers” free BBQ to-day in the Caravan Park but it was cancelled due to the bad weather. It did rain all afternoon. I noticed that something had hit the car windscreen and causes a foot long crack to appear. I have no idea what or when it occurred, so need to get a quote to replace it.

July 10th, Had a quiet morning, reading, and after lunch we drove to Fingal Head to watch the “weigh-in” for the first day of the “Bream Fishing Comp”. We had met 2 of the entrants, Dave Salino and Richard Creighton. Richard was a boat owner and was on the site next to us. It was very interesting, each boat owner had to take a non boat-owner participant with them for the day, selected by random draw. It was strictly a lure fishing competition. All the fish had to be kept alive and after the weigh-in, returned to the water and must swim away. If a fish did not survive, it didn’t count. The aim of the competition was to have the highest weight of catch with up to 5 legal sized fish, on each of the two days of the Comp.

July 11th, We went to the final day “weigh-in” for The Bream Fishing Comp and stayed for the Presentations. The boat owners competed for money prizes, with first place being worth $2500 down to 10th place at $150. The non-boaties prizes were goods to the same value as the owners. The Comp. was sponsored by Ugly Stick and had 45 boats entered (90 competitors). Dave has said he would come back next week-end to take me out and show me how to fish with lures.

July 12th, Went out fishing, no luck to-day. Called into the Ford Service Dep’t after lunch and was told my 90000 Klm Service would cost $390. On the way back I spotted a local Mechanic, advertising “Log Book Services” so I asked for a price for my 90Klm Service and booked the car in for Wednesday when he told me, “around $200”. It pays to shop around.



July 13th, Went out fishing again, the River was very busy, not surprising, as it is School Holidays. I had powerboats, River Cruise Boat, Jet Skis and Fishing Boats sharing the River with me, then to top it all off, as I was drifting on the outgoing tide and about 50 metres from the road bridge when I looked up and was shocked to spot a large black body floating in the River just in front of me, of course it was a Spear fishing guy. What a relief! I caught 5 Bream to-day but they were all undersize. I am going to give lure fishing a good try, so went to a Tackle Shop and bought some new line and lures. I have been told of another spot where they have been catching fish, so will try that to-morrow.



July 14th, It was overcast and windy this morning, so will not be going fishing to-day. The car went in at 9am for its 90k service. With an additional handbrake adjustment, the total cost was $215.

July 15th, Went fishing to-day, armed with lures and cooked prawns for bait. Caught a lot of undersize fish, all but one on prawn, bream, whiting, flathead, flounder but just before calling it quits for the day I caught a 35cm flathead, which Val cooked and enjoyed for dinner. At last, the drought has broken and I have caught my first keeper at Tweed Heads. Val is keeping busy knitting Boleros in “feathers” wool, for the girls.



July 17th, Went out fishing but still not catching a legal size fish

. I’ll keep trying. Went to South Tweed Heads Sports Club for dinner to-night, meals were great, met up with our neighbours in the Park (Pat & Jerry) and a Rock Band was playing, which we all enjoyed. Val had a flutter on the pokies and came home with $320, very handy.



July 19th, Didn’t go fishing to-day, so added some angle brackets to my boat hitch to strengthen the design. It was bending up when reversing, not good.



July 21st, It’s a long time between drinks when it comes to my fishing abilities, but to-day I caught a bream and a flathead, just legal. After filleting & skinning, Val ate the whole lot in one meal. She suggested that she should have used the rolling pin to make them look bigger, how rude.



July 23rd, Went to The Sports Club at 10am for table tennis, where I was made very welcome and enjoyed the exercise.



July 24th, We packed lunch and headed off to Southport, firstly to make a stop at Spotlight then on to The Home Show, with included some Caravan & Camping exhibits. It was an interesting Show but didn’t have many Caravans, which was our main interest.



July 25th, Had an early dinner and went to the Sports Club for table tennis.

July 26th, Packed up everything and moved to site 70, only 3 sites away. It’s not my favourite move as it’s almost as much work as moving 300 klms. When you extend your stay you can’t always stay on the same site.





July 27th, Val had her hair done to-day while I went out fishing. The rain chased me in eventually but I was very happy to bring in a 41cm flathead. Val enjoyed one of the fillets for her dinner.



July 29th, Too windy & wet yesterday & to-day to go fishing, in the boat. It stopped raining about 6pm, so threw a line in off the bank and caught 2 bream (25 & 30cm)

July 30th, Joan & Robert (our friends from Cardiff, Newcastle) arrived today to holiday with us for our last week in Tweed Heads. We went to the Sports Club for dinner and raffles. The meal was good but no prizes in the raffles.

August 1st, Robert and myself have been out fishing for 2 days and I’ve caught nothing to date. Robert, on the other hand, has caught a small bream & flounder on Saturday. We set off to-day to try a new area that had been recommended and wasn’t doing any good, when, just to add to my woes, I was pulled up by The Waterways for a complete check of my tinny and safety equipment. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to put an extra lifejacket into the boat for Robert and this was deemed to be the most serious offence and could not be excused, so I’m now $100 poorer, when I pay the fine. After a quick stop to pick up the missing lifejacket we carried on fishing and came home on dark with a 37cm bream & 2 flatheads (40 & 43cms).



August 2nd, It was a windy day but we still ventured out for a fish. The going was very bad when we got out into the main part of the river, the wind was much stronger and we were drifting at a very fast rate of knots. To-day was my day as I finally caught a 37cm flathead but the conditions were so bad that we called it a day and went home.

August 4th, We all went to the Twin Towns Services Club at 11am to see “The Drifters” Show. It was fantastic and we all thoroughly enjoyed the show, this was our kind of music. We stayed for a light lunch at the Club, a flutter on the Pokies and for a $20 investment came home with $190. We just had time to get ready to go to Helensvale to see The Outback Spectacular Show 2, featuring The Australian Light Horsemen. It was a great show, with a very good 3 course meal, and we were amazed at the abilities of the horses and the skill of the riders and all the special effects. I would recommend this show to anyone.



August 6th, Had a final fish this morning, without any luck, then packed up ready to leave to-morrow morning for Brisbane. Joan & Robert left for Cardiff with an overnight stop at Port Macquarie.

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.