Crescent Head, May 2011

May 10^th, We left Stockton this morning, heading north, destination unknown. As we travelled, Val looked at our maps and, we decided to go to Crescent Head. We holidayed there 8 or 10 years ago, long before we started caravanning, and remembered it as a Town we liked, so decided to go check the place out again. We booked into the only Caravan Park there, Crescent Head Holiday Park. We booked in for 2 weeks and spent the rest of the day setting up and looking around. It didn’t look like anything had changed over the years.

May 11^th, I drove into Kempsey to visit Centrelink and put in our paperwork. In the afternoon we walked around the Crescent Head shops and dropped into The Country Club, to find out when raffles, bingo etc. were on. 

May 12^th, We drove into Woolworths, in Kempsey, to do a big shop. Crescent Head only has a Foodworks Supermarket and their stock is limited. Before leaving Crescent Head I picked up our mail from the Post office. I had been waiting for a package from Steven and it arrived. He bought himself a new Laptop and gave his old (only 12 months old) Laptop to me, as my old one was playing up. We went to the Country Club for the Meat Raffles and a flutter. Didn’t win any meat but Val had a good run on the Pokies.

May 16^th, I’ve spent most of the week-end downloading off the old laptop and setting up the new one. All of this went very well, which for me was close to a miracle. An electronic whizz I am not. I packed up the old laptop and posted it back to Steven.

May 17^th, Val went to 7pm Bingo at The Country Club and won 3 - $5 vouchers, and then followed that up with a $100 win on the pokies. I went up at 9.45 pm to walk her home.

May 20^th, We went to The Country Club for the meat raffle, to-night, and Val won a very nice meat tray.

May 22^nd, I decided to have a fish in the Creek this morning, the tide was coming in and the weather was great. Killock Creek is just tidal backwater that seems to peter out into an irrigation drain and isn’t suitable for boating. The Park hires canoes for people to explore the shallow Creek waters, if that is their thing. I caught 4 bream and one flathead, unfortunately all undersize, but was a lot of fun.

May 23^rd, We took a walk up to the Shops and called in to The Country club for an afternoon drink. Val was having a little flutter and I had a spare $1 coin, so I popped it into a machine 3 down from where Val was playing. I was only playing 25 cents at a time and on my 2^nd press got the feature, which gave me over $100. I took out the $100, a great return on my $1. Val’s machine wasn’t giving her any joy, so she moved onto the one I had just won on and ended up coming home with her own $100, from the same machine. That’s what I call a good afternoon at the Club.

May 24^th, We were supposed to leave to-day but decided to stay for 3 more days and see some of the Malibu Surfboard Competition, before heading to Coffs Harbour to meet up with Val’s Brother and his wife (Brian and Julie) who  are coming down to spend  2 weeks with us in Coffs. I went fishing again, at the mouth of the creek, and caught a 27cm bream and a 38cm flathead.

May 25^th, Heavy rain and strong winds, this morning, was the worst weather we have had here. Val had to watch Masterchef, on TV, so sent me up to the Country Club for Dinner and to watch The “State of Origin” NRL Match between QLD and NSW. Unfortunately the Blues lost but it was a good close game. The Club was very busy tonight as the Malibu Surf Competition registrations were on as well.

May 26^th, We walked to the beach to watch the Malibu contestants ride the waves. They had approx. 200 entrants, of all age groups, who had travelled here from all over Australia. This was day 1 of the 3 day competition and I was wondering how the Judges would be able to identify the riders. I soon found out that each 5 called out were given a different coloured shirt to wear over their wetsuits, how easy. They were scored on the best of 3 runs. We were impressed with the skill of the surfers and couldn’t believe it when one contestant finished a perfect run in by doing a headstand on his board. We left the competition and went back to the Caravan, as it was time to pack up ready to leave for Coffs Harbour in the morning.

Stockton April 2011

April 26th, Arrived at Stockton Beach Tourist Park, not raining thankfully, after a wet pack up in Sydney. This is one of the Parks that we like, but like Dunleith it is very open to the weather.




April 29th, The weather has been wet and windy since we arrived so have done a lot of reading. The rain eased off this morning so I got out a couple of rods and went to find a fishing spot out of the wind. Lost a lot of bait but didn’t catch anything. Val was glued to the TV from 4pm till 11pm for Will & Kate’s wedding.



April 30th, Around 11am, there was a knock on the side of the Caravan, and Lo and behold, it was Carole and Rob (our friends from Charlestown) called in the say hello. What a pleasant surprise. We made arrangements to go to their place on Monday evening, for dinner and sequence. To-night we went to Joan and Roberts, for a baked Dinner and sequence, and had another enjoyable evening.



May 1st, Still getting those southerly winds but the rain has eased off. I went down to the Harbour at 11 am to watch the Powerboat Races. It was only one race lasting 1 hour. The course started opposite the Brewery in Newcastle and the circuit went out through the breakwall and along Stockton Beach and back. It was a very noisy contest, the bigger boats were constantly lapping the smaller boats, showers of spray were sent up when the boats were turning to roar back up the Harbour for the next lap. The going was pretty rough outside the Harbour, a lot of boats dropped out during the race and fortunately there weren’t any accidents. There was a good crowd lining both sides of the Harbour.



May 2nd, Val made her famous pastries to take to Carole and Robs tonight. After a tour of their house we enjoyed a lovely meal and played sequence till 1.30am. They are late nighters, like us.



May 3rd, We drove out to Salamander Bay, to deposit some unwanted items in our Storage Shed and have our annual Medical and Skin Cancer Checks. We did run into a few people we knew and caught up on the local happenings. We dropped into The Nelson Bay Bowling Club for a drink and Val made a profit from their poker machines.



May 5th, Yesterday I helped Val by putting on a load of washing. Always the helpful husband. When I pulled the clothes from the washing machine, to my surprise, my white socks and shirt were PINK. Val had put her new RED pants into the washing basket, and I threw it all in the machine. Thats what I thought you did with dirty clothes, if it can’t be washed by machine it shouldn’t be in the basket. That’s my last word on the subject. After lunch we took the Ferry across to Newcastle, I bought some replacement socks and Val had to go to the Millers Sale. After we cruised (on the Ferry) to Stockton we called into the Stockton RSL for a drink, and you wouldn’t want to know, we had to stay for the raffles. No meat tray but Val went home with a win on the Pokies.



May 6th, We met Joan and Robert at West’s Leagues Club at New Lambton, for dinner and a flutter. The meals were good, company was great and the pokies were kind, as Joan, Robert and Val all had good wins.



May 7th, As a result of my recent Cancer Scan, I had to go to the Medical Centre at Nelson Bay, this morning, and have a cancer cut out of my back. After about 8 stitches to hold me together, I drove home feeling like someone was permanently pinching my back. A very uncomfortable feeling. We met Carole and Rob at The Redhead Bowling Club for dinner tonight. The meals were very good and the servings were huge. We went back to their place for sequence and played from 8pm till 2am, incredible 6 hours.



May 8th, Mothers Day, both Steven and Greg called Val. They had both given Val her presents when we were in Sydney. I walked Val to the Stockton Bowling Club for raffles, dinner and a flutter, to celebrate MD. Val won a $12 voucher, we had a nice meal and Val won $150 on the pokies. To-morrow we pack up to leave on Tuesday morning for someplace north of here, yet to be decided.

Sydney, April 2011

April 17th, Booked into Sydney Gateway Holiday Park for 9 nights. After setting up we gathered up Jessica and Annaliese’s things and took them home, to Greg and Dianne. After catching up on all the family news, we headed back to the Van to clean up. We had a wet pack up when leaving Dunleith Caravan Park and had acquired a foul smell in the Van. After clearing out the Van of the wet mats etc, mopping the floors with disinfectant, the smell was slightly better. I bought Pizza for dinner and we had an early night.




April 18th, Jessica and Annaliese arrived around 8.45am, we were looking after them daytime, while Greg and Dianne were at work, till the Easter Holidays. I had my usual visit to the local Centrelink Office to put in my rent assistance paperwork. It was a sunny day, so I was able to lay out the floor mats from the tinnie, and a roll of carpet to dry. Robert had given us the carpet to line the top bunk. We use the top bunk as a storage shelf while travelling around. We all went around to Greg and Dainne’s place so Val could do her washing and stayed until they came home from work. Back at the Van, we were still getting whiffs of our bad smell and couldn’t pin it down.



April 19th, All the wet carpets were now dry and not responsible for the bad smell. I went searching for places to locate the source of our smelly problem. The last item I thought to clean out was my fishing box. As I went through the contents, lo and behold, I picked up 3 plastic bags of bait, left from my last fishing day when I took Rob out with me. I quickly disposed of the evidence and thoroughly washed and hosed out the fishing box and its contents. I was very happy to cop the blame and tell Val the smelly problem was solved. Dianne came to pick up the girls at 4.45pm, as we were meeting Steven and Margaret in Town for dinner. The traffic into Town was horrific, it took 1 ¾ hrs. to get to Darlinghurst. We had a quick drink at the Beauchamp Hotel before walking down to the Show Chef “Teppan-yaki” Restaurant for Dinner. This was the first time that Val and myself had been to Teppan-yaki, and it lived up to all that we had been told. The food is cooked on a very hot BBQ hotplate, right in front of where you are seated. The Chef is a not only experienced in this style of cooking but is comical and has the patter to go with his display of skills in food tossing. All the food was delicious and we were thoroughly fed and entertained by the end of the meal. Steven was the only one to catch the raw egg, on first toss, and Val was the only one of our group to catch the cooked egg in her mouth. We all caught our bowls of fried rice, flipped by our Chef, into a bowl we had to hold up in front of us. It was an experience that we won’t forget and can recommend that everybody should try it. We dropped Margaret and Steven home (Balmain) and was rewarded with a large piece of homemade pavlova, which I enjoyed back at the Van, for late supper.



April 20th, I took the girls to see the 9.45am showing of “HOP” at the Rouse Hill Hoyts. It was a great story about the Easter Bunny that we all enjoyed. I fitted the new carpet to the top bunk base and had enough left over to cut 2 mats for the front floor of the car, replace the mat on the Caravan step and a good sized outside mat to go in front of the door. Greg and Dianne came over after work and we all enjoyed Val’s Roast Pork Dinner. After dinner we showed them how to play our new board game, “Sequence”, which they liked.



April 21st, The girls went to their Pa’s place today, as I had thought that we were going to the Rosehill Caravan and Camping Supershow, but during a Seniors Moment I got the dates wrong and the show does not start till the 30th. I took the boat off the car, then spent 3 hours scraping and cleaning the bottom. It had collected shells and weed growth during the 7 weeks it was in the water, at The Entrance.



April 22nd, Good Friday, no shops open, so we caught up on a bit of reading. Greg, Dianne, Jessica and Annaliese called in for afternoon tea and a chat.



April 23rd, Greg picked me up this morning and took me to the Family Boats yard at Blacktown, to show me what Dianne and he are looking at buying, by the end of this year. They both like deep sea fishing and are looking at a 6 metre boat with cabin, preferably fiberglass hull and suitable for their 7 and 9 year old daughters as well. There were some very nice boats on display and of course very pricey. They will be buying 2nd hand, when that time comes.



April 24th, Sydney Gateway Holiday Park had a kids Easter Program organised for today, so we invited Greg, Dianne, Jessica, Annaliese and Karina, Chloe and Riley for lunch so the kids could join in the afternoons activities. They had fun with air tattoos, sand painting, plaster painting and a guessing competition.



April 25th, Typical Easter weather, raining, windy and very unpleasant. In-between showers, Val prepared and cooked flathead fillets, quiche and tuna pasta for dinner and had all yesterday’s visitors join us. It was a great meal enjoyed by everyone and our last chance to be with our family, as we leave in the morning for Stockton. Steven missed out as he spent his Easter in Melbourne visiting friends.

The Entrance, March 2011

March 3rd, It does take awhile to set up at Dunleith Caravan Park, especially when you know that you will be here for 7 weeks, so no need to hurry and the weather hasn’t been great. Lots of showers and strong winds are always a good excuse to do nothing. Yesterday I finally got the boat off the car and into the water and set up for use. I decided that I should take it for a trial run and did a bit of drifting the other side of The Entrance Bridge and came back with a 40cm Flathead. A nice start to add to the fish, caught in the last few days at Sussex Inlet, that Val already has in the freezer. Joan and Robert came down today from Cardiff, for lunch and to bring us our mail. After lunch Robert and myself went out for a fish and after a slow start eventually found a good spot where the fish were biting and came in at 7pm with 6 flathead, a flounder and 2 bream. I had to start cleaning and filleting some of the flathead as Val was waiting to cook it for their dinner while I had “heated up leftovers”, curried sausages, very nice.




March 4th, We went to the Bateau Bay Bowling Club with Gwen and Neil (our neighbours) for Dinner and raffles. Gwen came away with 2 meat trays and Val won a leg of lamb, so a good night out for all of us.



March 10th, The fishing has been good, since last Friday I have caught 3 flathead, all between 40 – 42cm long, plus 2 bream, so considering that I don’t take the boat out on the week-ends ( leave that to all the visiting weekenders) I’m happy. We went to The Entrance Diggers Club tonight, with a large group from the Caravan Park, for dinner and raffles. The group collected a good share of the prizes and Val came home with a meat tray and a veggie tray.



March 17th, Another relaxing week, fishing, reading and generally doing very little. Val has started to knit a different style of scarf, which Joan’s daughter (Jacyln) will sell for her at the Markets, for $20 ea. Last weekend was the Country and Western weekend, which attracts huge crowds to the Entrance. We enjoyed the music, which we can hear in the Caravan Park from across the water, and on the Sunday went over to soak up the atmosphere and look at all the stalls in the Park. We went to the Diggers Club tonight with the Caravan Park Group, for raffles and dinner, and had another good night with Val coming home with a meat tray and a spaghetti bolognaise tray.



March 19th, The weather has been pretty poor, overcast and windy and today, when we had Steven and a group of his close Turkish friends and family coming for lunch, it decided to rain on our parade. Luckily, we had a few nice breaks in the rain and Val’s lunch of tempura battered flathead with her now famous Changs Noodle Salad and a green salad were enjoyed by all, with some nice wine, while I had a great beef snitzel. The meal was finished off with , Val’s also now famous, English style Trifle dressed with fresh cream and strawberries. I can feel the weight piling on and wont need to eat for a week. It was a great day and it was good to catch up with Nikos and his Mum, Jandan, and meet Ilkare’s now expectant wife, Lutfeya. Our guests left around 5pm and Steven stayed on till 8pm. Time does get away when you are having a good time.

March 21st, Yesterday we had strong southerly wind with driving rain, all day and night. Everything was rattling and keeping Val awake. I went for my hearing test today and was told that I didn’t need a hearing aid just yet but I would now be tested every 2 years, as I am now registered on the Governments list. Went out for a fish late afternoon and caught a nice flathead. I was sent scurrying in to shore when a huge Electrical Storm was heading toward me.







March 22nd, The water was at least a foot higher today, following all the rain we have had. I went fishing in the morning and came in with a flathead and a flounder. I took Val out late afternoon to see if we could catch a few blue swimmer crabs but no luck.






March 23rd, I decided to try the North Channel today and see what I could catch. I took a fish head with me so I could drop a crab line while I was fishing. I was sitting quietly in the tinnie, fishing away, when suddenly there was a loud splashing/flapping noise behind me, I turned to find a Cormorant with my fish head in it’s beak, trying to fly off. I grabbed the paddle, stood up and was now beating the surface of the water to chase this annoying bird away. It worked, but anybody watching would have thought I had lost my marbles or worse. The only thing that saved the complete crabbing reel, line and fish head was that I had used a spring clamp to secure my line to the top edge of the boat. I came in for lunch wit a flathead and a great story about the “Cormorant’ THIEF. I was enjoying a nice fresh ham sandwich for lunch when, Crunch, I bit into a hard spot in the ham and broke a front tooth off, bugger! Not only did that spoil my homely good looks but I now had to find a local Dentist to fix the problem. I was thankful to get an appointment at Pacific Smiles at Erina fair tomorrow.






March 24th, Up early this morning and off to Erina Fair for my 9am appointment at the Dentist. No problem with the broken tooth, simply dress off the stump (nerve already removed) and add a new tooth to my existing plate. I decided to get 3 other front cleaned up to remove some stains around the old fillings. The quote for all this dental work was $780. No such thing as a cheap Dentist these days, especially as the HCF refund will be $354. My appointment is next Wednesday to do the 3 filling replacements and the 7th April for the denture work.






March 30th, The weather has been very ordinary, very windy, not great fishing weather all this week. Val has been busy planning a Lambs Fry Dinner for tonight. Our dinner guests are Gwen and Neil and Carole and Rob, all friends in the Park. It was a great meal, enjoyed by all and the night was finished off with a game of “Sequence” with Carole and Rob.






April 5th, The bad weather is still continuing. Sandra came down today, so we met at The Entrance Hotel for lunch and to catch up. It has been 12 months since we last caught up, so we have made tentative arrangements to see her again when we are at Coffs Harbour, at the end of May.
April 7th, Up early this morning to get to my 8.30am Dental appointment, at Erina Fair. Today I’m having an extra tooth added to my existing plate, so it’s only for impressions this morning and back at 4.40pm for a fitting. The teeth are now good and welcomed the delicious roast lamb dinner that Val put on in the Camp Kitchen to-night. Gwen , Neal, Carole and Rob joined us for dinner and we all had a great night.




April 8th, The weather hasn’t been suitable for taking the boat out for a fish, so late afternoon, I got the urge to throw a line in off the bank and try out my new fishing rod. Within 15minutes I had pulled in 3 flathead then the fish just stopped biting. Strange but True. After I filleted my catch and cleaned up, we went to the Bateau Bay Sports Club for raffles and dinner. We came home after Karaoke with 2 meat trays and shared it out among our group.



April 9th, Joan and Robert came down from Cardiff for the day, bringing our mail. After lunch we decided that the weather was slightly better, so Robert and myself set off in the tinny to try our luck. The fishing wasn’t great, no keepers and when we had a fish up the North Channel, the swell was bad and the boat bounced around badly, jolting the bolt loose from the anchor shackle and when I went to pull up the anchor, all I had was the rope in my hand and only one half of the shackle. Bugger, now I have to buy a new anchor. We introduced Joan and Robert to “Sequence” and they now like this new game as much as we do.



April 10th, Greg and Dianne brought Jessica and Annaliese up to spend the first week of their Holidays with us. This is a time we look forward to each year and the girls always have a great time.



April 11th, I took Jessica and Annaliese out for a fish in the boat, Annaliese caught the first fish (a small throwback bream) and Jessica reeled in a 41cm Flathead. I didn’t catch a keeper but enjoyed the company. Once again shown up by the Girls, why me?



April 13th, This was my revenge day, it was windy but I decided to go out fishing. The girls were busy playing with their friends and didn’t want to come out with me. That’s OK, I’m a big boy, so to my delight I was happy to show my catch on my return, 4 Flathead and 2 good sized Bream. My best ever fishing day, without a doubt.



April 16th, It rained all day yesterday and through the night. The only bad weather day since the girls arrived. The girls have had a great time on holidays with us, playing with their friends from 7am to dark, eating well, sleeping well, active all day, fishing, sand painting, air tattoos, kids bingo and lots more. When we had a break in the rain, I pulled the boat out of the water and put it up on the car, ready to leave in the morning for Sydney

Sussex Inlet, Feb 2011

January 31st, Travelled to Sussex Inlet and booked into the Riverside Caravan Park, for a week. After setting up we walked around the Park. They have a small waterfront area where I can tie up the Tinnie, the amenities are old but clean. We’ll see how the fishing goes and will probably stay here until it’s time (27th Feb.) to go to The Entrance. We were hoping that the temperature would be cooler than Sydney but not so! It’s just as hot down here.




February 1st, Another scorcher today, went into Town to look around and checked out the RSL & Bowling Club. The RSL had raffles and Lucky 8 Bingo on tonight, so we went for dinner and, you guessed it, raffles, bingo and a flutter on the Pokies. The meals were good, didn’t win at the raffles or bingo. The Lucky 8 Bingo was a new game for Val, so she was shown how to play their games by one of the Clubs Directors, also a player herself.



February 2nd, Put the boat in the water today and tied up at one of the moorings. It was another very hot day but I went out, in the tinnie, to investigate the river and do a spot of fishing. I caught a couple of puffer fish and 2 small bream. The water is shallow and being close to the outlet to the sea, was very clean and I could easily see the bottom of the river. I soon discovered that this river is infested with these little puffer fish, to be referred to as “pf” in future, who race to take your bait as soon as it hits the water. I have no idea how I will be able to catch a big fish with the pf around. I guess time will tell!



February 3rd, Nice breeze blowing today, so a little bit cooler. Went out for a fish, determined not to come back empty handed, took plenty of bait (prawns & squid) and finally caught a 37cm Flathead. That was obviously, the bait that the pf missed. Time had got away from me and I was feeling a bit peckish, it was 2.45pm when I arrived back at the Van. Val enjoyed a nice fresh flathead fillet for her dinner.



February 4th, Went out for a fish after lunch, while Val went to the Hairdressers. It was muggy and very windy and only caught a PF. Around 3pm I made a hasty retreat into shore, as a Thunder Storm was heading my way and we had washing on the line as well.



February 7th, We drove down to Vincentia today to do a bit of shopping at Bi-Lo. It’s a much larger Supermarket than we have in Sussex Inlet.



February 13th, The weather has been bad, either raining or just cloudy and windy. I caught a 45cm Flathead last Tuesday and Val came out fishing with me on Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately we didn’t catch any keepers. She enjoyed the trip and I’m looking forward to taking her out again. I’m sure she will like it better when she catches her first fish. By the end of the day she had mastered the art of casting, very promising. We filled in a few wet days doing Jigsaw Puzzles.



February 16th, More wet & windy weather up till today. We went to the RSL for dinner and raffles last night, didn’t win anything but meals were great. We went fishing this afternoon, Val 2nd time out with me, but didn’t catch anything. To top off our day, when I had tied up at the mooring post and was assisting Val out of the boat, her legs gave way and she fell backwards into the boat, pulling me off balance and into the water. Fortunately, I landed on my backside in 30cms of water and was up quickly to check on Val. I was concerned, as she landed back first across the bench seat but thankfully she was shaken up but OK. Val went straight to the Van for a stiff drink while I headed straight to the shower with a change of clothes. This was not a good way to get anybody interested in boating or fishing. I was expecting that this would be the end of our fishing trips but Val surprised me by suggesting that she gets in and out of the boat at the boat ramp, a lot safer.



February 17th, Dinner and Raffles at the RSL tonight, $3000 worth of Electrical and household goods. I won a “Rockwell” 12 Volt Battery Drill.



February 18th, Today we drove to Nowra, about a 25 minute drive, and did a bit of shopping. I had been told by a fellow caravaner and fisherman that I should fish at night in the river, bound to catch something. So, after dinner I set off to put his advice into practice. It proved to be bad advice, no fish, not many channel markers lit up and after running into a weedy shallow area, gave up and went home, very disappointed.



February 22nd, No improvement in the weather over the last few days. Last Sunday I did venture out for a fish, on dusk, and caught a good plate sized Flounder. We filled in Monday by taking another shopping trip to Nowra. We went to BCF to pick up a Birthday present for Roberts 60th party, next Sunday in Belmont. Tonight we went to the RSL for dinner and games, Val won an $8 Voucher.



February 23rd, I was told about another fishing spot, favoured by a regular visitor to this Park, so, out I went in the morning a came in for lunch, a very “happy chappy”, with 2 Bream (27 & 30cm long). Spurred on by this success I went out on dusk and drifted along the same spot and came in with 2 Flathead (37 & 54cm long).



February 24th, Had a quiet day but we went out for a fish late afternoon, to my now favourite spot. Val caught her first fish, a 28cm Whiting and followed that up with a 29cm Bream. She has now joined the “Happy Chappy Club”. I kept pace with her with 2 Bream (28 & 34cm long).



February 25th, Last day in Sussex Inlet, so went out for a last fish before bringing the boat in and caught 3 Bream (25,26 & 29cm long). I packed up all our gear ready to leave for Belmont, in the morning.



February 26th, Our navigator (Doris) is programmed to take us by the shortest route, directed us through the southern suburbs of Sydney to get to Pennant Hills Road on to Belmont, much to my utter disgust. We were caught up in all the Saturday traffic through Bankstown but once committed we could not easily change our course. We finally reached our destination and booked into Spinnakers Tourist Park, at Belmont, and Val made a rice salad and 3 slices for Robert’s Party tomorrow.



February 27th, We had a late checkout from Spinnakers and then around 12.30 pm towed the Van to The Belmont Yacht Club, where the party was held. It was a great venue with a BBQ area overlooking Lake Macquarrie. The food was great, everybody enjoyed themselves and Robert received some very nice presents. Joan did a “This was your Life” presentation for Robert which was very well put together and very funny. He was a wild lad in his younger days. Around 4.30 pm we left the Party and travelled down to The Entrance to Dunleith Caravan Park to start our 7 weeks stay, on the waterfront, of Tuggerah Lakes

Bataeu Bay, 2011

January 17th, Yesterday afternoon we picked up Jessica and Annaliese and went up to Dunleith Caravan Park, at The Entrance, where Joan and Robert had enjoyed a Holiday in our Van while we were cruising NZ. We were there for 3 nights, mainly to pack up, before going back to Sydney. I took the two Girls out fishing in our Tinnie, and once again Annaliese showed us all up by catching the first and only fish for the day, a small flounder.


January 19th, We moved back to Sydney today and booked into Sydney Gateway Holiday Park for 3 nights. We looked after the Girls during the day while Greg and Dianne went to work. We had to get ready to take Jessica and Annaliese to Blue Lagoon Holiday Resort at Bateau Bay, for another weeks holiday with us. That will fill in the last week of the School Holidays.

January 26th, We have been having a great time here with the Girls, who made a lot of friends and went in all the organized activities in the Park. We went down to The Entrance for lunch and to take in the Australia Day Festivities. We were amazed at the number of people there. The Fun Park was in full swing, Market Stalls were on, Entertainment emanated from the big Stage (very loud) and all the Food Outlets were busy. It was a very hot day so we went back to the Caravan Park for a swim before dinner. We were able to see the 9pm Fireworks from the Caravan Park. There will not be any more organised activities in the Caravan Park, so tomorrow I am taking the Girls to see “Yogi Bear” at the movies, should be fun.

January 27th, I think I enjoyed the Yogi Bear Movie more than the girls did. I laughed till I cried. Val filled in her time wandering around the local shops while we were at the movies. To-morrow is pack up day ready to leave for Sydney on Saturday.

January 29th, We drove down to Sydney, called in to catch up with Greg & Dianne and drop off Jessica & Annaliese. The girls were excited to be home and had a lot of exciting news to report from their holiday. We booked into Sydney Gateway Holiday Park for 2 nights.

January 30th, I picked up all our gear from Gregs garage, including the Tinny, in the morning. We all met at Castle Hill RSL for a family lunch, which was very nice, then back to the Park to repack the car and pack up to leave in the morning for Sussex Inlet.

NZ Cruise, 2011

January 16^th, To-day we arrived back into Sydney after being totally spoiled on our two week Cruise around New Zealand, on “Holland America’s” VOLENDAM. This has been our first cruise on a large ship and we are now “Hooked on Cruising”. Every facet of the trip was well organized, the service was impeccable, the food was delicious and well presented, the entertainment was first class and the Casino Games were enjoyable. Our Stateroom, on the lower promenade deck, was very nice and was efficiently serviced by the Cabin Stewards. Their “Towel Figures” were a delightful sight when returning to our Cabin each night. There were 1500 passengers, 600 crew and we still saw faces on the last day that we had not seen during the past 2 weeks. They had enough lifeboats to more than allow for the total number of passengers and crew, unlike another cruise ship we saw in a recent movie. Our first 2 days were spent finding our way around the ship, as we crossed the Tasman Sea. Val was on her ginger tablets but was finding the crossing a bit too rough for her. Our first port of call was Milford Sound, the wettest place in the World with an annual rainfall of 20 ft. (not inches but feet). The Mountain tops are covered by cloud, waterfalls were flowing down the mountain sides and the air was crisp and cold. All of those things make it a special, awesome part of the World. Next stop was a little quaint Village, population 300, called Oban. I went ashore here and climbed the steep hill to get to the Village, only just made it!!! It rained the whole time but they had an interesting Museum and only $2 NZ to get in. Our next port of call was Dunedin. We did the Scenic Bus Tour, very enjoyable with great views. In Christchurch we went into the City Centre and found Markets with a very funny Street Entertainer. There were plenty of signs of the recent devastating earthquake.  The Wellington Sights Bus Tour was great and included a ride in their working Cable Car. At the next stop, Napier, the Bus Tour included a winery stop, where I bought a nice bottle of Merlot for Val. We enjoyed a City Centre walk in the afternoon. Napier was destroyed by a huge Volcano in 1931 and the City was rebuilt in the Art Deco style and has many beautiful buildings. At Tauranga we were too late to do a Tour to Rotorua to see the hot springs and mud pools so I settled for a walk around the base of Mt. Maunganui, supposed to take 45 minutes. I took double that time and made plenty of rest stops. We enjoyed a shopping excursion after lunch. Next Port of call was Auckland, as we disembarked Val’s handbag was checked out by the Immigration “Sniffer Dog” as we went through the check point. We jumped on a City Express Bus Tour (3 Hrs.), at the Info Centre, and saw some wonderful Gardens and great views over the City from Mt Eden and One Tree Hill. Last stop before heading back to Sydney was “The Bay of Islands”. I went ashore by shuttle and did a 1 ½ hr. Bus Tour of Paihia, travelling through the Town and surrounding countryside, with nice views back over the calm waters of the Bay. During the 2 day crossing to Sydney, one of the highlights was the Dessert Extravaganza, displayed at poolside, where the kitchen staff and Chefs showed their ability to produce an amazing range of fancy desserts and breads. We were met at Sydney by Steven, who then drove us to Greg and Dianne’s House, at Glenwood, for a family reunion.