Hello to anyone who has been waiting for a blog! yes, we are still travelling but not blogging very much (or at all!). We have come away with a different philosophy this time, deciding this is a holiday not an adventure and soaking up sun, reading and sewing are really all we are doing. Consequently we are trawling along the coast seeking out pleasant places to stop for a day or more and just enjoying our time.
We spent some lovely days with Pete and Dawn, Olivia, Lucy and Ellie and although I was laid up with a sore throat lurgy we did have a lovely time and stayed at the showgrounds in the van which worked out very well.
As usual, we had no idea where to go from there and almost had to toss a coin, but the weather is our guide. We visited with Sally and Greg some friends from loooong ago and stayed on their front lawn in Singleton. Greg cooked a great dinner and Ian dessert with much laughter the whole night. Then we ventured off to Tea Gardens where Sally and Greg have a lovely house and there is a caravan park where we stayed. Cute patchwork shop too!
Then with the advice of the Tourist Information Office at Kew we went off in anticipation of a lovely time at Crowdy Bay National Park, only to discover that the road was terrible and the camp at Crowdy Bay was closed. Grrrrr! If only we had known!
However we ventured on with a couple of nights on the road, the second at Mullumbimby.
Then we went to Coolum for three nights which was very nice and warm.
Still seeking the sun we went up further with a couple more nights on the road until we reached an old 'friend' Bagarra Beach Caravan Park. What a great spot. Huge grassy sites, a lovely walk every day along the foreshore into town for coffee, back and reading and sewing. Ian has read four books on his e-reader (yes, Kate it is wonderful!) and I'm sewing up a storm on my redwork and hexagons. We stayed a whole week! So out of character for us but so nice.
A couple of nights on the road in great roadside camps finds us now at Cape Palmerston which is about an hour from Mackay and absolutely a great find which we were told about by a fellow traveller. It is a new park with the best amenities block we have ever seen, large blocks, each with privacy screens of bushes and only 100metres from the beach where we walk each morning. No phone however but that's a small price to pay. We decided on a week and tomorrow night we will enjoy a campfire here with a singer and jaffles. Lucky we packed our jaffle iron, although we were assured we would be lent one! Such a friendly park with the family who own the park right on hand if you need anything and keen to make our stay enjoyable.
So that's where we are now and next week we will have to make a decision as to what we will do next but if the sun keeps shining you can be sure we will stay around the coast somewhere.
Thursday 19 June 2014
Thursday 22 May 2014
First Two Days
Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd May
On the way at last! We were planning (not that we do that very wel!) to leave shortly after lunch on Wednesday but we finally pulled out the drive at 2.45, hopefully with all that we need on board, if not there are shops on the way and I will surely find patchwork that I need as opposed to want to have anyway!
We have added a couple of extra improvements to the van this year. We have put in a heater run on gas so no more cold nights for us. For those who think we're soft, it really gets cold in the van at night! Also very importantly we have a carbon monoxide sensor fitted so we are very happy to feel safe with that on board.
As solar has become so affordable we have them too so power is never going to be a problem. so now we are truly independent for as many nights as we care to be which is just how we like to travel.
We've also added a table between our recliners, ostensibly to hold our coffee cups, but it seems to be perfect to hold whatever sewing or knitting I am working on at night!
Yesterday we travelled soooo far, actually only to Rutherglen where we stopped at a roadside camp beside the location of the Brown Plains State school. All that remains now after the school closed in 1949 is a plaque. At its peak there was an enrolment of 40 and only 6 when it closed. The school building was moved to Howlong to become the Anglican Church Hall.
When we awoke this morning we were pleased to see that it was 8am! Tough call so time to move we decided. Our plan(?) was to go further along the route to Sydney to see Pete, Dawn, Olivia, Lucy and Ellie who is visiting from the USA to help with the girls now that Dawn has returned to work. So we decided to stop in Holbrook for coffee and I was able to do some yellow knitting to help with their project to yarn bomb the Submarine next month with only yellow knitting pieces which have come from all over the world. You can read all about their project on Facebook on Holbrook Yellow Submarine. According to the café Staff, they have enough to cover one side at least, and its a biiiig submarine. Can't wait to see the finished effort. Afterwards all the knitting will be donated to animal shelters so none will be wasted. When I looked at the beautiful crocheted piece today it is truly amazing work.
Onwards from Holbrook to our stop tonight beside a lovely waterway in Gunning where we arrived in time to walk through town and enjoy an ale at the pub.
Tomorrow ..... a bit closer and of course at some stage we will have to call in at a lovely patchwork shop at Berrima and Ian will be forced to visit the patisserie, how fortunate for me that there is a cake shop so close to a patchwork shop. It really should be how it is everywhere!
Today's picture is our stop at Gunning.
On the way at last! We were planning (not that we do that very wel!) to leave shortly after lunch on Wednesday but we finally pulled out the drive at 2.45, hopefully with all that we need on board, if not there are shops on the way and I will surely find patchwork that I need as opposed to want to have anyway!
We have added a couple of extra improvements to the van this year. We have put in a heater run on gas so no more cold nights for us. For those who think we're soft, it really gets cold in the van at night! Also very importantly we have a carbon monoxide sensor fitted so we are very happy to feel safe with that on board.
As solar has become so affordable we have them too so power is never going to be a problem. so now we are truly independent for as many nights as we care to be which is just how we like to travel.
We've also added a table between our recliners, ostensibly to hold our coffee cups, but it seems to be perfect to hold whatever sewing or knitting I am working on at night!
Yesterday we travelled soooo far, actually only to Rutherglen where we stopped at a roadside camp beside the location of the Brown Plains State school. All that remains now after the school closed in 1949 is a plaque. At its peak there was an enrolment of 40 and only 6 when it closed. The school building was moved to Howlong to become the Anglican Church Hall.
When we awoke this morning we were pleased to see that it was 8am! Tough call so time to move we decided. Our plan(?) was to go further along the route to Sydney to see Pete, Dawn, Olivia, Lucy and Ellie who is visiting from the USA to help with the girls now that Dawn has returned to work. So we decided to stop in Holbrook for coffee and I was able to do some yellow knitting to help with their project to yarn bomb the Submarine next month with only yellow knitting pieces which have come from all over the world. You can read all about their project on Facebook on Holbrook Yellow Submarine. According to the café Staff, they have enough to cover one side at least, and its a biiiig submarine. Can't wait to see the finished effort. Afterwards all the knitting will be donated to animal shelters so none will be wasted. When I looked at the beautiful crocheted piece today it is truly amazing work.
Onwards from Holbrook to our stop tonight beside a lovely waterway in Gunning where we arrived in time to walk through town and enjoy an ale at the pub.
Tomorrow ..... a bit closer and of course at some stage we will have to call in at a lovely patchwork shop at Berrima and Ian will be forced to visit the patisserie, how fortunate for me that there is a cake shop so close to a patchwork shop. It really should be how it is everywhere!
Today's picture is our stop at Gunning.
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