Wednesday, June 28, 2023

NSW Coast - Hunter Valley

 Tues 13 June – It rained in the night (not forecasted). We drove from Toowoon Bay passed two large lakes, Tuggerah Lake and Lake Macquarie. These lakes are linked and also have outlets to the sea. We stayed at a little camp at Carey Bay. After a short walk we sat in the sun on the waterfront and read. I may have mislead you on the price of NSW public transport. We were surprised that we were only charged $1/day. Our credit card had further charges after a few weeks. Still good value however.



Wed 14 June – Only a very short drive to Newcastle, so we drove to the ferry terminal on the Stockton side of the harbour and caught the ferry into the city. We walked along the waterfront passing the huge apartments, bars and restaurants. Our aim was to find the site of the Parthenon Milk Bar on Hunter St (made famous in the song “Don’t you ever let a chance go by”) but it seems it has gone and replaced by a sky-scraper. Newcastle has light rail running the length of the waterfront so we travelled the full ride to the beaches and spied more humpback whales migrating north. We were in Newcastle in 2021 and biked most of the city. It’s a great city (slightly smaller than CHCH). Back to “Andy” on the ferry and to our camp. We booked flights home on July 20 and will store “Andy” at Hervey Bay.

Thurs 15 June – Still great weather as we turned inland for some time in the Hunter Valley. We are now repeating a road trip we did with our kids and the Bodger mob in 1990. Our camp was at the Cessnock Showgrounds. Good to be back to cheap camp fees again!! We biked back into the town and were surprised at its size. A stroll along the main street. We called into the library and a very helpful lady photocopied maps for cycling the wine region.



Fri 16 June – On the road passing many wineries, eventually parking “Andy” and biking a 6km trip with great views. Too early and too expensive to drink however. 


Back on the New England Hwy west out of the wine region and suddenly into dirty open cast coal mines including a coal power station. We camped in the showgrounds at Muswellbrook. A nice sunny site so we relaxed outside.

Sat 17 June – Decided to stay another night here. When it warmed up a bit (frosty morning), we biked into the town with its many old buildings. We stayed here in 1990 but hard to remember where. Another sunny afternoon reading.



Sun 18 June – On the New England Hwy again thru Scone eventually leaving the beautiful Hunter Valley, over the Great Divide (673m) and onto the Liverpool Plains. Our camp for the night was a recreation reserve at the small country village of Willow Tree.



Mon 19 June – Another good frost as we drove 100km to Gunnedah. The Liverpool Plains are very fertile with huge paddocks of corn and cotton. Gunnedah is an agriculture service town. We camped at the Kennel Club, another cheap night! A nice walk to the main street returning via a painted silo.



Tues 20 June – West across the Liverpool plains to Tamworth. We have been in Tamworth several times so no need for extensive exploring. Our camp was out near the Golden Guitar. A cold overcast day and were inside early. We caught the “Pub Bus” down to the Longyard Bar and had drinks and a nice meal. The bus is free and run by 4 pubs in Tamworth - a great service.

Wed 21 June – A 100km run thru the Great Divide on the Oxley Hwy to Walcha. This is the town where we broke down in 2018 and had to catch a train and bus back to Brisbane to get home. It’s a great wee town set high in the Great Divide and we walked around the river banks, with its great sculptures, and the town bringing back memories of our last enforced visit. A lovely sunny day.


Thurs 22 June – Up earlier today as we have 190kms to drive. The first 80kms is on the Great Divide and then a very long winding descent to sea level. A great drive however. We booked a site for two nights at a huge camp on the river at Port Macquarie. I had arranged to meet my cousin, Drusilla Megget, for a drink just along from our camp. It was great to catch up with her as I had not seen her since 1996.



Fri 23 June – Warm and sunny, and breakfast outside, first time for quite a while. A walk up town where we bought a new shower curtain and spied this tree with a jersey.

In the afternoon we biked along the waterfront and beaches. My bikes gears backed up! Spent some time with limited success fixing the problem. Great to be back at sea level with a huge increase in temperatures especially at night.



Sat 24 June – A 80km dash along the Pacific Hwy before turning out to the coast and a camp at Grassy Head. What a great small camp with a short walk to a beautiful beach. We booked for two nights but may extend our time here. Sat on the beach enjoying people watching, reading and the sun. Back at our site, I had another go at fixing my bike and it is now much better.


Sun 25 June – Breakfast in the sun before a walk to another beach to the south. Decided to try and climb the headland back to our beach and ended up bush bashing up a near vertical slope but eventually got onto the headland and back to our beach. Beautiful sea views. More time sitting on the beach in the afternoon. We will stay here another night.



Mon 26 June – A warm sunny day. We walked the length of the beach watching a huge pod of dolphins just outside the breakers. After lunch we even put the awning out and sat with our heads in the shade. Val booked a camp and a National Park for the next few nights. This has been a great spot for 3 nights.


                                       

Tues 27 June – A kookaburra snatched the toast out of my hand at breakfast time. This has happened before a couple of years ago. Cheeky big buggers!! Shopped at Coffs Harbour before finding our camp. Discovered that a bottle of maple syrup had leaked in our food cupboard. Sticky stuff everywhere, what a mess!! Went for a bike ride along the waterfront to the harbour. Val’s bike had started to squeak so had to fix that when we got back. The old Kmart bikes are starting to show their age. Both bikes ok now, hopefully.




Monday, June 12, 2023

Completing the 'block'!

 Thurs 1 June – A nice warm morning so shorts are on! A drive out to the coast at Bermagui. This is a beautiful tourist town on a river mouth and a peninsula. It was sunny but with a cool wind. Our site in the camp was sheltered. We walked a track around the peninsula and as we looked out to sea we could see the spouts of migrating Hump Back whales heading north. The coastline was very rugged but with sheltered beaches.




Fri 2 June – The drive to Batemans Bay on the Princes Hwy was along the coast with sea on one side and many lakes, rivers, and inlets on the other. There were many small towns including the very cute town of Mogo where Sharon Worrall’s sister lives. Batemans Bay is a large town on the mouth of the Clyde River. Our camp backs onto a beach and we rode our bikes along a cycle path beside the river with wharves, marinas, restaurants and bars. Warm but cloudy today.



Sat 3 June – Only a short drive today north from Batemans Bay to Ulladulla, a large town with a harbour. We shopped and checked into our camp on a headland. A nice sunny day. We walked a short track around the headland with views down onto secluded beaches.


Sun 4 June – A cool overcast day as we drove thru undulating country, passed Nowra and out to the coast at Shoalhaven Heads and our camp overlooking an inlet. Just as Val hung up the laundry it started to rain (she was not impressed!). This is the first rain in some time. Later when it cleared we walked to the beach and back along the inlet.




Mon 5 June – A drive thru mostly built up areas including Port Kembla, with its huge iron industries, and Wollongong to a camp 15kms north at Bulli Beach. It rained off and on but the sun came out later in the day and we walked along the cliffs and beaches. Many ships out to sea waiting to get into port. Tomorrow a dreaded drive thru Sydney to our camp!!



Tues 6 June – Misty rain as we had a bit of trouble getting on the road due mainly to roadworks. Once on the Princes Hwy we had a surprisingly easy drive thru the Sydney suburbs to our camp at Lane Cove near Macquarie Park. We chose this camp as it has the best public transport into the CBD and will stay here 3 nights. The camp is in a National Park, a very quiet setting in gum trees. A short walk up the road we found the North Ryde Metro Station our route into the city. There are some major roads in this area with many tall apartment buildings joined by a beautiful bridge.



Wed 7 June – Off for our first trip into Sydney city. It has been 30 years since we have spent any time here. The first part of our trip was the walk to the Metro station, a 6 minute trip to Chatswood where the city rail service meets the Metro, and a 20 minute ride into the city. All very easy using out credit card to tap on/off. We walked up thru the “Rocks” area, and under the harbour bridge around to Circular Quay.



 We ate “Subway” watching the ferries come and go. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. Along the waterfront to the Opera House and continued on into the Botanical Gardens for a well earned sit down.






 Continuing on Macquarie St passing Government House, The Music Conservatorium, The State Library, and Parliament House.


 Down thru Martin Place to Darling Harbour where we sat on the Prymont Bridge. City walking is tiring!! Yesterday Val booked an early evening cruise on the harbour to view the Vivid Light display that is on this month. We stopped at one of the many restaurants on Kings Wharf for a pizza and a drink before boarding the large boat just as it was dark. 


Many of the buildings were lit up with coloured lights and videos played on the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. All very good but we did not realize the drone thing happens much later. A walk back to the station for our trip home.





Thurs 8 June – (Don’s birthday). A cloudy day with rain forecast in the afternoon so we set off early on another trip into the city and on to Bondi Beach. Again all very easy. We walked the length of the beach with all the sights that make up Bondi, the surfies, the joggers, and the body builders posing, and the surf life saving tower as seen in Bondi Rescue. 







As the train trip was mostly underground we decided to catch a bus back into the city, passing thru many of the old shopping areas before stopping at Circular Quay. We walked to Opera Quay to a restaurant for lunch. Very nice. Just because we could, we caught a ferry over the harbour and walked up to a train station for our return trip. Big city public transport works so well. The longest we waited for any of our rides was 5 minutes and all for $1 a day.




Fri 9 June – As this weekend is King’s Birthday (Monday public holiday) we booked into a camp at North Narrabeen for 3 days. It was a very short drive to our camp overlooking Narrabeen Lagoon and the beach over the road. It is a lovely area and we are looking forward relaxing here. We rode our bikes to a mall where Val got a haircut.






Sat 10 June – A lovely sunny day. We spent the morning relaxing outside watching all the water activities and reading. In the afternoon we decided to ride around the lagoon but found we had a puncture. Put a new tube in and off for a 10km ride on a great track. As it is a long weekend the camp is fairly full with many family groups.



Sun 11 June – An even better day weather-wise than yesterday. Another relaxing morning reading and fixing the puncture. We walked out to the beach and a salt water pool before crossing the lagoon and walking the sand towards Narrabeen Beach. Many people surfing and fishing.



Mon 12 June – A little more cloud today but warm. We left the camp, which has been great, and shopped before getting on the road. Narrabeen is on a peninsula so we had to head back towards the city before getting on the main road north. As this is the public holiday for King’s Birthday everyone is going back into the city so the roads were busy. Eventually we got on to the M1 heading north and sped up. We drove thru Gosford and out to the coast at Toowoon Bay and a camp. Down to beach to watch the surfies enjoy some great waves.



 A significative day for “Andy” and us, as we have now travelled the last bit of road around the entire coast of Australia or “round the block” as the grey nomads call it. All Val’s lines on the map now join up!! Since buying “Andy” in Nov 2017 we have driven over 42,000kms.