Around Australia Trip

Day 59 Friday15th June
Well the night was one to remember , it never stopped raining the whole
time!
we heard on the news that Melbourne was going to be fine with no rain , so we are heading home!! Bega to Melbourne should be about 8 hours. Towing the van up and down hills makes for a slow tow speed.
I did fix the light problem , turned out to be just a fuse, so easily cured.
Left the park at 08.15, stopped for brekie just before Cann River. My last Bacon and Eggs for this trip!! So have to wait for the next one to get breakfast on the road!!
Once again the rainjust kept falling, which put a dampener on the trip.
We crossed the border back into Victoria at 10.15 Welcome home!!
Lunch at Lakes Entrance and onward once more. It seems to be taking forever but the closer we get to Melbourne the brighter the Sun is getting!!!We can't believe the am,ount of traffic on the roads especially around Pakenham and Berwick.
Arrived home at 05.15, backed up the driveway Brenda said "that's it Trip has ended".
All up we did 16008 Klometres. Haven't worked out the full cost of it all but a rough estimate around $10,000
The Land Cruiser went well and apart from blowing a fuse it gave us absolutely no trouble!!!
That's all folks hope you have enjoyed reading about our little adventure as much as we had doing it!
But watch this space there could be another coming up soon!!!!!
Here is proof that we did have some sun!!!!

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Day 58 Thursday 14th June

Well after a great night at Anthony's house , we said our goodbyes and headed back to our van park.
very cold night, lots of cuddling going on!!!!
Overnight low of 4 Deg, high today of only 17, don't let anyone tell me that Melbourne is cold!!!
Left this park behind us,we were not very impressed! It was supposed to be a 4 star, I would have given it 1 star. The toilets and showers were prehistoric!!!
We started this trip south, by going to Macca's to do the webb page thing. After that we got on the Freeway to the Hume and got off at the Wollongong exit, so as to get to Mollymook, to see Graham Hepburn.
On the way down the rain absolutely bucketed down most of the way.
got to Heppy's place, had a nice chat, but we decided not to stay as it was P....ing down there too!!! He said that they had already received over an inch of rain!!! We didn't stay as by then we had made the decision to get home asap!!
We left Heppy and to say we enjoyed the drive from there on , would be an understatement. We had everything that Mother Nature could throw at us except snow! The hail stones were as big as golf balls and i was panicking that they would damage the van!!! The rain was horrendous, could hardly see where we were going.
Then the big one, as it got dark the lights on the Van started flickering. Then boom we lost the lt except for the cars headlights. Lucky for us, at that stage we were only 20 kl m's from Bega. So i pushed on throughn the storm until we reached the park at Bega!
Brenda's face was one of great relief as we pulled in. Mind you I was quite happy myself. What amazes me though, is the semi drivers they still barrel along at 100Klm's and the conditions don't even faze them!!

So before we go anywhere in the A.M. I will have to try and fix the lights, which i am hoping is only a fuse!!
To top all that off, the rain once again has leaked in via the wheel arch and soaked the carpets. BUGGER!!!!
The rain continued for most of the night, thankfully we were on a concrete slab, but all the grass around us was under water.
I know we need the rain, but not all at once!!!!

Day 57 Wednesday 13th June

Interesting night at this park! We were watching a bit of TV and could hear a bit of noise. So went outside there was about 10 guys doing the Haka. We found out later that they were a Basketball side from NZ. But all quieten down by 1000pm.
A very cold night, well we must be so used to the temperatures from up north!!! Overnight low of 4Deg. Expected top of 17 Deg. Were has the heat gone?
Pulled in for morning tea 1000am on the dot, we must be real Grey Nomads now!!!!
The drive south towards Sydney was very busy. The traffic on the road was relentless and the trucks well, lets not get into that. They should be working for Qantas!!!!!
On the way down we saw lots of areas that were flooded but the main road was quite dry. We came around the Pentland Hills road, it was like being on the Monash Freeway at 7.30 in the morning!!!!
Got to the park at 2.30pm nice park looks like they are turning it into some sort of resort, as they have just built a very large resort style pool within the park, so put this one in the memory bank.
Our eldest son Anthony telephoned us gave us directions to his house( this will be fun!!), so off there tonight for a home cooked meal. He is a good cook so should be pretty special!!
Tomorrow we again move south this time heading for Mollymook, to see a retired firey Graham Hepburn.
So once again see you all in the next edition of the Great Trek

Day 56 Tuesday 12th June

Awoke this morning b…y cold 7 Degs. So off we go towards Port Macquarie.
First stop, Kempsey for Brekkie, Sat down at a table and before we knew it, it became a conference! Two other couples joined us. So we all had a good yarn for 30 minutes or so.

We arrived at our park in P. Macquarie. It’s very nice park , right on the Hastings River, which flows out to the ocean about 200 metres from our van site. They have built a sea wall out of huge rocks and each of the rocks is decorated by anyone who want’s to paint them. Some of the paintings are quite good!

We had a nice walk along the breakwater and along the road back to town. Lots of units for sale right on the beach road. Maybe we should buy one?
From there we took a short drive to the lighthouse., at Tacking Point. Once again great views even if the beaches were coping a pounding!!
Onwards to a rainforest board walk. Gees we try anything!!!!!
The Seascape rainforest Walk near shelly beach and Tacking Point was our next point of call. A tour through the forest by a guide was quite interesting. He was an older retired guy who just likes trees! Some people see trees in a different way to most of us! The tour took about one and half hours and by the end of it we were, believe it or not, we were getting quite cold!! The lady who runs the ticket office had actually shut the doors and was about to go home when she saw our cars still there. Didn’t fancy spending the night in the rainforest!!!!!!! Especially after the guide told Brenda, about the big Python that lived in the trees!!!! The steps became longer and quicker!!!

Back to the park for a nice cup of hot coffee!!!!!

Day 55 Monday 11th June

Another day in paradise, we quite like Coffs so much to do and see!!
After watching the news on TV this morning we have decided to stay another day! They tell us that the Hunter river is about to peak at 11 metres, so still a no go zone! So here we are again, but we will move south tomorrow, our next stop will be Port Macquarie. Once there we will reassess the floods!

We will have a day to look around a bit more, so first item is a slow walk up to Diggers Beach. Found the first hurdle! It was up a very steep slope, but not to be told she can’t do it, Brenda set off at a good rate! This slowed a bit as the knees started to ache! Once we got over the top the going got a little easier!!
The views were magnificent, didn’t see any whales, but sighted a pod of Dolphins swimming close to shore.

Had a lay in the sun for a while on Diggers Beach. Then we headed back via the Marina. I watched a lady pull in a very large Flathead( jealous) . Thought about getting the rod out, but lunch was more important. So lunch, then into a car wash to give the Crusher a well earned tub. She came up looking sparking!!!

Back to park relax read the book and enjoy what sun we were getting.

Later on that evening we heard from Rick and Tracey, who were actually on the Queenscliff ferry, heading for Sorrento. The word was that it is cold and windy, don’t like that idea very much! They had mixed feelings about getting home, but they were already thinking about the next trip away!!!!!

Well one more day closer to home ourselves, we probably will move tomorrow to P. Macquarie.
This life is so tough but someone has to do it!!!!!!!