We had a hire motorhome pull in behind us last night. They ran their loud burbling aircon all night …. it was a constant annoying humming through the night. Ross plans on returning the favour by running his generator to charge the car battery right next to their motorhome at midnight ….. he’s also doing an online course “Conversational Japanese for Caravan Park Arguments”, just so he can say ” ….. i know what you just said” The entire south east corridor was smashed with dumping rain last night with more than 85mm of rain in less than 2 hours [ ... ]

Today is the first real day on the Gold Coast, yesterday was driving, exploring, and setting up. The forecast for today is hot with a chance of enough of a shower just sufficient to raise the humidity. 2 weeks in one spot is something we’ve never done before. Untill a few years back, week blocks were new to us. The idea of being settled and spreading out for 2 weeks oooooozes relaxation. Its good timing too; after winding down over the last two weeks and now in Main Beach/Surfers Paradise, a place we’ve spent a great [ ... ]

It was a warm night on the side of the road last night at New Italy. A few more campers turned up in the night. One parked right up the backside of thd old guy that parked right next to us. 2 backpacker vans, 3 caravans, a roof top tent and 3 guys in a station wagon who pitched a tent. Standing room only The noise from the trucks on the highway was horrendous. During the night a few of the trucks gave a wonderful blast of their air horns as they passed …. all for [ ... ]

We’re off north from Emerald Beach, although we’d be happy to stay here a while longer. We’ll be finding a free camp somewhere on the 3 hour drive to the Gold Coast. We’re not booked into Surfers Paradise until tomorrow The people that were camped opposite to us at Emerald Beach were here last Christmas and tried to rebook for the same period this year, and at that point were 12th on a wait list. We on the other hand just casually rang mid year … and got “sure, no worries, your booked in” In order to guarantee [ ... ]

Our car stereo has stopped picking up radio.   We have used it since leaving home, but have intermittently been listening to USB and CDs when we havent been able get radio. We’re sure when it stopped working but on the drive into Coffs Harbour this morning Riss decided to pop into the local Nissan dealer. Borrow the screw on antenna and hopefully thats the problem, and buy a replacement. The antenna is a rubber screw on number about a foot long that screws onto the roof mounted base …. about 5 turns from The emerging issue is what looks to the [ ... ]

We headed down to the beach side cafe this morning for a coffee. The caravan park has a cafe area and good coffee to, but its a little slow being a one person operation and we tourists need to spread the love a little. Theres not much in Emerald Beach as far as retail options are concerned. 3 of our 4 pre requirements are met, grog, coffee, pizza (for Fridays) … the only missing element is a bakery. The three ticks are literally all thats here …. buts thats part of the attraction. The cafe is in [ ... ]

Another nice peaceful early morning on the beach Daniel and Barb on the beach Theres 2 camp kitchens and both are pretty good, with BBQs and open fire … and very well patronised.   Last night the camp kitchen closest to our site was standing room only Another hot day means off to the beach. If you ever wondered why Surf Lifesaving is so important, wonder no longer ….. its because of complete dickheads like this ….. and these guys have restricted the safe beach activities for their kids in the drain water that runs out of the street drain …. [ ... ]

Ross was up early as usual and went for a walk. A light breeze kept the overnight temperture to comfortably warm, which is a pleasant change to Port Macquarie The beach was very peaceful this morning at 6am Theres a “Thong Tree” on the beach where travellers mark their passing by, by hanging a thong on the tree. Or its just closer than the bin for their stinky worn out flappers A camper manufactured tent hotel seems to occupy an actual site, and is complete with advertising banners. Theres a bar, 3 tables and [ ... ]

We transition this morning from Port Macquarie to Emerald Beach, just norh of Coff Harbour.   The drive is only a few hours so the weather will remain the same. Barbs pic of Ross heading out for a paddling. Ross called Barb on the walkie talkie and placed an order for somethung to eat …. and a coffee of course The toilet block we mentioned at Port Macquarie leaves a little bit of work to be done And thats why we embraced the new van so much Between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour is Macksville which is where the cricketer [ ... ]

Quite day today. Heaps of people packed up and headed off today. Our neighbours were like a coordinated well oiled machine … rolling in their awning to the count Daniel and Ross headed down the the beach at low tide to climb the rocks. Daniel loves rock climbing and the Town Beach rocks were just calling Daniel the whole time we’ve been here We rode our bikes, and Daniel would rather wear the helmet than carry it Sushi Train for lunch today …. plus an Oreo ice cream. Not sure how that fits in with sushi, but Daniel didnt seem to [ ... ]

The caravan park here in Port Macquarie is absolutely huge, one of the biggest we’ve stayed in. Its in a fantastic position, but its a tired park and needs a lot of money and time spent sprucing it up. The toilet block at our end of the park is very run down. Door locks are broken, the building is old and looks dumpy. The roads are rough and some breaking up We’ve stayed here many times, but we’ve always been up at the town end where the park entrance, office, pool, and cabins are located. The [ ... ]

New Years eve went off here last night like a frog in a sock. A beautiful balmy night, great for partying but a little warm for sleeping after we rocked the new year with music pumpin inside and outside the van. The music and parties and people were rocking. Tuesday was a hot day and a hot wet sticky night at 85% humidity. We left the aircon on all day and all night. It was spectacular in the van … but our neighbours in their Jayco Swan camper looked like wrung out dish rags in the morning. Last night [ ... ]

Happy bloody new year (insert whistling sounds, yelling and clapping) Ross posted this at lunch time ….. Dec 31st …. because he’d likely be asleep as midnight rolls on through. (Barb on the other will up and firing on all cylinders … not because she partying … because everyone else is partying and she cant sleep)

Some more of yesterdays action …. Ross was too hot, and it was too late last night Ross went for a ride to find somewhere he can park the car and launch the kayak tomorrow. Daniel went to the skate park, but the heat in the morning got the better of him. He came back to the van bright red He was much happier later in the morning with a hot chocolate in aircondition cafe comfort Bit of fashion shopper shopping and following fashion shopper shopping this morning. It was already getting hot by mid morning. [ ... ]

The caravan park borders the southern wall of the bar entrance to the Hastings river. At the eastern end of the caravan park is the skate park and the Town Beach, surf beach. Further around the coast a short walk to the south are more nice surf beaches At the western end of the caravan park is the towns main street. Everything is within a short stroll Much to Daniels delight … its Taco Tuesday eveywhere, including here at the Rydges Resort. Daniels weekly demand for Tacos at home every single relentless Tuesday has been vindicated. [ ... ]

Woke up to the sound of nothing … no rain. Looked outside and the sun was poking out through the patchy dark clouds People were emerging from damp, drooping camp sites like frightened Hobbits. The ferals next door started to pack up. The gazebo of our neighbours on the other side collapsed during the night from filling up with rain. (Note to self …. I thought thats what gazebos were for ????) Looks like theyre wrestling with a giant metal spider Daniel headed for the skate park and all the Bunker practice has paid off … he [ ... ]

Rain, rain and more rain. Ok, enough rain now! If it keeps raining, the blog will be long and incredibly boring It did not stop raining all night, but one good side is the van needs to be rain tested so the sooner that happened the sooner we can tick that off the list. There were no real issues, just a couple of minor leaks where the awning attaches to the van. Thats only an issue if your staying in the annex …. and theres only one family that will be concerned with that. The new Jayco light weight polyester [ ... ]

We survived the night in the road house car park.  Another van turned up at about 8pm last night Barb and Ross both had a nice hot shower last night. Having a shower whilst parked in a roadhouse carpark is a concept that Ross isnt sure he will ever get used to. The gas igniter on the fridge isnt working, and Ross was having a mind meld with Jayco directed rage the first night. It was fortunate no one wearing a Jayco shirt ventured near him … he was furious. He managed to get to the rear [ ... ]

Last night we settled in and all slept like logs. Barb found earlier in the day she had forgotten Daniel’s pillow, which would only ever be a problem for Ross.  How so you ask; because under ancient pillow proprietry laws, pillow ownership is a tentative and fragile thing …. and the matriarcal leader of the clan can apparently re-assign ownership on a whim …. leaving the clan leader to sleep on scrunched up t-shirts and underpants. The clan leader can keep his pillow if he has in deed driven 400km in one day …. unfortunately after consulting the Google god, he had [ ... ]

….. at last, after the family xmas lunch at Ross’s brothers house. Its been a very very long and very very busy year, and we were itching to hit the road for the pilgrimage north. The van was chocka block, and the car loaded up with as much stuff as we could squeeze in On the road about 4pm ….. only 2 hours later than planned. Comforting to see the shadow of Ross’ s bike …. indicating its likely still attached to the roof. We played a game of guess the animal, one question at a time. The guessee [ ... ]