Brisbane to Forster

---

Once again time has got away from me and I have about a month of news to fill in. From now on a lot of our trip consists of catching up with more family and friends so just read very quickly over the bits you are not interested in - I promise I won’t ask questions when we get home!!

Arrived in Brisbane on Wednesday 8th November and booked into the Gateway CP in Rochedale. As we told people where we were staying most said “ROCHEDALE??” as if it was the end of the earth. It is not the most salubrious area but Brisbane doesn’t have a lot of tourist caravan parks as we discovered. This one was very close to the motorway and we were worried about the noise (didn’t even notice it in the end), but more importantly, we were looking for somewhere quite secure, because John was flying back to Sydney for five nights and I was going to be on my own. We spent the Thurs touring around trying to find a better caravan park. Thought we would do well at the ‘Nestle Inn CP’ but upon inspection were very disappointed - the final straw being the sign on the screened servery window of the office asking you to “Please do not cough on the person behind the counter” ! This I feel did not auger well for the clientele of the park so headed back to the Gateway and decided to stay where we were. Next day packed the bikes on to the car and drove into Brisbane for a bike ride around town. Did you know there is now a floating cycle/walk way on the Brisbane River? It is great. Rode for ages one way and caught the ferry back to our starting point. The next few days were spent catching up with Denyse and Ian Corner, my old friend Marianne Hayes and hubby Jeff and Kerry and Mark Hollywood and boys. Marianne and Jeff live on Bribie Island so had a lovely time there touring around the golf course and marina estates, lunching at the golf course and BBQ tea with too much wine. We had a lot to catch up on. I have known Marianne since we were in Year 5 - we flatted together in Bondi, travelled overseas together and I was one of her bridesmaids when she and Jeff married. Their two kids have flown the nest so they are also looking towards retirement and all the decisions that entails.

I knew Kerry in my first life in Adelaide and she and Mark have shared some great times with us over the years so it was terrific to see their lovely new home and catch up with all their news. Their two boys Clayton and Mitchell have grown into really handsome young men and were pretty pleased about our visit as they got to play computer games all night so Mum and Jo could catch up on old times. Anyone who knows me and Kerry, would almost feel sorry for John and Mark - the noise, the noise!! Sorry everyone in Adelaide, we forgot to take a photo - too much red wine again I think.

John flew home on Thurs 16th and I dropped him off at the Airport and headed straight to the Brisbane DFO for a bit of solo retail therapy. What a disappointment! All you girls know what I mean. The fashions are really only for people who want to show their belly buttons and muffin tops hanging out of their jeans - not a look I aspire to, so their was absolutely nothing for me to buy. The fact that I have put on a few kilos means I really do need to do a bit of clothes shopping for when we get home so the next few days were a great frenzy of shopping and what did I find? Almost nothing! We will leave that subject now for more interesting pursuits.

Caught up with cousin Marg and Chris as well as some of their kids and grandkids. Anna with Chloe and Josh, and Sarah and Lizzie, both very grown up now and gorgeous kids. Stayed the night with them and Marg directed me to some great shops in Kenmore where I tried on heaps of things that didn’t fit me so sat down to a large cappuccino and refreshment as a reward for perseverance.

Next visit was to my Godmother, 92 year old Joan Rowley. She still lives alone and drives herself around locally but was very glad to see me and off we went to the local pub for lunch. Joan was in the army with Mum and was her bridesmaid. They were in Moratai together so have had their share of good and bad times. She came down to Sydney last year for Xmas and we took her up to see Mum as a surprise on Xmas Day. She was so glad that she had made that trip and saw Mum just one more time. Once again family, no photo unfortunately - hopefully it won’t be my last chance!!!

Spent Sunday 19th with Denyse and Ian again. This time we motored up to Mooloolaba for lunch with Ryan’s godfather Greg Loveday. Denyse and I both know Greg from our former lives and over the years have had some very funny times together. This day was no exception as the photo will show. Greg has been great mates with our boys over the years so we are planning a weekend away next year if we can tie the young ones down. Denyse originally worked with my sister Helen so we have shared a lot of highs and lows over the years. It was wonderful having a light hearted couple of days with them before John got back on the Monday.

I picked up this battered and bruised golfer from the airport who insisted he had had a great time!! The visible wounds were only from a visit to the skin specialist whereas the exhaustion was from a weekend with the Kinetic Golf Club boys in the Blue Mountains - you all know who you are!! I believe there are no photos of this weekend either. I know, I know, ‘what goes on tour, stays on tour.’ I think you should have a photographic record of some of these weekends though don’t you?

Moving right along we left Brisbane on Wed 22nd November and headed to Ballina the scene of a memorable holiday some years ago with the Sawtells, Hallidays and Diver-Tucks. On that occasion we stayed in a resort adjacent to the golf course. The resort has been sold off as private homes now and looks like a fantastic place to live. No fences between the houses and the fairways so it is just like living on the course. We stayed in the Lakeside CP with water views and wonderful weather. Got the bikes out for a long ride around town and decided that Ballina is another place we could settle into very easily. As we have found everywhere on the east coast, the town is growing rapidly with new housing estates and shopping centres and the like. Obviously bringing plenty of work for the young people settling there in droves. Oh to be a plumber, electrician or builder!!!

A positive jewel in the crown was our next stop at Yamba where we settled into the Calypso CP. Didn’t think there were many surprises left on this trip but I really fell in love with Yamba. John and the kids had been there years ago with the Feebreys and Griffins and Larry and Mary Griffin still live in Grafton and two of their kids have returned to the area and have settled in Yamba. A dear friend of mine Judi Bowen and her husband Lee left Sydney a couple of years ago and live in an over 55’s estate here called Oyster Cove, so we were finally able to visit them in their beautiful home. They are very happy here and don’t miss Sydney at all, which gave us food for thought. Our CP was right in town and a few minutes walk or ride to a couple of beautiful beaches. We stayed here 4 nights and found a golf course estate with lovely new homes available within walking distance of these same beaches. Now we are getting into serious temptation areas… Maclean and Grafton are both less than an hour away with all the services you could need so it would be very easy to run away from home permanently and finish up in Yamba.

Headed into Grafton next for a few days with Larry and Mary. They have a B & B here (www.graftonmeadow.com) run mainly by Larry while Mary works in aged care. They have lived in Grafton all their married lives and Yamba is their choice of weekend and holiday destinations. Lucky them I say!! We shared meals and wine with them over the next couple of days before heading off for the weekend with them and two other couples, all four of us towing caravans, to Arrawarra beach - another CP right on the waterfront. Bliss is this. We had a lovely lazy weekend here and were reminded how lucky we are to be on an extended holiday and not having to go back to work on Monday like the three other couples. The weather was just OK, windy and overcast on Saturday and finishing up with steady rain late on Sunday afternoon. You should all put this place on your list of getaways - not 5 star and no fancy diversions for kids, just quiet and peaceful and a great beach at your front door. John and I checked out 2 other CPs virtually next door. Darlington Park and the Lorikeet CP both cater for families, with van and tent sites as well as cabins, which incidentally seem to be taking over most of the parks on the coast. Both have beautiful pools and playgrounds as well as holiday activities for kids. We are investigating destinations less than a days’ drive from Sydney for future holidays with the kids and grandkids and both of these places fit the bill very well. Having said all that, the Arrawarra CP really hit the spot for a group of adults who wanted a rrelaxing fun time without all the diversions a family needs these days. We farewelled Larry and Mary on Sunday evening and left Arrawarra on the Monday and headed to Coffs Harbour just an hour or so south.

Coffs has never really done it for me but this time we stayed in the Big 4 park at Park Beach and were pleasantly surprised. Lovely park with all a family would need for a great holdiay and just across the road from a great beach. We walked and rode around Coffs and caught up with Bruno and Irene Spagnolo, fellow travellers we had last seen in WA. John and Bruno played golf whilst Irene and I caught up with our news and compared patchwork. Spent the night at their place - on rolling hills at Boambee not far from Bonville and Bruno did a great sell job on the area. Didn’t have to work hard, it is truly beautiful here. We stayed an extra few days in Coffs as the Sawtell family arrived from Sydney to celebrate their brother Steve’s 50th. It was great to catch up with them all and we bored them all to tears with news of our travels. Had great weather here and managed a surf every day. Finally left Coffs on Sunday and headed south to South West Rocks. Had never been here but as I mentioned before we are looking at future holiday places and this is another great find. We stayed in the CP right at the end of the street, on Horseshoe Bay, with one of the best outlooks we have had so far. Trial Bay Gaol is a short drive from here. I had never heard of this place so was really surprised to find a beautiful ruin on the headland surrounded by National Park with plenty of campsites, almost right on the beach. Sadly we are really running out of time and couldn’t extend our stay any longer so headed off to Wauchope and an overnight visit with Rob and Dee Pike our old partners from JB White.

They have settled on 150 acres on the river at Wauchope and are loving the farm life. Rob and Dee lived in the old house on the farm at first but have since renovated and extended and now live in a magazine style weather board farmhouse that is really lovely. It’s taken a lot of work but is now finished and they share the farm with cows, dogs and horses and are very happy with life on the farm. Dee had a fall from her horse a few months ago and had major surgery on her knee so is behaving herself and missing the riding. Hopefully she will be 100% fit and back on the horse again soon. Apart from that they are both looking disgustingly well and loving retirement and also not missing Sydney one little bit. This seems to be a recurring theme!!

So that brings me up to date. I am writing this in Forster, which is the very last stop on our journey. We leave tomorrow morning for home. We are both feeling very sad but incredibly excited about getting home. I am tearing up as I write this because we really have lived our dream. We have been to places we had never heard about, places we had dreamt about, places that have exceeded our expectations and some that definitely did not! On top of that we have met so many friends, old and new, all unforgettable. This time tomorrow night we will be parked on Kate and Bretts’ front lawn where we started from some ten and a half months ago. We will still be contactable on our mobiles and of course via email. I will do another blog next week with a summary of the trip. So many of you have asked questions about the statistics and John has all of that recorded. If there are any more questions you want to put in the public domain, just click on the 'Contact Stubbseys' icon and send me an email. By the way, as I was editing this blog I found our notes on Cairns and southward. I thought I had published it but according to our control panel this is not the case. If you go back about two entries you will find the missing one called 'The lost entry', starting with the correction of Sam Cooper Ridley's name. This also explains why we didn't get any comments for so long. You can't fool me for long can you?? Love to all and we will talk before Xmas.

---

Photos

Marianne and Jo
I don't think we look a day over 21?

With Mez and Jeff
Told you it was a jolly night!!

Cousin Marg and her grandson Josh
Marg and I share a love of blue and white china.

Mooloolaba
Ian, Denyse and Greg. We had a great day.

Ballina CP
Just another lovely powered site.

Grafton Meadow B & B
John and Larry on his golf course. This man has imagination!

At Arrawarra
Larry and Mary getting ready to leave in the rain.

Coffs Harbour
With Bruno and Irene Spagnolo. We hadn't seen them since WA.

Trial Bay Gaol
We visited here whilst staying in South West Rocks.

South West Rocks
Another wonderful place, this time within a days drive of Sydney.

South West Rocks again
This was the view as I sat having my morning cup of tea. Remind me again why we had to leave!!

Burrugun, Wauchope
John on the verandah with Dee and Rob Pike.

Comments

[Ross, Auntie Snooks & Auntie Marj]

Christmas Greeting
Hi, Marj & Snooks are up to date with the trip have just finished reading to the end. Hope you both have a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year as I am sure we will. Hear from you soon.