It is so easy to miss some very import places to visit. Shellharbour is one of those places. Shellharbour Village is the old seaside settlement with descendants of the original migrants still living in the area. We met one lady at the Visitors Information Centre, and the family has the history of ariving here on sailing ships, coming ashore, marrying (almost instantly) and raising their families. Tough times built a rough and tumble society including home stills providing whisky (??) to the original inhabitants. So, besides the history of the village, there are three more important historical sites, the wreck of a ship, a light rail museum and of interest to David and myself, HARS. This museum restores all sorts of aircraft, mostly military, both for display and flying to various airshows on the East Coast. ... read more

After wet days in Coffs, but receeding floods at Kempsey but more impending storms due, we drove down the Pacific Highway (P H) to Medowie, close to Newcastle's airport. The day was dry when we hooked up the rig for the road and while we did some shopping at Aldi before heading south. In no time we ran into drizzle, then light rain. By the time we were at Kempsey the rain increased to heavy and progressively the outside temp dropped as we ran into a strong southerly wind. Marg described it like being in the washing machine on a heavy spray rinse. Most traffic was driving at 90/110 which suited us. There was the odd heavy vehicle that thought v.wet meant throttle max and through up a wake like a jet ski boat. Rivers and ... read more

The wind, she did blow - thought we were at sea with Cptn Cook. In fact one blast Marg thought had completely rolled our boat - err, motorhome. The buckets of rain fell most of the night and we were expecting to see flood water around us. Today, (Saturday) has seen the wind abate, and even a peep of sun late in the afternoon. It seems our departure from Ballina was timely as they had wind gusts to 200ks and rain has crippled their sewerage system. A couple of commercial buildings also lost their rooves. Due to flooding on the main highway, we cannot progress in any direction more than a few kilometers, so we will stay here until floods south of Coffs abate. So what do you do to fill in an hour or two? ... read more

We are excited that Adventure 2013 is about to start. The reality though is that the starting point was many months ago – the planning phase. We will take 9 or 10 months to circumnavigate Australia and visit many important landmarks on the mainland. Tasmania will have to wait another year. We will be travelling in our Horizon Wattle motorhome (Mercedes Sprinter) and have our enclosed trailer with us. The combination takes pressure off storage in the motorhome, and allows us the ability to cope with all seasons. During the planning stage we covered health issues to make sure we were well, had our medications reviewed and up to date, made medical appointments in Perth (half way point) to keep an eagle eye out for recurring skin cancers (Rob has a history which he refers to ... read more

Jose dared to live the dream planted in his impressionable young mind by his Grandma in Spain. He wanted a castle where guests would come, dance and dine - but he only had a dream. He left school in Spain but found that what he could earn barely covered his living costs. He read of oppoertunities in Australia and migrated after proposing to his girlfriend who remained in Spain. To see how this worked out, come to Paronella park and take a guided walk through his dream castle. An exquisite spot, beautiful but ravaged by fire, floods and cyclones, yet much of Jose's own handi work remains and is being cared for so future generations can enjoy the dream. With accomodation on site, make sure to do a day and an after dark tour. BRING A ... read more