This morning it was cloudy, yes, cloudy! Although there did seem to be a patch of sunshine hovering over the motel. The big worry was, looking south in the direction we were about to set off in, it was positively gloomy. Oh dear, our good run of weather might be over? We set out on Bulahdelah Way and soon merged onto the Pacific Highway. Hmmn, as anticipated, it wasn’t long before a light drizzle misted the windscreen. So light that Bernie had to activate the wipers to clear it because it hadn’t set the sensor off. Two or three intermittent wipes later the drizzle (heavy mist?) was done and the weather just continued to improve as we drove towards Newcastle. Lucky, eh? Before we reached Newcastle we took the turn-off for Maitland where we made our ... read more

Before heading south this morning we called in at the Port Macquarie Museum. The museum is currently celebrating Port Macquarie’s bicentenary with its 20 Decades, 21 Stories Bicentenary Exhibition Trail. The trail starts with information about the Birpai People, the traditional owners of the area around Port Macquarie. The exhibitions continue with stories about the establishment of a penal settlement in the 1820s and free settlement in the 1840s. It progresses through the 19th century providing information about education, trade and transport, experiments with growing sugar, the timber industry and federation. In the lead up to federation, Sir Edmund Barton, Australia’s first Prime Minister, was the elected representative for the Hastings-Macleay District. Progressing into the 20th century the exhibits deal with WWI, commerce and banking, the advent of touris... read more

This morning it was time to pack the car again and continue heading south. We have really enjoyed our stay in Sawtell. We stopped for a comfort break in Sawtell on our way through in 2019 and we were really taken with how pretty it looked and the village feel that it seemed to have. We have been saying since then that we would really like to spend a few days relaxing in Sawtell. Fortunately Sawtell has lived up to our expectations and we have not been disappointed with our time here. Our first stop this morning was at Nambucca Heads where we drove up to the Captain Cook Lookout for the view of the Nambucca River entering the sea. Apple Maps told us that we were at the Captain Cook Lookout, but there was not ... read more

This morning we drove to the Coffs Harbour International Marina for our 9.00am whale watching tour with Jetty Dive. The whales are quite close to the shore at the moment as they migrate northwards so we found some whales almost as soon as we were out through the breakwater. The whales we spent the most time watching were a group of three, two females and a calf that was born last season. We saw plenty of breathing spouts and tail fins but, unfortunately, they just wouldn’t breach for us. Towards the end of our tour a pod of dolphins, including several youngsters, started playing around the boat and then playing with the whales. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many sea mammals! All too soon it was time to return to the marina. During ... read more

When we arrived in Sawtell we noticed the signs advertising a market this Saturday. Expecting a street market I was a little disappointed that it turned out to be the local CWA fundraiser. There were a lot of plants on offer, some turned wood items, vintage doilies and various stalls offering second hand treasures. I splurged on an $10 kookaburra brooch, but resisted the $120 amethyst brooch even though he was prepared to discount it to $80. While we were out we continued down Elizabeth Street to then walk back along First Avenue (the main street). I spotted a novelty watering can in the front window of the local discount shop. I went in to check it out in a bit more detail and ended up buying said watering can AND then got into quite a ... read more