3½ Months on the Central Coast. (Quite a while back)

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Blog 20 - 3½ Months on the Central Coast. (Quite a while back)

It’s funny how funerals bring families together. Peter’s Mum would have wondered what all the fuss was about. The family gave her a lovely "send-off". We were grateful that we got to see all the family again. We were able to celebrate our youngest daughter, Shannon’s, engagement to long-time school friend, Michael Jones. Within in week of those festivities, Shannon was on a plane to Spain, for the next leg of her jet-setting, back-packing lifestyle. Before she left she suggested that perhaps we could meet her in Gallipoli next April! Great Idea! Something to think about. It’s strange that as soon as an idea is planted in your head, there are signs of it everywhere you look. Travel features in newspapers focused on the countries that we would consider visiting (Ireland and Switzerland, for sure!)

On 28th April our 4th grandchild, (our first grandson) was born. Jared Timothy Close is a beautiful baby boy who was full of smiles almost from day 1.

This certainly was a busy time for us. We were spending quite a bit of time playing with Matilda and Gabrielle, the Sydney Caravan Show was on so we HAD to go to that!, Wendy’s Mum’s house had been sold and needed to be vacated, a new residence had to be sourced for her, we enjoyed quite a bit of social activity, and Wendy got to participate in the annual “Wombats weekend” – girls’ escape to the Hunter Valley. We also fitted in a few markets, and several visits to the solicitor to finalise Peter’s Mum’s affairs, a couple of car and van repairs/maintenance and moving Wendy’s Mum into her new unit. Add a few birthday celebrations, some consulting and coaching work for Peter (including a trip to Melbourne), lots more time with the new baby and his family, keeping the home fires burning and generally being good little Oompa- Loompas for James and Judy, our very generous hosts, …. Are you tired yet???

We enrolled in The Australian Caravan Park Management Training School in July and so headed to Hastings Point in far north New South Wales to undertake the week-long course. The owner of North Star Big 4 Holiday Park has had 30 years in the industry and runs a very well run enterprise. He now shares his knowledge, expertise and experience with potential workers/managers/investors in the industry. We came away from that course with increased knowledge and understanding of the industry that we hope to work in as we travel around Australia.

From Hastings Point we made our way back down the coast as far as Evans Head, where we wanted to catch up some friends from Stanthorpe who were now working as Assistant Managers in the Caravan Park there. What an idyllic spot this is. We were able to park our van overlooking the water so we could watch the tide come and go each day…well at least 2 nights anyway. We enjoyed a big bike ride and a drive to Bundjalung National Park.

Our next destination was Kyogle to visit daughter Melanie and her family. We spent 2 weeks there riding our bikes to the playground, taking Maya to Nimbin markets, walking the dog (our old dog Chuckie), reading stories (seemingly constantly) to Maya, enjoying the warm sunshine and being in town for the opening day of the new IGA supermarket (a really big day for Kyogle!) We also got to go to Border Ranges National Park which lies within the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area. Pinnacle Lookout afforded great views of the rim of the extinct volcano, Mt Warning and across to the coast.

While at Kyogle we were searching for caravan park jobs across Australia and we were contacted by the owner of a holiday park in Batemans Bay. We had been recommended to her by the owner of North Star Holiday Park, where we did our training course. She was looking to appoint Assistant Managers and wanted to know if we were interested. Were we WHAT??? Despite the fact that it meant travelling to southern NSW agaaiinnnn!!!! At the same time, we received an email stating that we had been short-listed for Assistant Managers position in Bright (Victoria). SOUTH it is then. We left Kyogle at 7am on Tuesday 9th August (Census Day). We had an enjoyable drive to Grafton where we had breakfast by the river. Heading south on the Pacific Highway, Peter noticed smoke billowing from one of the vehicles. Now that’s scary! Not being able to identify the source of the problem, and being certain there was actually no fire, we called Roadside Assist …… and waited. A flat bed tow truck collected us this time and deposited us in Woolgoolga. We left the van with the mechanic, and went to the beach for fish and chips for lunch. Wendy vowed “One more thing goes wrong, and I’m turning around and going NORTH!” The mechanic had not been able to determine the problem, other that ruling out an oil leak. We stayed in the truck yard for the night so he could do further investigation the next day. We left him to it and spent the day being tourists in Coffs Harbour. We returned to the repaired vehicle at 3:30. The problem was that the turbo had melted through the air-conditioning hoses and the smoke was the result of coolant spilling onto the hot turbo.

So, all repaired (and at a reasonable cost) we departed Woolgoolga at 4:00pm aiming for the Kempsey area. Well, at 5:30pm (at Eungai Rail) you would NEVER guess what happened. We had a tyre blowout! Peter thought he would be able to fix it, but what if … and we were quite close to the passing traffic. Roadside Assist to the rescue again! Another wait for help again! With the assistance of the tow truck driver we were mobile by 8:30 and nervously drove into Kempsey, staying overnight in a car park. Off to Beaurepairs for a new tyre, balancing blah blah blah. Eventually heading for the Central Coast by 10:30 we were feeling quite fragile…yet again. Can you believe the run of bad luck, and yes we considered all options including abandoning the Motor home and catching a bus. On the road again, we received a call from Batemans Bay to inform us that they had to postpone the appointment of Assistants. So, Bright it was that we were heading! We spent 2 nights at “home”, enjoying time with our son Tim and his family, and our dear friends James and Judy.

On Saturday 13th August we pushed further south and after an UN-eventful day of driving, we parked outside Tarcutta Bowling Club for a well-earned sleep. It’s a well-known fact that we can’t drive through country north-east Victoria without going to Beechworth Bakery, so morning tea on Sunday was a special treat. We arrived at Bright Holiday Park at 1:00pm. After lunch, we met the manager and had a stroll around the park (interview). By Monday evening we had been offered the job. We were to start the following Monday, so we were able to settle into/and get to know the area and the gorgeous little town of Bright. We took a drive up to Falls Creek to experience the snow. It was beautiful, and a warm sunny day to boot! Maybe we could learn to ski?#*?

People often ask us why we chose a motorhome over a 4WD and caravan. When we’re stuck on the side of the road waiting for assistance, we can unhitch the car and be mobile if we want/need to. We are able to leave the broken down vehicle to be repaired and still get around. Peter often states that if the car were to break down too, we’ve got the bikes to go for help. We’ve only realised all these benefits BECAUSE of all the emergencies and break-downs that we have encountered. Before all of that, and still relevant, is the fact that once settled in camp, we get to drive around in a small, economical car, rather than a big 4WD which would guzzle gas just to get to the shops. Better still, we have our pushbikes. Now we are living so close to town, AND there are wonderful bike tracks in every direction, we are using our bikes more frequently. Check out http://www.railtrails.org.au/states/trails.php3?action=trail&trail=22 to see what we have access to here. The Ovens Valley has to be one of the prettiest places we have seen. Sorry Mel and Gareth, we thought your area was lovely, but this is better. (Everyone) Come visit us here so you can see what we mean. Bring your bikes!
PS. As usual, we're way behind with our blog. We promise to give you a tour around the Bright area in the next edition, and we promise that it won't be too far off. Peter will have to get clicking with his (our) new camera.

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Photos

Shannon & Mick
This was taken a while back. Shannon has hair! She shaved it off for charity. It IS growing back.

Wendy's 3 boys
Jared Timothy Close 28/4/11

Christmas in Winter
We went to Wendy's sister's property for a fun (tho WET) weekend.

A fun day out
After all the rain the bike track was flooded. What fun we all had!

Brindle Creek
Border Ranges National Park

What a view!
From Pinnacle Lookout you can see Mt Warning and the coast