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The two captains of the Britz machines.The
Big4@Saltwater RV Park was set in beautiful countryside surrounds about 10kms from the beach side town of
Yamba. On the southern end of the park, the mighty Clarence River slowly emptied its vast waters into the Pacific Ocean. Large open parkland close by was inhabited by a number of kangaroo’s which continue to fascinate us but which are of little interest to most Aussies. This provided the ideal backdrop to meeting up with close family and doing some serious catch up chatting, keeping in mind that we had not seen Rory and Brenda since early 2017.
Yamba clearly didn’t lift the skirt of the person who visited and wrote a few lines for the Lonely Planet Guide, but it really did surprise in terms of small-town qualities that have been so noticeable and repetitive on the journey. We have deliberately sought out these little, quiet, tucked away places that hardly appear on any East Coast Australia map but which all punch way above their weight. Each one has a welcome sign which
South West Rocks
Stunning a "must return" beach side town. generally screams out what makes them tick, the streets are spotlessly clean, each boasts a surprising number of shops, pubs, cafes and so forth which are located for wandering tourists (of which, there are plenty). We have not yet drifted into a small coastal town and had to reset the GPS to back track and move on. Yamba is first and foremost a fishing town and there were many trawlers in the marinas on the Clarence River chasing prawns which are found in waters close by.
On matters Australian, something we have noticed is the ageing profile of the good folk of this country. We are seeing plenty of the grey nomad fraternity but generally one sees a helluva lot of older people. A quick Google on the subject of ageing trends in the country reveals that 1 in 7 Aussies are over the age of 65 representing 15 percent of the population and this will increase to 25 percent in the next 20 years. Apart from the incredible growth in the caravan and RV leisure market serving mainly us older codgers, the other stand out for the older generation is the proliferation of bowling clubs which one sees
Hat Head
Blissful beaches. in every single town. Most have synthetic grass greens and alongside, good looking clubhouse facilities which keep these thirsty bowlers well fed and quenched. “Bowlo” as it’s known is big and extends to barefoot bowls, pokies (one arm bandits) and fancy-dress nights. So, lots of re-invention to keep the game going.
Around the northern end of the Clarence River estuary was
Iluka, a quaint little fishing village. Close by were a number of national parks and it had become noticeable in many areas visited, that rehabilitation of dunes and coastal forest is underway largely as a result of wholesale plunder of timber in the early settler days. On one of the informative boards describing the work being done, mention was made of a South African plant, Bitou, which had been brought in to stabilise bare dunes. It is now listed as an alien invasive species which just goes to show what happens when you mess with nature. Mind you, we have the Aussies to thank for our infestation of wattle trees.
After two pleasant days at Yamba, it was time to nudge down the coast but a little bit of restocking of the larder and sundowner fridge at
Gladstone
Wonderfully restored and maintained old Heritage Hotel. a local Coles store was needed. All set and good to go, Brutey decided otherwise and simply refused to show any sign of starting. Third time unlucky and to cut a very long wait short, yet another technician came along and got the vehicle started and, yet again, proclaimed that he really didn’t know what was causing the problem. Needless to say, I had plenty of time to connect with Britz and let them know this was now a real problem. To their credit they were extremely helpful, patient and did offer generous compensation for our troubles.
Later than planned we made it to
Woolgoolga, our next stop. Superbly located RV Park just off yet another spectacular, curving 7km beach. The main street ran alongside and was a collection of small coffee shops and a few pubs and here was yet another little beachside town with its own unique charms. It gets a three-line mention in the Lonely Planet Guide which is a travesty and probably ensures many people don’t bother to go there. What was of particular interest is that it has a permanent Sikh population as a result of Sikhs first arriving there in the late 1800’s.
Hawkes Nest
Wow. It does not get better than this place. Initially they found work on the sugar cane farms but now many are established farmers in the area. They have built two temples in the town. What was noticeable was a definite change in temperature as we moved further south with overnight temperatures dropping to 12-15deg C.
The rule of more than one-night stays for any stop was discarded as we decided to move on to
Hat Head, 139kms further on. Definitely not on many Aussies radar, this tiny little beach town has a population of about 325 people and is best known for the National Park which surrounds the town. On our way there we popped in to a beachside town by name of
South West Rocks and I was so taken with the beauty of the beachfront and location of the RV Park that I tried to convince the gang that we should stay there but I was over ruled. A definite destination for any future travels on this coastline. On we headed and the RV Park in Hat Head was huge which did not quite fit given the obscure location, but we quickly deduced that this was one of those places where many grey nomads arrive
Hawkes Nest
Idyllic estuary. Will be back! and perhaps never leave. The shapes and state of some of the caravans confirmed this might be the case. Sue and Brenda set off on a quick walk and two hours later there was a little bit of anxiety as to where they were. When they did get back, wide eyed, they described getting lost in the park and being harassed by steely eyed kangaroos. Sue’s version of events was far more dramatic than Brenda’s and confirmation that she will not win a bravery award anytime soon. One of the intriguing pleasures of sitting outside late afternoon with sundowners in hand, is observing the “activity” in the park surrounds. One to catch the eye was a rather large female mounting a three-wheeler bike (with great difficulty) and pedalling no more than 30 meters to the communal washroom area. To those who have followed my dismal fishing performance thus far, it did not improve. Stunning beach with what looked like very fishable water produced zilch. All that did happen was one bloke coming over and asking me what the hell I was doing. Clearly, he had never seen anyone fly fishing before and to add to this, I have never seen
Mudgee
Sampling some really good local wines with Glen and Ali Barker. anyone on the West Coast in 2009 and on this trip, fly fishing.
Over sundowners in Hat head, the conversation drifted to the fact that our sojourn was coming to an end. This would be the second last night in the relative comforts of Brutey. The journey needed to continue and on a glorious, clear day on Thursday 23
rd May the GPS was duly set for
Hawkes Bay, a fairly lengthy drive south of 261km. The M1 was deserving of its status as a highway as it was now two lanes threading its way through impressive farmland countryside and inevitably crossing a number of large rivers. This left me wandering how Australia can be regarded as a country with water supply challenges but one needs to keep in mind that not far from the coastal areas, is a vast, arid and desperately dry interior. The copious rains which Northern Queensland had experienced earlier this year had not fallen in this region and there were a few signs giving notice of water restrictions.
Travel often involves a “wow moment” and Hawkes Bay was it! Ironic that our last RV stop would be at undoubtedly the most impressive beach side
Noosa Springs
With good friends Roland and Pat McNamara. location we had visited on the entire trip. The RV Park was just off a pristine, blonde white sandy beach with two islands not far off shore. Late afternoon, a barefoot 5.5km walk along this beach was a fitting moment to reflect on our slow meander down a seriously impressive coastline. Hawkes Bay also bears the navigational compass of Captain James Cook, who named it in 1769 for Sir Edward Hawke, First Lord of the Admiralty. This is without a shadow of doubt, a beachside resort that we will revisit at some point in the, hopefully, not too distant future. We had thoroughly enjoyed sharing these final five nights with close family and lots of reflection and discussion, over compulsory sundowners, about the 5000km journey nearing completion.
All that remained was to travel on Friday 24
th May to
Mudgee, roughly 300km due west of Sydney to spend the week end with good ex SA friends, Glen and Ali Barker. Glen, an optometrist by profession, left SA some 34 years ago and is the son of Denis Barker, who developed Selborne Country Club on the Natal South Coast. This was probably the first golf estate developed in SA.
Brutey
Hawkes Nest
With Rory and Brenda Lynsky. needs to be handed back to Britz on 27
th July and we then spend four nights with family in
Manleyvale, Sydney before heading home on Friday 31
st May.
What does one say about a journey such as the one we had undertaken? A tough call, but right up front, we consider ourselves very privileged and fortunate to have undertaken this six-week East Coast sojourn. Every single day produced highlights, experiences, scenery, sights and human interactions that will linger in the memory for a long time. It is a blissfully beautiful coastline beyond my humble ability to describe. For those who have a yearning to travel and explore, the advice I give is simple; plan and go there and soak it all up first hand.
The RV campervan style of travel is huge outside of SA and as always, I provide some perspective on costs in an effort to convince anyone interested, that it is without doubt the best and most pleasant and economical way to explore any country.
Australia 2019: RV Hire and comprehensive insurance: R1326.00/day
RV Park accommodation cost: R370.00/day
Fuel cost: R190.00/day
Food and sundowner stuff:
R470.00/day Total cost : R2356.00/day New Zealand 2017 R2190.00/day USA 2018 R2880/day Perspective. Always important! If Sue and I were to book in to the Pumula Hotel on the Natal South Coast, (a good 3-4 star family hotel), it would cost (out of season), R1430 per person sharing per night, all meals included. That’s before fuel and grog. So, the cost of staying in one place, staring at the same scenery for days on end would be R2860.00 per day.
To those who have read some of the blog stuff, thank you and I hope you enjoyed some of it and, more importantly, I hope it encourages some of you venture forth and just do it! Should anyone be interested and need any assistance, I will gladly help if I can.
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Pete Swanepoel
non-member comment
Well done - and thanks!
Lovely blog, thank you. I did the trip for about R2 a day thanks to you two! And thoroughly enjoyed it.