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Published: March 24th 2024
It was an easy start today. I woke up with the alarm at 8am. My case just needs a little tweak, all the last bits to be put in. I got a single bag of cereal at the shop last night, I have enough milk left for my cereal, and one coffee, so that’ll be ok. I took Angelika’s pitta bread from last night’s dinner; I’ve got 1 pot of hummus left, so that’ll do for breakfast too. It’s a bit make do this morning, but I’m ok with that! I chose to have a black tea, so I can save my milk for my coffee to go! It’s crappy instant, so I put two in … for good measure.
We checked out at 9:00, to leave at 9:15. We were all good to go on time. The first stop that we are heading for is Yamba.
We get back onto Pacific Highway to continue our journey south. We drove through Lenox Head, it’s a well known surfing area, and also really highly priced, prime location, real estate. This is where the boys can surfing yesterday!
We passed through Ballina. It’s known for the oyster, prawn and mud
crab fishing…… and Shawn the Prawn!!! There has been much controversy for Shawn, over time, but he stands loud and proud, well maintained, and painted beautifully today.
Big things, are a thing here in Australia! We’ve seen the mango, the gumboot, and now the prawn. We still have the original, ‘big thing’, to see…. The big banana! That will come later in the trip!
At 11am, we had a quick toilet stop, then we continued on Pacific Highway to Yamba. The rain has been with us all the way today. The weather is not looking good for our scenic stop!
Yamba is a town in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. It’s located at the mouth of the Clarence River.
The bridge over the River Clarence is built quite high; this is because of the size of the boats that are expected to travel through. The height of this bridge had to be built in line with other bridges on the river to enable the padding boats.
We had our lunch break in Yamba. We ate our lunch/brunch at a small cafe called Caperberry Cafe. Whist we were eating, a beautiful bird landed on a nearby
table. It was a Blue faced honey eater. It flew down to take the sugar from the table near to ours! I really enjoyed my brunch. I chose eggs. I complain when I’m given them, but I really miss them when I’m not!
We continued on to Angourie National Park. The area is a beautiful, no services, no camping spot, just mainly nature. The rain is currently holding off, so we should be able to do our scenic walk around the green and blue pools. We were able to walk around the area for an hour. We did plan to swim in the blue and green pools, but the weather simply wasn’t good enough today. It was a lovely walk, and a really beautiful area, despite the weather! The surf was high, with plenty of surfers, ready to take it on!
We headed back out of Yamba to continue on the Pacific Highway to Darlington. Our next stay over.
At 2:30, we stopped of for a comfort break. We are about 20 minutes from our next location, Woolgoolga, Arrawarra near Darlington. 5 minutes after leaving the petrol station, we were pulled over by the NHVR. They are
doing a really thorough check! They check for alcohol, drugs, check every aspect of both the vehicle, and the trailer, also all paperwork and driving log history. It was a long check. She did receive a minor notice for something on the trailer. By law, She has 24 hours to get it fixed!!!….and it’s Sunday!!!
This town is the home town of our guide, Lyndsey. She was really proud to drive us around on a guided tour of the town before taking us to the resort.
When we arrived at the resort, which is similar to a Centreparcs vibe, we were allocated our rooms. For some reason, I’ve been pit in a room with Charles???? I wasn’t happy! I haven’t got anything against Charles, but I paid a huge extra fee to have my own, single accommodation. I decided that at my age, I need my own space, so it was worth it for me! I contacted our guide to discuss it with her. She was in agreement with me. She contacted the office, and discussed it with them. The outcome was that I got an upgrade because this was the only other space available. So for the
next two nights, I am in an eight bed, 2 bathroom, family accommodation! It’s huge! But it’s only right, as i paid extra for the privacy option!
We had our evening dinner together at the site. As I am in the family area, I went to Angelika and Timo’s accommodation for our evening, after dinner, cups of tea and chat before bed.
When we were on the bus this afternoon, I had a notification for my friend Bridget. She passed away recently, when I was in Sri Lanka. Today’s message was a notification about her funeral. The news did set me back again. I have felt sad since I got that information. I didn’t feel that I could share it, but I think my change in mood has been noticeable.
The conversation came out with Angelika tonight. I got a bit upset with myself. I spoke with. Ridges about me being away for all of this before I left the UK. We did say our goodbyes, but clearly, I need closure. Angelika and I are going to mark the occasion in our own way. I think I really needed that chat tonight. I feel better knowing that
I am going g to do something. Although I don’t know what yet. I think it will have to be on the beach at sunset, because that’s how I learned of Bridget’s passing, when I was in Sri Lanka. I also feel better that Angelika is going to share it with me.
It’s 10:30 now, I’m in bed, and feeling tired!
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Andrea
non-member comment
Chin up
Hiya sounds like your enjoying yourself just a bit of a bad day with that notification coming about bridge do what you two used to do have coffee eat a nice cake and laugh you will be fine just a bit hard I would have asked for a different room as well as you have paid for it it’s better been in a different room you can fart and run to toilet naked or what ever you wear carnt do that with someone else in the room I have caught up with all your blog now back in England so keep sending it really enjoy reading it take care have a fab time go steady xx