WE'RE BACK AT CORINDI

Dangar Falls

High up at Dorrigo

Some of the 14k of "windy" road going up the mountain to Dangar Falls 

An interesting tiled mural on a wall in Dorrigo High  Street 

Some of the memorabilia at the Worlds Smallest Motorbike Museum

 Beautiful Corindi Beach

The patient looking for sympathy

 

Monday 29^th August.  Arrived back to one of our favourite spots.  There are new managers at the park and they’ve been busy getting rid of lots of the older permanent vans and really sprucing up the place.  They’ve built a new office and house for the managers, completed building many en-suite sites and put in 3 new cabins.  Wow what a difference since we were here 3 years ago.  The caravan sites are on a palm laden grassy slope that overlooks the beach. Quite magical.  There are tables and chairs to sit and admire the view along the hilltop.  We were all set up by 1pm, so had a quick lunch and went for a long walk on the beach.  We wandered up to the tables at 5pm for happy hour – imagine sipping wine, relaxing and listening to the ocean – it just doesn’t get any better than this I can assure you.

Tuesday 30^th  Went for a drive to Maelstrom, Repton, Bellingen and Dorrigo. We checked out a caravan park at Maelstrom called North Beach for future use.  It’s part of the Family Parks Group.  It’s large and backs onto the ocean.  It’s very pretty and well maintained with large drive-through sites.  It’s fairly quiet with only 2 local clubs for entertainment but certainly on our list of parks to visit in the future.  Repton is a small river town but has a lot of charm. Bellingen is an historic town with lots of the old buildings still in use as shops and offices. The Bellinger River flows around the town.  We saw a sign for the next town of Dorrigo and decided to drive on.  We passed scenic countryside and came to a sign warning us of 14km winding roads up to Dorrigo.  They weren’t kidding.  It’s steeper than Kangaroo Valley and was scary enough driving up along the mountainside.  We stopped at some falls on the way up which were beautiful.  We also passed some caravan parks – boy oh boy  wouldn’t fancy taking any sized caravan up that road, let along coming down again.  I can only say those that have are very brave.  We stopped at Dorrigo and popped into the Tourist Information Centre to get some maps of the National Park and Dangar Falls.  We were amused to find ‘The World’s Smallest Motorbike Museum” located in the High Street at Dorrigo and couldn’t resist a look.  It was basically a café with lots of motorbike pictures, spare parts and memorabilia.  There was a very old motor bike hanging on the wall.  Richard found it quite interesting and took lots of photos to share with the boys next time we see them.

We drove through the town to Dangar Falls bypassing the National Park as we were running out of time.  Dangar Falls was absolutely stunning and gushing like crazy from all the rainfall we’ve had lately.  We took photos and wished we’d come earlier as there was a walkway down to the falls that takes about 30 minutes each way.  The drive back down the mountainside was really scary, being so close to the edge looking down and the roads being so windy.  I was glad to get to the bottom and won’t be in a rush to go back that way.

Wednesday 31^st.  Went for a drive and walk around Coffs Harbour.  The town is busily making preparations for the World Car Rally that they’re hosting next weekend.  Road blocks are being prepared to close off the streets for the event and a stage is being erected by the harbour.  Lots of International rally drivers will be arriving this week and the hotels and accommodation are totally booked out. At least there’s a Dan Murphy and Aldi store so that we can restock our supplies once more.

The caravan park is filling up now with people coming to get their spots and settle in for the blueberry picking season which starts shortly.

Saturday 3^rd September (yes it’s spring already and ¾ way through the year  –  don’t know where it’s gone) We decided to visit the “Bollywood Markets” at Woolgoolga that we’d seen advertised all week.  Woolgoolga has a large Indian community. We were expecting a big, packed market place and trouble parking the car.  Woolgoolga is about 15 minutes drive from Corindi.  We were surprised to find we could park the car easily right in front of the markets and that there wasn’t the large crowd milling around that we’d been expecting.  There were about 12 stalls all up – one with a traditionally dressed Indian gentleman offering authentic butter chicken and rice lunch special.   It was all a bit disappointing.  We did talk to the man running the second hand book stall and once again were disappointed to find he didn’t have any John Grisham novels for sale.  He quickly told us his wife ran the shop at the end of town “Can’t miss it look for the big purple building at the end of town” and assured us there were some Grisham books available.  We thanked him and headed back to the car.  I kept my eyes peeled for the purple building and we almost drove past it as it was a dress shop.  We decided to stop anyway and discovered the book shop was through the dress shop on the other side.  A very nice Irish woman from Dublin ran it and we had a long chat to her and did indeed buy some more Grisham books that we haven’t already  read to add to our collection, as we’re

now addicted to his style of writing and intrigue and want to read everything he’s written.  We couldn’t wait to get back to the van and start reading our new purchases.

That evening we had a lovely thai meal in Woolgoolga and went to the C.Ex Club to see the “Rebel Rousers” that promised a good mix of 60’s music for all tastes.  We were very enthusiastic walking into the club to hear the band playing “My Girl” a great old motown classic and thought the evening had tremendous promise.  We walked to the dance floor area and found a spot to sit as the auditorium was pretty packed.  It soon became clear that everyone was from the same dance school and knew one another.  They were dressed up in true rock n roll fashion and shiny black/white patent spats that seemed the compulsory footwear.  They were all having a great time strutting their stuff and swapping dance partners.  They were all quite focussed and serious and obviously the dancing lessons had paid off for most of them.  We felt quite out of place as there was a competitive professional atmosphere happening.  It was enjoyable watching them dancing, but there was no way we were going to get up to dance amongst that crowd.  We stayed for a while and decided to leave them to it.

Sunday 4^th – Father’s Day.  The Amble In – the local pub – 5 minutes away from the caravan park – were holding a Father’s Day lunch and entertainment.  We had nothing else on so decided to “amble up to the Amble Inn” for lunch.  It was a gloriously sunny day and we sat under the outdoor pergola and had a lovely steak, chips and salad lunch washed down with a good bottle of sauvignon blanc overlooking the ocean with a musician/entertainer who was pretty dreadful. We didn’t let that spoil a nice relaxing lunch.  Unfortunately their legendary homemade cheesecake was unavailable (I just love cheesecake – specially if it’s homemade).   Oh well, you can’t win them all!!    We left very relaxed and full up.

Monday 5^th September – We were on the road by 7am Budgewoi bound once more. It’s a 6 hour drive south from Corindi. That’s the furthest distance we ever want to do at any one time.

Before I go on I must explain why we’re now going south instead of north as planned before you all get quite confused.  When we were up North at Tweed Heads, Richard had a phone call from Bankstown Hospital advising him that a date was now available for the day surgery he’d been on the waiting list for over the last 4 months.  We were hoping it wouldn’t be available until we came back to Sydney in December. Things never work out to plan.  At first he said he’d cancel it and go back on another waitlist.  I didn’t think that was a good idea as we wanted to get to the bottom (pardon the pun) of what the problem was.  At first he intended to fly to Sydney from Tweed and I’d remain in the caravan with our dog Sally.  As it happened fate intervened as Sally has become quite lame on one leg and is in pain with it a lot of time. We’ve taken her to a vet in Yamba and got anti-inflammatory tablets which didn’t make much difference.  She was born with hip dysplasia which took 2 years to be diagnosed.  2 years ago she had an operation on her left hip where they cut off the ball socket to prevent bone rubbing on bone.  We were never100% happy with the outcome plus it was very expensive and a long recovery process.  We knew she had the exact same symptoms as before, limping on 3 legs and not wanting her hip touched.  After many emails and conversations with the original veterinary surgeon at the Animal Referral Hospital, we decided another operation was the only way to help Sally have a happier future. It was also 2 of our children’s’ birthdays –  hence we’ve now turned around and are on our way back to Sydney once more.

BUGEWOI – HOME BASE FOR 3 WEEKS

Richard’s surgery is booked for Monday 12^th and Sally’s for Wednesday 8^th.

We got back to Budgewoi at 1pm and I must say it’s almost like coming home as we’ve been here so often and love the place and feel very comfortable here.  There could be worse places to be marooned at, so it’s not all bad.  We did basic unpacking as we were heading off to Sydney the next day.  The caravan is staying on site at Budgewoi whilst we commute to and from Sydney over the next weeks.

Tuesday 6^th  September – Adam’s 20^th birthday.  We couldn’t believe the traffic in Sydney when we got off the freeway and onto

Pennant Hills Road

. We’ve got really out of the swing of built up traffic congestion over the last 12 weeks.  It was quite a shock to the system that we once looked upon as the norm.  Have we become country bumpkins after all???  We arrived at Revesby where our 2 sons are renting a house mid afternoon.  Their house is on the corner of 2 busy roads, so the noise hit us like a ton of bricks.  Sally enjoyed the freedom of running around without a long restraining rope behind her.  After a quick cuppa and unpacking it was straight into loads of washing and housework – as you can imagine 2 men living on their own aren’t  the least bit houseproud or fussy about the piles of washing/washing up laying around.  I know, I know you’re saying you don’t have to do it – it’s their responsibility now they’re living on their own – but old habits and all that.  I just couldn’t help myself.  The girls called in after work and it was lovely to see the family complete and together again.

Wednesday 8^th September.  Sally’s operation date.  We were very upset leaving her at the hospital, but it has to be done.  Not sure how long she’ll be in – it depends on how she recovers and deals with the pain.  It seems so quiet and strange in the house without her.

Friday 9^th September.  We had a combined dinner for Adam and Hayley’s birthdays and a belated Father’s Day celebration at a local thai restaurant.  We were joined with some of our friends and it was lovely to see them all again – Lorraine, Cliff, Brooke, Jane.  The evening went too quickly.  Hayley and her boyfriend Adrian are off to Singapore on Saturday afternoon for 4 days as a birthday present for Hayley’s 26^th birthday on 13^th.  We won’t see her again this time around.

Saturday 10^th  September   Picked up our darling dog Sally from the Animal Hospital.  She was so pleased to see us.  She has stitches in and we return on 19^th to have them out. We’re so pleased to have her home again.  She seems quite happy in herself but will need lots of TLC over the coming weeks.

Met a friend for coffee at Panania to see the “Panania Village Festival”.   There were market stalls, dancers and musicians, sausage sizzles and lots of activities happening. The place was buzzing with a roaming magician twirling a crystal ball.  I visited the Salvation Army store and bought a bag full of yes – you guessed it John Grisham books.  Can’t believe that man wrote so much that we haven’t yet read.  I also went to the second hand book store in Padstow and came away loaded up with another bag full of Grisham novels.  That must be it by now.  Richard had a fit when he saw all the books I’d bought.  We’ve now got enough reading material for quite a few weeks.

Sunday 11^th September.   I went to Leichardt with 2 girlfriends to see the movie “The Guard”.  We had a lovely lunch in the bistro next to the cinema and a bottle of sav blanc (who wants coffee when wine is available?).  Richard was at home taking his peri prep medicine so wouldn’t be venturing too far out of reach of a bathroom.  There was nothing I could do to help, so decided it was best to leave him alone.  The movie was very funny and entertaining and well worth seeing.

Monday 12^th September.  Richard has his colonoscopy.  He’s not scheduled to get to the hospital until 12.30 and is already starving and trying not to think about food, food, food.

Whilst I’m waiting I catch up with Jan, Mel and Kathy from Panania Diggers and we have the $6 lunch special curried chicken.  Very nice.  Richard’s home by 6pm and glad it’s all behind him (pun intended this time). 

Tuesday 13^th September – Hayley’s 26^th.  She’s not due back from Singapore until 7.30pm.  We have dental check ups in the morning and head off to base camp later in the afternoon.  It’s good to be back somewhere tranquil after the chaos in Sydney.  We relax with a welcome cuppa watching the ducks and swans on the lake. The ducks roam freely on the grass and wait to be fed by one of the park residents. She feeds them at the same time each afternoon and they wait outside her door till she comes out with a bucket full of seeds.  It’s quite a spectacle and the grass is covered with ducks squawking for ages before she feeds them.

Friday 16^th “September Went to the local thai restaurant which is always yummy.  Afterwards we went to the Coast Hotel to hear the band.  They’re a young local début group and very good.  Most of the audience consisted of their friends and family.

Saturday 17^th September.  Went to North Lakes Tavern that’s recently been refurbished.  They have the 1824 steaks that we first tasted in Laurieton and they’re just the best.  These were was pretty good. I’ve been craving steak Dianne for a while. After dinner we ventured into the Coast Hotel again and the place was absolutely rocking to the sounds of Jellyfish Rock.  They surprised us with a pretty good rendition of “Jumping Jack Flash” that Mick Jagger would have been pretty pleased with.  They’re a young, experienced band and were very good to listen and dance to.

Sunday 18^th September Back on the road to Sydney.  We’re up and in the car early.  We’re cooking a huge lamb roast for the family – hope they all turn up. They all turn up at different times, so I’m constantly in the kitchen and don’t get finally cleared up till late in the evening.  It’s all worth it when Adam gives me a big burly hug (he’s 6’6” and solidly built) and tells me he misses my cooking.  Such a smooch!!

Monday 19^th  September  Sally has her stitches out.  Now we have to start intensive physiotherapy to get her to use her leg again (last time it took ages for her to use her leg).   Walking in sand is great, so we’ll be doing lots of therapeutic walks to the beach from now on. Back to Budgewoi by lunchtime  – a quick lunch and off to the beach for a therapy session with Sally.

Apologies to our friends in Sydney that are reading this blog that we didn’t have time to catch up.  We will be back in Sydney for 3 weeks in December and hope to catch up with more of you then.

We will be making one more quick overnight trip to Sydney this Sunday 24^th as Richard has a post-operative appointment with his specialist on Monday.  Hopefully it will be good news and we can resume our trip north on Tuesday 25^th.  All will be revealed in the next exciting instalment of our blog.

Well this has been a mammoth blog as I haven’t had time to write it all up for 3 weeks as you can see.   Thanks for your patience ploughing through this massive missive.

Take care and hope you’re still enjoying our adventures.

Till next time.  Love Marian and Richard