This Adventurous Age

Adventures travelling and working around Australia.

Category Archives: 1999 Travels


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1999 Travels February 14

SUNDAY 14 FEBRUARY     WOOLGOOLGA

We woke to clear blue skies and sunshine. It got to about 27 degrees today, a little humid, but not uncomfortable.

I read the NSW Sunday paper, that I walked up and bought. We had a very late breakfast, as John slept in.

Then we went for a very long walk on the beach, right along to the rocky headland to the north. The weed is back on the beach, in big banks of the stuff, between the caravan park and the creek mouth.

We watched our two caravan neighbours getting bait worms, by dragging smelly fish offal along the sand, and waiting for a worm head to come up out of the sand. The worms are over a foot long – yuk – like huge earthworms. They had gotten a few, but to my mind, not many for the time they were out there dragging the sand. These two seem to catch the odd fish, every day, too. It must be the worms!

We had a late lunch – at 4pm. Then went to bowls.

It was an alright evening. I was inconsistent, as usual, but not too bad. John’s game was great in the first half, and off in the second. He got cross with himself – and me! We won the first game easily and lost the second by a similarly large margin. The club served supper – fried Chinese snack foods, and chips. I find I am not keen on such fatty things, any more. I had some fruit when we got home.

We had a long talk, outside the club, as we were leaving, with a single lady aged in her fifties, who said she would love to go travelling, but has no-one (male) to go with. She says she is too afraid to go alone and would not consider travelling with a female in similar circumstances. We suggested she investigate 4WD tours that take single passengers, or tag alongs. But I think she is too fussy.


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1999 Travels February 13

SATURDAY 13 FEBRUARY     WOOLGOOLGA

It seems to be fining up – there were some blue skies today.

I walked to the shops and bought the weekend papers. Collected my photos – they were alright. I ordered copies made of five of the Toowoomba Japanese Gardens ones, which I will send to T.

While John read the morning papers I went to the Saturday markets, and browsed their offerings. I bought some bargain price mangoes and apples.

John went off to bowls in the early afternoon, at the Park Club, in Coffs Harbour.

I cleaned the van, then mounted photos until I ran out of album space.

I went for a walk on the beach, for over an hour. It was very pleasant to walk along on the sand with blue skies and sunshine around, for a change. The seas are still quite large, though. The huge piles of weed, sea cabbage or whatever, that were on the beach yesterday, seem to have gone back out to sea – the beach is much clearer.

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Woolgoolga Beach

I made soup – tomato and herb – for the next few days, then read the papers for the rest of the afternoon.

John was satisfied with his bowls game, even though he didn’t win. He informed me that he has entered us in the pairs game at Woopi Bowls Club, tomorrow, at 5pm. That is awful timing, as far as meals go!

Tea was the last of the barley soup, chicken noodle soup chow mein, and a mango.


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1999 Travels February 12

FRIDAY 12 FEBRUARY     WOOLGOOLGA

I went for a walk to the shops, while John slept in. Put a roll of film in for processing. Found out that the shop takes passport photos and that the Post Office does passport processing. All solved!

After breakfast I went back to the shops and had the photos done.

We drove to Coffs Harbour – to shop, and so John could – yet again – check out bowls. It was raining, but a pleasant drive.

On the way, we detoured to go look at Moonee Beach – John really loves the outlook from there – we have spent some school holidays camping there. We might come here for a week, after Woolgoolga.

In Coffs, bought groceries. We didn’t linger, because of the bowls this afternoon.

It was teeming rain as we drove back to camp. Ho hum! John phoned the bowls club – the game was cancelled. So too, we heard on the radio, was the second cricket final in Melbourne!

After lunch, I took all the passport stuff to the Post Office and got it all done. One less thing to worry about. I also checked our bank account levels at the bank branch here; our account is beginning to climb back into some health, but another month of restraint is needed.

We managed a walk on the beach, for an hour, but got a bit damp, though, from rain showers. There were great heaps of large, strappy seaweed on the beach.

Tea was barley soup, flake cutlets, potato slices, salad, mango.

The Carlton pre-season game was on TV, late, and John watched that, then was on the computer until well after midnight.

News has filtered in today, that a cyclone – Rona – crossed the coast last night, in the Mossman/Cow Bay area. It seems to have been rather unexpected – one of those systems that is out to sea then suddenly changes course – it rapidly became a Category 3 apparently. So there was little warning. There is much flooding in Cairns, with the Lake Placid and Caravonica areas evacuated, due to the Barron River flooding. The rainforest around Cow Bay has been badly affected. I guess Wonga Beach would have suffered too. There was about a one metre storm surge in those parts – T’s great fear! A lot of sugar cane has been destroyed. The system continued on to the Tablelands, dumping a lot of rain. I wonder whether the sisters J and L are still happy about their decision to see out the summer at Atherton?


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1999 Travels February 11

THURSDAY 11 FEBRUARY   EVANS HEAD TO WOOLGOOLGA   170kms

We didn’t wake up till 8am! This is what dull, grey mornings do to one.

Pack up and departure was quite smooth and routine, and we proceeded south.

The drive was uneventful. There was some interest in looking at river heights, especially the Clarence,  and in the section from the Yamba turnoff to the Grafton bypass, where we paralleled the Clarence and the farmlands were interesting. The more forested section south of Grafton was a bit tedious.

John remembered that there is a big bowls club at Woolgoolga, so that is where he wants to stay next! There was a little sunshine when we reached there, but it had obviously been wet, too.

We booked into the Woolgoolga Beach Caravan Park – $11 a night, with the seventh night free. This is, again, good for the budget. We are trying to have a little economy drive at the moment, after the excesses of Xmas and Telstra bills. There are some big bills coming in around this time, like the Truck rego and insurance.

There was no site with a slab available, so we set up on a fairly soggy looking area, and put shadecloth on the ground outside the van.

After setting up and having lunch, went for a short drive – to the bowls club, so John could investigate what was on. He booked us in for a pairs game tomorrow afternoon.

Then we drove to the headland lookout. Walked down the slope from the carpark to the rocky top of the headland and watched the sea for a while – the waves are still very big and powerful.

Then we drove back to camp and went for a walk on the beach, which is just at the end of the caravan park. It is a more interesting beach than that at Evans Head, with inlets and headlands in the distance.

Tea was barley soup, lamb chops and some vegies, followed by mango.

While I was cooking tea, John fiddled with the TV and found that we could not get the ABC.

After tea, went for a walk along the shopfronts that are across the road from the park. John found a video shop he could join and borrowed a film – The Man in the Iron Mask. It was very ordinary!

The first AFL pre-season game was on TV – from Perth.

There was some rain in the evening.

02-11-1999 to woolgoolga.JPG


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1999 Travels February 10

WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY     EVANS HEAD

We pottered about in the morning. I had a book I wanted to finish reading before returning it to the Library this afternoon.

After lunch, went for a drive to Coraki, to have a look at the historic river wharf precinct there.

Coraki dates from the 1840’s, initially developing as the site of a small shipyard and port for the timber cutters of the district. It is at the junction of the Richmond and Wilson Rivers and at one time, before rail and road transport were established,  its port was an extremely busy one. Sugar cane growing on the rich river flats began from the 1860’s and there was also a thriving dairy industry. Alternative transport saw the port decline, and Lismore became the main service centre for the district.

I had an extra interest in seeing Coraki because friend T comes from these parts, and his mother lived in the town until her death a few weeks ago.

We saw some splendid old buildings, but there are only photos of the wharf that was once here. It is similar to photos of the Echuca wharf, with steamers on the river.

The Richmond River was noticeably higher than we have seen it before, with lots of branches and small tree pieces floating down it – like small green islets.

Filled with diesel in Coraki – 71cpl.

We returned along the eastern side of the river.

Went for a last walk on the beach. There was less sticky foam today and it was mostly up around the 4WD access point. Unfortunately, as we were walking near there, a gust of wind blew a pile of it our way and we had to wade thigh deep through it. Yuk. There were a few fishers. We saw a 40kg jewfish/mulloway one man had caught – it was immense. It took him forty minutes to play and land it. Another caught one was taken by a shark as it was being pulled in.

After the walk, we managed to take the annexe roof down, dry, between the usual showers.

Tea was barley soup I made this morning, a vegie stir fry and rice, with rock melon after.

Watched cricket on TV – a one day final.

I am quite ready to leave here and look for better weather to the south. Exploring the district has been interesting, but time for somewhere drier.


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1999 Travels February 9

TUESDAY 9 FEBRUARY     EVANS HEAD

The rain continued through the day, though it eased more to showers later on.

We set out on a drive to Rosebank, which is up in hilly country NE of Lismore, inland from Bangalow. Some years ago, when we were visiting C, he had sent us up here to look at a small timber milling operation where he sourced camphor laurel for his furniture making. We visited it then as a long day trip from our camp at Coffs Harbour. John wanted to revisit the place. It is really a one person timber yard, specializing in the fine timbers of the area, of which there are several.

We drove via back roads mostly, from Broadwater. It was an extremely interesting drive, initially through farming country. The Alstonville area looked really attractive. I bought some eggs and tomatoes at the hobby farm of a lovely old man who really wanted us to linger and talk.

North of Alstonville the roads became more winding; there were still some great farms but also rainforest stands. We had to cross two running creek fords. One was really quite fast and one would not tackle it in a conventional car. I hoped we didn’t have to come back this way! The smell of the countryside here was wonderful.

We found the timber place, which is on a back road out of the Rosebank hamlet. John remembered the way, as we got closer, which was fortunate because I certainly didn’t, and we were really out in the sticks.

The timber man was a nice guy, much younger than us. He specializes in red cedar, rosewood and camphor laurel. This latter is great for blanket boxes, knitwear storage  and the like, because moths don’t like it. As the name would suggest! The tree is an introduced species which has now been declared a noxious weed in these parts. As a result, the timber will become increasingly hard to obtain. It is a strongly patterned wood.

02-09-1999-camphor-laurel

Camphor laurel. Some is more heavily patterned than this

The man gave us the idea of making over our kitchen at home, using camphor laurel, especially for the bench top. We looked at one he’d done in his house. He had left the sides naturally curved, too, which was interesting. He had mixed up his timbers, using rosewood in a panel at the base of drawers and in other areas. I thought it would have worked better without the assortment. He uses polyurethane to seal his timber bench tops, several coats thereof, which he rubs in. He sells the camphor laurel for about $60 a square metre. I think the timber is too strongly patterned for use in a large area – I prefer more subtlety, I think. Still, it is an idea.

We returned to camp via Lismore. This was faster and mostly through farmland.

We just had time left in the day for a walk on the beach. There was a lot of foam at the high tide line, built up from the recent high seas. This was really sticky stuff. It was blowing about in the wind. Where it landed there was a brown stain left, residue from the tannin in the river water, going out to sea, we thought. Or maybe just from the soil colour staining the river water.

There were some men fishing from the beach, trying to jag live mullet to use for bait.

It was not all that pleasant walking in those conditions, so we didn’t make it a long walk.

Tea was chicken noodle soup, steak, mushrooms, vegies, followed by rockmelon.

Today’s was an excellent outing. I loved the country we traversed. We drove 153 kms.


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1999 Travels February 8

MONDAY 8 FEBRUARY     EVANS HEAD

It was still showery and windy today.

I did some washing, but had to hang it on clothesline rope strung under the awning, to try to get it dry. Waiting for good open air drying weather here seems a pointless exercise!

We walked up to the Post Office and collected our bag of mail. It was only a small one, this time. The only surprise that it contained was a renewal notice for my passport. It is ten years since I got it, in a very last minute rush, after my boss gave me very late notice that he wanted me to attend the IB Conference in Singapore. It has been an eventful decade since. It will cost $126 to renew it, but worth doing, since we may need it to visit S on one of her overseas postings, or to holiday on Norfolk Island – something that has interested me for years.

A letter from S was the only personal mail.

After lunch, I walked back to the Post Office, after completing some replies and paperwork  related to shares, that had come in the bag. Mailed all that off.

Then we did a walk along the beach and the break wall.

The washing mostly got dry through the day, due to the breeze. Had to drape a few things over the rails in the van.

Tea was curried carrot soup – it has lasted well. Cold pork, steamed vegies; melon to finish. A repeat of yesterday – but one uses what they have!


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1999 Travels February 7

SUNDAY 7 FEBRUARY     EVANS HEAD

After an early breakfast, John went to bowls at Broadwater, to a singles event. This is unusual because most games are for teams of multiple players. It was a morning event.

I finished a letter to friend T. Walked up to the Post Office to the central mail box, to send this,  along with postcards to the offspring. I really wanted to get these away, but found the mail was not collected until 5pm Monday, anyway! Still, the walk was exercise.

John came back exultant – he’d won the competition and collected a $20 prize. He said it was strong competition, too.

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Victorious! The cabins next to our van can be seen here – and grey skies.

After lunch, we cycled across the river bridge and around to the other break wall, on good bike paths. The river looked high. There were people swimming in it, and many were fishing closer to the break wall and catching decent bream there. The recent storms had done some damage to the top of the break wall, towards its end, where the waves had been breaking over it.

Rode back over the bridge and continued out the Broadwater road, through low coastal type scrub. Took the Salty Lagoon walking track, on the bikes. It was very narrow and we were hitting bushes quite a bit. Came to some places where there was foot deep water across the track, and we rode through these deep puddles. Then the water over the track became knee deep and we had to walk, trying to find dry patches for our feet. The track turned into a creek – it was actually flowing! We reached the Salty Lagoon, which we found was a pretty ordinary looking swamp behind big coastal dunes. Apparently, when the lagoon entrance is broached, the prawn fishing is excellent here. I bet there would be lots of local people taking advantage of that.

Retraced the way back to town. We had a head wind, so it was less pleasant riding, and we got rained on as well. It is good to be back on the bikes again, though I was a bit sore after the ride! My bike speedo has stopped working – maybe it needs a new battery? We rode 17.2kms today, according to John’s.

Tea was soup, cold pork, steamed vegies, followed by rock melon.

There was much rain through the night. I am sick of rain!


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1999 Travels February 6

SATURDAY 6 FEBRUARY     EVANS HEAD

Today was a moderately sunny day, but still quite windy.

I walked to the shop for the weekend paper and we read that for a while.

After an early lunch, we drove to Ballina, taking the most direct route, through Broadwater National Park.

Found our way through Ballina to a place beside the Richmond River mouth, where we could park and then walk out on the sea wall at the river entrance. The waves were still big, and were crashing on the rocks at the base of the sea walls. These are long – it is a big river. We walked out on the wall and watched the waves for a while.

Ballina seems just an ordinary seaside “resort” town. There are several caravan parks. The large chain one looks ok – for future reference. However, the small settlements along the coast, north of Ballina, may be equally good for a stay sometime.

We drove up to the Headland lookout and watched the sea for a while. When it is rough like this, it is quite mesmerizing.

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Rough seas at Ballina

There are good bike paths in Ballina.

Returned to camp the way we had come, in time to cook roast pork for tea, with roasted potato, pumpkin, parsnip, and beans. It was an excellent meal – the pork was quite lean.

Today’s outing was 100kms. Evans Head is really quite central for a lot of looking around the area.


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1999 Travels February 5

FRIDAY 5 FEBRUARY     EVANS HEAD

This morning, the rain has mostly gone, but it is still very windy and the seas are huge.

After breakfast, we walked to the break wall. The waves are still breaking strongly over the ends of the break walls. They are coming in at 3-4 metres high – very spectacular to watch, with spume spraying off their backs and them looking a really deep green as they rolled over. Unfortunately, it was still too damp to take the camera with me!

After lunch, John went to bowls.

I walked to the Library and changed a couple of books. Then went for a walk along the beach. I got a bit damp because of the spray being blown in off the wave tops, but it was quite exhilarating.

For tea I cooked flake cutlets just dipped in flour and egg, with potato slices brushed with oil and cooked in the electric frypan. The fish was lovely done that way.