This Adventurous Age

Adventures travelling and working around Australia.


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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.

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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.

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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.


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1999 Travels February 4

THURSDAY 4 FEBRUARY     EVANS HEAD

The rain has come back – quite heavily.

We drove to Lismore, to shop. We went along the east side of the Richmond River, this time. Some of the way was across flat farmlands, but mostly the route followed low ridge lines. It was too rainy to get much of a view of what we were driving through.

We found we would fit in the under cover carpark at the Woolworths complex. Did our grocery shopping and bought some produce from a fish shop, too. We ate a late lunch in the Truck, in the car park – it was teeming rain, so anywhere outdoors was not a possibility.

We refuelled in Lismore – 71cpl. No more cheaper Qld prices.

Drove back through rain. That was a 124km round trip.

Later in the afternoon, between downpours, we managed a short walk, out to the break wall. The waves are coming over its ends, on both sides of the river mouth. There are no fishermen out there, now! It is really rough.

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Rough seas at Evans Head

Gale force winds are forecast! I am starting to come to the conclusion that this is not a great time of year to be visiting these parts.

Tea was soup. I “bbq’ed” some lamb chops in the electric frypan and made some salad.

John phoned brother C to reassure him that we would be visiting, when we reach the Kempsey area.


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1999 Travels February 3

WEDNESDAY 3 FEBRUARY     EVANS HEAD

When I got up, at 8am, the sky was blue, with lots of fluffy clouds. So much for my theory about a rainbow ringed moon! There was quite a bit of sunshine through the day, but it was also windy, and there were some sun showers.

John went fishing from the break wall, with the incoming tide. He lost a lot of his pippi bait, but did not catch anything. The locals are catching flathead in the area, and bream in the river, he was told.

John went to bowls in the afternoon – no shortage of games here.

I walked on the beach for an hour, then went to the Library. Now that both my original books have been returned, I can borrow more at once, so I took out several. Back at the van, I read.

John won at bowls – not well enough to bring home a prize, but he was happy not to lose.

I made curried carrot soup and we had some for tea, followed by a vegie stir fry.

John discovered there were some messages on the phone – we are still getting used to this gadget, it seems. One was from R with the news we already know. One was from a former colleague of John’s, just to say hi. One was from John’s brother C, anxious to know where we are. He knows we are heading south again and I suspect he is worried that we might pass him by! I think he really used to enjoy the calls we made to him on the HF Radio, before we bought the mobile phone. Took him back to the old days.


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1999 Travels February 2

TUESDAY 2 FEBRUARY     EVANS HEAD

There were still rain clouds looming when I got up.

John went off to morning bowls, but it was called off, so we went on the Tourist Drive. This took us to New Italy which, as the name suggests, was settled by a group of Italian immigrants, in the 1880’s, and where this heritage has been kept alive. From there we followed back roads to the hamlet of Whiporie, through ti-tree swamp areas and much State Forest. Parts of this route felt quite isolated. At Whiporie, turned north, onto a more significant road, but detoured off this because John wanted to check out the Wyan Sawmill – but he found it only handles pine, which is not a timber that interests him for woodwork. Then it was onto a minor road again, that took us through more forest and out onto farmland near Coraki, where we stopped for a look at the river there. Spotted a Sacred Kingfisher. From there we went on to Woodburn and back to Evans head.

There was heavy rain as we came from Woodburn, and it had obviously been raining in our area for some time.

We drove 208kms today.

We had a very late lunch!

The weather cleared enough, later in the afternoon, for us to go for a walk to the break wall, and then along the beach. We did get a little rained-on, though.

Tea was reheated left over vegie burgers, with beans, tomato and broccoli. John does not like the vegie patties, he has decided.

At night, I could see a full moon through breaks in the clouds – there is a big rainbow coloured halo around it! I am not sure what that signifies, but suspect it is not fine weather!

John phoned R – she has gotten into the Melbourne Uni course, which is good news. She is flat hunting.

John played computer games until the early hours, again.