THURSDAY 28 JANUARY   STANTHORPE TO EVANS HEAD   259kms

We did not worry about setting the alarm for this morning, to get us up. Even so, we were ready to go by 9am! Are we good, or what?

Took the video back, checked a final time at the PO, in case there was mail, posted postcards that I’d been carrying around for a while.

We followed the New England Highway south to Tenterfield, then took the Bruxner Highway east, down to Casino. We did not spend any time looking at the places we passed through – will have to come back and explore another time.

The road down to Casino was narrower than the New England Highway, was winding, and hilly in places, but was alright, considering that it was coming down the Great Divide. It was much better than I’d dared hope for when planning that route. It was very pretty, too, through bushland, mostly, to begin with. The road seemed to follow valleys through the range – with a drop on my side! But it was only about fifty kms from Tenterfield that the country began to open up into wider valleys and there was more farming country. It continued to be bendy in parts and a bit up and down.

At Tabulum, we crossed the Clarence River on a long, single lane old bridge. The country soon became lush and green.

We are back in NSW again, of course. We will be away from Qld for a while, now; not sure when we will be back. It has been a varied and fascinating nine months in Qld – all I hoped for, and more.

We are back in the distinctive Northern Rivers region – mostly floodplains and wide, sluggish rivers, not far below their banks.

We ate our sandwich lunch at Casino, in a small park by the Richmond River edge, but could not see the river due to undergrowth. Several quite big, ferocious-looking “dragons” – lizards – came out of the bushes looking to scavenge under the picnic table.

We followed the Richmond River down through Coraki to Woodburn, and hence to Evans Head. Along the river, it was all cows and crops – lush country.

We booked into the Silver Sands Caravan Park. It is huge – over 500 sites! It is Council owned and there are only half a dozen sites with slabs. We chose one of the two on offer – it is not far from an amenities block, so we are happy enough. It is only costing us $65.50 a week, which is great.

I got to pat a really laid-back Burmese cat, asleep in the In Tray at Reception!

At the site, we have a little tree at our side outlook, and cabins behind us that I do not think will be too heavily populated now that school holidays are over.

It was about 3pm when we arrived. We “lost” an hour on the way due to NSW having Daylight Saving. So the driving part of the day took us about four and a half hours.

It teemed rain as we were setting up, and we got wet to the skin. It rained on and off for the rest of the day.

After setting up, John went to the Bowls Club – naturally! Not only does Evans Head have one of these, but it is right next door – and huge. Bliss for him. He booked in for a game tomorrow – might as well start as he means to continue!

Apart from that, we did not go anywhere, due to the rain.

When I went for a shower, found out we had to put 20cents in a slot to get hot showers – this is the first time we have encountered this, on this trip. I had to go back to the van to get money. But, overall, the costs here are reasonable and well within budget, and we can be quite comfortable, I think.

The TV reception is not ideal. It does me fine, but John is a bit twitchy about it. We seem to get most channels.

Tea was steak and kidney and dumplings.

We can hear the sea at night – haven’t seen it yet!

It is milder here – do not need the doona at night.