Days 29 to 32 – 14th & 17th February – Coffs Harbour, Brooms Head. Kingscliff & Home

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

We had planned to spend the last three nights at Kingscliff where our friends Jim & Frances Weir are currently ensconced, along with three other couples who we have got to know during our visits there. But it was not to be. The Surf Lifesaving folk had decided to hold a Nippers carnival at the Kingscliff SLC so the caravan park was booked out.

Ruth’s younger sister Kathy and her husband Barry have recently settled in the small town of Townsend which is located to the east of the highway adjacent to Maclean. We had arranged to call and had received an invitation to lunch.

We had packed up in rain at Coffs Harbour but the weather had improved to overcast at Townsend. If it had still been raining we probably would have, after lunch, kept on directly to home. We decided to continue along the road through Townsend to the coastal settlement of Brooms Head where we knew there was a caravan park.

Lower area at Brooms head Caravan Park.

Caravan parks are frequently in towns. Brooms Head is almost a town in a caravan park. The park stretches 1.5 km along the beach and includes part of a hill on which there are van sights with excellent views. The remainder of the town is comprised of houses, mostly holiday rental and the Brooms head general store.

The day area at Brooms head beach

High winds were forecast so we acquired a site in the lower area, in behind the sand dune that runs the length of the beach. As it turned out the winds did not reach predicted strength so we have had a comfortable stay.

The attractions here are the beach and fishing. The other points of interest are Sandon River to the south and Red Cliff to the north.

The mouth of the Sandon River

Both are fishing locations with camping facilities within the Yuraygir National Park. Surprisingly both camping areas were almost full of caravans and tents.

Sandon has a private enclave within the national park, with a few old fishing shacks. The river is quite broad, has good boat access

A lone fisherman at Sandon River

and was the sight of much fishing activity. The vegetation is typical of the low coastal areas on this part of the coast. It is about 10 km from Brooms Head.

Red Cliff headland

Red Cliff is, as its name suggests, a red cliff in the form of a headland that stands above the beach just north of Brooms Head. A National Parks provided camping area stretches along the hills behind the headland. The area is partly open and partly vegetated with camp sites cut back into the scrub to provide semi private accommodation. The area is

A group camping at Red Cliff

popular with kangaroos as well as with people. Several tame specimens were quietly grazing, mostly ignoring the humans.

Roos grazing at Red Cliff

Buzzed from above!

In the cool of the evening we walked along the beach to the other part of the caravan park. On the hill above the beach we could see a group of young blokes all looking down at the beach. We could hear a buzzing noise and looked up to see ourselves being buzzed by a radio controlled drone. We waved it its camera and the group waved back. We are

Brooms Head at low tide

always happy to help with the entertainment!

The following morning we travelled to Kingscliff near Tweed Heads where we spent the last night of the trip. With the Nippers carnival complete we were able to find a site for one night.. This is familiar ground so no need for photos.

After spending the night at Kingscliff, we arrived home at about midday on 17^th February. On 18^th Ruth saw her orthopaedic surgeon, who has given her clean bill on her knee. Her next visit is in 9 months time. On 19th, Eldest daughter Karen arrived from her stay in Tasmania to spend a month with us before returning to India. After a short stay at her India home she is off to USA for several weeks in conjunction with her work in India.

So here ends the current series of blog posts. We will keep you advised about future travel.

Until then Ruth joins me in extending our best wishes to all readers.

Kevin

Sydney 2014 – Days 26 to 28 – 11th to 13th February – Coffs Harbour

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

The headland at Coffs Harbour

There is not much to report from Coffs Harbour. The two day stop was for mostly commercial reasons as there was work to be done. But we did have time for sightseeing on the second afternoon, so we did a round trip through Nana Glen, a small town on the back road from Coffs Harbour to Grafton and a station on the north coast railway line.

Both road and railway line follow the Orara River. The road is known as the Orara Way. This small town received much publicity some years ago when actor Russell Crowe bought a rural retreat near the town. Singer Wendy Matthews did likewise a bit later. Both events received a fair amount of coverage in capital city media.

Café on the main road to Grafton

Nana Glen is really two towns, one on the railway and the other on the road. It is all quite old looking but there are signs of benefit from the Coffs harbour tourist boom. A small restaurant operates on the main road and a little further from town another restaurant/bar was promoting live music, no doubt to attract tourists from the coast. Coastal holiday makers seem to like to include a hinterland experience in their holiday.

The town has facilities including a pub and fuel supplies.

The drive that we did would be ideal for a diversion from sun and sand. We drove north, through the extensive road works that seem to have been going on for ever, for about 10 km and turned into Bucca Road. A further 20 km brought us to Nana Glen. We then turned south to travel through the small rural towns of Coramba and Karangi and back into the centre of Coffs Harbour, a round trip of a little over 60 km.

Coffs Harbour is the home of the Big Banana, but perhaps not for long. Banana production is moving away. We passed some plantations as we approached Coffs Harbour from Nana Glen but there do not seem to be many more around. And we saw no bananas at Nana Glen!

Sydney 2014 – Day 25 – 10th February – Around Harrington

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

The main Harrington training wall

Harrington was a special place to our family. Dad was born and raised in the Lansdowne area, just west of the mouth of the Manning, and had fished the training walls along the river since his youth. Holidays there were always about fishing and I have fond memories of helping to eat Dad’s catch.

There are two hills that are part of

Harrington town and lagoon

the town. They rise from the flat river plain like a giant had emptied two huge buckets of dirt by the river. One has a water tower and houses. The other has a lookout and houses. I believe the hill with the lookout is Flagstaff Hill.

A pilot station was built on this hill in 1856 but was closed in 1861 after the death of one William

Manning River mouth and Manning Point

Whitmore. One of Dad’s sisters was named Whitmore, so I am wondering if there is a family connection.

The views over the Manning Estuary are excellent, particularly of the paved training wall from which Dad did most of his fishing. Late in the day Ruth and I walked along the wall, following the

Harrington in the evening light

setting sun and walked back as the daylight faded. We noted several plaques attached to some of the rocks on top of the wall, obviously in memory of departed fisher folk to who this wall must have been a special place.

Manning River Sunset

The main jetty at Crowdy Harbour

We then drove the 8 km to Crowdy Head, the sight if a lighthouse and a harbour which is mainly used by professional fishermen but also provides access to the open sea for hobby anglers.

A story attaches to this place as well. I mentioned a couple of posts back ferrying a yacht from Sydney to Brisbane. Having sailed through the night passing Port Stephens,

Fishing jetty at Crowdy Head

we were rather tired by the end of the next day, so decided to spend the night in a port. We were trying for the Camden Haven River but when it became clear that darkness would beat us we settled on Crowdy Head as an alternative.

One of my crew, the previous owner, was a New South Welshman and the other a Queenslander and that night was

Crowdy Head Lighthouse

a State of Origin league football match between Queensland and NSW. My intention was to buy them a pub meal where they would be able to watch the match. But Crowdy Head doesn’t have a pub or any other eating establishment. I had to settle for buying fresh fish fillets at the cooperative and serve them a meal of yacht cooked fish and chips while we listened to the match on the radio.

Crowdy Head still does not have much of a commercial centre but there is a cafe at the surf club but that would have been too far to walk. The headland is crowned by the heritage lighthouse and its slopes adorned with very expensive houses. They are probably owned by successful folk from Taree.

Diamond Head

We then drove north through the Crowdy Bay National park to Diamond Head and then on to the triplet towns of Laurieton, Dunbogan and North Haven on the Camden Haven River. We found a pleasant place for lunch overlooking the river.

To the south of Laurieton lie the Brother Mountains. There are

Training walls at the mouth of the Camden Haven River

three of them, North Brother, South Brother and Middle Brother. They are prominent mountains and can be seen from a great distance. I recall using North Brother for a compass bearing during the yacht passage. Prominent mountains usually provide great platforms for lookouts and such is certainly the case with North Brother.

Lunch completed we drove the

The Camden Haven Estuary from North Brother Lookout

steep 5 km ascent to the North Brother summit. We had been there before, but the view is one that can be enjoyed time and again. The view of the mouth of the Camden Haven River and the three towns is spectacular as the accompanying photo attests. Looking south the Watson Taylor Lake, skirted on the west by the Pacific Highway, is no less impressive, particularly the long

The river flows through a long neck of land into the Watson Taylor Lake near Laurieton.

neck of land through the river runs before it discharges into the lake.

Middle Brother is clearly visible from its northern brother. We decided to drive to its summit where a tall communications tower is located. But I made a navigational error and ended up on a dead end road. As the day was quickly getting away we decided to leave Middle Brother as unfinished business to be addressed at another time. As we followed the Pacific Highway south to return to Harrington we passed a road boldly sign posted “Middle Brother Road”, so now we know where to start out drive next time.

Sydney 2014 – Day 24 – 9th February – Myall Lakes to Harrington

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Early ripples on a calm lake

Bulahdelah Court House is now a museum

We awoke to reflected sunshine from the surface of the lake peeping in at our windows. There was no wind and the surface of the lake was like a sheet of glass. We watched it develop its first ripples as we sat over an early cup of coffee.

The route today took us through the town of Bulahdelah which is the nearest thing that we have to a home town when I lived in this area. I went to high school here and we visited the town to shop and to church twice on most Sundays. Mum was the church organist.

Bulahdelah has recently been bypassed by the Pacific Highway after a protracted environmental battle delayed it for several years. Knowing the effect that such a change can have on a country town I was half expecting a town sliding towards ghost town status. But not so!

The river down stream from the bridge

In the Lions Park

On Sunday morning, those shops of interest to tourists, were open and seemed to be trading well. There were people in the streets and cars in the driveways of the two service stations that stand on either side of what was the highway.

Something called the Bass Bash Challenge was in progress. The park was almost overflowing with camps, boats and people. Perhaps it was an unusual day, but it was heartening to see.We took our morning tea break at a park with all required facilities for tourists. Other vans and the crowd from the classic cars were occupying all of the picnic tables so we had our coffee at the van. We were about finished when a local, female and pushy, came around the rear of the van to tell me that I was parked too close to the corner.

Lions Park from the town

She had a point but not by much more than half a meter or so. My response apparently didn’t satisfy her as she accused me of taking her to be a fool. It would not have been a very great leap of intuition to reach that conclusion. She had double parked beside the van in her haste to point out to me the error of my ways in what was really a very dangerous place. Of such events are memorable trips made!

The Plough Inn. It must be near to 100 years old.

There were no coffee shops on my time there

Bulahdelah main street

I remember this building as Wades Grocery Store

The School of Arts was the scene of many remembered activities.

Cars in the visiting classic car club

The commercial centre of Bungwahl

We left the Pacific Highway just north of Bulahdelah to follow The Lakes Way. This road took us through “nostalgia central”. Many of my childhood holidays took place at seaside locations along this road, not to mention the odd Sunday school picnic, and the long gone Boolambayte School, to which I walked across country to commence my education at the age of around six.

: Smiths Lake

We called at a couple of places that prompted memories before we reached Forster on Wallace Lake and its twin town, Tuncurry. We lunched in the shade of a large pine tree by the water at the latter town before bypassing Taree and soon after, left the highway for Harrington, another old Sheather holiday and fishing location.

We have decided to remain here for two days so will tell you something of it in tomorrow’s blog.

Looking across Forster Beach

The Forster Tuncurry Bridge. A ferry powered by a motor launch that could navigate the sand islands used to carry vehicles over the lake.

The entrance to Wallace Lake

Sydney 2014 – Day 23 – 8th February – Myall Lakes

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

That entrance again but this time from Winda Woppa Beach, near Hawks Nest.

The plan was to travel around the bay, through Tea Gardens to Hawks Nest, famous at the holiday choice of former Prime Minister John Howard, before the media packs hunted him out. These are attractive towns, the former on the lower reaches of the Myall River and the latter between the river and the ocean.

The twin headlands of Port Stephens are clearly visible to the south east of Hawks Nest beach, and the scene

Hawks Nest Beach

is further improved by mountainous offshore islands that spread northward along the coast. From these river mouth towns we drove along the narrow strip of land between the ocean beach and the Myall River and soon were within the Myall Lakes National Park. There are several camping places along this road and we had thought that we might spend the

The north headland of Port Stephens and off lying islands. The large island is Broughton Island

The north headland of Port Stephens (right) and off lying islands. The large island is Broughton Island

night at one but they were all crowded on this weekend when it seems that everyone was out and about.

After about 20 km the road swings west to a narrow part of the lake system where a small punt carries traffic across to Bombah Point.

There has been a tourist operation here for many years. Almost 70 years ago my parents brought the family here to a guest house

Bombah Point Punt

operated by the Legge family. In the early 50’s our family had several holidays here, camped under the shady Banksia and She oak trees that grow along the shore of the lake. About 45 years ago, returning on a trip from Melbourne to Cairns with my parents we camped here as Brother Ivan was here on holidays. Today a modern caravan park stands on the sight. We couldn’t

Right at the waters edge.

just drive past.

We have spent the afternoon in the shade of our awning, sitting about 20 meters from the water. It has been quite warm but there is a cooling breeze. Ruth is reading. I am alternatively reading and remembering. We expect a quiet night. There is a 40^th birthday party at the other end of the park but we don’t expect that it will interrupt our rest.

The view as we read.

I had forgotten the private mini beaches.

A house boat off Mungo.

There were lots of friendly ducks.

Sydney 2014 – Day 21 to 22 – 6th & 7th February – Port Stephens

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Although I lived not far away from the area during the first 15 years of my life and have passed the roads that lead to it countless times, I don’t remember ever visiting the southern shores of Port Stephens. Certainly, I had visited the northern shore at Tea Gardens and spent time within what is now the Myall Lakes National Park, but had not been to the area often known generically as Nelsons Bay.

Entrance to Port Stephens from the lookout at the old lighthouse

The entrance from Shoal Bay beach.

Several years ago Ruth and I bought a yacht in Sydney. I sailed it up the coast with a couple of mates. The plan was to call in at Port Stephens, but we arrived off the entrance at around midnight. There was no moon and it was pitch dark, or at least as dark as it gets at sea on a fine moonless night. We decided to sail on rather than risk a night entrance to a strange port. I was now able to see what would have been revealed by daylight had we made the nocturnal entrance.

The entrance from the second lookout

This is a most beautiful part of the NSW coast and is very popular with the residents of Sydney and Newcastle. We stayed it Shoal Bay, from the crescent beach of which the entrance to this harbour can be clearly seen. We stayed at one of many well patronised caravan parks in the area. Brother Ivan and Sister-in-law Marjorie were right next door, an arrangement that proved to be ideal for chats when in camp.

Our early afternoon arrival allowed us to set up for the three night stay and then have an extended chat. Marjorie had prepared an evening meal for us so the talk went on until bed time.

A favourite and often visited fishing wall.

After clearing some commercial duties the next morning we all climbed into Ivan’s car for a tour. He, as the local, knew his way around. That allowed Ruth and I an uninterrupted view of the passing scenery.

The eastern end on the bay is a succession of beaches and headlands. Nature has been kind in providing hill tops suitable for lookouts just where they are needed. The old lighthouse on the western end of Shoal bay provided a superb view of the heads while another hilltop a little further inland provided a panorama of most of the extensive waterway.

The reflective waters of the further reaches of the bay.

The waterway has a maximum length of 24 km and a width of 6.5 km in the widest part. It has a surface are of 134 square km. It shallows further inland and distributes into several bays, inlets and creeks. The Myall and Karuah Rivers empty into Port Stephens.

Ivan has been a keen fisherman most of his life, so we saw many of his favourite fishing spots, including a convenient flat rock on the marina breakwater from which he has caught luderick , or black fish as they were known in less PC times.

Harbour side development

The development around the waterfront, particularly in elevated positions, is impressive. Much is tourist oriented with resorts, units, motels and hotels in copious number. This is a boating and fishing area so has its share of boat ramps, marinas and extensive areas of moored pleasure craft.

We enjoyed lunch in the café at the main marina and watched the commercial marine activity. This is a whale watching port, but when whales are out of season dolphins seemed to be a viable replacement. Tourist boats kept up a constant shuttle with tourist buses arriving regularly with loads of overseas tourists, predominantly Koreans. While we watched, a crocodile of school children passed, some with fishing rod and others with hand lines, heading for the harbour wall. It would seem that living off the land is still taught in NSW schools.

Recreational craft at anchor in Lemon Tree Passage marina

On Friday we travelled further afield to see more upstream parts of the bay, including fishing spots of course, and then drove to Anna Bay to see the eastern end of the massive sand deposit known as Stockton Beach. If the tide had been suitable I would have taken the party for a drive over that magnificent stretch of sand in the Challenger, but high tide occurred around noon so the timing was not good.

The extensive Stockton Beach from the lookout above Nelson Bay

A closer view of the vast sand deposits of Stockton Beach

Our lunch venue at Birubi Point at the eastern end of Stockton Beach.

So we consoled ourselves by lunching at the front of the Birubi Point Surf Lifesaving Club café with a view down the length of the beach, with the hills behind Newcastle in the far distance. What a magnificent view! And with good food to eat while we enjoyed the view.

The caravan park was well appointed but busy. Grey nomads are known to hitch up their caravans as soon as children return to school. The population of the park was older but some families were still holidaying.

The crazing didn’t seem to stop!

Among the constant movement of people and vehicles, three small rabbits kept a close eye on the activity as they calmly grazed among the van sites. They showed little fear – just looked at you and grazed on.

Sydney – Day 13 to 20 – 29th January to 5th February – Sydney with family

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Kevin & Ruth Sheather

Having heard forecasts of hot weather in Sydney, we packed to leave Katoomba with some reluctance. We had a very straightforward run down the mountain, stopping for coffee just past Penrith and reaching the Lane Cove River Tourist Park at about lunch time.

It was hot, so it was not long until the air conditioner was operating and with the assistance of a fan to circulate the air and comfort was restored.

We had an early start on Thursday to meet Karen’s flight, which arrived at about 6.30 am. Karen is staying with Briony while we are in Sydney, so a North Ryde to Erskineville commute is a daily routine. Briony is working and Karen has some commitments but we are able to spend some valuable time together.

Pleasure boats at Bobbin Head.

On Friday we had a few spare hours in the middle of the day so we took Karen for a picnic at Bobbin Head in the Ku-Ring-gai Chase National Park. On Saturday we (all four of us) commenced our day with brunch at the Sydney Fish Market and then drove out to the home of Ruth’s youngest sister at Mt. Annan for a family gathering. We all eat far too much food but a great time was enjoyed. Much catching up with folk who we do not see very often.

Barrenjoey Head at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River.

The mouth of the Hawkesbury River.

Ruth and I had the day to ourselves on Sunday. We used it to continue our visit to Ku-Ring-Gai, driving out to West Head where magnificent views of Palm Beach, Barrenjoey Head, Lion Island and the extensive waters of Pittwater and the mouth of the Hawkesbury River are laid out like a diorama. Over thirty years ago, during a short term posting to Sydney, we owned a small yacht

Palm Beach and Pittwater.

that we kept on Pittwater, so these waters were our regular weekend playground. The views brought back very pleasant memories.

We later drove along the Northern Beaches as far as Avalon where we found a pleasant small restaurant for lunch. We returned to the caravan via Dee Why. It was in this beach side suburb that Ruth spent her teenage years, so there was a certain nostalgia during this part of the drive.

Avalon Beach

Monday was Briony’s birthday. It was a work day for her, so we met her after work at the Red Lantern on Crown, a trendy Vietnamese Restaurant in now fashionable suburb Redfern. The restaurant is operated by TV chef Luke Nguyen, who I had never heard of before, but who everyone else seems to know. Briony is a confirmed “foodie” and had sought out the venue with great care. She had chosen the tasting menu. The food was superb.

Tuesday was our last day in Sydney. It was a cool day and raining. Karen was moving on to stay with friends in Sydney so we spent some time with her in the shelter of a shopping mall before returning to the van to start to pack for our departure the next day. That evening we made our last trip to Erskineville where we had a meal with Briony before saying our farewells and returning to North Ryde. We had spent a very pleasant and happy week with our two daughters who we see together so infrequently.

On Wednesday, still in the family theme, we have come north to Shoal Bay on Port Stephens to spend three days with my elder brother Ivan and his wife Marjorie. They are Novocastrians, so have had only a short journey to reach the Shoal Bay Tourist Park. Their van is parked right next door so coffee and chats are easy and convenient. We will be seeing the sights while here so normal blogging will resume.

Kevin & Ruth Sheather

The Mobilesheathers – exploring Australia

Monthly Archives: February 2014