The past 10 days

With the unsettled weather hanging around we decided to delay going to a National Park for our next stop and instead spent a couple of nights near Newcastle. The nearest camp was at Stockton, a nice seaside town out on a peninsula and only a two and a half minute ferry ride from Newcastle. Evidence of the recent wild seas could be seen along the foreshore where access to the beach had been washed away leaving metres of washed out boardwalk. We had an enjoyable day wandering around the old area of Newcastle with it’s relics of the penal colony days including an ocean bath which convicts carved out of the rock for a governor’s personal use. The downtown area near the ferry terminal had the makings of a nice mall but was sadly lacking in shops, no doubt due to the influence of big malls in the suburbs.

With the weather forecast looking promising we set off for Booti Booti National Park, on the coast just south of Forster & Tuncurry. The NSW National Parks have set up camping areas in many of their parks and the facilities range from very basic to having water, toilets and showers provided. Booti Booti was of the latter so the only convenience we were missing was power. The road into the park, after turning off the Pacific Highway, while sealed was quite rough with patches on the patches in many places. We went through quite heavy rain but once this had passed it was the last rain we saw. The camp is in a large grassy area tucked in behind a sand dune on one side and bush on the other. Behind the sand dune is a lovely beach with golden sand and behind the bush is one of the many lakes in the area, Wallis Lake. Although it was school holidays there were very few other campers so we had a large area all to ourselves. The showers had warm water and started with the push of a button, ran for 4 minutes then stopped for about 4 minutes. If you hadn't quite finished it was a cold wait until the warm water was available again. We had a relaxing couple of days there, taking walks along the beach and a walk over a small hill and around the headland then back along the lake to the camp. One morning while sitting outside eating breakfast we counted 8 different species of birds. The kookaburra were quite tame and we were able to get within a few metres of them.

Having enjoyed our stay at Booti Booti and with the batteries still giving us light and water still in the tank we headed north a few kilometres to Crowdy Bay National Park and the Diamond Head camp. On the way through Forster – Tuncurry we stopped off to have a look at the entrance to Wallis Lake. While sitting in a park we turned on a computer and checked our email as we had been out of coverage at Booti Booti. It was Anzac Day and it was great to get an email giving a link to a newspaper report about Jill’s Dad’s wartime experiences and also have an audio link and hear him talk about them.

On arriving at the Diamond Head camp in Crowdy Bay NP we discovered that we were in another top spot. The final 5km to the camp was down a gravel road and due to the potholes it took us 30 minutes to travel the 5km, but was well worth the effort. There were a lot more campers here but still plenty of room for everyone. This is another camp where you drive around and choose your spot, no designated sites. There are only cold showers here so we used our solar showers and had a much longer and slightly warmer shower. We could light a campfire anywhere we liked, which was good for heating water in the Thermette, making toast and sitting by while dining

The first morning while sitting outside having breakfast I took note of scene around me –
100 metres away through the trees I see the sun sparkling on the sea, tents, caravans and campers trailers are scatted around under trees and out in the grassy area. 30 metres away kangaroo sit in the shade or graze on the grass while a kookaburra sits on a post, coming down to the ground now and then to gather up a worm. Birds twitter in the trees and there is a smell of bacon on the air, but sadly not our bacon.

There were about 20 tame kangaroos hopping around that would come and graze and sleep right beside us. Generally they weren’t a problem but one night as we were sitting by our campfire a kangaroo came over and grazed within 3 feet of us, enjoying the warmth of the fire we presumed. The kangaroo spotted a bread bag that was lying between our two camp chairs and came right up between the chairs trying to get to the bag. It was quite reluctant to be chased off. Had it got the bag it would have been disappointed as we had already used up the bread to make toast over the campfire.

There were also goannas wandering around that weren't quite so friendly. Frankly, I was quite happy for them to keep their distance. I saw one guy though chase one out of his campsite with a broom.

The coast along here is scalloped with a series of headlands and lovely bays. There are many beautiful places to stop and spend time and it’s nice weather.

We are now at a powered site at Nambucca Heads after having been camping on unpowered or serviced sites in National Parks for the last 6 nights. Being here allows us to do a weeks worth of washing, recharge batteries in the caravan and the computers, and have a decent shower.

We are still learning how long the caravan can support us while away from power and a drinkable water supply. The life support system comprises a 70 litre water tank, 9kg gas bottle and a 100AHr battery. The latter runs the lights, range hood light and fan, and a pump for the water tank (although you can get water from the tank directly from outside). The gas does the cooking and runs the fridge/freezer. I still don't understand how you get cold by burning gas but it does the job extremely well producing excellent cold beer and wine. On the latter, we have set ourselves a challenge for the trip of not spending more than $10 on a bottle of wine (birthdays and Christmas excepted). The most we have paid so far is $6.95, and we have recently found deals selling 2 bottles for $10 (Chardonnays for Jill and anything red for Al) all of which have proved extremely palatable. Today we purchased two 10 litre water containers and a filled 10 litre water bottle from a supermarket. As there is no exact way of knowing how much water is left in the caravan tank, this will give us a reserve should it run out, as without water we would soon have to scuttle off to a water source even with all that cheap wine on board. These containers can go in the truck so we will still have water if we have to abandon the caravan for any reason, or decide to leave it behind and go bush.