June 27th, 2012- Bolwarra Heights- Home at last

Wednesday morning saw us packing up in a light drizzle. The ground was very soft and squishy from all the rain over night. We managed to get all packed up and hooked up without getting too wet. We said our goodbyes as we decided against stopping with the poor weather.

We followed the Ransleys back as far as Raymond Terrace where we turn off towards Maitland and home. The Ransleys continue on towards Woy Woy on the Central Coast. The weather was poor and we went through some of the heaviest rain of our trip in the last 24 hours.

We arrive home safely around morning tea. Justine is there to greet us. We have morning tea before setting up the caravan on our front lawn. The rain manages to hold off while we are getting setup and transferring our belongings back to our house. Stephanie is working and we don't get to see her until later in the afternoon. Great to see both of our girls again as has been a long time! We hear from Carol that they have made it home safe as well.

It feels good to be home although strange at the same time. Sandra and I have really enjoyed our journey. We have seen so many wonderful places and met some incredible people. To all of those that have been part of our adventure, we say thank you. I hope that those of you that have been following our travels electronically, have enjoyed them as well. We would encourage anyone and everyone to experience their own special Australian adventure first hand. It's a wonderful big country with so much to see and appreciate. We can't wait to experience it all again!!!

The End............... Part 1

June 26th, 2012- Lani's on the Beach- Old Bar

Tuesday saw us venture halfway home where we stopped at Lani's at Old Bar. The roads were good again but the weather deteriorated as we proceeded south. We went through some good rain and some muddy road construction just east of Taree.

Arrived and setup in the rain at the caravan park. Friendly staff and a beautiful caravan park although we couldn't enjoy it much. The rain got heavier throughout the afternoon and we retreated to our respective caravans. Even though we were right on the beach you could barely see the water as the weather really set in. Wind picked up throughout the day as well so we put our awnings up.

Given the weather conditions we resorted to cooking our "Last Supper" baked dinner in our caravan; and hosted Carol & Stephen in the warm comfort of our caravan. We had a beautiful chicken dinner and did a lot of reminiscing about our journey. We all wrote down our top 10 highlights, our bottom 5 experiences, and other funniest 5 moments. We also got Terry and Di to send us theirs via email. Many of the items made it on multiple lists but most of us managed to come up with one or two unique choices. Great memories shared and a wonderful final night together on the road. No pictures due to the weather conditions! It did get a bit blurry inside as well with all the reminiscing!

June 24th & 25th, 2012- Foreshore Caravan Park- Nambucca Heads

Sunday we were back in the car heading south to Nambucca Heads. Stephen has a friend, Tony Urqhart, whom works at the Foreshore Caravan Park in Nambucca. The roads are fairly good and the traffic has thinned out a bit once we got by the Gold Coast. We are on the home stretch now with only 3 nights left. We stopped for morning tea at the Beekeepers Rest Stop before arriving in Nambucca around 1:30. It was a fairly long drive but not a bad one. The roads near Ballina are quite hilly and beautiful.

 Tony had arranged for a couple of large drive through sites (each site was two sites together) so we had no trouble getting ourselves setup. Nice older caravan park set right on the river front. The girls wandered down along the water and got some pictures in the afternoon. We hosted the Ransley's for Sunday Football as their TV Antennae has stopped working again. Tony, his wife Jo, and two of their kids joined us for drinks. Very cool afternoon. We are definitely heading the wrong direction as the temperature keeps dropping.

Monday morning we cooked up a big breakfast on the camp kitchen BBQ. Then we took a drive out to Scott’s Head. We had been there before but it is a beautiful place to return to. It was a sentimental journey for the Ransleys as they spent many summer family vacations there with friends. I think I could live there as is very quiet with only a couple of small shops. You are only about half an hour drive to Coffs Harbour or Kempsey for shopping. I think it would be fairly busy during holidays though. Did a walk up to the lookouts and had morning tea by the beach. The sea was a lot quieter than the last time we were here so Little Beach in particular looked completely different.

Stopped in at the Gumma Reserve East of Macksville on the return trip. There is a nice free camp there beside the Warrell Creek which we may check out some day. We topped up our diesel and bought a few things at Woolies for our "Last Supper" with the Ransleys.

Stephen and I went to the Pub with Tony during the afternoon for a few cold beer and a couple of bets. We actually won a trifecta which paid for much of our afternoon's activity. Sandra and I enjoyed a quiet night while the Ransleys went to Tony's place for dinner. Nambucca Heads is another nice town but would be too busy during holiday times for Sandra and I.

June 23rd, 2012- Colonial Tweed Caravan Park-Tweed Heads

Saturday morning we happily have an early departure from the Crappy Sheldon Caravan Park and head south to Tweed Heads. Traffic was busy, but roads were excellent with 4 lanes each way for much of the trip. We pulled into Colonial Tweed Caravan Park just before 10AM. Lady who greeted us was probably the friendliest in our trip and the caravan park was very nice. Our sites were cramped but grassy with lots of room for the vehicles.

We had a quick shower before taking a quick tour of Tweed Heads. We checked out a couple of lookouts before meeting the Girls' Uncle Merv and Aunt Maree, Cousin Angie, and niece Chelsea at Kirra Surf Club. We enjoyed a nice meal and a good visit with them with a beautiful view of the Gold Coast. Chelsea is a nice friendly child with a quick wit which makes for an entertaining meal.

After lunch we met up with Stephen's Uncle Michael (Trad's Dad) at Greenmount Surf Club where he works part time. Have a few more beers and a good visit with him and Stephen's cousin Toni who lives nearby. We got a beautiful view of Gold Coast and beaches from Balcony.

We head home late in the afternoon. It seemed like we have been eating and drinking all day so we have an easy tea and an early night. Tweed Heads is a beautiful area of the coast but too busy for Sandra and I.

June 21st & 22nd, 2012- Sheldon Caravan Park-Brisbane

Thursday saw us head off from Noosa towards Brisbane. Saw Di standing at roadside to wave us goodbye as we left town. The road to Brisbane was good with multiple lanes all the way. Unfortunately, I needed a nature break as we headed into Brisbane and pulled off at a Rest Stop Service area. This led to a bit of an adventure as we didn't get back on the same motorway. Our Tom Tom led us downtown to a tunnel that was regrettably closed. After some tricky manoeuvring through downtown Brisbane streets we managed to get back on route via another motorway. Sandra was not happy with John Cleese who is the voice on my Tom Tom! Not very relaxing and Sandra was ready to just keep heading South towards home by the time we made it through the city and arrived at the Sheldon caravan park.

What a dump this one was. The worst caravan park we have been in on our entire trip. We were stuck on two slanty sites that were only big enough for one full size van. We needed 3 boards and a ramp to level our caravan and neither of us could open our awnings because the sites were so narrow. To top it off it was in a poor neighbourhood and the cleaning staff appeared to take a few days off. Needless to say we were all a bit stressed by our first impressions of Brisbane. If travelling through Brisbane to not stay at the Sheldon Caravan Park!

Later in the afternoon the four of us drove to Stephen's Aunt's house. We met Cheryl, her husband Mick, Son Trad and wife Lauren, Daughter Toni and husband Hayden. A few nieces Cleo and Duska were there too. We had a lovely evening, drinks, and dinner with them all. We were all made very welcome and had a great night. Mick wants to travel Australia as well and got a bit jealous when we told him about some of our adventures. Hope he gets to enjoy his own adventure soon!

We had a quiet day around the caravan park on Friday. We went for a bit of a shop at Garden City in the afternoon. Stephen's cousin, Trad who is the media manager for the "Broncos" picked us up in a cab around 4PM to go to the Bronco-Rabbits match at Suncorp Stadium. He took us on a tour of the stadium including on the field and the dressing rooms. We got to meet Bronco's coach Anthony Griffin on our tour.

We left Trad to get ready for the game, and found a place for dinner along Caxton Street. The street was a hive of activity with lots of Bronco and Rabbit fans preparing for the game. Found a nice Thai restaurant that catered to Gluten Free. Had a beautiful meal! Check out my bowl of Won Ton soup below. I thought it was a bit expensive at $10 when I ordered for an appetizer but turns out it must have been designed for 4 people. Beautiful; and yes I did eat it all! And my dinner too!

After dinner we returned to Suncorp stadium where Trad had provided us with complimentary tickets about 10 rows up on the 40M line. They were great seats in a great stadium to watch a Rugby League game. Every seat is a good one and the atmosphere was really good with just less than 35,000 fans. Trad informs us that this is actually lower than average attendance. We are seated beside Olympic swimmer, Jessicah Schipper and her husband Brett. They introduce themselves and are nice people. Trad sprints across the field just before the game starts to say hi to Jessicah and to present the four of us with Bronco hats which we need to put on or leave the stadium! What a laugh; as I come back from making a beer run, to find the 3 of them wearing Bronco hats. At halftime they put Jessicah Schipper on the big screen and sure enough her husband drags Rans into the picture too! Turns out it was broadcast on Channel 9 and Carol's mobile starts going crazy. "Was that Rans on TV with a Bronco's hat and has he given up his Manly Sea Eagles membership"?? After the game Trad meets us at a Pub for the post game party. Great night with free drinks and all the players. Topped off with John Williamson singing True Blue to Petero Civoniceva in honour of his 300th 1st grade game. Apparently he is a mad Bronco supporter although I was a bit suspicious of his choice of songs. Think he might be a closet Blue's supporter. Great night and many thanks to Trad!!