6/6/2018 Wednesday It had rained most of the night. R & R woke to the raindrops making splat like sounds on the plastic of the flies and a tick tick sound of the tin roof and glass plates of the solar panels. It was 9*C with a promise of rain all day and some storms possible by the middle of the day. That being the case, R & R just breakfasted, waited for a break in the weather and packed everything down damp. They popped into the office on the way out to pay as they had not done so the night before. Many lorikeets were feeding in the tree and were a delight to watch as they darted from the branches to the ground and squabbled. By 9:30am, RL was driving away from Clarence Town back through all that very pretty, but windy, country side to Seaham, bound for Raymond Terrace, 28kms away. Though it was not raining the rain clouds were rising up the wooded hills as horses grazed in the very wet valley. Many of the paddocks were covered in a yellow daisy, fireweed, which dominated over the green underneath. From Seaham, it was only 13kms south east over the Nelson Plains where the road was subject to flooding, to Raymond Terrace. Again, RL noticed cattle each with their own minder, an ibis. It was misting with rain when R & R arrived in Raymond Terrace, about 10:00am, so they just picked a spot near the CBD and had a cup of coffee. When the mist lifted they walked down town to look at the historic buildings and investigate op shops. Nearly two hours later, R & R set off for Nelson Bay, 45kms away with a view to stopping at the information centre and picking up some maps or brochures about the area. The road began by skirting round the eastern end of Grahamstown Lake which is a water catchment area. It was mostly, flat, heavily wooded with tall trees, and very pretty even in the grey mist and, at times, pouring rain. R & R read the signs warning of low level military air craft flying and about a local winery and brewery. After Salt Ash, the road was divided and double laned, interspersed with round-a-bouts that led off to several points of interest: Anna Bay, Middle Rock, Hill Lookout. Tomaree National Park flanked both sides of the road. When R & R drove past the information centre they were surprise to find little parking, even though A had warned them, and what parking was available was ticketed or not suitable for caravans. RL drove along the foreshore. They saw all the boats moored and could smell sea air, a novelty for having been inland for a few weeks. They ended up just stopping in a nearby park and having lunch before heading to T & A’s home in Salamander Bay. To clarify – T is RA’s cousin and A is her husband. RL drove along Foreshore Drive which was an interesting surprise as there was a very low lying section, Mambo Wetlands, which had mangrove and where the water flowed directly under the road from the sea to the wetland area. A wall built up on the side of the road protected it from being flooded too often. It was raining and, apparently, it had rained and stormed heavily in the area for several days. A ship had lost about 80 containers at sea along the Central New South Wales coast during one of the storms, on 1st June, and debris had been washing up on the beaches. T was waiting on the street to indicate where RL should park the camper and greetings all round were warm. R & R chatted with T & A over a cup of coffee for a couple of hours and then, in a break in the weather about 3:00pm, brought what they needed up from the Ute. A showed them the camper unit he had made for the back of his Landover. RA was most impressed at how he had managed to think of everything and fit it all in, especially his ingenious indoor shower which just packed away to nothing. Everyone chatted while A cooked the roast on his home made BBQ and T sorted the vegetables. There was a great deal more chatting, especially about campers, camping, and places they had all been before it was agreed that bed time had arrived. R & R’s daughter, S, rang, so RA chatted to her for a while. RA loved the whole idea of sleeping in a comfy bed in unit like accommodation downstairs looking out over the bay … but the real coffee she had consumed after dinner had her feeling quite alert.
7/6/2018 Thursday R & R slept well and warm despite the late coffee and were out of bed for coffee at 6:45am where they read and wrote quietly for a while before breakfast at 7:00am. The sun played delightfully on the water in the bay down below the trees. They went upstairs to join T & A with coffee before chatting on the balcony where lorikeets, butcher birds and minors all rested a while. About 9:30am they all put walking shoes on and went down the stairs to the street to put the camper up to allow it to air out. Then they all set off to walk along the track around Wanda Head, along Wanda Beach and as far as the jetty. It was warm walking along the beach but standing on the end of the jetty the wind was icy. The only sign of debris from the ship was pieces of black and white packaging foam that were scattered along the sand. After lunch, R & R went down to the street to put the camper down and open up the flies so that they too could dry out. Shortly before 2:00pm, A drove everyone in his new joy, a twenty year old Range Rover in mint condition, to Anna Bay, over a track in the dunes to the beach. The Stockton Bight Sand Dunes also known as Worimi Conservation Land is the largest (32kms) moving coastal sand mass in the southern hemisphere where the dunes are up to 4m high with up to 60* angle. It has a shipwreck at the most western end near the RAAF base and airport. A stopped briefly at Fisherman’s Bay, Soldier Point and the local Salamander Bay village shops before popping into T’s sister, H, for afternoon tea. H and her husband, K, and their son, J shared apple pie that H had made. Everyone chatted quite a while and it was lovely to meet them again, in their own home. They had all been to Western Australia a couple of years before for J to participate in hockey championships. A drove to Soldiers Point to catch sunset at the boat ramp. It was a treat. When they got back at 5:00pm, T and A’s son, S, had arrived home for a few days. R & R enjoyed another of A’s BBQ roast dinners and everyone sat around chatting for ages. RA spoke briefly with her daughter, S, who had had another good day at school. R & R went to bed about an hour later than usual … and hoped for another good night’s sleep.
8/6/2018 Friday R & R woke at 6:45am having slept well and were not disturbed at all by A leaving for work at 7:30am. They read and wrote a while with a coffee. They had showers before heading upstairs to catch up with T and S. It was not long before A stopped by and picked up S just to take him for a ride for the morning. R & R looked through and discussed lots of family stuff with T for a couple of hours. They decided to go for a little expedition downtown to the various op shops and to end up at Coles at Salamander Bay Central for a little food shop. Armed with a map where X indicated all manner of places, R & R drove first to Anna Bay, then to Nelson Bay before food shopping. RA was desperate for a biro or two as she had been using a pencil for her notes for the previous few days. R & R were not long back when A and S returned so everyone enjoyed T’s soup and sourdough bread for lunch. Everyone had quiet time for a little while, until the agreed time of 3:00pm. Then T & A took R & R through Nelson Bay and on to Tomaree Head and Lookout. It was a strenuous climb to start but became easier as they all climbed the tracks, stairs, steps and metal ramps up the 161m hill. They stopped to look eastward to the ocean at the Fort Tomaree Lookout. In 1941 it was deemed necessary to emplace a gun turret there to protect the coastline, and, in particular the industrial area of Newcastle to the south. From this vantage point they all viewed Port Stephens Bay and the offshore islands towards the headland on the other side. The whole area is protected Marine Park. They all continued to the top lookout where a magnificent view of the coastal bush, heath, forest, sand dune lead the eye to the sand and water below. From there the Fingal Spit could be seen leading to the island with its light house. It was a lovely view to be savoured before the 1.8km walk back down. K, RL’s sister rang as they were coming down. After 5:00pm when they got back, T & A prepared dinner while R & R chatted with them. When S, R & R’s daughter rang, RA took the call down stairs. Again, before bed, everyone chatted for ages about all the interests they had in common … especially camping and family.
9/6/2018 Saturday R & R slept well and woke at 6:45am. The forecast was for 13*C to 17*C with a chance of rain after lunch. They had coffee and showered before bacon and egg breakfast cooked by A at 8:00am. About 9:30am R & R went for a drive, parked at Conroy Park and walked back to Nelson Bay along Bagnall’s Beach. They rang H, their daughter, and then walked back the other way towards the Anchorage where they saw dolphins in the bay. Again, they saw a plant they had seen the day before. Later A told them that it was called Guymea. R & R rang S, their son, and popped into a garage sale. They were back by 12:30pm for lunch of chicken sandwiches. S left to spend a couple days with a friend before visiting his sister, C. Everyone managed to chat all afternoon until G, RL’s brother rang so RL took the phone downstairs. While A made bolognaise and T made salad for dinner RL rang S, his brother. After 7:00pm, S rang and RA went downstairs. Again, everyone managed to talk till late about family, photos and travel/maps and stayed up till 10ish … all of them looked a little tired before they quit.
10/6/2018 Sunday Having slept well, R & R woke at 6:15am with the forecast of 13-16*C and a chance of rain all day. They had breakfast quietly and messaged their grandson, D, for his First Holy Communion. RA did a little catching up on her diary before showering and heading for 8:30am Mass at St Michael’s in Nelson Bay. R & R popped into the information bureau and were back by 10:00am. Everyone sat round chatting before agreeing to have an early lunch. H and K joined everyone for a cup and to pick up something from T. There were lots of photos all round and RA gave H a ginger jar in blue and white to add to her collection. At 1:30pm, A took everyone for a drive to Newcastle, stopping first at Stockton Beach and then driving past the wharf and along the coast. It was such a shame that it poured with rain most of the way there and back. He made a little detour out to Medowie, where they used to have a small fruit farm, on the way back to Salamander Bay. Shortly after 4:30pm, everyone had a cup and chatted a while. RA helped a little with preparations toward dinner. S rang about 6:00pm so RA chatted to her a while, downstairs. R & R felt really lucky that T & A had taken them to Newcastle … it was not part of their plans to go there … and it was really lovely.
11/6/2018 Monday R & R woke at 6:30am with the forecast of 9*C to 17*C and possible showers at noon and late afternoon. Again, it did rain heavily on and off all day. R & R put RL’s photos onto computer and RA typed up the recipes that T had given her. At 7:30am, they had a shower and then went upstairs to have bacon and egg breakfast with T & A while the wash was in the machine. RA paid the Sat phone account online. About 10:00am, RA went to Bunnings and then food shopping with T while RL stayed home with A. When RA and T returned at 12:30pm, they all had toasted ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. About 2:30pm, R & R went out for a walk along Salamander Bay beach towards Mambo Wetlands and found Warrigul Greens growing there. Luckily, T had insisted they take an umbrella with them as it poured most of the way back. About an hour later, R & R went for a drive to Fingal Bay, sat in car and had a coffee watching people surfing and beach fishing. RL drove a little further to Barry Park. They went to the lookout which looks backwards to the sea side of the Final Spit they had seen from the east the other day and out eastward to the Tasman Sea, They saw some whales way out and then walked down the stairs to a rocky fishing spot. It was very wet and slippery on the paths and quite damp. Back by 5:30pm, they chatted while T & A whipped up another lovely dinner this time polenta bread, tasty BBQ chicken wings and stir fry veg followed by fried pears and chocolate sauce with custard. T had brought the washing in from the garage and had it all drying nicely so it was ready to fold away after dinner. S rang. R & R gave T & A a little blue and white oval platter and Lindt chocolates … they had been such wonderful hosts … and really made R & R feel like family.
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