Ballarat
to Surfers Paradise
May
15 to June 5
We're on our way
but we're not on our way: Why you ask?
Well
we were all packed on time, all the last minute jobs done even though it was a
late night (1.15 am) and it was all systems go. That was
until 5.30 AM when I (Rob) was woken up with a severe pain in my left
side. Excruciating pain, much worse than childbirth!
Having a very high tolerance to pain I put up with it for a couple of
minutes (no 3 hours) before going down to the Ballarat Base Hospital Emergency
Centre. It's ironic that Bendix sponsored the refit of the Triage lounge
four years ago and I never used it until the day after I finished.
Any way after several hours in
the Base Hospital, a couple of shots of pethadine, blood pressure, pulse,
temperature, having a drip fitted to get fluids into me and then finally a CAT
scan, it was diagnosed as a kidney stone. The good news was that by the
time the CAT scan was done the stone had nearly completed its journey into the
bladder where it is pretty well harmless.
I was sent home around 11.30 AM
and advised by the doctor that there was nothing preventing us from leaving
whenever I felt up to it. Given the weather on Saturday 15 I
don't think we missed much. We finally departed around 7.30 AM on Sunday
May 15.
Sunday May 16, We're on our way: At Last! Our first stop was for breakfast at Bill & Liz Binns. They put on a good
breakfast so anyone travelling through Glen Waverley any morning call in for
breakfast. $20.00 a head with discounts for groups of 15 or more so it's
great value.
Lunch on Sunday was at a roadside rest area about 10 km east of Stratford. The photo
to the left is Liz feeding the birds which as you can see are very tame.
We continued on from Stratford
to Metung. A very pretty little town but with a crap caravan park
so we made the decision to move on to Lakes Entrance. Overnight at Lakes
Entrance then the following day on to Merimbula. We spent 3 days at
South Haven Caravan
Park in Merimbula.
Weather has been absolutely perfect for the last three days. Cool
at night but warm sunny days with not a breath of wind. We have
walked into town and around the beach and spent some time just winding down
after a hectic few weeks.. 
South Haven Caravan
Park is a great spot with lovely cabins
overlooking the bottom lake. Well worth a few days and a game of golf. We
caught up with Noel & Maureen McCardle (ex Ballarat) and Roger and Robyn
Hill (ex Email). Roger & Robyn have a 25 acre property 2 km out of
Candelo. No house yet but they have a large shed with a caravan stored
inside for sleeping. And yes that is a cocky sitting on Roger's
shoulder. They have two cockies, the one sitting on Roger's
shoulder is called Merlin. They other cocky is called
Cameron. Both talk and are very tame. That's the cockies, not Roger
& Robyn. We had a great afternoon walking around their property and
learning all about what they are doing in the way of improvements.
Thursday
May 20 was spent leisurely travelling up the coast from Merimbula to
Nowra. On route we took our time as there was a very
bad accident blocking the Princes
Highway south of Batemans Bay
and it was not expected to clear until late afternoon. 
We stopped in at Cobargo ( see
photo) and Central Tilba. Both are
tourist towns and well worth a look. Lots of art and craft but very
quaint. We arrived at Nowra around 3.30 pm and drove
out to Shoalhaven which is on the coast about 15 km from Nowra. We have a
caravan site overlooking the river. The park is deserted so we
pretty much have the run of the place.
Sydney for
the Weekend: The weekend was spent in the La Mancha Carapark, in
Berowra, 35 km north of Sydney.
We arrived there about 9.00 am on Saturday morning having driven from Bulli
which is about 16 km north of Wollongong.
Saturday was spent sailing on Sydney
Harbour with
friends. What a day. We sailed from Northbridge around to the
Opera House, under the Harbour
Bridge and then round to
the Fish Markets. 
Lunch consisted of 2 Kg of Tiger
Prawns, a few crabs and some delightful wine whilst moored on Sydney Harbour.
A great experience. On Sunday we travelled by train from Berowra
into Sydney and
spent the day doing some last minute shopping. A great weekend.
Onward North. To the Warmer Weather: We thought! Monday we departed Berowra
and .travelled north to Forster with the intention of staying overnight but the
weather when we arrived around 12.00 noon was terrible so we had a quick lunch
and moved on to Port Macquarie. Port Macquarie
is certainly worth the detour off the Pacific
Highway. It is a spotlessly clean town,
beautifully landscaped with great shops, lovely beaches and many waterways
which are a boating paradise. 
It will certainly go on our list of
places to return to for an extended stay. The photo is the Port Macquarie
Council Caravan
Park. Great
location right on the foreshore, large sites, well grassed, spotlessly clean
and very well presented. It is a couple of minutes walk to the town
centre through a nice foreshore reserve which has a boardwalk along the waters
edge. Note the blue sky in the photo. One day out of Sydney and the weather
improves.
What a Contrast: Or don't believe
the travel brochures. From Port Macquarie we proceeded to Coffs Harbour
for an overnight stay. After Port Macquarie this was a big
disappointment and frankly a waste of time unless we missed
something. The contrast between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour
was hard to believe seeing they are only 160km apart. It is certainly a
stark contrast between an efficient and inefficient city council. Sorry,
no photo. I was not even prepared to take a digital photo of Coffs Harbour.
Wool
What !!!!!!: The following morning we departed Coffs Harbour
for Woolgoolga. Where's that you ask. Well it's a 25km
drive from Coffs Harbour. This was a big
travel day for us retirees. A whole 25 km and we didn't even stop for a
morning tea break. Why did we stop at Woolgoolga you
ask. Well there is always a good reason for everything we do.
It was to catch up with Liz's Uncle Tom & Aunty Doreen who are now both in
their 80's and live in a portable home in the caravan park. They are both
as fit as fiddles which say's something about the mild climate and the sea
air. Woolgoolga is a nice spot with a great beach and a few shops.
If your looking for the bright lights and the razza-a-mataz then by-pass
Woolgoolga.
The Best Laid Plans: They were made to
be changed anyway.
Our next
planned stop was Byron Bay but in talking with the grey nomads at Port
Macquarie we were advised that we would be better of staying in Ballina as Byron Bay
was becoming a bit of a problem with the young unemployed people with drugs,
theft and the usual. We changed our plans accordingly and proceeded to
Ballina. Hey wait a minute. What's this Yamba place?
Never heard of it! Well neither had we. Better go look
see. And we did. For two days. 
What a surprise. This
has to be one of the undiscovered places on the coast between Sydney and
Brisbane. A resort style caravan park (The Blue Dolphin) located
right on the Clarence
River.
Two great swimming pools, camp kitchens, lots of BBQ areas, playgrounds for the
kids, a restaurant and boat launching ramp. The town centre of Yamba is
not unlike Queenscliffe but Yamba's claim to fame are the fantastic waterways
and surf beaches. Fisherman must go there and think they've died and gone
to heaven. Liz and I hired a small boat and demonstrated our
fishing prowess to the experienced locals. That night we had chicken
for tea but we had a great time catching the babies and then throwing them back
to their mothers. I caught a banjo shark but decided there
was not enough room in the boat for him and us so we cut the line and let him
go with a very sore lip.
We Achieve Our First Goal: How Far East is
East. In travelling around Australia
we want to be able to say we have been to the furthest most point in Australia.
Well I'm sure everyone else new this but we learnt that Cape
Byron is the eastern most point in Australia.
So to Cape Byron we went. A few photos
of the coast line and the natives (very attractive and not wearing much) and
then on to glitzy Surfers via the coast road as much as possible. 
The main home page has a photo of Cape Byron
if you want to know what the easterly most point in Australia looks like.
Surfers & Celebrations: We spent a week in Surfers. A
BBQ at Steve & Lyn's place on the Sunday night. The next couple
of days Liz was ill and spent a day in bed with a virus. By
Wednesday I knew she was getting better as she started yelling at me
again!!!!!!. Photo inset is from left to right; Les Jackman, Lyn
Paterson (Rob's step sister in law), Liz Jackman (taken down by the virus or
alcohol), Steve Paterson (step brother) & Margret Smith (friend of Lyn &
Steve's) at the BBQ. Friday night is the big 80th birthday
celebrations for Dad. We are going to the Tudor Rose in
Merrimac. Joining in the celebrations will be a number of friends and
relatives from Queensland and Victoria
This
page last updated on June 2, 1999 - No further updates to this page