Archive for October, 2007

Another lovely morning although it had been raining during the night.  After breakfast Ben took off for his bike ride and I sat outside the van reading.  ( This seems to be developing into a habit ).

Ben rode as far as Surf Beach which is a little town not far out of Batehaven.  It was very hilly though and I was glad that I hadn’t volunteered to go with him otherwise I would have been doing a lot of walking.

We went for a drive before lunch, down past Surf Beach to Malua Bay , which is very pretty, and then on to Guerilla Bay which is the most beautiful secluded rocky beach with the most amazing outcrops of rock.  The rock formations are most unusual and we spent some time climbing around before resting on the warm sand.

We headed then to the Soldiers Club for lunch where Ben had an unpronouncable Greek dish which was meatballs in a tomato sauce .  I stuck with the boring old fish and chips.

With full stomachs, we went in search of Bunnings or a camping store to get a chair for Ben.  We found the Bunnings folllowing my directions ( Fluked it !) and got a camping chair cheaper than we had seen anywhere else. 

Back at the caravan park and after almost 3 minutes of sitting in his new chair, Ben decided on another bike ride and I looked for another book to start.  This time, he rode over the bridge across the River Clyde and I enjoyed the peace and quiet that is only available when he’s not around

The awning went up today for the first time and it was a very timely decision because it is now pouring with rain and we are still able to sit outside and listen to the ocean.

We have just finished some sandwiches for tea and are already looking at the clock at 7.30 thinking it is almost bedtime again.

Ben has to make up some bookmarks and reckons that he will start as soon as I have uploaded the blog but the eyes will start to close soon and he’ll decide to leave it till tomorrow.

Thank you all for your comments (well except the ones about me), glad to see you are still hanging in there when we have been gone so long..two weeks already.

A late start for us today as the market was in the park right next door to the caravan park.  Having fed the rosellas for the last couple of mornings, they have already learned that they can wake me about 6.00am for their breakfast.  This morning their number had grown somewhat and there was a ringer amongst them.  Can you spot the difference?

The market is run by the Coastal Patrol to raise funds as seems to be the case all the way up the coast.

We had a great day, weatherwise and met some lovely people at the market from all around the country.  They had some camels at the market for kids rides and we took a picture of Colin.

Didn’t get back to the caravan park until mid afternoon and then had to go to Woolworths for a few things, well the truth is, we needed to go for bread because I fed all our bread to the birds this morning.

We booked into the park for another two weeks, having checked out other parks and found nothing up the coast to compare, we decided that we would just stay where we are for now.

In view of all the comments re: my lack of “camera shyness” , there will be no photographs of me in this post but some of you may recognise the old guy in this one.

Staying here means we will have internet access for the next couple of weeks, so there will be no break in uploading the blog for a while yet.

So stand by for the next instalment.

Up early this morning and off to the market at Milton. Was a little cooler early this morning but didn’t feel too bad. T-shirts and jeans weather. We stopped at Ulladulla at Maccas ( Toilet stop) around 7.15 and were surprised at how warm it was outside the car.

We arrived at Milton and set up our stall. The market was along the Princes Highway and we thought we had a good little spot. By 9.00am the weather had changed and the wind had come up strongly.

We were picking up bookmarks constantly. We finally rigged up a windbreak of sorts and that helped a little. We watched the clouds blowing across the sky in two different directions at the same time.

By 10.00 am the temperature had dropped and the wind was now really cold. Out came the woolly jumpers and I wished I had put one of Bev’s scarves in the car. Of course, this made a difference to the number of people who stopped to walk through the market. (I wouldn’t have got out of my car either).

So although it wasn’t the worst market that we have done it was far from the best.

We headed back to Ulladulla and booked in with the Coastal Patrol for their market next week. Afterwards, we checked out the caravan parks in Ulladulla and were not terribly impressed. We had a look at the park at Lake Tabouri also but it appeared to be mainly permanent vans and was a bit basic.

We stopped on the way back and bought some fresh vegetables and fruit from a roadside stall.

Ben went straight to work when we got back and made up some bookmarks for tomorrow. Thea, Jos and Gloria all rang this evening and it’s nice to talk to everyone on the phone and hear familiar voices. I was feeling a little bit “homesick” today so thank you all for the calls.

No photographs today, even if we had taken the camera to Milton, the shivering would have made for some pretty blurred pictures

Off to bed now hoping that weather is kinder to us tomorrow for our next market in Batehaven.

Another beautiful day today, so we ate breakfast outside, had our coffee and went for a walk.

Drove into town later in the morning to try and find a chair for Ben, he is currently using his little fishing stool to sit on and it’s not the most comfortable seat in the house.

Lunch today at the Soldiers Club and it was delicious. Ben had rump steak with chips and veggies and I had spare ribs and all this for the princely sum of $8.00. Complimentary bread rolls as well. All this and a view of the marina too. Well worth it.

Came back to the caravan and I had an afternoon nap, well all this work tires you out. Ben did some rearranging of the car contents and then went for a bike ride. He found a lovely little channel from the bay with a stone jetty and came back to tell me how pretty it was. So, stand by for this folks, I got my bike out and went for a bike ride also to have a look. He was right, it was such a pretty little area and we met up with some locals who gave us the low down on where to go whale watching etc. Apparently, the morning is the best time to see them and we will be up early tomorrow and on our way to Milton, to the market.

Yes, there is no rest for the wicked, we will have to be slaving away tomorrow while the rest of you have a long lie in and a lazy Saturday.

An early night tonight (they almost all have been anyway) and hope not to sleep in. I have been awake between 5am and 6am every morning but guaranteed to not wake up on the one morning that I need to.

Till tomorrow..

A beautiful morning again today and we had a really lazy day .  Ben did some bookmarks on the computer today while I sat in the sun and read my book.  We went to the Catalina Country Club for a cheap lunch and both had Chicken and Asparagus with rice.  We walked into Batemans Bay and back.  Ben decided to go for a bike ride and take some photographs around the bay but when he got the bike out he discovered it had a puncture and his spare tube was burst, so it was about an hour and a half bike repairs before he could get off for his ride.  I sat outside the van still reading for most of the afternoon.  Only when I came inside did I discover that my arms and legs were sunburnt.  Tonight we went into Batemans Bay and did some shopping for tea.  We used the camp bbq to cook tonight.  There are another two Viscount vans in the park similar to ours. 

There are an abundance of rosellas in the park, they are very tame.

Not much to type in the blog this evening, it’s a hard life

I woke up early this morning to find there had been a very heavy dew and it was foggy. It was very still so I sat outside with my book and a coffee and listened to the waves breaking on the beach.

We had our first Maccas today for breakfast and then we went and sat on the banks of the Clyde River and watched the world go by. We drove up the coast as far as Ulladulla, by this time the wind had again come up and by the time we reached there, it was gale force. We had fish and chips at the docks from the Coastal Patrol Kiosk and were getting sunburnt whilst being blown about by the wind.

When we arrived back in Batemans Bay, we discovered that the wind had blown most of the tents in the park down, bending and breaking poles. Some Good Samaritan had tied down our front window awning as the wind had torn the rivets from the body of the caravan. Our table and chairs had been blown over. Ben made some repairs to the awning and watched all the campers pack up and head either for the cabins or for home.

Booked into this park until Monday 8^th as we have a good site, internet access and it is near the markets we have planned for the weekend. Keeping our fingers crossed that this wind has subsided by then because our gazebo would not have stood up to today’s winds.

I will add some more pictures to the blog from around Batemans Bay soon. So watch this space!

We slowly packed up this morning and watched the caravan park empty as people headed home.

Booking a stall at the Moruya market proved impossible, so it was back to the drawing board.

I phoned around a few markets and booked into Milton on Saturday and Batemans Bay on Sunday and we set off to find a park somewhere along the way to Batemans Bay. We stopped for morning tea at Quaama. A diversion off the highway took us to Tilba which looked a delightful little town but parking was impossible with the caravan in tow so we had no option but to drive through and get back on the highway.

We arrived in Moruya in time for lunch and had quiche and salad in the “Kiss The Cook” café. Some shopping at Woolworths was next and then back in the car as we decided to head for Batemans Bay.

The weather started to deteriorate, the wind was not as bad as the previous few days but now it clouded over and looked like we might expect some rain.

The Beach Resort, a Big 4 park, at Batehaven was our choice for tonight. Right on the water’s edge and also free wireless internet . Being the school holidays means there are quite a few children around but none too noisy yet and the park itself is lovely. I have finally been able to upload this blog and check emails etc. It’s very slow connection but a connection none the less.

We went for a short walk down to the beach but it was just too cold so we headed back to the van for tea. Spent the rest of the evening on the computer and went to bed around 11.30pm.

Slept later today and didn’t get up until around 7.00am.  Got some laundry done and we decided to go for a drive.  We had a look around Eden and went to the Rotary Park and the Memorial Wall.  We had a walk round the graveyard which looks out over the sea.  Checked our email at the bait and tackle Shop at the Wharf.  We went to see “The Claw” which is a well known rock formation here in Eden.

Ben was breathalised on our way to the Eden Country Club for lunch and was surprised not to have to blow into the machine but just to say 1,2,3,4,5.  We had a very enjoyable lunch and thought we would go for a drive to Candelo. 

It was a very hilly and windy road and it was very windy, gale force at times, so not the most enjoyable of drives.  We stopped for a drink at the Candelo Pub before heading home to Eden via Merimbula.  Merimbula was very busy, this being public holiday here in N.S.W. and there were lots of NO VACANCY signs everywhere. 

Filled up with petrol at $1.32.9  ( $56.62) at the United  petrol  Station.

We got back to the caravan park and  made a few telephone calls before tea.

Got up this morning about  5.00 and watched the sun come up.  It was a beautiful morning, bright and sunny with no wind.  We left Mallacoota at about 10.00am and headed to Eden.  We booked into the Garden of Eden Caravan Park for two nights.  $25.00 per night.  This is a lovely park, very well laid out and the best amenities by far in any park we have stayed in.  The park is fairly busy as this weekend is a long weekend in N.S.W. and also the start of the school holidays .

We had a drive around Eden and went for a walk down the main street.  We went to the Wharf tonight and bought fish and chips for tea.  Ate them on the wharf and then walked down for a look at the fishing fleet.  Eden is a deep water port and the harbor was fairly busy with fishing boats, charter boats and yachts.  Came back to the van and played on the computer for a while.  A late night tonight as it is now 11.15pm and we are both still awake.

Woke up at 5.00am feeling much better.  Decided to get some laundry done early.  It was a beautiful sunrise this morning over the water.  We are camped almost at the water’s edge.   By 9.00am the wind was very strong again and although the sun was shining, the wind was very cold.  We went for a drive out to the airport and the bunker (which was closed) but found a sheltered little beach and went for a walk.  The wind stayed cold throughout the day and we didn’t do much except hang around the caravan.

This evening we went out to the pub for tea but it was very busy and very noisy so we headed across the road to the café and ate there.  Ben is now showing signs of developing the cold that I’ve had for the last few day so we both came home and had some Lemsip.

We had a look at what markets are on in the south coast of NSW next weekend and decided to head for Eden tomorrow.