Tuesday Twitterings...

G'Day,
I'm currently sat with Dennis whilst Von has disappeared into the aisles of the IGA in Nambucca Heads to restock on provisions.
I had originally started this post yesterday evening to the sounds of Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos, followed by the laughing of the Kookaburras and as dusk fell the arrival of the Bats to their evening branches. An awesome display of Aussie wildlife and the appearance of a starlit sky; this is what we came for...so the blog faltered as, at that point, I soaked it all up instead.

Difficult to follow up Von's excellent blog last week so mine will go with the more personal travelogue meander (!)...and also the characteristic exclamation marks unless Von spots them !!!! (Von Edit, I am fighting a losing battle on the exclamation marks...!)
I'm going with sub-headings too.....

Tale from the Bushfires

So we decided to veer from the usual coastal route yesterday (beaches to follow in separate heading). For those Country & Western officianados we headed to Taylors Arm in NSW, a tiny hamlet inland from Kempsey. This has the 'Pub with No Beer', famous because it featured in a well known song of the same name which made the biggest selling hit for Slim Dusty. (google it and then you can hear it too - as I have not developed enough technical ability to include it in the blog!).
This place is on the fringes of areas devastated by bushfires before Christmas but is still clearly suffering from lack of patronage. So, "Briwis" to the rescue to buy a couple of beers each and stay at the little $5 a night camping area across the road.

On arrival we were sharing our space with a small helicopter and it's fuel tanker. Interesting 'Health & Safety' around that but suffice to say whilst they were doing their last foray into bushfire area we decanted to the Pub. The helicopter was running water buckets to a fire in the next valley so no danger and all under control.

What was the interesting aspect to this was chatting to the female fuel tanker driver who had worked 15 days straight, basically having to sit and wait to refuel any helicopters that landed. On chatting about the job, and how she got into doing it, we discovered that in a previous life she had been a lead Viola player in the Australian National Orchestra and had played around the world; London and the Sydney Opera House. She wanted a change from all the travelling and playing the same stuff time and time again and juggling being a Mum to 4 kids. Just goes to show it's never too late to change your life. Hoping we continue to get to chat to more ordinary Aussies leading extraordinary lives.
Anyway once she and the pilot left the site we had the whole field to ourselves and it was the most tranquil little spot. Sadly, on the route to and from, you could see the contrast of the fire hit areas and then remarkably green spots totally unspoilt and yet even some of the blackened trees sporting new growth.

Beaches, Big Things, and Camps

The last 10 days has seen us trialling different ways of camping and setting up at various costs. One issue, at this time of year, is that the popular coastal areas are very busy and expensive and also have a seasonal dog restriction which can be problematic. Shame they don't have a seasonal kid restriction too, hehe. The prices almost double at some sites so that is a big fat NO for us!

The first 5 days we spent at a fully serviced campsite at Old Bar right next to a dog friendly beach which was excellent and, although packed in, gave us chance to relax and regroup. Mid priced at $50 a night but had all the facilities. We encountered another OFI (opportunity for improvement) which could have been so much worse; always ensure the cassette flap on the toilet cassette is set in the right direction otherwise the necessary does not go into the right compartment but instead floods into the cassette bay !!!!!!! ( think it deserves a lot of !!!!!!!). Thankfully not too full and paper towels came to the rescue. Every day is a school day.
Anyway Old Bar also has a Historic airfield which had hosted, in the past, famous aviators like Jean Batten.

I'm loving how all the small towns are trying to find stuff that makes folk want to visit. Old Bar had also brightened up their village with brightly painted telegraph poles and benches.

From Old Bar we sought out the BIG Oyster in the town of Taree, difficult to spot as it is now on the roof of the local Nissan garage. Very bizarre but spotted, and onward to another type of camping which was in Kendall. Like many small towns they have diversified and utilised their Showground. These Showgrounds host the annual display of farming stuff and arts and crafts; only one I can think of in the UK would be the Great Yorkshire Show? And then, for the rest of the year, unless they have sports facilities, go unused so local councils have now been opening them up to campers. Some have power and toilet/showers and also dump points for toilet cassettes and others are fairly basic. Kendall Showground had power, shower/toilet and a kitchen area for $10 night. Most of the Showgrounds are also pet friendly with the added bonus of lots of space for a walk.
Just down the road on the coast is the small seaside village of Dunbogan which also had an off leash dog area on the beach. This also provided an opportunity for us to meet up with two other Trakka Vans from the Trakka Family. This is a Facebook site created by the Trakka company (our van) and all the owners have chance to swap issues, places they've stayed etc. So we met two couples; one who had the Mercedes Sprinter version 'Jabiru' and one who had the Motorhome version which made for a great photo opportunity of the Trakka Range; we were just missing the VW version.
Then it was off to another type of camping in the car park of the Information Centre in Kew ($5 Donation) which, coincidentally, also gave us another BIG Thing...the Big Axe which was a tribute to the World Record holding woodchopper! We have always donated at these types of camp as volunteers at the Information sites maintain the toilets and keep the area tidy but I sadly suspect there are many who don't donate.

Having bid our farewell to our Trakka Campmates, as they were heading South, we made our way further up the coast to Port Macquarie but not before stopping for the day at Lighthouse Beach (has a Lighthouse obviously) and surrounds. Some stunning beaches along this coastline and thankfully some are pet friendly. We had pre-booked at the only campsite we could get as there was no free camping close to the town. On arrival we realised that the WaterSports Centre Campsite was in the middle of a housing estate with very big American style houses; very bizarre!

Port Macquarie has some amazing beaches; no BIG Things but a collection of decorated Koalas and a Breakwater with large painted boulders. We also completed our second wine tasting for my lovely Ryman residents Wine Fund. We chose Douglas Vale Winery as this could be the only winery in Australia that is run by volunteers. And as I write Von has purchased some Prawns from a local fish shop which will go nicely with the bottle of white.
After a couple of nights in Port Macquarie we were ready to move on and hence the Pub with no Beer excursion.
Enroute to the PWNB we just had to stop at the Akubra Factory in Kempsey mainly because when we were living in Sydney Von had bought one of the famous Australian Hats. Greg Norman is a big wearer of the Akubra and also the Australian Army have their hats made by Akubra. It is one of few things that are most definitely 'Made in Australia'. Sadly, due to Health & Safety regs and the huge expense that would be incurred in Insurance, they don't do a tour however the lady on Reception did give us a free DVD which we watched later that evening. We now know why the hats are quite expensive having seen the hours of hand made skills that go in to them.
Then it was Beach time so leash free beach was duly found at Hat Head and I have to say was the best beach so far. The water was so fresh and relatively warm; could've stayed longer but we had Beer to source!
So, it now brings me back to current position which is lunch looking over Nambucca Heads whilst I finish this missive and then onto another camping style, that of YouCamp which is a little like AirBnB where farmers, mainly, have diversified and are offering camping on their land. Usually fairly basic but some provide facilities. The one we are heading to is a Blueberry/Cattle Farm so I will let you know how we get on....Free Blueberries hopefully !!
Ciao for now........and Doreen I haven't forgotten to let folk know how we live. Will do a separate one xx