House Sit 1 Completed and 2 begins

 

Highlights	Not so highlights
Coffs Harbour pier walks - both	Thinking I’d ruined the marble - Kate
Refreshing swims in our private pool - Kate	Escaping goats - both
ANZAC March - both
Walk along Maclean River - both
Listening to music in Ballina - both
Collingwood winning – Will
Fig Tree Walk near Kenilworth - both

Over the next few days, we went for drives around the local area – finding short walks in rainforests for me, little towns to look at and well, um, not much that was exactly up Will’s ally. There was that wet slippery looking dirt road google said would get us back to Moonee Beach, but as tempted as Will was, when he saw me already clawing the new seats he turned around.

We both enjoy the walks along the wharf at Coffs Harbour. The first time we went was market day – I’ve never seen so many varieties of coloured Gin, but I knew my sister Ellen would be interested. There were also many coloured fish to see and a very large sting ray. On our second visit, after op shopping and purchasing me a new phone we had a very fresh fish and chips picnic lunch. Will waited patiently while I paddled, ‘I just had to’ check the water temperature, it was very pleasant. Much more pleasant than our private pool but ‘I just had to’ have one more swim before we packed up and got ready to head off.

I also ‘just had to have’ that walk that I had planned ever since I arrived, just around the very big block to really understand our location. Just outside the front gate I found a beautiful pink Crucifix orchid. My sister had given me an orange one that had grown well for years, so I immediately thought of Joan when I saw this stunning specimen.

We farewelled the animals by 9.30am on ANZAC Day as we’d made plans to be at Woolgoolga for the march. (I found it hard to relax because as I picked up our toiletry bags I noticed marks on the marble sink top –“ OMG I’ve ruined the marble,” I cried to Will. I didn’t want to ruin the homeowners last day of holiday so waited until they contacted us to say they were home. I rang and said, “Please check the ensuite marble I think I’ve damaged it, of course we will compensate,” Holly rang back within minutes to say “It’s always been like that.” Phew – note to self, have a VERY good look at the condition of the rooms you use before plonking down your items.

As we sat and waited for the ANZAC march to begin I watched all the locals arrive with their umbrellas, I thought I must get in the habit of picking up the brolly from the back seat. Half an hour later, after the march was completed but formalities were just about to begin outdoors, under the big helicopter that sits high up on a pole, the rains came lightly but consistently. As the crowd was so large and the PA ineffective after a short while we gave up and headed back to the car and as we sat down the heavens opened!

During my research of Woolgoolga, I found that it has the highest Sikh population in Australia and so it was no surprise to see a beautiful temple in the middle of town. Joan and I had toured around Dandenong one day looking at temples, so I had to take a snap to share with her.

We found a lovely little town to stop and have lunch at – Maclean. The café owner, a young man of 60ish asked where we were from. “Oh yes, I know Fish Creek,” he said. So, the customer at the next table asked, “Who’s from Fish Creek, do you know John Landy?” “Yes, I’ve completed earth works for him,” said Will. Small world.

We weren't the only ones enjoying the sun in Maclean

After lunch we wandered along the river – I still can’t wrap my head around how large the rivers are at the top of NSW and yet, they still aren’t large enough to hold all the water. Will found the permanent but sliding levy banks at Maclean interesting. After a short walk it was time to head for our next destination, a night in a caravan park at Ballina.

It was just what we needed – a caravan park with TV reception so Will could watch Collingwood take down the Bombers, and a place with phone reception so he could make sure his brother knew the results. And a caravan park with water views and a pub next door where people were playing ‘Two-Ups’ for a little while before a band started playing enjoyable loud music. After listening to the band and watching the start of the match I walked to the end of the breakwater, looked for dolphins that had been there only moments before but were no longer playing – maybe due to that shower of rain, and yep, umbrella was still on the back seat. On my return I found a picnic table closer to the pub, with a view across the water and there I enjoyed a quiet drink and some great music.

Our next stop was Queensland, more specifically the Kenilworth Showgrounds for 2 nights. With no navigation issues we arrived to enjoy some chill out quiet time – no TV reception and poor internet due to upgrade works so just quiet time to read and solve the Sudoku Will is so good at. When the internet did improve, I also set up my ‘home office’ and went to work.

I had wondered as we drove through Queensland if any of the towers I was receiving phone reception from were ones Kyle had worked on. And a few days later Kyle confirmed indeed they were. He was familiar with the town we’d stayed in and could chat about locations we had been.  I wished I’d taken a photo of the doughnut the town is renowned for. You see, whenever Lola comes shopping with me a pack of doughnuts ends up in the trolley for her and Poppy to share. These doughnuts are apparently 1kg in size – we saw the empty plates engraved with the names of those who’d eaten a whole one – yuck, can’t think of anything worse except their 1kg sausage roll challenge – that’s a meatloaf I say!

I had suggested to Will that we arrive in Kenilworth via the back roads to have a better look. One look at the map and he said, “It’s all through National Parks, no thanks, not with the van, let’s go the freeway.” So, the next day with the van tucked up safely at the showgrounds, we took off to explore the back roads. Great choice, Will!

It was lovely to walk through the rainforest and see the giant fig trees – they are something else! I immediately thought of Jennie Baker’s book ‘Where the Forest meets the Sea’. We wound our way through little towns and headed down, down, down to the Baroon Pocket Dam for our cup of noodles. The view was beautiful, the surrounds so clean with inquisitive kookaburras happy to be close by just in case there were scraps to enjoy. We headed back and continued on the Tourists Way, through small towns. Somehow we managed to miss most of the highlights we’d found on an information board but still enjoyed the day. Will likened it to the Dandenong’s, and I agreed completely, small villages full of antique shops, lush surroundings, damp air, green everywhere – very lovely.

Baroon Pocket Dam picnic spot

And due to it being in the hills there had to be some steep roads, and one in particular was both steep and dirt! Coming up was bitumen on one side of the hill, going down was gravel and windy and steep and yes, we were going down!!! Will loved it, best part of the day, Kate not so much especially when she misread the sign saying 2kms of dirt for 20kms – a loud audible gasp just popped out of her mouth.

Look out on the way back

After a quiet night in camp we headed off for the next home on our list. We got a text, ‘Don’t rush, we are running late, maybe 11am instead of 10am if that’s OK.’ We diverted into a little town called Imbil where Will took a call from a quarry mate “Shoot me know, I’ve just been to an art gallery,” he quipped. In fact, he’d stayed out reading all the history signs and I’d popped into a gallery.

We arrived for handover just before 11, the family still wasn’t quite ready but they took turns in showing us around. “Here’s the 3 goats, oh, they wander around that paddock, it’s not fenced properly but they don’t wander off” – ok, not how we generally run livestock, but hey, the family obviously know these animals’ habits. “Here’s the guinea pig cage, don’t move it because we’ve got lots of wood stuck under it so the pythons can’t get in and eat them”, - ok pythons, breathe, I’m sure they’re not dangerous and you wanted new experiences! “This is a little project, we are making a fountain and pond, we’re putting up a fence to keep the cane toads out as we have nice frogs around here’, - yep, new experiences.

The family headed off sometime after 12 and just as Will was taking the van off the ute in the only almost kinda flat spot we received a call.  “The wheel has fallen off our boat trailer just before we got to the main road, we’ll be back in a while to collect the trailer and to get sorted.” Sure enough, the trailer is up a track just behind our van. Will found another spot for the van, luckily we are staying in a granny flat as the land here is quite hilly and their driveway was washed away in the floods in 2022, so it’s a little uneven as well.

Heavy Haulage truck we watch on TV, thankfully not for us

Seems I forgot a few of the critters on the look after list - I remembered the goats and the guinea pigs, forgot the Cockatiel and the King Charles Spaniel - she was a maybe, she's here

The wife and daughters returned, had their lunch inside while we made ours in the outside area. Will then went and helped her hook up the trailer, she rounded up the daughters and off they went. Will heard a bit of a noise so went to investigate. I sat with the dog (yep, forgot that one was a maybe on the list) and wondered what was happening – a thought crossed my mind. I bet the goats are out! And they were! Such a different start to the previous house sit but hey, we wanted new experiences!