Raymond Terrace - Day 102

What a sad day for us today, packing up and leaving our beloved Nambucca Heads and also on our way home.   Fletcher had set up a mini village for the tree people like on the show Epic and Mackenzie was busy free hand drawing the figures from the show, their memories amaze me as they were so like the show.   We really only had to hook up the van as we had packed everything away last night, we did one last lap of town and the beach and headed towards Raymond Terrace.  It was a few hours drive which seemed to take forever.  We chose a different park from our last trip here which got us a bit closer for tomorrows drive.  The park was really quite nice, we got to chose our site and got a drive through grassed site, the amenities were spotless and it had a security boom gate.  The full time residents were a little bit of a problem.  It was like out of a movie, one of those American Trailer Park setups with rough and tumble people.  They were loud and obnoxious and thought they were hilarious.  It was just after lunch on a Wednesday and they were drinking and carrying on like a Saturday night at a party.  Now we like a good party but not today.  We got to sorting out the van and the kids played ball and setup a base at the back of the van.  One other camper trailer came in late afternoon and of course chose to pull right in next to us, then by night fall a "wicked" camper came in and of course parked on the other side of us.  Arggggh the whole park and we are all on top of each other,  in defence of the wicked camper, they are told to park next to people for safety but I think they mean while out on the road, not in a caravan park, although they might need the security from the lot that live here.  We headed into town to grab some food, we are really running low on everything fresh and Mackenzie said today "I feel like something sweet........like an apple".  Got to love her but just don't know where she came from,  if we go into a shop and I say chose a treat, she will chose a plain bread roll or a peach or big red apple, my boy Fletcher will be straight to the lollie aisle!  It is a pretty big town and everyone is so friendly, they just crammed the crazy ones into our tailer park!  By the time we got back there was no one to be seen and no noise at all, so we had a really lovely night.  We had dinner and watched a movie, then when the kids went to bed Dan & I watched another film.

                                                   Fletcher's tree village for the leaf people

                                  The beautiful night sky over the river at Raymond Terrace

Nambucca Heads - Day 101

After visiting Macksville yesterday we found a lovely little old café we wanted to try.  We spent the morning at the park, reading, walking and admiring all the gardens and then headed off.  The café is an original from the 50's with most of the fixtures still original from that time, it was so cool, the kids loved all the old bottles, tables, milk shake makers, the milkshake cups and even the old style lollies.  The building itself is over 100 years old and is still in great condition.  Mack and I couldn't go past an old fashioned milkshake and I had a Mexicana chicken Turkish bread which I have to say was one of the best meals I have had in a long time.  The boys working there couldn't do enough for you, I love great customer service.  There is a little jetty opposite the shop and someone has tied a bicycle to the jetty that has been recovered from the river, it is covered in barnacles and looks so good, like it was meant to be there.  We had a long walk while the weather was clear and then headed back to the park.  We all had a rest as we were going to the movies tonight, we had just over an hour but lucky I set the alarm as both Dan & I fell asleep on the couch while Lego click clacked above our head.  Power nap complete we packed drinks and chips for the film.  A family ticket & Dan's popcorn for the film Epic.  We sat down and were the only ones there, which was lucky as a fight broke out over the popcorn, as I dared to hold the box, What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours.................... except for the box of popcorn.   What can I say about Epic, it was awesome.  We loved it, so great for the imagination, so many under lying  messages of friendship, support and togetherness and the graphics were unbelievable.  I had really wanted to see it after seeing the preview at the cinema the other day and so glad I did on the big screen, we might even go and watch it 3D which I think could be amazing.  And would you believe that no one else was there, we had the whole cinema to ourselves and oohhhed and aaahhhed, jumped in fright and talked like we were watching a movie at home.  We headed back to the van straight after as the final ever Packed to the rafters was on!  So again, I have missed 3 months worth but Tarna has been sending updates so I feel I know what's going on, and the bits I don't understand I shoot her a text on the ads and she fills me in.  The kids wanted to see the start so I grabbed some cup of noodles, forks, hats and jackets and we headed over to the camp kitchen.  Thank goodness for a hot lunch and snacks at the movies as no one wanted any tea so nutritious cup of noodles it was for the 3 of us!  Dan wasn't interested in watching and he thought we weren't going to be long as it gets locked at 9.30 by a security guard, as he found out the hard way the other night 3/4 through the Sydney Swans game, he was fuming.  We set ourselves up and were continually looking at the time and over our shoulders for security, all the lights were switched off at 9.30 but no sign of the guard.  Forgetting there were big brother security cameras, I sat and watched, cried and waited, knowing that it went until 10.45pm and I had no hope of seeing the end.  Well you wont believe the kind security guard turned up 1 min after the end and I had just turned off the tv and walked out, tell me he wasn't watching it himself up the front office!       Last night here :(

                                                                      The 50's cafe

                                                        Us all alone in the movie!

Nambucca Heads - Day 100

I could almost skip over todays blog as it was so uneventful.  We stayed at the van until we couldn't stand it any longer.  As you know I get bored easily and need to be busy and although I love to read and relax I can only do it for so long before I start driving Dan crazy by nagging to do something.  To get me out and about of course annoys Fletcher who would stay in the van 24/7 so lots of complaining from him and we were on our way for a drive.  We visited Macksville and Bowraville which was so nice.  Bowraville is known as the town of verandas and is listed on the "things to do on a wet day" list.  We could walk most of the street being covered by verandas.  It had the most beautiful old theatre that still runs productions and all sorts of shows on stage, it was unfortunately shut today, I would have loved to have gone inside for a look.  We passed a lot of timber trucks today, there is quite a few timber mills along the coast, so it must have been delivery day as we saw more today than we have the whole time.  Back to the park for a walk in between the rain and some tea.  The nights aren't as cold now even with the wind blowing through.

                                               Our van right in the middle of the photo

                            Mackenzie's "arty" photo of us.  They are both nearly as tall as me :(

Nambucca Heads - Day 99

Its raining!  How dare it, it's market day today!  We got up and got ready, yes even on market day they insist on a hot breakfast, don't they realise I'm in a hurry?  Microwaved leftover tea, I have stuck to my "only microwave" rule and am looking forward to my only cereal, fruit and yogurt rule kicking in when we get home.  We headed towards Coffs only to have the rain get heavier :(  We got to a market that was in an underground car park, sounds a bit seedy but it was ok, the boys stayed in the car and Mack and I had a look, more of a trash and treasure but at least we were out and about.  We headed to the beachside markets that looked fantastic but as it was now pouring rain they were mostly packed up and I didn't even want to get out of the car to have a look.  We had a drive around Coffs and then headed towards The Clog Barn.  This is the most amazing place, it is family owned and run and it is exactly as it says, they make and sell clogs.  We watched a demonstration of him making a pair of clogs, the old and the new way, the old taking at least 1 and a half hours to scoop out the wood for your foot to go in, the new only taking 1 minute.   They run the caravan park which has the only clog shaped pool in Australia and the sunbeds are clogs, looks so good.  The son makes the clogs and the father makes the miniature village on display.  He makes every piece by hand and it is not from a kit.  The village is really worth the visit to see and is free to get in to, so much time and energy has gone into it, the windmills are all working, the bridges raise and lower for boats and the train runs around stopping at the station.  There is also Big Omas restaurant.  Oma is now in a nursing home, and Opa visits her at lunchtime and takes in lunch for them to have together and he goes back at 5pm to have dinner together, everyday.  The other times he is in his shed making parts for the village and works there until 8.30-9pm every night, he is in his 80's and a lovely man.  Big Oma's is a great place to eat, we went there when the kids were little and sat and watched lizards, birds and eels in the creek that runs right outside the restaurant window.  We got 2 different pancakes today which were as great as we remembered and the view, although it was raining was just as beautiful, maybe even more so with the rain on the creek.  We went for a drive into Sawtell which has the most amazing main street, the Moreton Bay fig trees dividing the road and the plants and lawn are probably one of the best I have seen.  There is a beautiful shop, like our INCK living in Beaconsfield there I wanted to visit but being 3pm on a Sunday all the shops were shut except the cafes and bars, it is such a trendy little strip of shops, if we get time we will pop back before we leave.   We went to Valla beach for a look but as it was still a pretty yuck day we stayed in the car, Dan is loving that we cant get out and drag sand back through the car.  I have made a promise to myself I will get the kids to the beach more often in the nice weather when we get home, I will of course do this while he is at work!  The kids got the Lego out and Mackenzie made the most amazing dance hall with a DJ and all the equipment and Fletcher - Mr Lego- made an exact replica by memory of a windmill he saw today, fully working with all the mechanisms in behind it.  As much as I curse Lego, especially when I stand on it or the dog is eating a piece, it is amazing for the kids.  We had some tea and some schoolwork, who's laughing today, its Sunday and school holidays!  We do a thing at dinner each night called "best bit worst bit", we do it at home and have done it on the trip, its pretty self explanatory, you get to say the best bit of your day and the worst bit of your day, it opens up some very interesting conversations, so tonight we had finished best bit worst bit and Fletcher out of the blue says if he had a wish it would be that mum lost the eyes in the back of her head!  I have never said that statement to him before so I'm not sure where he has heard it or what I "saw" him do with my spare eyes but he was adamant he wants them gone.

                                                          The miniature church

                                     An exact replica of the Clog Barn and Omas Restaurant

                                                    The fully working mini windmills

                     Us at Big Omas- we have the same photo at home & the kids are about 3 years old

                                                                  More of the mini village

                                                                   Mack in a pair of clogs!!

Nambucca Heads - Day 98

We are now in really lazy holiday mode which is so good after the early rising and fast paced last few months.  We went for a drive through town and looked at a few shops.  We went up to the lookout over town only to realise we were standing over the top of our caravan park with an amazing view of the water and our park.  The hill we were standing on is lit up at night with flood lights and looks spectacular.  We went to a few more lookouts and a few of the caravan parks around town for a comparison, it would really be very hard to beat such a beautiful and well maintained park.  We went for a walk through a lovely park and a drive down to the beach to watch the crazy surfers face the big swell.  We took lunch with us to Macksville which is about 9 kms down the road and sat in the car and watched the people go by and the beautiful river.  We have been here before and it is so lovely, it reminds me a little of Tooradin.  We came back to the park as it was such a beautiful day the kids wanted to get some scooter time in before dark.  We headed out onto the rock wall and the kids had a big ride and we wrote our names on a rock, we didn't paint or add artwork, just a permanent marker but was a nice memory for the kids.  The park is quite busy now with most of the sites around us filled, the kids have made some friends again, most of the kids are older but a few young ones to play with.  Back to the van to cook.  Dan got a cheesecake from the supermarket today so a bit of a treat for dessert too.

                                                          The view from the lookout

                      The lookout is on top of the rock wall which looks amazing at night lit up

Nambucca Heads - Day 97

Hello Melbourne !  Well it felt like Melbourne, it rained all night and most of today.  Mack and I got up at 9 after both watching each other for over an hour from either end of the van while we read and the boys snored.  After a shower and still no sign of life from the boys I decided if you can't beat them join them, so back to bed I went and we all read or slept until nearly 11, well what else can you do on a rainy day?  We cooked a hot breakfast which was well and truly lunch by the time we ate it.  We spent the day watching shows, reading, resting and doing crafts.  Mack got a few balls of wool at the Crazy Clarkes and is busy making pom poms and Fletcher is creating more Heat Boy comics for him and Adam.  We also had crazy hat day, we all wore a crazy hat, we took a skype call from mum who probably didn't know what she had walked in to with me on the video with a monkey on my head, Mack with a huge Australian flag hat like Americas Uncle Sam wears and Fletcher in his Jake the dog hat out of Adventure time.  3 months in an 18 foot van has the tendency to send you a little mad, but a bit of rainy day fun.  We headed out for a walk when the rain settled to get out of the van for a while and get some exercise.  The 1st few months was way too hot to do anything and now its raining, all the while I feel like I am expanding in size without a daily walk, not looking forward to the scales, although clothes are still fitting.  After our walk we came back to our books.  The kids did some school work this morning so I looked over their answers and got back to my book too.  We organised tea.  Dan headed up to the camp kitchen to watch the footy and the kids and I did more crafts, its still raining and the gutters on the buildings aren't handling the amount of rain, the drains are full and our once lovely green site is flooded and has big dirt pot holes, we are hoping for some sun tomorrow to dry it out, although rain is forecast until next Tuesday :(

 the rock wall that literally stretches for miles and nearly every part of the rocks are painted, written on or mosaics or plaques are stuck to them, some sad, funny, religious, sport related, holiday memories etc.  You can spend hours reading them

                                             On our walk along the boardwalk

                                                       Our site, before the rain set in!

Nambucca Heads - Day 96

Today was a beautiful day, made even more amazing by 2 Tawny frog mouths huddled up together under the awning of our ensuite.  They watched everything we did but didn't move from their spots until night fall.  The kids spent so much time watching them until we decided to head into Coffs Harbour and let the Tawny's have a sleep.  Dan decided to stay with Bentley so the kids and I set off.  I didn't want to make a fuss of where to go, I knew that the road to Coffs was the main Highway so all I had to do was find my way to the shop the kids wanted once I was there, which of course was in a shopping plaza out of town but we had a great day, I only got lost twice and that was just my poor sense of which way north and south were and when the I phone says turn right, I probably should turn right.  We went looking for a pair of shoes with roller wheels on the bottom, only to find they were sold out and they didn't actually go up as big as the kids size!  So a little waste of time but the kids had a great time and walked every aisle of toys and dvds.   We grabbed some lunch and as they couldn't agree on the same thing we ended up eating in the car as if we had the dog with us anyway.  We headed back to the van.  Daniel and Bentley had walked until they couldn't walk anymore and both needed a big rest after their adventures.  Dan and I both love Nambucca Heads and hope to retire here so he was scouting around through the hills and along the boardwalk like a local and checking out the real estate, 25 years too early but still fun to look.  We then got ready to go to the movies and watch Despicable Me 2, they have great cinemas here.  I asked which seats we were in (as everywhere we go is allocated seating) and she looked at me like I was an alien and said "uuuummmmm you can sit wherever you want"  when we got in the cinema there were 5 other people in the movie, bit different to fountain gate!  What a great, funny, easy watch.  We all laughed through it, these animated films are aimed at adults so much too as some of the humour goes over kids heads.  I cant work out if a want a yellow minion or the little girl in the film, Agnes, soooo cute.   It was a great night, we shared a popcorn, well that's not entirely correct, Dan was in control of the popcorn and the box never left his hands and was offered occasionally under duress.   We headed back to the van where Bentley had been keeping guard for us.  He has only been left by himself for things like this and when we go for a swim so the poor thing is going to have even worse separation anxiety than he did before when we get back......if that is possible!

                                        Mack was in love with the/her Tawny frog mouths