Day 10 - Port Macquarie

Hello,

Yesterday just after we arrived at Port Macquarie, we couldn't believe the number of sirens we could hear going past the caravan park. Later we heard there was an accident involving a bus with school children, so then realized that was the reason for all the sirens.

We woke to a fine day here this morning at Port Macquarie with the temperature getting into the mid 30's. It's also very humid.

For a bit of history, Port Macquarie is one if the oldest penal settlements in NSW. 3 ships arrived with 60 convicts and 40 soldiers in 1821 and remained a convict town till 1847. In 1830 Port Macquarie (named after Governor Macquarie in 1818) was opened to free settlers.

There are a number of beautiful beaches surrounding Port Macquarie. We took a drive to the Tacking Point lighthouse. This is the 3rd oldest lighthouse in Australia. It has recently been restored. It was built in 1879, and I was surprised to read that it was converted to automatic operation in 1919. There are some beautiful views from the lighthouse. I saw some dolphins enjoying a swim in the water below.















Photos near the Marina







After lunch and Peter's siesta, I decided to drive to the Kew/ Laurieton area. There is a woodturning gallery there which Peter of course would be interested in. The brochure said to ring first to ensure they are open, which I did, and a message said they were open till 4.30 today. We headed off through Lake Cathie, Bonny Hills and North Haven, and arrived at our destination to find they are closed today. Was not impressed. So we headed back to Port Macquarie through some very heavy rain. At one time I couldn't see in front of me. The next minute the road was dry. The storms missed Port Macquarie.

We will leave Port Macquarie tomorrow and head further south.

Not sure what happened with yesterday's blog. I had trouble posting it, I tried about 4 times, so removed some photos and it appears 2 went. Hope you are not too confused.

Till next time,
Cheerio and love from Lesley and Peter.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Days 6, 7, 8 and 9

Hello again,

We have had a few lazy days at Uralla. We had a couple of days when Gae had to go to Armidale so I went along with her, but other than that just relaxed at home.
Here are some more photos at the farm.

Peter remembering being back on his family farm -


You can see how dry it is here-




Thankfully they have had a bit of rain since we have been there, and there is a tinge of green appearing on the ground.
Tuesday-
This morning we left Uralla and travelled to Port Macquarie via Walcha and Wauchope.





There are a number of farmers using the "long paddock" with no feed left in their paddocks. We came across a few mobs on our way to Walcha.









Heading towards Port Macquarie the scenery changed from flat open plains to rolling hills to steep mountains. There was quite a bit of fog on the mountains as we descended towards the coast and it the grass got much greener. There was 75km of winding roads, with many of the corners with a recommended speed of 25 and 35 kms per hour.








We arrived at Port Macquarie mid afternoon and it was very hot and humid. Storms were forecast but didn't eventuate. We will do some touristy things around the area tomorrow, so till next time,

Cheerio and love from Lesley and Peter.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Days 6, 7, 8 and 9

Hello again,

We have had a few lazy days at Uralla. We had a couple of days when Gae had to go to Armidale so I went along with her, but other than that just relaxed at home.
Here are some more photos at the farm.

Peter remembering being back on his family farm -


You can see how dry it is here-




Thankfully they have had a bit of rain since we have been there, and there is a tinge of green appearing on the ground.
Tuesday-
This morning we left Uralla and travelled to Port Macquarie via Walcha and Wauchope.







There are a number of farmers using the "long paddock" with no feed left in their paddocks. We came across a few mobs on our way to Walcha.









Heading towards Port Macquarie the scenery changed from flat open plains to rolling hills to steep mountains. There was quite a bit of fog on the mountains as we descended towards the coast and it the grass got much greener. There was 75km of winding roads, with many of the corners with a recommended speed of 25 and 35 kms per hour.








We arrived at Port Macquarie mid afternoon and it was very hot and humid. Storms were forecast but didn't eventuate. We will do some touristy things around the area tomorrow, so till next time,

Cheerio and love from Lesley and Peter.







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 5

Hello,

This morning Gae and I went to Armidale again to do some shopping. This afternoon Gae, Peter, Mark and I went out to the farm. Gae was selling some more sheep, so had to get them into the yards and onto the truck.



Looks like Peter is hard at work- or is he "counting sheep"?




Then it was time to feed the cows. We loaded the hay onto the truck and set out to find the cows. When they saw the truck the cows all started running as they knew it was feed time.









The shearing shed and old shed-




The old farm house-



That's all for now, so till next time,
Cheerio and love from
Lesley and Peter.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 4

Hello again,

We left Stanthorpe around 9 am and travelled to Uralla and arrived at Gae's new address. There is plenty of room to leave the caravan out the front, so very convenient.



We went into Armidale for dinner with Gae, Belinda and Mark to celebrate my birthday. Shortly after arriving, there was a heavy shower of rain. It is very dry here and they are very desperate for rain. It did rain during the night with reports of rain from about 4mm to 20mm around the area. Hopefully this is the beginning of lots more to come.

Gae and I-



Haven't done a lot today (except talking), so till tomorrow,
Cheerio and love from
Lesley and Peter.


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Day 3 - Stanthorpe

Hello,

We spent this morning strolling around Stanthorpe with our "tourist guide" John. He filled us in on a lot of the history of the area. In winter there is a Brass Monkey festival and here is the brass monkey in the main street.




Where does the saying ‘cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey’ originate? There are several accounts. One version suggests a brass monkey was the name given to a metal rack used to store cannon balls on sailing ships. Water would collect in these racks, and in winter it would freeze and expand, dislodging the balls so they spilled out of the racks. So that's one way to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!



Views of the town centre and post office




Prior to1872 this area boasted large pastoral runs. At that time, the area was known as ‘Quart Pot Creek’. With the discovery of tin and the influx of miners and new businesses, a ‘more suitable’ name was sought by the town fathers. Thus, Stanthorpe (meaning tin town) became the name which encompassed all, as this area became for a time, the largest alluvial tin mining and mineral field in Queensland. Now, of coarse this is a large fruit and grape growing and wine region. There are more than 50 wineries in the Granite Belt region.

The temperature has been quite warm here during the day, up to about 35 degrees, but cools down overnight to around 14.
The afternoon was spent relaxing and Peter having his "poppy nap", followed by happy hour.




Time for me to organise some dinner, so bye for now.
Love from
Lesley and Peter.




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Hawks Nest trip days 1 and 2

Hello everyone,

We left 3 hours later than the planned time yesterday, for our trip to various parts of NSW and eventually to Hawks Nest (north of Newcastle) for the Adria Van club rally later in the month. With everything packed, the last thing we do as we are ready to leave, is to check the lights, blinkers etc on the van. However, nothing was working. Peter was puzzled as the lights were working on the car. After ringing the auto electrician, we had to unhitch the van and take the car to him to hopefully find the problem. He too was puzzled, but eventually discovered a wire disconnected. This wire could not come apart by itself. I then realized that last week when we were getting the airbag harness replaced, the wire must have been disconnected and not reconncted. A simple fix when you know the problem!!! So back home, hitch on the caravan again, and finally we were able to leave and headed to Stanthorpe.
Stanthorpe is a town that over the years we have driven past on many occasions, but never stop, so thought we would stay a few days and do the " touristy thing". We dropped in on a friend, John, and went to the local RSL for a lovely meal with him last night.

This morning we picked him up and he took us to some of the local attractions. Firstly it was morning tea overlooking the lovely river and parkland.













From there it was to the local Jam Factory but unfortunately it was closed, so off to the Castle Glen where they make a huge range of liqueurs, and of course couldn't resist tasting a few varieties - very tasty!!





They have a great range of bottles in all shapes and sizes.



Then the next stop was the cheese factory. Another great range of cheese and locally made products to taste (and buy). Up the road is Suttons Apples, a great place for lunch and apple juice tasting. I'm not usually an apple juice fan, but these are the best I have tasted.

After all this food it was time for a siesta - for Peter anyway. So we had a quiet relaxing afternoon.

We are staying in Stanthorpe till Thursday, so tomorrow will be some more sightseeing.

Bye for now,
Lesley and Peter.




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