Day 20 - Hawks Nest

Hello again,

The rain continued during the night but eased off during the day till later in the afternoon and we have had showers on and off tonight.
We decided not to join the heritage walk organized this morning. I was waiting on a phone call from my penfriend (Kaye) hoping to catch up with her today. Kaye and her husband Peter called in to see us this afternoon and I was so pleased to see her after 24 years. We had a lovely couple of hours of nonstop talking and was sad when they had to leave.








A BBQ was organized for tonight, and the men did a good job with the cooking. Of course the ladies made the salads and desserts.




We've had another relaxing day, and unfortunately our holiday is coming to an end. We leave here on Monday to head back home.

That's all for today,
Love from Lesley and Peter.


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Day 19 - Hawks Nest

Hi,

We were woken this morning at 1am by very heavy rain. This continued till about lunch time. South of here had over 200 mm rain overnight. We were to go on a trip to the Myall Lakes but this was cancelled due to the rain, so we spent a quiet morning in the van. I filled in the time making some cards.
After lunch I checked out the surf beach, just a few streets away.






The weather started to clear by the afternoon so it didn't interrupt our afternoon happy hour and games.



Is the ball on the line? I'll blow it away!!!



Big decision - which disc is closer to the jack?



This afternoon the caravan park started to fill up again for the weekend, with lots of families arriving. During the week there is usually just us oldies, then the families all arrive for the weekend. Most of these have tents and it's interesting watching some of them trying to set them up. Some obviously are very experienced and others are very new at it and trying to follow the instructions. Seems too hard for me.

That's all for today,
Cheerio till next time,
Love from Lesley and Peter.


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Day 18 - Hawks Nest and Nelsons Bay

Hello,

Today we took a 1 hour ferry trip across the bay to Nelson's Bay. The bay is 2 and a half times larger in area than Sydney Harbour, but not as deep. This is the ferry arriving to take us from Hawks Nest.



We arrived at the large Marina area with a great variety of boats of all shapes and sizes. We noticed one of the boats was for sale for $998,000. Thought we might buy a couple. Ha ha!!!



We were told we could take a bus trip for some sightseeing of the area, however, all that was available was the normal bus route, not a tourist bus. However we did hop aboard and took a 1 hour round trip to Soldiers Point. This area has some very upmarket homes, many with beautiful water views of the bay.
We then strolled around the area, had coffee and lunch before heading back to the ferry for our return trip.











Peter thought he would attempt to skipper the boat but of course the skipper had different ideas.







We arrived back around 4.30. Peter then had another photography lesson which went till sunset at 7.30. The usual drinks, nibblies and games finished off the day.

That's all for today,
Love from Lesley and Peter.


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Day 16 and 17 - Hawks Nest

Hello,

Day 16
Housework, washing and shopping were this mornings jobs. The remainder of the caravans arrived today so the circle at Happy Hour is growing each day.

I made some cards after lunch, and spent the rest of the afternoon socialising with the other caravaners, so another relaxing day.

This is the Myall river which separates Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens.



And this is the "Singing Bridge" joining the 2 townships.



Day 17
We were up early this morning to drive south to Wyong, about 2 hours away. We were visiting one of Peter's cousins. Noela took us for a drive around the area and to The Entrance. There are so many beautiful holiday areas here. I think we will have to come back for a longer visit.















We arrived back at Hawks Nest just in time for happy hour followed by a BBQ. Then Peter had a photography lesson for the keen photographers in the group. So it's been a bit busier day than we have had for the last couple of days, but a very enjoyable one.
We are off tomorrow for some more sightseeing of the area.

Bye for now,
Love from Lesley and Peter.







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Day 15 - Hawks Nest

Hi,

We had a relaxing day today. A few more caravans arrived today so there was lots of socialising with the other Adria owners.

I got my card stuff out for the first time since being away. I didn't get much done when told it was time for a game of disc bowls. It's a very similar game to lawn bowls but throwing a disc instead of a bowl. Probably easier to play than bowls as well.




Just look at the action!!!! See the yellow disc flying through the air.



These games rolled into Happy Hour - this is almost a compulsory part of the rally or any caravan trip.
There is quite a lot of bird life around the park. The kookaburras are fairly quiet and obviously used to people as you can get very close to them. This photo of the kookaburra was taken on the iPad so I was very close to it - less than a meter away. It only flew away when some little brats chased it.



There are scrub turkeys, parrots, cockatoos as well as the usual magpies, noisy miners, ibis and crows. A very large lizard was also seen wandering through the park today.
There was a nice sunset today. I probably missed it at its best.



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


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Day 14 - Hawks Nest

Hello again,

This morning we drove about an hour south to Mayfield, a suburb of Newcastle to visit our niece Elouise and her husband Tim. Elouise's Mum was also visiting. We had a lovely day catching up with them.



On our way down we went via the Pacific Highway and turned off at Hexham. Coming home we went through Williamtown were the RAAF base is and where Tim works. As we drove past the coal terminal we noticed many huge structures for handling coal, particularly the overhead conveyer belts used to transfer coal to ships. Most of this coal comes from the Hunter Valley.
















We arrived back at the caravan park to find that 4 other Adria van owners had arrived today for this weeks rally, so it was happy hour and time to catch up with some familiar faces.

Now some info about this area-
Hawks Nest was named after a large tree which was a favourite nesting place of hawks, and used as a navigational marker in the early days. (I don't know if it still exists).
The neighbouring township of Tea Gardens on the other side of the Myall River to Hawks Nest, is connected by a bridge known as the Singing Bridge - named for its tendency to act like a wind harp in a strong south-westerly breeze. (Will try to get a photo of it one day). Tea Gardens was so named after a failed attempt to grow tea in the area. Both these small towns are popular holiday destinations.

We have had a little light rain tonight. It's been a bit cooler today with overcast skies.
That's all the news I have for now.

Cheerio and love from Lesley and Peter.

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Day 13 - Hawks Nest

Hello,

We left Bulahdelah this morning for a short drive to Hawks Nest where we will be staying for the next week. The caravan rally doesn't start till Tuesday but we decided to arrive early. We will do some day trips from here. The caravan park is huge with 178 sites and it is packed for the weekend. I guess a lot will leave by Sunday afternoon.



Looking towards Hawks nest from a lookout -


The caravan park where we are staying-




The beach is a short walk from the park-










This is our spot for the next week. We are next to the path to the amenities so there is a lot of foot traffic past our van.




After lunch I did a couple of loads of washing - (the housework never stops), went shopping for some essentials and went to church tonight, so we had a fairly quiet day. About 7.15pm ( daylight saving time) Peter went back to the beach for some sunset photos. Tomorrow we are going to visit our niece Elouise at Mayfield near Newcastle. That is about an hours drive from here.

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




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