LAWRENCE - 7 TO 12 AUGUST 2020

 

LAWRENCE

7 AUGUST 20920

We left Hawks Nest for Lawrence to visit family in Lawrence on the North Coast of NSW.

The drive up was in cool to wet weather.

We arrived in Lawrence in the late afternoon with a light rain.

8 AUGUST 2020

A lazy day chatting and relaxing. I tried my hand at fishing ( I am not a fisherman) and decided that he definitely is not my forte.

In the evening, we had a huge bonfire and drank wine. Probably too much of the latter part.

9 AUGUST 2020

I woke and decided on a loop bike ride from the house along Back Kings Creek Road and around the town of Lawrence and back.

The wind was getting progressively stronger so progress was a little slow. The tarred road turned to dirt and the dirt turned to mud. Progress was even slower.

About halfway, I reached an area of tress where the wind was blocked and the road was much more drier.

It was a good ride.

On return we set off in T and B’s car to tour the local sites.

First treat was the car ferry across the Clarence River. One of those things thgat may be obsolute one day.

Next we drove to Shark Creek to view one of the old family homes. The area was very swamp and wet. The old home was high on a hill but now right next to the new highway and bridge. Not so pretty anymore as most of the vegetation had been cleared resulting in a bleak outlook. A bit of tree planting was in need. The road gradually narrowed and swamp became even swampier.

We stopped at the sight of a pioneer memorial which had some family names on it. It was erected by the children of Shark Creek Primary School which no longer exists.

Into Maclean for coffee.

Next stop was back to Lawrence, where we bought lunch – fish, chips and chico rolls for lunch. I hadn’t had a chico roll in years and I loved it.

10 AUGUST 2020

A cool night with a possible storm in the afternoon.

I drove off to The Everlasting Swamp National Park.

It was a short drive which followed the shoreline of Sportsman Creek. The road was tarred and turned into dirt. There were a couple of grates to cross and a few locked gates to pass through.

Soon, I reached the swamp. The main swamp was a flat open area with shallow water in the centre. There were a number of birds around the water’s edge. My first great site was a pair of brolgas slowly ascending in flight. The birds are large and the wings flapped slowly and gracefully till they reached their desired height.

I wasn’t sure of kayak or a bike ride. The distance clouds looked like they were getting closer so I settled for a bike ride. The track was really a grassed road between the swamps and the creeks. It was a hard pedal over grass.

Along the way, there were a number of sluices directing water to irrigation channels and under dirt roads to continue the creeks. There were many birds in the swamps and in the trees surrounding the swamps.

After the ride, I drove back to Lawrence to visit the local swamp on private property. Once again there were heaps of birds.

11 AUGUST 2020

Jacinta and B and T went into Maclean while I went for a bike ride.

They were a bit more successful but I had a disaster (to a degress). I drove to Bom Bom Stae Forest on the south side of Grafton. It looked okay so I got the bike off the van... flat tyre. No worries. I’ll fix that ... no I wont the tyre had a large tear along the side ... needed a new tyre ... Putting it back on ... my hand slipped and hit the disk of the brakes .. a deep cut into my finger and blood steadily pouring out ... medical kit wasn’t in the van ... back to Lawrence as I finally took the hint that this wasn’t to be a bike day.

We celebrated tonight as it was the official day of Jacinta’s retirement.

12 AUGUST 2020

Breakfast and after a bit of chatting we finally set off to Lennox Head.