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.

HAWKS NEST - 4 TO 7 AUGUST

4 AUGUST 2020

We are finally off on a road trip north.

We spent a leisurely morning putting the final packing into the van - clothes bags, toiletries, bed making, bikes, surfboard and kayak. I think we had it all. Nevermind if we didn't, we were off.

First  stop ... coffee at Kilarney Vale. Haha. Our next stop was Bennetts Beach at Hawks Nest to check the surf. The surf here is fickle but today my luck was with me. I had an hour surf on a nice right hand wave with no one out. The wave was okay with a few fun sets. A pod of dolphins came within a few metres of me and they caught two waves before resuming their fishing journey. An absolutely amazing sight and experience.

The camp area was at Reflections in Hawks Nest which was only 100 metres from the beach. We checked in, rested and had dinner. After dinner, we had a night walk down along the beach to gaze at the full moon.

The best start to our long awaited trip.

5 AUGUST 2020

It wasn't as cold during the night as we thought it would be (It is winter here in Oz). I slept well but Jacinta had a bad sleep for unknown reasons.

I started the day with a sunrise walk down to the beach. There were dolphins cruising along the beach following the fish. It was nice watching them undulate through the water, catch a few waves, flap their tails and even breach a few times. The waves looked good but it also look so cold. I had a few chats with some locals. they told me what it was like living here permanently and shark alarms. This beach and area is renowned for sharks.

Back for breakfast and we had a visit from Rolf. We had met previously at Terrigal and we had a number of mutual friends. Ironically, we was off to Terrigal today to visit family.

Jacinta and I had a bike ride to Jimmy's Beach and beyond. It was pleasant with nice views across to Port Stephens and a few short tracks. The far inside of Jimmy's Beach had been eroded by the large waves of the previous weeks so there was a lot of sand restoration work in progress.

6 AUGUST 2020

I rode the bike down to the beach at dawn. The surf looked okay but once again very cold.

After breakfast, we had a bike ride to Tea Gardens. The highlights were a few short tracks, the singing bridge and views and the promenade along the foreshore of Tea Gardens. We stopped for coffee and cake along the foreshore.

Afterwards, I checked the surf, it looked good, it was warmer so out I went. Once again, I had fun rights by myself ... no dolphins but heaps of fish beneath me. A great surf ... but getting a little tired.

Jacinta was tired too so we settled for a nibble dinner and sleep.

7 AUGUST 2020

An early surf check but a little too full. 

We packed the van and were off to Lawrence.

ETTALONG BEACH - 1 AUGUST 2020

Another sunny day.

After doing a few shopping jobs, I returned home to pick up Jacinta for a walk along Ettalong Beach.

It was a pleasant walk along the beach as we watched the water activities.

There were a a number of surfers out. One of them was riding a foil. Looks like fun but also a lot of hard work keeping up the momentum when off the wave.

Along the waterway there were a number of boats riding the zig-zaggy channel into and out of  Brisbane Water.

A great morning. :)

AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK - 31 JULY 2020

A visit to the Australian Reptile Park.

A sunny day and not much of a crowd.

Kara and I haven't been to the park for awhile. Kara was keen to see the birds and me, the reptiles.

The animals all looked healthy and some were in abundance like koalas.

The shows were not running but they were bringing out animals for interacting and closer encounters. It was fun.

We got to feel koalas, baby alligators and a tawny frogmouth owl.

The alligators were in a huge enclosure.

There were a number of smaller exhibits with spiders, snakes and lizards.