June 7 – Happy 30
th Beau!
We awoke to rain on Beau's 30th
birthday. There was a break in the rain so we took the opportunity
to make oatmeal for breakfast before it started raining again. It
rained during breakfast but stopped again so we could get the dated
bathrooms for a hot steamy shower. Unfortunately I am most
definitely coming down with a cold. Once we were cleaned up we
stopped into the office to give back the amenity's key and pay for
our site. On the wall behind the reception was a beautiful picture
of what the area is supposed to look like when it's nice out. We
took a little drive down the peninsula to try to see if we could see
the bay at all. We got a bit of a view but it was still none too
nice out even though it had stopped raining. We hit the road and
followed one of the tourist drives marked on the map. On the map
there was an ad for a little restaurant call the Frothy Coffee
Boatshed on Smiths Lake. I thought this could be a good little spot
for us to stop for a birthday lunch. The weather had cleared when we
arrived but sadly it wasn't warm enough to sit outside. We enjoyed a
coffee with our lunch, Beau had a chicken focaccia sandwich and I had
sausage with mango chutney on a baguette. We left the Frothy Coffee
Boatshed very satisfied with our delicious lunch. Our drive
continued on to Forster where we went to the info center and got the
down low on places to stay in the area. We checked into one place
then headed to the mall for some groceries. While at the mall we
popped into K-Mart and I found myself a new cheap watch! Yay I can
know the time again. We headed back to the park and Beau played
guitar while I read. We made a delicious chicken roganjosh pizza.
Yummy! We finished off the night with our a glass of muscat!
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| Dark and stormy Port Stephens |
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| Ditto |
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| Perking up at the Frothy Coffee Boatshed on Smiths Lake (no pun intended) |
June 8 – Forster to Taree
Our campground had a little forest walk
behind it out onto a little peninsula on the river. We went for a
little walk after breakfast and before our 10am check out.
Afterwards we stopped into the McDonald’s to have a quick e-mail
check. I had brief browse while Beau topped up the gas with our
Jerry can. Then he checked his many birthday wishes. We had heard
about and aboriginal arts center from the info place so we went to
check it out. I was a bit disappointed though there were a lot of
touristy knick knacks in the front and then at the back there were
some expensive paints. Since it was lovely out we headed down to the
beach and took a bike ride along the coast. At one point we stopped
for a break on some benches and were watching two guys were when we
spotted a dolphin! I tried to take some photo's of it and then we
continued on. After our bike ride we hit the road to Taree. There
we took advantage of some free bbq's and made up a delicious grilled
tuna wrap. It was bursting at the seams with avo, tomato, onion,
peppers, garlic, and mushrooms. Our final destination for the night
was Coopernook Forest Park which was a free campground. Since we had
plenty of day light still Beau tried to have a look to see what the
deal was with the reverse lights. We got really lucky though and it
turns out they just hadn't been plugged back in. Yay for easy fixes.
The rest of the afternoon passed with guitar and a book. We tried
to make tea once night fell but I think our tea bags have lost it
since it wasn't strong at all. We added Milo and had Milo-tea
instead. We both did some more reading to finish the night off.
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| Area behind the campground |
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| Coast of Forster |
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| A Dolphin! |
June 9 – Port Macquarie
We had a slow lazy start to the day
since we didn't have a check out time and it was gorgeous out. We
contemplated stay there another night but decided around noon that we
should move on. We hit the road and headed for Port Macquarie.
Along the way we stopped into the town of Bonny Hill were there was a
lovely beach. We took a leisurely stroll along and enjoyed the surf,
sun and sand for a little bit before hopping back in Dotti. Once
into Port Macquarie we stopped at a sea side bbq to make lunch. We
had left overs from last night still so we made roganjosh quesidilas.
Again another awesome lunch. We are onto something with the wraps.
We headed to downtown PM and popped into the visitors center we used
their internet and got a little info on the area. We had a stroll
along the waterfront and contemplated doing on a sunset cruise.
Unfortunately it was cooling off and I didn't have my sweater on me;
the cruise was about to leave too. We popped into Coles for some
fish and few other odds and ends. We found our campground for the
night which was a little run down but okay. We made some delicious
fish curry for dinner. There was a tv and sitting area in the
kitchen so Beau watched the Departed and I unsuccessfully tried to go
to bed early. My colds got me down pretty good and it was a freaking
chilly night!
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| Bonny Hill Beach |
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| Our lunch view |
June 10 – South West Rocks
We had bought some eggs and bacon while
grocery shopping yesterday with plans to make eggs benny but we
hadn't been able to get our hands on any crumpets or english muffins.
Instead we made breakfast wraps. They were delicious! We had
showers so we were nice and clean when we hit the road. Our
destination was South West Rocks. We arrived in the area and went to
check out the Smoky Cape Lighthouse. It was a really awesome view of
the surrounding coast line. In the distance we were also able to see
some whales. Our next stop was Trial Bay which had an old gaol or
jail. It was built to house convicts who were supposed to be
building a breakwall. The breakwall was never finished since it was
taking too long and the ships were built better so it was
unnecessary. We decided against going into the Gaol since we didn't
want to pay the admission fee. We had a little walk around the park
area and out by the breakwall. We headed into the main town and
checked out the little info center. We didn't get much help there
but we did see some brochures on diving in the area. We took a walk
along the water front and saw a pod of dolphins just off shore. We
watched the dolphins for a bit then headed up the road to find out
about diving. At the dive place they told us about the dive in the
area which is a shark cave dive. Apparently the best cave dive in
Australia and one of the top 50 in the world. Unfortunately the
weather over the next few days is supposed to be crap so we wouldn't
be able to go. It sounded supper cool though. You would get dropped
in the water with a bunch of nurse sharks then go up through a tunnel
and into the cave and follow it out to the other side. After the
dive shop we picked up some english muffins and gas then found our
home for the night. We put some laundry on then went for a little
walk along the river. We headed back to the van, I put the laundry
in the drier while Beau made up some guac for lunch. While we ate it
started to rain booo. When we had checked in we had seen a poster
for the local movie theatre and the Avengers was playing tonight. We
decided we'd go see it since we were both interested in it and it was
be a very rainy evening. We headed to the local community center
which doubles as the movie theater. We had to drive down to the
theatre since it was too rainy to walk. The theatre had some movie
style seats as well as some folding chairs but they were equipped for
3-D. We really enjoyed the Avengers it was a good action packed
entertainer. After the movie we headed back to the campground and
read for a little before bed.
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| The view from Smokey Cape Lighthouse |
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| Trial Bay |
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| Dolphins! |
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