We’ve just spent a lovely few days at one of our favourite places – the farm that our friends Lindsay and Eileen live on and which borders the Hat Head National Park near Kempsey.
We arrived on Sunday afternoon and had great weather the whole time and, surprisingly for May, the daytime temperatures were in the high 20s each day.
On Monday morning Lindsay and Eileen took us for a 4WD via beach tracks from Hat Head to Crescent Head and along the way we came across a 4WD that was firmly stuck in the sand at the water’s edge. Someone – we figure it was one of the 4WD’s occupants – had written the message “Help Needed, Not Stolen” in the dust on the rear window but as there was no one around we couldn’t do anything. Hopefully it was recovered before it became a write-off …
After stopping at the Crescent Head bakery for lunch we headed back to the farm via some different tracks and were surprised by the variety of vegetation and the extent to which it changed between to coastal edge and the farm.
After I’d finished playing around on one of Lindsay’s baby quad bikes we headed into Frederickton to have dinner at the Macleay River Hotel. After buying a drink at the bar you can get one of a range of meals for $5 – that’s great value in any one’s books!
On Tuesday afternoon Lindsay mentioned that he needed to take his 1979 Honda GL500 Custom to South West Rocks to have it inspected for registration and he asked me if I’d like to accompany him for the ride on his 1983 Honda CX650 Turbo. It’s a really nice bike which I’ve ridden before and it took me all of a split second to accept his offer.
The guy who inspected Lindsay’s GL500 was a really interesting chap who had an equally interesting collection of restored vintage cars and motorcycles – unfortunately he doesn’t get to use any of them much as he also restores kerosene lamps and old clocks!
The ride to and from South West Rocks was magic – lovely roads on a warm afternoon and no traffic to speak of – and on the way home all I could think of (and which all my motorcycling friends will understand) was the following saying:
“Four wheels move the body; two wheels move the soul”
We left the farm on Wednesday morning and headed for Grafton – Lindsay reminded us of the great back road from Coffs Harbour to Grafton that passes through Nana Glen and this was the way we travelled.
The car and the camper …
When we setup the camper at Lindsay’s place we discovered two things: the mattresses and seat cushions were wet (it had rained just before we packed it up in Coomba Bay); and one of the Velcro straps on the safari roof was broken (a bit surprising given that the camper is only four months old).
A trip to Kempsey was in order – for future wet packups we purchased a painters sheet for covering the mattresses and cushions and a couple of large sponges to toss on the canvas and we purchased some UV resistant Velcro and strong nylon thread for repairing the strap on the safari roof (this was not easy to stitch – if another strap breaks I’ll take it to someone who can sew canvas).
(I’ve decided to order some spare Velcro from Ultimate so that I can use the same stuff they do in future.)
Photos
Lites
08-May-16 — 1231
Happy Mothers Day Sweets from one mother to another.
It looks like your trip is running smoothly and the weather sounds delightful, nice and warm. A wee bit cool here in Bairnsdale also wet and dreary. Spoke to Bix and Bobbles via Skype and they are relaxing by the beach in Yeppoon, not sure if I have spelt that right it looks odd, anyway they camped by the beach and the sea looks really rough. Bix said listening to the waves on the sand was like being back at sea again! Thank goodness we haven’t had any more customer’s come into work with ‘ducks down their pants’ but it certainly makes for an interesting day on every scale.
I was going to mow the lawn, but I might crash the ride on mower into the shed as I am not confident sitting on the thing at the best of times, so I will hire someone to come in and mow the lawn before his majesty gets back from his trip.
Other than that, so glad you are both enjoying yourselves immensely and no doubt Minti is very relaxed in her new home.
Remember it is ‘glam to be fab’ at least that is what I say every morning to the girls at work!
Take it easy, love Lites xoxo
Kathy
12-May-16 — 0736
Thanks Lites – hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day too! We’re heading to Caloundra today to catch up with Bix and Bobbles before they continue south and we continue north.
Georgie Faull
08-May-16 — 1121
Loved seeing you both in Kyogle. Enjoy Georgie x
Lindsay
07-May-16 — 0814
Hi Kath and Ron, it was a pleasure to have you both here and enjoyed your company. Haven’t heard any more about the stranded car, we may go for a drive along the beach again today to see if it’s still there. Take care and enjoy the rest of your journey.
Cheers,
Eileen and Lindsay
Anne
05-May-16 — 2107
Great stories. Sounds like you are really enjoying your time. Xx