Nambucca Heads

Leaving Lismore our decision was to either stay at Coffs Harbour or Nambucca Heads. As younger people we had both spent time in Coffs Harbour, oh so many years ago. Also discussed not staying in big cities so Nambucca Heads it was. As we drove through Coffs, we commented on how much it had grown. Plus, my friend Helen lives in Nambucca – yes, another Helen. I was fortunate to meet Helen whilst working in Esperance WA and said to her, if I’m ever on the East Coast I would look you up and so I did.

Our caravan park was Ingenia Holidays – White Albatross, V-Wall, fantastic park with a beach and tidal lagoon 100meters from our caravan. It was cloudy, I was hoping it would not rain. Our stay was only for 2 nights – the first day we arrived about 4pm later than I had hoped for however we unhitched and went for a drive around the town.

As we drove around the area and through the State Forrest, the Kangaroos came out to greet us. There were some fabulous houses, we noted some rather small houses as well. As we drove down one of the streets, I spotted a dog, “Stop, look a Dingo” – Mr C…. “I don’t think so“…. Me “just stop please” by this time Mr C had spotted the dog and stopped the car. I got out and walked towards the truck with the dog leashed to the back of the truck and spoke to the dog – “Hi there, are you a friendly dog“, by this time a young man came strolling up to his truck, dressed in work clothes and boots, he was smiling at me. “hi” I said, “is this a Dingo?” he responded with “what do you think?” “Yes, it is it’s a fine-looking dog” “will he let me pat him“. with that I didn’t wait for a response, I put my open hand towards the dog….. the man says “go ahead see what he does“…… well the dog licked my hand and started playing with me. The man said, “he doesn’t do that to everyone, you must be special” my response, “Of course, he knows I love dogs“. we both laughed, Mr C was watching from the car. The man was visiting a young woman and her daughter, I think they were dating, or he was trying hard to date her. The young girl came over to say Hi and also pat the dog, by the way the Dingo’s name was Loki, so appropriate I thought, a bit mischievous (that’s if you know your Marvel movies). I said, “I didn’t think you could own Dingo’s” he responded with “I found him as a pup in the bush, he is now 4yrs old – you do have to be careful as he is a wild dog“. We left it at that, I thanked him for letting me have some doggie time and wished him all the best.

Helen picked us up the following morning a beautiful sunny day and we went for a drive – so good to be spoiled with a driver showing us and giving us a history of the area. Morning tea was in an arty town called Macksville, very quaint. We then went to Urunga Lagoon which has an amazing Footbridge about 2km long. Helen and I walked it solving the problems of the world, sharing our sadness at a “No” vote result. Mr C, sat happily on the beach front watching people and enjoying the sunshine. We also visited the many beaches all with glistening crystal blue water, at times I thought I was in Greece.

On our return to the caravan park – the V-Wall is a wall of rocks, shaped in a V which effectively acts as a breakwater creating a lagoon – it is an easy walk about 500meters. it’s a rock gallery of art and anyone can paint on the rocks. I left our mark on the rocks. I went for a swim in the lagoon, the water was a bit fresh but fabulous. We then had dinner overlooking the lagoon and watching the sunset at the V-Wall Pavillion. What more could you ask for – just perfect.

Waterfall Way – Bellingen – Mt Dorrigo

From Coffs Harbour along Waterfall Way through Bellingen and Dorrigo was 2.5hrs (191kms). A steep mountainous winding road. We thought ok, we can do this, Ian as a young man had driven this road before and so we began the journey.

Our first stop was a beautiful quirky town of Bellingen. We stopped parked the caravan and went for a walk around the town. Had a coffee, sausage rolls and vanilla slice from the beautiful Swedish Bakery, I also bought some chocolate from the sweet shop for our drive. On the road again to Dorrigo.

The Car Problem

As Mr C was driving up the mountain, the car slowly began to struggle on the steeper sections. I was beginning to get worried as I could sense Mr C’s concern. I asked him “is your foot on the accelerator” as the car was going so slow – he responded with “Of course, its to the floor”. We then heard the gears change and for a moment thought the car would pick up speed, but alas it continued to struggle – at this point I asked Mr C what we are going to do…. as the car was struggling – I kept saying “come on Betsy you can do it“, it was like Thomas the tank little engine that couldn’t – and the car clearly now couldn’t – lucky for us there happened to be a turning point in the opposite direction and Mr C turned the car into the bay – we both gave a sigh of relief that we were off the road safely. We both sat and looked at the car, by now the car was over heated…. we just sat in disbelief that this could happen and now considered our options.

Our alternative route

After looking at the map and speaking with a friend who has local knowledge about the roads we decided to go back to Coffs Harbour to Armidale via Grafton, Casino and Tenterfield 6hrs and 15 mins 513 km. This now meant that Mr C had to reverse the caravan into the oncoming traffic around a blind bend – I had to go up the road and stop the oncoming traffic to allow for this to happen. Mr C had good vision of the upcoming traffic – it was stressful, I was now a traffic warden – the cars stopped as we turned, we allowed them to overtake, and we continued down the hill without any further ado.

Mr C did the first 2 hours of driving and we changed over in Grafton. The car was going well, no further overheating or problems. Mr C was tired and fell asleep in the car as i was driving. I came to Casino and thought I have 162km of fuel, I will fill up at the next station to allow Mr C to continue to rest. Unfortunately, this was the wrong decision – Mr C awoke startled and said “are we in Casino yet” I replied “No way passed it” – Mr C – “did you get fuel”, Me, “no I thought I’d let you keep sleeping and we can get it at the next town” – Mr C, “Ok good – how much is left” – me “about 130km” – he looked concerned – I said “don’t worry there are a couple more towns coming up“. Little did I know.

As I continued to drive, we noted the car beginning to struggle on a hill, I had the pedal to the metal and the car was not responding as it should – I was saying come on Besty, you can do it, and she did. I have to say it was worrying and I was concerned, the car didn’t overheat but this this time and the gears did change as they should.

The next concern was the fuel, each town we went through was small and had no fuel stations, we were still about 40-50km out of Tenterfield – I was stressed, the fuel gauge dropped to 30 – I said to Mr C, “we have to stop and use the jerry can fuel, we are not going to make it” – I felt like a complete fool that I did not fill up in Casino and I had not accounted for the heavy load in my calculations. We pulled over in Drake and a kind young man asked if we needed help, if we were ok – I said, “thanks we’re all good, just going to fill up using the jerry can” and sent him on his way. little did I know how heavy and difficult it is to fill the car up using this method – in hindsight I should have accepted his help. Funny thing as I drove on, we both thought the car performed much better – have no rationale for this (Perth Fuel).

We continued to Tenterfield without any further incidence. We stayed at the Tenterfield show grounds – I reversed park the caravan and was pleased to get out and go and have dinner – we were both tired and stressed.

The following morning, we explored Tenterfield (next blog) it was Mr C’s turn to drive, and I was very happy about that – it was going to be a 2–3-hour drive to Armidale.

Lesson for me: Fill up in major towns – don’t worry about Mr C sleeping.

Next blog – Tenterfield, Armidale & the car repair – see you there!