Day 271
Tuesday –
26 September 2017
Wauchope – Darawank – Forster
We slept much better last night with the pedestal fan doing
the trick. In fact I could have kept on sleeping. After returning from the loo,
we read our books before Pau went off for a shower. He returned to find me
unmoved and still reading.
I felt guilty, so got out too and began sorting myself out
before having breakfast. I then went for my shower and when I returned we were
almost ready to move from our spot. We took the van up to the main car park
where it was easier to put the car on the back.
When we were all hooked up, we began our journey down the
road heading to the Highway. We stopped for fuel at the highway intersection
and then we began the journey south. While driving the news bulletin informed
us that a four vehicle crash had occurred on the highway at Telegraph Point. We
knew exactly where they were talking about, as we had driven the road yesterday
and had it happened yesterday we may well have witnessed the carnage. The reports
weren’t sounding very positive and we found out later it involved two cars, a
ute and a B Double truck and one female passenger died. Apparently the stretch
is a notorious black spot.
We continued to make our way to our destination, the
Discovery Park in Darawank. At 10.40am, we pulled into the park, found
reception and booked in for two nights. I was pleasantly surprised to find it
was only $30 a night. We were directed to a great spot down by the river and
away from most of the other guests. Perfect.
We set up the van, plugging in all the bits and then taking
our washing off to the laundry. We spent the next half hour reading in the van
before returning to hang the clothes out.
Once our chores were done, we packed up lunch and our things
and then made our way into Forster, about 15km away and over the bridge from
Tuncurry, where we visited on Sunday.
We found one of the last parking spots along the foreshore
and then proceeded to walk by the bluest of waters. I spied Bruce, Paul’s
drinking buddy from Sunday, who was returning on a fishing charter. They had a
briefly yelled conversation before we went in opposite directions.
The foreshore was quite busy with holiday makers and teens
out with mates enjoying the sun. We did a loop returning to the car to collect
our lunch and then sat on a bench in the sun and enjoyed the view as we ate our
rolls. Our peace was broken however by a woman having a go at her husband. We
both felt sorry for the poor bloke as she was being a right royal pain and
nothing was going to please her. Some people!
We returned our lunch bag to the car and then walked back
through the main area of town and along the sea wall that followed the Coolongolook
River. We watched the many pelicans beginning to gather near the fish cleaning
station, they obviously knew a feed was coming their way.
From the path we had a great view over the super clear water
and see plenty of fish darting about. Paul was impressed with the size of some
and if he had his fishing gear would have been right into it, as it was we just
walked to the end of the wall to check out where the river emptied into the
Pacific Ocean.
On the other side of the wall was the Main Beach and there
were plenty out enjoying the water or lying on the sand catching the rays. The
water was all shades of aqua and looked very inviting. I would have liked to
walk along the beach, but as Paul was wearing his sneakers, it wasn’t going to
be today.
We followed the sea wall path back towards town, watching
the eager pelicans receive the scraps of discarded fish frames that some had
trouble swallowing and then made our way back into town. Seeing others wander
the streets with icecream cones had us finding the nearest gelato shopping and
indulging in the treat.
We walked in the sun, determined to finish the dessert
before it was a puddle. I managed ok for a change, but Paul’s one was
descending into a soggy mess. We sat at a park bench and finished them off as
we watched life pass by and then it was off to The Coastal Brewing Co to meet Helen
and David Black.
The brewery has only been opened a few months and is located
in the industrial area of town. We met the owners and were given the full
rundown of their set up and then Paul was in to tasting the beers. We sat
around chatting, being given a list of other venues to check out further down
the coast.
An hour later we were heading back to the van. We unpacked
and then collected our washing before settling into the van for the remainder
of the afternoon. I went through the photos while Paul did his write up. Before
it got dark, we went for a walk along the river’s edge, watching the water
skiers. The sun was just starting to set, sending a warm, orange glow across
the sky. Lots of people had come out with their cameras to attempt to capture
the view.
We followed a boardwalk and then moved up into the park checking
out the facilities and the various things on offer. Once back at the van, we
began making dinner and then ate as we watched the photos on the computer
wheeled past revealing our travels.
The rest of the evening was spent reading and surfing the net
before we finally fell into bed.
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