Day 272
Wednesday –
27 September 2017 -
Finished “The Angles’ Share” by JR Ward, book two in the series. I am moving on
to Book 3 to continue following the saga.
Darawank – Forster – Coomba Park
L A Z Y, pretty much sums it up. I was surprised to see I
had slept in until 8.15am. I must have been tired, all this traveling and sight
seeing is taking its toll. Not being in any hurry, we read until 9.30am and
then finally dragged ourselves from bed.
I went straight for a shower and then returned to make
breakfast as Paul went for his wash. After eating breakfast, we put the next
load of washing on and then planned the day ahead, before heading up to the
laundry to collect our load. It wasn’t ready, so we did a walk around the park
and by the time we were back, it was done.
We were then free to begin our day of exploring. We made our
way through Tuncurry and over the bridge into Forster heading on to Bennetts
Head Lookout. We parked at the top of the hill and were blasted by the wind
when we made our way from the car.
There were a couple of vantage points to take in the view
over the choppy water below. We watched the incoming whale watching boat and a
fishing charter coming back from their offshore run, glad we weren’t on either,
as they rolled about at the mercy of the seas and wind. It did not look like
fun at all.
Glad to back in the car and out of the gale force winds, we
drove down the hill and towards the golf course. Paul had packed his clubs and
thought he might like a game, but the car park was chockas and with the strong
wind blowing about, he was put off so we didn’t bother.
We returned to the main street, parking where we had
yesterday, so that we could stop in at the small fish shop and buy two dozen oysters
for $27. With dinner sorted we were then able to continue on the tourist route,
The Lakes Way.
Our next wayside point was Cape Hawke Lookout. Here we had
to park and then hike up 410m to the summit. There were lots of stairs to
navigate, but thankfully it was all through the rainforest so we were shaded
and protected from the wind.
Once at the top, we climbed the three story metal structure
to enjoy the view back over Forster and the lakes.
We returned to the car, going down far easier than heading
up and drove on to Elizabeth Beach. We stopped just before the turn off, when
we spotted some park benches by the lake and figured it was a good spot for
lunch.
The sign on the table requested we didn’t feed the
kookaburras as it would make them aggressive, we probably should have taken
more notice. A kookaburra made its self know as we began putting our rolls
together and we figured while we could see it we were all good. We kept our
fillings covered as we put them together and then we began enjoying lunch. Two
bites in however and Paul’s roll was snatched by another bird we hadn’t seen
that came swooping in from behind, belting Paul in the back of the head with
its wing as it speared his roll with its beak, spreading the filling across the
table before coming to rest on the lawn as it attempted to swallow the avocado
spread ham and salad roll. The first bird came in to collect the half that had
been dropped and they both sat there enjoying Paul’s lunch as we sat there
gobsmacked, a truly Aussie experience.
Paul ate what we hadn’t put in the roll, all the while
cursing the birds that eventually ended up sitting together on a branch and we
could imagine their conversation “That was a good one Bruce. Stupid person
didn’t see that coming. Great roll. Think we got this caper down pat, you lull
them into a false sense of security and I’ll stun them with my flying prowess.”
Still shaking our heads and laughing at the misfortune and
cunning of the birds, we packed up and continued our drive. We followed the
road up past Elizabeth Beach before stopping to check out Boomerang Beach.
We made our way through Blueys Beach, a small holiday
destination with plenty of tourists visiting. From here we drove up the other
side of Wallis Lake to Coomba Park.
It was about a 20min
drive to reach the isolated settlement. We stopped at the lakeside park where
there were a few families enjoying the day and fishing with their kids. We got
out to go for a walk and were again blown away by the force of the wind. While
it wasn’t creating great chop in this particular spot, it was further around.
We didn’t stay for long, opting to return to the car and
make our way back. Paul’s throat was starting to play up again and was leaving
him a bit flat. Every time he finished the antibiotics he gets sick again, it
is a real pain.
We drove back the way we came, noting the number of caravan
parks that lined the thin strip of land between the ocean and the lake. It is
obviously quite a popular spot to come and visit.
We did a quick stop at woollies on our way back and then it
was on to the caravan park in Darawank. We had to pass a section where smoke
was over the road with an obvious bush fire flaring. With this wind it wouldn’t
have helped the fire fighters. Thankfully
back at the van there were no signs of smoke.
Once unpacked, we collected our washing and then we loaded
the car ready for our move again.
When all the work was done, we were able to enjoy the peace
of the afternoon.
By 5pm we were ready to go for a walk around the park. We
were again appreciative of our spot at this caravan park, noting where we could
have been placed and the noise that was being generated.
We walked around a point, checking the water of the river as
we went along. At one point it was quite boggy and we had to be careful where
we put our feet. We continued our lap through the top end of the park before
returning to the van. I could see the sunset was going to be quite pink
tonight, so I returned to the van for the camera and made my way back to the
water. Paul got talking to a fellow biker, who told him about the National
Motorcycle Museum in Nabiac, so I guess we will be heading there tomorrow.
I wasn’t disappointed by the beautiful sunset with all the
colours on show and reflecting off the clouds and smoke in the air as well as
the water. It was very pretty and I was glad I had returned for the camera.
Paul finished his chat with Peter and we returned to the van
to cook up our oyster dinner that was delicious. After dinner I set about
coming up with a plan for the next few days, sorting out where we would head
and possible stays. We then sat back listening to the ipod as we read and did
computer bits before making it to bed.
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