Day 280 - Thusday 5 October - Back to the Central Coast

Day 280

Thursday –

5 October 2017

Cessnock –Toowoom Bay – Erina

That time again, moving on to our next spot and next adventure. We had pre-booked a caravan park and were told not to arrive before 11am, so we had plenty of time in the morning to be lazy. I was happy to read until 8.45am before finally getting out. Paul was already up having a shower, so I organised our breakfast before going for a shower.

When I retuned, Paul was packing up hoses and leads and just after 9.30am, we were on the road and heading for the central coast. The GPS took us a way we weren’t expecting, but it eventually deposited us on the M1 and we joined the crawl of traffic heading south.

We stayed on the highway for a good 30min before heading east towards The Entrance. Traffic increased as we hit the burbs and it was slow going but we eventually reached the Toowoom Bay Holiday Park with a couple of minutes to spare.

Once checked in, Paul took the car off and then we had to shoehorn the van and trailer into our spot, but we did it, setting up and settling in. We chatted with our neighbours who had their two dogs in tow, one a young cloud collie named Yogi. We were in doggy heaven, but it made us both pine for our pooch.

We put our washing through and then went for a walk of the very large and very busy park, making it to a beach trail. We walked part way down for the view but then returned to the park completing a full lap before making it back to the van.

We hung out the washing, then sat and had our lunch. I attempted to log on to the internet to no avail. I checked in with the office and was told when it is busy it is hard to get on. Grrrr. Having used my phone allowance, I was banking on theirs for the time we are here, even if it is only 100mb a day!

After lunch, we packed up the car and drove 20min along the coast to Erina. We were looking for Foghorn Brewery, so we could buy our beer festival tickets and check out where it was occurring. I had to access my phone data to find an address, but once there I could skive off their free wi-fi and get my net fix.

After we had our tickets, we were off to yet another brewery, 6 String. We had seen the sign for this on the way in, so I didn’t need to do any checking online. We made our way into the industrial unit and were welcomed by the owner who ran us through the business before we sat down to the tasting paddles. Paul was stoked to receive a bottle of their anniversary ale that comes in a cool engraved bottle.

We had a look through the brewery and chatted again to the owner before Paul sat down to a full glass of beer. On leaving, he was given a glass to enjoy his bottle of anniversary ale, so he came out smiling.

I took the keys and drove us to a shop to grab essentials and then it was straight back to the van and more doggy cuddles. Paul began his write up while I set up cheese, dip and wine.

We enjoyed the afternoon, but by 5pm knew it was time to get out and do some walking, so we headed for the beach. It was so wonderful to have the sand between the toes once more and eventually have the rather nippy water lapping over our feet sometimes venturing further up the legs. The sand was rather soft which added to the workout, it also increased the discomfort in my legs that were feeling the effects of the 180 stairs yesterday and were busily protesting with every move.

We opted to walk to the furthest point we could see, enjoying the view of the very choppy surf, the board riders attempting to tame waves and the many pooches bounding along with sloppy tongues and endless smiles.

We made the most of the daylight saving hours, as the golden glow set over the west and we began the trek back to the park. We had managed our 15000 steps, making us feel better about our otherwise lazy day.

Once back at the van, we settled in for the night. I went through the photos, before we organised dinner. I was still trying to get onto the net with no luck. We ate, cleaned up and then it was quiet time before making it to bed.