I started the day with a walk on the beach,
all the way up to the headland. It was a bit calmer this morning and the sun
was trying to break through the clouds. As I started back up the track to camp,
Amelie came down the other way, so I went back to the rocks with her and we had
a bit of a play.
Back at the tent we had a cuppa then
breakfast, joined by the other two as they woke up. We started packing up just
before 9 and all the kids did a great job helping out – it was mainly new to
them and they were really keen to do what they could to make the job quicker
(partly because they wanted to stop at the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie so
I said we needed to leave early enough to fit that in).
Around 11 we were nearly ready so I sent
them down for a last play on the beach while I put the bikes on and hitched up
the trailer, we were on the road before 11.30. Not bad for our first bush camp
pack up, with the annex. And everything being wet. The campground had ended up
being completely fine to stay at – I’d heard there was a lot of wildlife around
though we didn’t see much – just a couple of kangaroos and some kookaburras who
liked to hang around the back of the drop toilets. Oh and about a million
mosquitos and some march flies. It was peaceful though and the beach was
beautiful, we all had a good time there.
I was a bit worried about the state of the
road after 2 days of rain – it wasn’t too bad although there were still some
heavily corrugated areas so it took me a while to drive out. Once we reached
the bitumen Caitlin was going to put our audio book back on (The Colour of
Magic) but we couldn’t find my iPad. We stopped in Laurieton to have a search
for it, with no luck. I was a bit concerned then realised there was nowhere it
could have gone – we didn’t leave it at the site and I didn’t take it anywhere
else, so it had to be in the car somewhere.
We drove through to Port Macquarie, using
the coastal scenic road rather than going back out to the Pacific Highway. It
was quite beautiful, lots of lakes and rivers, and I don’t think I’ve been through
that way before. I enjoyed driving through Port Macquarie, remembering a trip
there with my parents when I was about 20, and a trip with Tony when he was
playing baseball there. We stopped at the Koala Hospital (and I found my iPad
in my camera bag) and spent a happy hour exploring the little museum, looking
through a microscope at gum leaves, and looking at and reading about the
permanent stay koalas – the ones who have conditions which mean they can’t be
released back into the wild. It was also cool reading about those who have been
rehabilitated and released. Amelie in particular was so happy to see the koalas
– they were very cute and a few of them were even awake and we could watch them
moving about. The kids had been talking about adopting a koala, to help with
research and rehabilitation, so we looked through the book and found a wild
koala that everyone agreed was the cutest, and paid to adopt it for a year.
Amelie was vaguely disappointed that this didn’t mean we got to keep the koala,
but was happy enough with the idea that our money will help to keep koalas
healthy and safe.
It was even more humid here than it had
been at the campground and I was keen to get back in the car – we probably
should have stopped and had lunch though because we were all pretty hungry
later on. My plan was to detour via Bellingen and have lunch by the river
there, but we ended up leaving a bit later than I’d planned, and the place we
were staying in Coffs Harbour closed reception at 5, so I wanted to make sure
were there before then. Liam wasn’t feeling well so we stopped at a rest stop
to cool down a bit, then stopped once for petrol and looked like we would have
heaps of time to get to Coffs by 5 – our park was just north of the town and it
took ages to drive through in afternoon traffic – then the signage was
confusing and I wasn’t sure where I was going – we made it to the Sapphire
Beach Holiday Park at about 4.55.
The kids had been so excited about staying
in a beachside caravan park, and the photos looked amazing. When we got here
though it looked much more unkempt and not as inviting – everyone was a little
disappointed. We headed to the unpowered camping area – an area designed for 3 sites,
but they weren’t marked out. 2 tents were already there and I couldn’t figure
out whether they were together or not, or where they would be putting their
cars. There was a spot right up against the sand dunes where we would fit, but
probably not with the annex. After walking around and considering options for
ages I decided to go to the left of the gate, away from the sand dunes –
although I was worried that we might be a little too close to one of the tents.
In the end though it seemed to be the only place we could fit. It was a tight
space and took me quite a while to get the trailer into position. I was still
worried about encroaching on other campers as well. I decided to go for a walk
to the beach to calm down – although we were worried that the beach might not
be as beautiful as in the pictures. Walking through the path over the dunes it
felt quite gloomy as the greenery was very dense – then suddenly we stepped out
into the light and could see Split Solitary Island and the ocean and it was
beautiful. We played briefly on the sand (the surf was still too big to swim
in) then went back to set up the tent. There was just enough room for us in the
corner we’d picked. The kids explored the park a bit and found the amenities
and the games room etc and came back very keen for a swim. Once the tent itself
was up I said we could do the beds etc later, and went to close the car windows
in case it rained – and my driver’s window wouldn’t go up. We’d had trouble
with it for a while and obviously it had reached it’s limit. I felt like I had
as well, I just wanted to cry because it felt like everything had gone wrong
since we arrived. I taped up the window with plastic bags and gorilla tape and
figured I’d have to sort it out in the morning.
We went for a swim in a beautiful new pool
and it was lovely, it helped me calm down a little. We still hadn’t had much to
eat though, and I was very tired, so reluctantly we went back to camp and
Caitlin and Liam cooked pasta with tomatoes and kabana for dinner, while I
struggled to set up the annex – normally I do it pretty easily but it was hard work
this time. In the midst of it the people next to us came back – we were in the
spot where they had parked their camper next to their tent. I thought they
hadn’t marked their spot but they had put a rock next to the fence and I hadn’t
realised it was a marker. I apologized and they said it was fine but seemed
upset - I talked to them later and they
said they’d just been surprised and were happy to put the camper in a different
spot.
Dinner was delicious and we finally had the
beds all set up so we could go to bed. I felt like I was getting a cold as well
and was very glad for the day to be over.
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