Safari 2018 July 14th

July 14th

Trial Bay Gaol Camping Ground NP

 The day dawned clear blue again. The view from the Smokey Bay Lighthouse was spectacular. We found the steep walk up to the lighthouse was well worth the effort. It was delightful to watch a number of whales playing in the morning sun.
 Lighthouses are quite fascinating structures and invariably have an interesting history. The very well kept houses within the precincts are always immaculately white. What fun to stay in one of these homes where the Lighthouse Keeper lived with his family..especially if some friends came along to enjoy the unique situation with you.

Smokey Bay Lighthouse

 Late morning we settled into the Trial Bay Gaol Campground. It is clean and peaceful, electricity, hot water and a restaurant. We are able to refill our van with water and bank up some power in our batteries apart from running our little blow heater on mains power.

This afternoon's activity was to go on a long walk through the bush along the coast to the next little bay. It took is over varying terrain making the walk about 3km in total. The coastal bush is always interesting when it is so very different from the bush we enjoy in North Eastern Victoria.

B&B Accommodation at Smokey Bay Lighthouse

Safari 2018 July 13th

July 13th
Smokey Cape Camping Area..South West Rocks

A flock of terns on the smooth smooth sand

We awoke to the sounds of waves, Kookaburras  laughing and Butcher Birds singing..what a welcome to our day.

We packed up our camp and headed toward South West Rocks. Eventually we have camped a little south of township of South West Rocks in a bush area called Smokey Cape Camping Area. It is quite shaded and the cool of the evening has come in early. We enjoyed a great walk along the beach below the Smokey Cape Lighthouse.

I think it is the widest beach we have walked on. There is very little rubbish about, probably the main thing to mar this beach are the many tyre tracks. Vehicles are allowed to be driven on most beaches but must have permits to do so. This beach below Smokey Cape has particularly wide sand so I can see why people like to drive on it.

 

Safari 2018 July 12th

July 12th 2018

Point Plomer

Silver Gulls waiting for a wave

 

A coolish morning and rather overcast. We felt sorry to leave this park at Point Plomer.  Another short day of travelling..only 78 kms. A ‘Food Works’ Supermarket at Crescent Head provided us with fresh supplies. From there we followed a Tourist Route which took us  through rather poor and damp farming areas The homes were simple and needed much upkeep as did the farmyards themselves. We stopped at Hat Head and have camped in the National Park for one night. The camping ground is clean and relatively flat. We walked a kilometre to a wide and clean beach. Most beaches allow you to drive a 4WD vehicle on the sand. Today there were many vehicles driving on the sand…possibly fishermen or even holiday makers like ourselves. Driving on the beach is not something we have chosen to do. I squatted on the sand and took a couple of photos of the waves and reflections with Silver Gulls in the foreground. Banksias still line many of the bush roads as well as Melaleucas and today the best display of a coastal wattle in bloom.

Safari 2018 July 9th, 10th & 11th

July 9th Point Plomer

From the Ferry

 Our first challenge was to cross the outlet waters of Limeburners Creek and the Hastings River. The Ferry took us across the wide stretch of tidal water.
Of we went, heading for Point Plomer which is a camp about 40 km from Port Macquarie. The southern track up the coast was for 4WD only. The surface was gravel with many potholes. Eventually we came to a patch of deep sand which stopped us....bogged for awhile until John let some air from the tyres. Off we went again. Ahead of us were about 30 large and quite deep puddles/stretches of water, Eventually we reached Point Plomer. The trip in was challenging and I was quite apprehensive but we have eventually camped on grass in the very attractive Limeburners National Park. We are within very easy walking distance from the waves and can hear them from both sides of the point.

July 10th

Waves on the back beach of Plomer Point

Our first excursion for the day was the short walk to the Point Plomer Back Beach. We found another clean beach with beautiful waves of water creeping into every little crevice. During the morning we drove to several nearby beaches, all of which had clean beaches with rocky outcrops. Some of these rocks, I found quite inspirational..you never know what eco dyeing and stitch can do. A long rest in the middle of the day was very enjoyable. After this we enjoyed another walk along the beach right here where we are camped. The tide was coming in very strongly with wonderful waves...sometimes chasing us up the beach.
Our camping spot here has been great with plenty of space. Many young swimmers have been enjoying the water on their surf boards. There are quite a number of birds about including the rather noisy Rainbow Lorikeets, a single Kookaburra, Crested Pigeons, Little Wattle birds, Pelicans, Masked Lapwings, Marsh Terns, Silver gulls to name a few. There is considerable pleasure in watching birds when there is time to do so. Dingoes frequent the bush and beach here and we saw 3 of these animals today.
I was really impressed with some of the patterns on the rocks. They will have been washed with seawater every day for hundreds of years.

Amazing rock formations

 July 11th,

We decided to stay a third night at this lovely spot. Our day has been well spent. John walked back along the beach at low tide and was able to go an extra kilometer. I spent a couple of hours stitching this morning instead of walking.
After lunch we walked up to the actual rocky and bushy area of Point Plomer. It was only a short distance along a well worn path. The view from the furthest end was magnificent and we could see south to the beaches where we walked yesterday. There were a number of fishermen down on the rocks trying their luck from very high and rugged ledges....not for me!! However one of those fishermen gave John 2 Taylor fish for our dinner. I actually think they will make two meals for us with chips and salad. While out on the point we noted 3 different birds as well as a couple of whales in the distant waters. Firstly we saw a white Sea Eagle flying over the water. Then as we walked, through the bush, further along the point we found 2 Brown Quails feeding in the fresh green grass. Lastly while we were out at a lookout seat we saw a Regent Honeyeater darting in and out of a Banksia tree. The bush is much the same as we have seen all the way up the coast with beautiful Coastal Banksias dominating.

Looking south toward Port Macquarie in the distance

Safari 2018 July 6th, 7th & 8th

July 6th 
Diamond Head N.P. Campground

Coastal Acacia in bloom along the walking track

We got away quite early after looking and finding the Tawny Frogmouth before we left. He was so well camouflaged as he slept in the Melaleuca tree. The bark of the tree exactly matched the bird's feathers. We were a little sorry to leave Diamond Head park by the beach.  It was only a short drive north to Laurieton where we walked for an hour and a half out to Perpendicular Point through coastal bush. Again the Banksias dominated the walking path with some Acacias, Rice flowers and many other unknown bushes and flowers. The scenery was spectacular with waves lashing the rocky drops into the sea. The lookout was bright with a blue sky and sea.
After lunch we came on here to Bonny Hills to a Big 4 Park....washing etc tomorrow I think. The beach here is not nearly so attractive as we have seen but we can hear the roar of the waves from our camp spot. We are now about 40km from Port Macquarie and all of a sudden this, this afternoon I have realised how much warmer it is. Could even sit outside to eat this evening and may be able to paddle in the sea tomorrow.

July 7th. Port Macquarie

Aerial view of the Haven River entering the Pacific Ocean

By this time central Port Mcquarie was quite busy. The Info Centre was unable to offer much information of value to us. We did go into the adjoining Art Gallery which had a display of very modern works. Strangely the Duty Officer, after some 'chit chat', realised where we come from and announced he had been student at Scotch College when John attended. It is a small world!!After all this we found a pleasant venue for lunch. The water front is most attractive with many people walking, riding bicycles or scooters, leading dogs or running. We then proceeded to walk ourselves, and went for about 15 minutes along the path with everyone else. Eventually we came to the Skate Park which we found fascinating to watch the display of skills by the young chaps aged from about 9 years to 19 years. How they can handle those skate boards. We had to admire their skills.

The next place to visit was the Sea Acres National Park which protects an outstanding remnant of a littoral and subtropical rainforest. We thoroughly enjoyed the 1.3km loop board walk which took us well above ground through this wonderful forest of ferns including huge elkhorn ferns, cabbage palms, flooded gums, strangler figs, vines and lots of leaf litter which forms a valuable compost on the forest floor. The strangler figs grow on another plant but are not actually parasites. They form thick patterns up the trunk of the host tree and can be several hundreds of years old. A close up look at this very old forest was most enlightening.  For those of you who do not know the meaning of 'littoral' ....from Google the definition is 'relating to or situated on the shore of the sea or a lake'. Now er know as well!
 Our day was enjoyed thoroughly!

Safari 2018 July 3rd, 4th & 5th

July 3rd- Taree

Pews in Green Cathedral

The weather was fine enough this morning for us to go for a walk along the edge of Wallis Lake which was across the road from where we were camped. One track we followed led us to Green Cathedral. This was a wonderful space set up as a church which was used by a local congregation to pray for Peace across our world. It really was a lovely place for people to worship in. There were logs to sit on and a pulpit for who ever had the responsibility of conducting the service whether it was a Wedding, Memorial service, Baptism or the regular weekly service.


We left out campsite  of two days, to continue north up the coast. We traveled through several settlements including the town of Taree, where I found a huge Spotlight shop..could have done some damage there, if left for too long.
We lunched at Harrington where we watched the pelicans which always prove to be a central focus.
Continuing on we drove through the bush of Cowdry Bay National Park and have camped at the Diamond Head Camp Ground. It is sitiuated very close to the beach which makes it a delightful spot to spend  at least 2 days.

Pelicans waiting for lunch

We can hear the sea  from our camp. Late in the day we walked for 35 minutes along the beach which is very wide and clean and with huge waves rolling in with the tide. What a sight for an artist, story teller or poet. The waves were wild with spray coming off the tops of them as the water spilled onto the sand . There was such energy being spent in the rolling water and foam, not to mention the spray spewing across the scene blurring all the details. I found our beach walk quite exhilarating  and exciting this evening with all the power and noise from the waves being sprayed into the atmosphere.

July 4th. 

After rain overnight the day dawned fine but quite cloudy. We packed our lunch and set off to walk to the camping area over the headland known as Indian Head Campground, about 4.3 km away. It was an interesting walk going over the headland through beautiful bush. Light coastal rain dampened us considerably. However we did enjoy our lunch when we reached our destination. It was a round trip to return, to camp, and very much shorter. I really enjoyed the bush with many flowers in bloom easily dominated by a wonderful display of Banksia blooms. I was able to identify a few flowers but unfortunately there was no clear information available to assist me.

Bush scenery

 I will name a few for my records. Three types of Banksia, Flannel flower, Rice flower, Caladenia Orchid, Yellow pea flowers, large Meleleuca trees in bloom and Grass trees are just a few that brightened the scenery.
At one point there were masses of Bracken fern which I do not usually admire but these were quite bright in colour and no doubt refreshed by the rain. The views from the cliffs were spectacular with rocks and wild water.

Crashing waves at the bottom of the cliffs

                                               John walking through the bracken ferns
July 5th 

We have had a lovely day enjoying the warmth of the sun in a clear blue sky.  We set off early this morning to do a short walk in case rain came again this afternoon. The flowers were lovely once again. The little white Caledonia orchids are easy to find in the wet patches of growth. They seem to really thrive in these spots. This afternoon the beach attacted us again. The sands are so smooth and clean with waves chasing us along as the tide was coming in. 
We explored several tracks and eventually found Kylie's Hut set among large gum trees and neatly cut grass. Photo shows June standing on the veranda of the timber Hut which is so similar to the Huts we visit in the bush and High Plains of North Eastern Victoria.

 Kylies Hut is an historic hut that was built by local man Ernie Metcalfe for Australian author Kylie Tennant who moved to the area during World War II. Kylie used the hut as a writer’s retreat, no doubt using the stunning scenery of the park for inspiration. She wrote the novel called 'The Man on the Headland' which was about Ernie.
 As I write this the day is nearly done and tomorrow we will move a little further north again. We have enjoyed our stay here with the kangaroos and birds. We were shown two Tawny Frogmouth very well camouflaged sleeping on a branch of a Meleleuca tree. There Pide Butcherbirds, Friar birds, Kookaburras and lots of bright green Lorikeets. I was able to identify them as Scaly Breasted Lorikeets because of their completely green head with a red bills.

Safari 2018 July 1st & 2nd 2018

July 1st...Tiona Holiday Resort

Our day has gone so quickly and we have only moved a short distance north to camp on an Isthmus  which is the narrow strip of land between two bodies of water, in this instant it is between Wallis Lake and the Pacific Ocean which is part of Booti Booti National Park. Along each seaside  road we travel I cannot help but admire the Banksias and Melaleucas which are tall and in bloom. Fine weather does enhance their appearance of course...perhaps later in the week!
 This afternoon we walked for 2 km along the beach. The colours were magnificent greys, mauves, sand and the white of the waves. What beautiful fabric these colours would make.


Our weekly wash has been done and is dry with the help of driers. It is raining this evening so our decision about tomorrow is in abeyance....plans to continue north are still with us. 

July 2nd

Our neighboring campers  called on us quite early to give us 2 bream fish for dinner. Trevor, the fisherman had been out on the beach at 1.00 am fishing, as the tide went out in the early hours. We will enjoy this fish for dinner and the 2nd one is frozen ready for another night. He had cleaned and scaled them ready to cook. How generous and lucky for us.

It has rained all day here so we are lucky to be in a well drained and sandy camping area ... Tiona Holiday Resort which is about 17km south of the townships of Forster and Tuncurry. Late morning we drove north to see what these two townships had to offer. Lunch was enjoyed at the Bowling Club and the remainder of the time was spent exploring the Stockland Shopping Mall....Bunnings, Coles and Aldi among many other Retail Outlets. The rain continues to fall as evening draws in.

Bream fish ready for the camp oven

The fish was delicious  wrapped in foil, with lemon, and baked in the camp oven over gas.