Tuncurry

 Thursday

As Al and Helen are heading home tomorrow we agreed to stay in Tuncurry tonight so we could eat at a nice restaurant. As well as celebrating a great holiday, we had Al and Michael’s birthdays to mark. Al chose the park in Tuncurry for its easy proximity to town and after 4 days without a decent shower the amenities were welcome but...

We all agreed it felt like we were on the set of The Truman Show. I know there are some who enjoy the neat streets, plastic grass, Tractor to put your van on site, on site cafe and lots of children’s facilities but I admit the Big 4 experience is not for us.

Once our van had been placed on site (We weren’t allowed to do it ourselves)we enjoyed a long hot shower before we explored the area around Forster. Some nice beaches but the area reminds me of the lower part of the Gold Coast. 

We did enjoy a great Italian dinner followed by a walk along the boardwalk before bed.

Friday

Over a coffee in the onsite cafe we discussed making our get together an annual event. There is something special about friends of 43 years standing. We first meet when Al and I started teaching at the same school in 1977 and have been friends ever since....the sort of friends we may not see for several years but when we get together it’s like we were together just last week. We are all looking forward to another adventure in 2021.

Michael and I decided we would return to South West Rocks but we chose to stay in town this time. When I visited last year for the Birdlife Campout I had stayed at the Ingenia Park and knew the sites on the creek would appeal. As our van has a rear door entry it isn’t always possible to have a pleasant outlook without a neighbour but we had an uninterrupted view to the creek. 

We walked in to town via Back Creek and the boardwalk passing Horseshoe Bay Beach. In the days of segregated swimming this was known as Ladies Beach. We dropped in for some fresh oysters on our way back to camp.

A drive around the area revealed a plethora of possible fishing spots and Michael warmed to the town even more. 

It seems each trip delivers some type of finger injury for Michael. This time it was An Attack of the Killer Kookaburra. There we were having our   afternoon cheese and biscuits when we heard the calls of Noisy Miners. Michael put his hand up to ward them off when ...zoom, like a jet fighter the kookaburra charged in after the cheese, but just got a beak full of blood and a bit of skin! While we were busy cleaning and bandaging, the little blighter came back for the cheese!



As the day drew to a close we were disappointed to see a group of half a dozen young men practising their golfing strokes in to the creek, obviously more balls than brains. By the time I had decided to speak to them they had returned to their campsites so I let it go. 

Before bed I received a text message from the management with a warning about approaching storms. It didn’t seem too bad at the time but we did find ourselves up at 1.30am putting our awnings down!



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