8. Take Two

Our neighbour at
Bungendore Showground

(I am currently sitting in our van at Bungendore Showground near Canberra - 19 Nov 2022 playing catch up with my blog posts... I wrote this one around the end of October and was hoping to send it soon after ... This covers two weeks from16th to 30th October)

So we are a month into this trip and feeling very blessed to have the opportunity. We are still easing ourselves into it, will find a rhythm I am sure. There is the weather to consider, the tides, the number of hours in a day, people to stay in touch with, books to read, shopping to do, meals to prepare, bikes to ride, mats to surf, SUPs to master, fish to catch, money to budget, friends and family to catch up with, paintings to do, trails to walk. We don't seem to be those folk who seek out local histories nor much about the location other than the natural landscape and the less populated quieter out of the way spots we can find. Nor do we have the budget to be eating out too often nor doing activities that we don't create for ourselves. As yet I have not picked up a paint brush - although I always have my eye out for painting compositions. I'm taking a stupid amount of photos which I know is not the same thing!

At the moment we are still passing through friends and family lands - it is important to make the time to meet up while we are here because it could be a long time between drinks and we all know that we don't know what tomorrow brings. And as much as living in the present in beautiful surrounds with nothing to do but what we want and when we want to - there is also the letting go of the structures of home, the events that are happening with or without us, the feeling of belonging no longer a physical experience but more one of finding belonging with oneself and ones partner. I'm going with it.

Pete and I left the Northern Rivers for the second time on Sunday 16th October. No crescendo this time - it was calm and easy. I wanted to spend the first night with my friend Deb at Glenugie, one and a half hours down the road. She's not well and I wanted to check in and make her some food. She loves my pumpkin soup with ginger coriander and coconut milk. Pete also cooked - kitchari under our friend's instruction - leaving about a dozen meals in her freezer. There is something very comforting about being able to support a friend. And our independent friend is getting better at accepting help. We would have mowed but the ground was sodden and still the rain fell. Pete emptied the pool skimmer box, and cleaned out the fridge. I was able to drive her to an apt on Monday and sit with her. Another pair of ears, note taker and hand holder. We left her bed made up fresh for her to come home to. I wished I could split myself in two so one of me could stay and be part of her circle of supporters while she gets through this thing - but of course Pete and I have our very fortunate opportunity, and we drove south. (I am keeping in touch by phone and will fly back at the end of November to visit my friend for a long weekend.)

Pete and Ally xx

We parked outside my cousin Ally and husband Pete's house at Scotts Head that night. They've been there about a year now - it was great to see where they have landed. We had a lovely overnight talking ten to the dozen, enjoyed the most delicious meal at the local bowlo (not many restaurants in that sleepy beachside town) and started what will probably be a two year love affair with playing pool. The boys played first and the other Pete won. Then Ally and me. I was ahead for most of the game then Ally came from the rear and I only just snitched the win. Very exciting 😅

Skill Pool Table similar to our childhood game

When we were children, living in Frenchs Forest in one of the several houses my folks built - Dad brought home a Skill-Pool table. Our family had a lot of fun with it and I guess some of the skills learned are somewhere in my muscle memory. I hope to flex them a little going forward - at this stage my Pete and I are pretty evenly matched. Hope we can keep the competition friendly...!

 

 

Ally's selection of cards

Cousin Ally was ever so sweet about my greeting cards - she loved them and bought a bundle of fourteen - selecting some to suit menfolk and others to suit women. It seems women of our generation are often card givers, liking to keep a stash on hand to be prepared for special occasions. (Follow this link if you are interested!)
We were so busy chatting on their front verandah that we didn't even go for a walk to check out Scotts Head which I am regretful about - still I guess it isn't going anywhere. We walked down to dinner, then to the beach in the dark to see what we could see which wasn't much.

Pete  

Pete and Pete played some guitar which was so lovely - my Pete and I are carting his guitar and my ukulele around in the hope we will get into a habit of playing together. We did have a time last year when we'd sit and play our way through several songs - and we didn't sound too bad (we thought!) - so let's hope we don't cart them around for two years untouched. Pete actually has picked his guitar up a couple of times since - he's nutting out a tune. He knows how to play, whereas I am very much a novice. Maybe when we get out bush away from the madding crowd. 

Our anniversary hoodies 

We went to bed late - which meant it was early on the 18th October - Pete and my 2nd Anniversary. We both had parcels in the caravan for each other - so went down to swap them before sleeping in the house. We cracked up when we found we had given each other the same thing! A toweling hooded surf poncho. The perfect gift for our current lifestyle. Happy 2nd Anniversary to us xxx

After an easy morning we farewelled Ally and Pete and headed off to Hat Head for six sleeps. I have not been there apart from a very quick look one time long ago - I had no idea what an amazing place it is. Pete has surfed up and down the coast since he got his license so he knows pretty much every nook and cranny that ever there was. The weather was foul for probably 80% of the time we were there so it was a bit hard to get out and about in it. However, Pete fished every day rain or shine, and we cycled around when our bikes weren't fallen over outside due to the wind and rain. 

 

 

Fisherman Pete in Korogoro Creek

It was my birthday on Oct 22 which we celebrated very well. My sister Fran and her son Jake drove down from Bellingen and shouted me a really yummy chicken burger at the Gladstone General Store, we wandered through The Gladstone Hub (home to over 15 creative businesses that make, design and create unique items), and had a couple of games of pool at the Hat Head Bowlo. pretty sure the girls won...! That afternoon Pete and I did close to 7km walk around Hat Headland and it was stunning. That grey and blustery kind of day where the light and colours are more pronounced. I took a ridiculous number of photos. 

Famous Gladstone chicken burgers
with Fran n Jake for my birthday lunch

Birthday walk around Hat Headland

Birthday walk around Hat Headland

Birthday walk around Hat Headland - stunning

Birthday walk around Hat Headland - us

Birthday walk around Hat Headland - kangaroos

Birthday walk around Hat Headland
- flannel flowers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I posted the previous blog (Take One) and I did another walk, Connors Trail - which goes from The Gap to Hungary Gate pretty much. I had intended to do the return walk but was hot sweaty and in need of a swim so called Pete and asked him to come and get me. 

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Connors Track Hat Head

Surf at Hat Head

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent the afternoon catching the outgoing tide out of Korogoro Creek, into the tea tree coloured surf in the shallows on the Western side of the Headland, Connors Beach. It turns a normal blue/green out a ways. I managed to get a few great waves on my mat. Pete was inspired to go back and get his surfboard. The currents were running every which way with the water coming out the creek, the water sweeping back along the beach towards the outlet, and the current running in the opposite direction at the same time. We, and Greg on the standup paddle board, who was camped beside us, were all having a lot of fun but it was a little bit all over the place. Pete even ran up over the headland to come down via the rocks but still the current swept him down the beach. 

We had delicious quacamole for late lunch then went to the bowlo to have a beer and play a couple games of pool. I broke on the first game and sank a red ball in that. Then with my second go I accidentally sank the black! Game over! We continued to play even though I had already officially lost - and then I won... 😂. Pete won the following game - so I guess all up the score was P 2 v D 0. I had to scull my second beer as we raced back to beat a storm and put everything we could away dry before pack up the next day. 

 

Fingal Bay Port Stephens

Next Stop, 26th Oct till 1st Nov, Fingal Bay in the Port Stephens area. Again an area I am not very familiar with. We are leaving here tomorrow after six sleeps. Pete came here a long time ago - as with everywhere it is all a bit built up in comparison to how he remembers it. We've had mostly lovely weather here - in this very busy park surrounded by constant comings and goings of other vans. Fingal Bay is just across the road from the park and the water there is nice and flat compared to an ocean beach - good for families, stand up paddle boards, learning surfers etc. 

 

The sunsets are to die for. All the rain has deemed my ebike a pushbike sadly - Pete's is still an ebike. We rode into Shoal Bay yesterday for Frank at the bike shop to look at them - he did a service on each but was unable to replace the controller box on mine. We hope to sort that out when we are driving through Frenchs Forest where the factory is in a couple of weeks. I can still ride it - just not up and down too many hills.

We love One Mile Beach which is a much less built up spot and has a little cafe. We tried our Ninja Equaliser Full faced masks there yesterday around lunch time - Pete bought one for me for my birthday last year and one for himself - this is the first time we have had them out of their bags. Sadly his full face beard made the seal on his impossible. And the current was pretty fast running up the rocks out to sea. So we grabbed our mats and had a fun time on them for a while instead. I'm looking forward to giving my mask another go soon when the conditions allow.
I have made an effort while here at Fingal Bay to reduce the time scrolling on my phone and instead to read a book. The Well at the World's End by AJ McKinnon. I am loving it so much and laughing out loud. He's funny and the true life adventure he took at twenty seven years old is a wonderful story. Loving it. I must attempt to be funnier!

My Mum rings me at least daily and sometimes more. Her short term memory is fast declining and so she is a bit lost in the world unless she is with one of her daughters. She has six. My local FNC sisters and I have been tag teaming to keep the visits up to her over the past several years since our Dad died. And now I am not there, leaving two local sisters to hold the fort. My other more distant sisters ring Mum and visit when they can. I am sending my blogs for the nurses to print and give to her to read. But sadly her memory is such that she can have an overnight stay with one sister, dinner, a movie and lovely sleep, yummy breakfast and some pampering - then an hour or so after she is dropped back at her live-in care residence at Ballina, she is on the phone wondering who is coming to get her today. She often wants to know where Dad is - we have to break that sad news to her again and again.

Today we had a late breaky and walked down to the beach to check out if it was a good day to give our SUPs their first outing. But there were little white caps and we figured no... I thought about doing a painting instead - up the south end of Fingal Bay out of the wind with the overcast colours of the rocks and bush set against the shadowy green waters and huge skies. But I decided to come back to the van and write this time - I will paint when I get to some quiet location down the coast and there are less people around. I like to hide a bit when painting plein air. Shy me. Pete has gone fishing down the front here in the Bay. Maybe he will bring us back something... maybe not. He will enjoy the sunset and the birds and all the things one sees when sitting by the water watching the world go by. I am not necessarily a fisher - but who knows how that will change over time. I do love to be beside the sea. I've enjoyed fishing off his boat out at sea off Evans Head and caught a number of good sized snapper on a hand line there - but standing on the shore is hard on my back. He bought me a beautiful orange beach rod three birthdays ago - he gets to use that on my behalf at this stage anyway.

The Wardies and us at Murray's Brewery

Whilst at Fingal Bay, we had a beautiful catch up with my Newcastle based eldest niece Zoe, her husband Matt and children Maisie and Fletch at Murray's Brewery not far from here. Such a treat - by the time we see them again Maisie will be seven, Fletch will be five and they will have moved into the new house they are going to build but which is a drawing at the moment, a plan lodged at council, and a series of choices made for all the things. An exciting, stressful grown up time of life!

Okay a long one this time - thanks for making  it to the end!