Our caravan

Byron Bay these days is over commercialized and this has spoilt the feel of this once great place. The charm of previous years has largely evaporated. You have to pay even to park at the beach. Looks like the demon of greed and money has beaten the spirit of Chill Out. The big shark that hangs around the surfing spots and eats a surfer every 3 months is not helping the appeal of the town either. Having said that, the caravan park was great and provided access to the beach.

Whilst Dawn was having her pampering I went to scout out Brunswick Heads, a village just up the coast. This was a pleasant surprise! It reminded me of the surfing towns of old. Relaxed, nice cafes and reasonably priced. There is a river running through the town into the sea with plenty of fishing and surfing to be had. There is a surf lifesaving club with good facilities and showers for the public for when they come off the beach. They even have free camping in the reserve.

We left our caravan at Beaches caravan park whilst we went to visit our son at Gold Coast. We were able to stay with him and had some good family time. Needless to say, mother spoilt her boy. He cooked both evening meals. Turns out he is quite a good cook; certainly better than his dad. On the last day we visited some friends from back home (Trentham) that were also staying at Gold Coast. We had some good time together before returning to Byron Bay for the evening.

We left Victoria because of the cold and arrived in a cold Wagga; no credit for the 480km north. Still cold! Stayed at the local caravan park on the Murrumbidgee river. The river was flowing high due to the recent rains.

The next morning we were on our way again to Gilgandra north of Dubbo. Things were pretty ok until poor Dawnie started feeling ever more uncomfortable. She continued to worsen until we decided to cut the trip of the day short at Orange. We spent the night in a cold Orange, that sounds weird somehow. The next morning the car windscreen was frozen over. I threw a bucket of water over the screen to dissolve the ice. Dissolve the ice it did, but within 10 seconds the new water had frozen onto the windscreen . So much for our heat and sun seeking trip to the north.

Dawn’s health deteriorated to the point where it became clear that there would be no travel for the day. She was in a terrible amount of pain. It was clear that I had to take her to the hospital. The short of it was, after a raft of tests, that Dawn had passed a kidney stone. I need to mention that the regional hospital at Orange is a very modern hospital staffed with expert professionals who deliver an excellent medical service. The next day she was very brave and chose to continue with our trip rather than return back to Victoria. Travel day three took us to Tamworth where we stayed at a caravan park just out of town. The next day we travelled on to Byron Bay. Along  the way, near Mallanganee,  we came across a rest area with the greatest totem poles I have ever seen in Australia.