Northern Rivers, NSW - part I

As my plan for this trip has changed I am now heading to Ellangowan, NSW to have a new door fitted.  Patricia is going to join me and we take it from there as we have made no particular plans.

Tuesday 5 February 2019

I leave home at 8.45 am and drive to the NSW border in one go.  It takes me exactly 2 hours to get there and I am quite relieved at that stage, because I don't particularly like the trip through Brisbane and the Gold Coast. 

It's time for a cuppa and I stop for half an hour at Chinderah where I also get fuel.  After that it's an easy drive along the motorway till Woodburn where I make a toilet stop, have lunch and a little nap.  It takes me all of 1-1/4 hr, but I have more than enough time for I don't have to arrive early.

I leave the motorway at Woodburn and from then on the roads deteriorate gradually.  By the time I reach the Coraki-Ellengowan Road it's been reduced to a terrible corrugated dirt road on which I don't manage more than 20km/hr.  Later I have problems with my reversing camera and I blame them on this dirt road.  Teeth were rattling in my head!

I arrive at the given address at 3.35 pm, meet up with Hugo and sit down for a well-earned rest.  I also have an early night, not forgetting that we are now on NSW time, which means daylight-saving time.

Wednesday 6 February 2019

Hugo had promised me that he could fit the door in 3 hours, but not everything went as planned so it ended up to be 3-1/2 hours instead.  Not that it mattered.  The price didn't change and he even added an extra hook for the outer door so that I could leave the door open even when the awning is down.

I sat comfortably in the front of the bus when Hugo was at work and we chatted away about everything and anything.  It was done before I knew it.

quite chuffed with my new door!

Patricia messaged me from Casino, so we would meet later that day.

As I found out by accident that the new Solos Group: The Northern Rivers Robins was going to have their first gathering at Coraki, 30 km down the road, I rang Marion and asked if there would be a camp left for us.  As they expected 62 vehicles she didn't give me much chance, but said to check the next day.

I had decided not to get the door painted this trip, as I didn't want to spend 3 days in Casino at a motel, I could leave when the door was fixed.  Hugo told me we could camp in the car park of the former primary school at Ellangowan as they had bought the school which was going to be their new residence shortly.  

Patricia arrived later in the afternoon and we had a pleasant stay in comfort, because we had the use of toilet and shower and power as well.  The latter was a bonus, because I ran out of gas before I had had the chance to fill the spare gas bottle!

The parking lot is full of coasters to be converted into motorhomes

Thursday 7 February 2019

Patricia and I were ready by 9.30 am and left for another terrible drive on the corrugated road.  On the map I thought I had find a better road (wider and better according to the legend), but it turned out to be dirt and corrugated as well, although slightly better.  It was still a 30km trip though before we made it to a half-decent bitumen road. 

As I hadn't heard back from Marion we just rocked up at the Richmond Caravan Park at Coraki. There were still plenty of spaces and as it turned out there were still plenty of spaces left by the time we moved on a few days later. :-)

We settled in, introduced ourselves to other solo members and said hello to 'old' friends, as there were many of the Rainbow Lorrikeets present.

After that my first trip was to the petrol station to get my gas bottle refilled.  I don't know what happened, but I should indeed not have run out before time, although I couldn't get the stove to work.  I paid full price at the petrol station, but I received $10 back from the man who had re-filled the bottle, as he said it wasn't empty at all!  Good service, I say, because I got more than half my money returned and the gas left could not have been more than half at all.  However, I don't have to feel guilty, because I told them I would be happy with the full payment, but they refused.

We had a lovely spot on the river and the weather was great.  For dinner we went to the local bowls club where they offered Chinese.  We had a lovely meal and were back by 8 pm.