Sat. Nov. 6th.
As I write this 2nd entry we are warm and dry in a hotel room overlooking the ocean in Port Macquarie about 5 hrs. or so north of Sydney. We feel right at home with all the Macquaries (slightly different spelling), not to mention the rain.
Macquarie was a governor back in the 1800's and it seems everything in this region is named after him. Port Macquarie was a penal colony but now it is a lovely resort and retirement community.
So far we have had only one sunny day. We had torrential rain all day yesterday and that's what we have today as well. It reminds us of a trip to Kauai a few years ago when it rained the whole month of March. I think the 10 yr. drought is officially over!!
To bring you up to date regarding the camper van, when we went back to the rental place we found out there wasn't another one available at this time so basically we're stuck with it. It's really not all that bad-----we've made it our home and it seems to run fine so we're making the best of it. We did have to replace the windshield wiper blades which made a big difference on visibility with all the rain. The caravan park we stayed at, Belmont Pines, on Lake Macquarie was very nice with a view looking across the lake and very clean "amenities". We stayed there 2 nights. Lots of bird life on the lake-----ducks, large pelicans, black swans, etc. (sorry---didn't get photos of any of them and oh, by the way, we saw lots of cockatoos in the yards around Sydney). The 1st kangaroo we saw was a dead one beside the road.
We visited friends, Steve and Carolyn Meadows who live in Valentine on Lake Macquarie about 10 min. from the caravan park. They have a beautiful home. We had a great time with them and plan to stop there again on the way back south. They want to take us to the Hunter Valley wine country about a 45 min. drive from their place.
We decided we will treat ourselves to a hotel every few nights-----nice change from "camping", particularly when it's raining.
We will continue north to Coffs Harbour today or tomorrow (about 2 hrs. north of here). There is a get together planned with everyone there mid day on Sunday-----Mike and Helen, Kent, Deb, Emily and Kent's sister, Cil.
Glad to hear that you have safely landed. Ah yes the rain, it has been quite a constant downpour here, with a break today. At least you are heading into Summer! and we have just given up Day Light Savings Time. So you are going into the LIGHT, and we are going into the DARK. I look forward to the next post - -
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