Braving the countryside on a search for their elusive quarry… 🦆

Vern and Merle decided to celebrate spring by heading to the countryside in southern NSW and NE Victoria.

First stop on the trip south was one of their favourite surfie towns, Sawtell. Just south of Coffs Harbour, it boasts beautiful beaches and a laidback lifestyle. Managing to get a great site next to the beach, they settled in for a few days.

Sawtell turned out to be a good start to the season, and they were able to bag their first catch at Taste Restaurant… Yum… 😋

.So the hunting season was off to a great start!

After arriving at the nation’s capital, Vern and Merle slipped into tourist mode to visit some of the city’s great attractions.

First stop was the National Gallery to see the Gauguin exhibition, which was fabulous. What an incredibly talented and prolific artist who seemed, like many of his peers, to fight personal demons throughout his life. His best known images are from his time living in Tahiti, where he went to escape the torments of modern life in the 19th century.

Next stop was Floriade, on a perfect spring day. The flowers were beautiful, and the whole event was very well done.

This was followed by a trip to the National War Memorial, where Robert found his Uncle Geoff Wood on the Roll of Honour. He was a fighter pilot from the RAAF flying Hurricanes for the RAF at Morston Moore in Yorkshire.

After he had finished his tour he was to head back to Australia, however in a dreadful twist of fate he died as a passenger in a plane crash just after take off – the plane was heading for Morocco on it’s voyage back home.

After Canberra it was on to Rutherglen, a cold climate wine district just on the Victorian side of the Murray River.

Rutherglen is famous for its fortified wine and, as the sign in the town attests, it has a great port… Its most famous product is Liqueur Muscat, which is a wonderfully rich fortified wine that fetches over $250 a small bottle for the good stuff. Surprisingly, they didn’t have any of that for available for tasting…

Rutherglen is a lovely town and the caravan park is on a lake a short walk from the centre. Vern and Merle did some stocking up on local wines and even managed to bag another hunting trophy at the delightfully named Pickled Sisters restaurant.!

On to Whitfield and Bright, two favourite towns nestled in the valleys of the Victorian Alps. Whitfield has a winery across the road from the caravan park (very convenient), and the wine tasting at Gracebrook in the King Valley was a highlight!

Bright is a great place to walk shop and eat, so plenty of that was done….

Just near Bright is Mount Buffalo which has amazing views right across the Australian Alps. After a very windy drive to the summit you get to the resort, which was the place to go for Victorians in the twenties and thirties. It is now being restored to its former glory and should be magnificent when the restorations are complete.

After Bright we headed on to Yackandandah, a strangely named but wonderful little village not far from Beechworth. Here Merle was able to rekindle her love for shopping in the Emporiums that many of the cool country towns have these days. Vern got very nervous… 😬

The final destination was to Walwa, following a stunning drive along the Murray River.

This tiny town has a caravan park right on the Murray and was absolutely beautiful. Vern and Merle will be back for sure!!

Until the next trip…

Vern and Merle have been exploring Woolgoolga – a beautiful, but unpronounceable, part of the world. Even the locals have given up and now they simply call it “Woopi”.

We are staying at Lakeside, a lovely caravan park right on the beach and the lake. A bit surprised that the marketing department didn’t go for “Beachside”, but there you go.

Fun at the beach

Being right on the beach means it’s a great spot to ride the pushbike at low tide, as well as a beautiful place to watch the sunrise. Not sure whether Vern’s photographic assistant was aware of just how lucky she was to be woken up at 6am to help out though… ????

The lagoon that feeds out to the ocean is a great place to do some kayaking, however Merle is getting a little concerned that Vern never actually does any paddling at the back – instead spending all his time taking photos…

The views from the headland toward Coffs Harbour are stunning. Coffs will be a wonderful place when they finally figure out how to divert the Pacific Highway from running straight through the centre of what is actually a small city! The traffic is frightful.

The beautiful Bellinger river

Just to the south of Coffs is the beautiful Bellinger river. We spent a day exploring it, starting at Urunga for the walk along the break wall at the river’s mouth.

Waterfalls and Rainforests

We then headed through Bellingen and up the Waterfall Way to the Dorrigo plateau. The climb is stunning, with waterfalls running right next to the road. At the top of the hill is Dorrigo, which is surrounded by lush, green rolling hills. We went to the rainforest centre and explored the skywalk and some of the best rainforest in Australia.

The Promised Land

On our way home we took a detour out to the aptly named Promised Land, basically to gawk at the sprawling properties of the rich and famous – as well as to visit the captivating Never Never creek… We’re not making these names up!

On our return to Bellingen, Merle got to visit a range of the shops in this trendy country town. Vern was very relieved when we escaped with only a couple of coffee mugs – a great result!

Making Woopi – the video

We put together a little video with some music that aims to show the fun we had staying at Woopi. We hope you enjoy it…

Finally…

During our time at Woolgoolga the Coronavirus started to tighten its grip on the world. It has been a worrying time as it raises a range of uncertainty about what the future brings.

We hope all our family and friends are safe through this pandemic, and that we all get out the other side as quickly as possible.

If ever we needed a superhero, the time is now…

That’s all for this update – stay tuned for more to come!

Beach, river and rainforest

We are beginning our first longer trip away – a two-month loop of Northern NSW. We’ll be heading down the coast to the Hunter Valley and returning to the Sunshine Coast via the New England region and Stanthorpe. Seems like there is already the beginnings of a grape theme to our travels… ????

Our first stop is Brunswick Heads, a place we know and love.

Brunnie, as the locals call it, is home to a fabulous 1940s art-deco hotel that has been owned for many year by Delvene and John Cornell – of Paul Hogan fame. We suspect it is one of the best pubs in Australia, but intend to do the research to validate our theory…

There are three caravan parks to choose from – Ferry Reserve has become our favourite as it is the quietest and accepts pets. It is a peaceful and relaxing spot – serenity by the river. It also has amazing sunsets.

Other top attractions include Tokarina Beach – a great swimming spot nestled behind the breakwater of the river inlet. The beach has crystal clear water and no waves. A big thumbs-up from Merle for a lazy float around. Then there is the Starfish fish and chip shop, where they make the best potato scallops (potato cakes for the Mexicans), in the world…  If you don’t believe us, try one – you will be a convert! Nothing beats a cold beer at the pub, with a potato scallop, after setting up the caravan on a hot, humid day. 

The hinterland has beautiful, rolling green hills, waterfalls and rainforest. We visited Minyon Falls, which was flowing nicely thanks to the recent rains and then braved the dirt track out to Protester’s Falls at Terania Creek.

The walk through the rainforest and along the river to the waterfall was truly magical. This was the site of the first major eco-campaign in Australia in the late seventies where protestors banded together to stop the logging of the old-growth forests of the Nightcap Ranges. Many of the protesters stayed and helped create the nearby hippie town of Nimbin – where the grass is even greener than on the rolling hills… ????

Next stop, the almost unpronounceable Woolgoolga! Stay tuned…

There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so we just kept rolling under the stars.

Merle, via Google