Dorrigo and Myleston - 5 - 6 April

Saturday, 5 April

We had a big storm last night, and it rained quite a bit of the night. We only had a little bit of seepage through the tape. Hopefully that means we have found the source of the leak.

Late yesterday a very big RV checked in. It made our van look like a matchbox toy.

I spoke to the lady and they have come up from Nelson Bay. I thought it must have been their permanent home but it isn't. They go up to Queensland for 6 months of the year and they are headed up there now. Their rig is 34 foot long. It has 3 rooms and a bathroom. They are on their 3rd truck, having worn the other 2 out since they bought the RV 5 years ago. Imagine the fuel costs. Too big for us.

We headed to Dorrigo to see what their markets are like. We spent a few days in Dorrigo a few years ago and really like it. It is on the Waterfall Way, which we travelled last July, but we did the other end of it. Bellingen is just before Dorrigo and is nice too, but Dorrigo is a bit more low key.

Misty Threads is the name of the patchwork shop in Dorrigo and I called in to see if I could get some fabric for the quilt I am working on at home. I was in luck and managed to get some French General border fabric which should work well.

We found the Markets which were on at the Showground but were pretty small. We thought they would have been a bit bigger. I did buy some socks for Angus and Luca which they should like. They had a pumpkin competition going and their pumpkins were enormous.

We bought some scones for morning tea to support the CWA and bought a cake from them as well. The Lions Club got our support as well as we bought a coffee and hot chocolate from them.

We drove out to the Dangar Falls to have a look. With the rain over the last couple of weeks, they were flowing well. The Falls are situated on the site of the Ebor Volcano which was active for about 1 million years, 19 million years ago. The volcano covered an area of 270 square kilometres.

Next to the Falls, is The Dangar Falls Lodge. They have camping out the back. We did think of staying there when we were planning our trip but the reviews hadn't been all that good, mainly due to the unevenness of the ground. We had a look while we were there and it wouldn't be too bad if you were there early and able to pick a good site. The views would make up for that.

 

We continued along the Coramba Road which is a gravel road but quite a good all weather road, provided you drive to the conditions. It was quite a nice drive through the Dorrigo National Park. We passed the Giant Tallowwood tree which had a sign saying it was 56.6 metres tall but there was no year on it. The sign looked a few years old, so that could have been 10-15 years ago.

We stopped at the Coramba Pub for lunch before heading back to Mylestom through Sawtell and Toormina, where we stopped for some groceries.

 

We hadn't long been home when the skies opened and we had a big storm, with torrential rain and winds and again the van didn't leak. I think we have found the source of our leak.

 

Sunday, 6 April

 

Well, it rained quite a bit overnight. I think the rain can stop now. We have tested the van sufficiently and just want it to stop now. We are heading out west at the end of June for 6 weeks, so I think the farmers out there will be pleased to see us. It seems to rain quite a bit when we go on holidays!

 

Daylight saving finished in NSW overnight so we are back to normal time now.

 

Bruce went fishing after breakfast and I went for a walk and did some sewing. I went to get some morning tea before remembering about daylight saving finishing, and realised it was too early! I had forgotten to adjust my watch.

 

After lunch, we went for a walk along the beach and Bruce collected some pippies to use as bait in the morning when he goes fishing again. We managed to get back to the van just before it rained again.