Heading north to warmth

Once again we head north for winter to where it is not only warm but we get to catch up with family and many friends we have made on the road. I do feel that we didn't spend as long at home as I would have liked as with a broken wrist and the recovery of  movement in that hand restricted the catch up of gardening etc around the home.



However we packed as much into our brief 4 weeks at home as we could. Catching up with our kids including a family camp at Port Stephens and then welcoming of a new baby, our first grandson were our top priorities.


Various health checks as comes with older age and health issues are par for the course. We were also blessed with catching up with various friends on a one to one basis. Closes family and friends are the fabric that holds as together. De-cobwebing and dusting type housework and the gardening especially weeding are always crying for attention too.



Robbiebago II also had to have various 'health' issues fixed up. The springs were noisy, some part of the gears needed replacing and there's always a few bits and pieces that we think of to make life on the road more comfortable.



Finally we set a date and though it comes too soon for me as I still hadn't caught up with the weeding with my bad hand slowing me down, we were happy to be heading north once again. It has been a mild autumn but the nights were well and truly getting cooler. So the bus is fuelled up and stocked, bits and pieces are packed away and we are off!

First off we visited dear friends in Toronto near Newcastle, who we worked together with on many BCA projects on earlier trips. They invited us to camp overnight to continue the fellowship which we happily did.

Friends from back in 2010
We then went via Port Macquarie and met up with an Aunty whom I have only briefly seen once in about 45 years. It was good to really catch up with her and an uncle who popped by who also lives in Port Mac. Our time all together was very pleasant. We certainly can't let it go so long again. I have cousins I should become reacquainted with too! This is a photo of my self with my aunts and uncle, far too many years ago!


From there we went to Frederickton where they have a very friendly little golf club in the foothills behind Kempsey that welcomes self contained campers. We were thrilled to find out that right next door to the club is a church, the Christian New Life church where we attended on Sunday morning. It is a very welcoming church of all ages with a large musical leadership. Fabulous! It is very similar to our own 10 o'clock services back home without the volume. They were having a meal afterwards and pressed us to stay for lunch which we happily did. There was a lot of encouragement to stay for the monthly evening service too which we had to decline. Not only we had to move on but it had started to rain very early in the morning and we were concerned about getting bogged in the grassy campsite if it got too wet.

Pretty garden at the entry to the Golf Club

Our next campsite was originally going to be very close to the border, but with the later start after church lunch and then a traffic accident just south of Grafton which held us up for more than an hour, we decided to camp at South Grafton. We arrived quite late and left early so no photo.

So we pushed our driving a bit further and drove just across the border to Beenleigh. We are grateful for this campsite which is basically a gravel carpark next to a little grassed park that also borders a little creek. It is also between the highway and the Beenleigh Shopping Centre. It is not the first time we've stayed here as it is quite convenient for us. One time, I'd like to stick around long enough to take the train into Brisbane and do some sight seeing.

Hugh Muntz Park, Beenleigh

From here we will stay with friends in Beerburrum tonight. They are fellow travellers who also have a 1 acre block that welcomes travellers within the CMCA club. We were thrilled to catch up with both sets of friends whom we met here the last time we stayed. Patricia and Rod and Vickie and Rod. The eight of us made great use of happy hours in the foothills of  the Glasshouse Mountains.

Happy Hours with friends in Beerburrum

We are well and truly in Queensland now and that is just where we want to be over winter.

3 comments:

  1. The visiting, appointments and scenery are all wonderful but you must stop abusing yourself. Hope your arm heals quickly.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Certainly breaking bones and other such health scares are not planned parts of life! :) PS my wrist is about 90% better already, just a tad weak and tires towards the end of the day!

      Delete
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Michelle