Swansea & Final Post

We left the Coopernook Hotel on Friday the 4th and went to Linda’s parents place on the central coast. We helped out her parents there. Then took the opportunity to leave the van there and slip home and mow all the lawns and clean the pool and get a couple of other things done. On the Sunday afternoon we went back to the -n-laws place and stayed the night. Monday morning following a relaxed breakfast we headed off for Swansea. It was only a 40 minute run to get there and we couldn’t check in before 11am. It was probably only ten minutes after that that we arrived and started setting up. We were right on Lake Macquarie. Incredible position.

It was great catching up with our friends Lynn and Wal. They are friends we have made whilst caravanning. We first met them in 2013 in Katherine, NT, on our first big trip. We were camped beside them and really it off. Spent more time with them at Edith Falls. Then on the road home from that trip we stayed with them at their home near Raymon Terrace. We saw them again by design on our 2015 trip to WA when we were at Barn Hill Station and Ningaloo Reef. Keen readers of my blog may even remember posts in which I refer to them and our time together. So it was really good to finally catch up with them again. Friends of theirs were staying as well, Ken and Marilyn and they were great people as well.

We spent a long time sitting and chatting and wound up eating late. I went for a swim in the lake that afternoon. The water was so great for a swim.

Next morning we went out to nearby Caves Beach. It is a beautiful beach and very interesting with all the caves created in the rocks. Awesome really.

Then drove to the headland near Caves Beach and down to the norther side of that headland where it looks across to Swansea, along the breakwater and out to sea.

Then there was this little breakwater beach. Beautiful stuff.

I wanted to then have a look at the water right at town as it looks so awesome around the bridge. The old Pacific Highway used to go through Swansea and I always remember as a young boy seeing that water rushing through in or out of Lake Macquarie as we drove over the bridge. It was not rushing through today as the tide must have been on the turn but it still looked awesome.

Back to camp and more chatting to our friends. Had lunch and then a walk by the lake.

Ken and his grand daughter went paddle boarding on the lake. When they returned Ken offered Linda and I a go on the paddle board with his instruction. So we took him up on it. The hardest part is stepping on to the board. This was my first attempt.

You can imagine the end result of that attempt you just saw. After that though I was like a pro. Well, not really but it did eventually gain some balance and went paddling along. It was quite fun. Linda had a little go as well and enjoyed it too.

We sat around for the rest of the afternoon chatting. Kept moving to get the sun as the breeze was quite cool.

Linda and I caught the sunset briefly. It is quite fitting that the sunset photos are the last photos of the blog. This was the last night of our four week trip.

The next morning we said our goodbyes to our friends. I was envious of Lynn and Wal’s trip they are taking next year back to Ningaloo. I thought for a while the previous evening about joining them but then realized we have tickets to the Man From Snowy River Bush Festival at Corryong in the first week of April. So we will have to join them another year. We headed back to Linda’s parents. Helped them out with some more stuff and then to Sydney. I dropped the caravan off to my mate John to get him to organize a new set of tail lights on the van. Keen readers of my blogs may recall that I wired up a trailer light on the left side indicator as the LEDs gave up. I’ve been losing LEDs on various lights for a long time and it was a good opportunity to now replace them whilst I was passing John’s place. Okay, one last photo to show the trailer light when I put it on.

Well there are a couple of things to look forward to next year as far as trips go. Firstly a family holiday for a week in January. Then there is the Man From Snowy River Bush Festival for a week in April as I mentioned. Then mid year I think we will head to NT through QLD for a couple of months. We intended on doing that this year but that did not work out of course. Might have to take a week in February and check out Newcastle and its beaches a bit more.

So here ends the trip and the blog. It was a terrific trip. We loved the swims and the beautiful beaches and coastline and people we met. Enjoyed the caravanning aspects. Spent some quality time with friends. Love it, such is the RV life. Till next time God bless and safe travels.