The Winter Holiday - Part 3 - Dubbo - Copeton Dam

 Before leaving for the next part of our holiday I had a surprise message from Christine telling me they
would be able to stop in for a cuppa as they were going past!  Hooray!! It was lovely to catch up again and while we were chatting definite plans for a girls trip to Scrub Stitching next year came up..... and just like that my sewing mojo returned lol  I have lots of sewing WIPs to complete between now and then.

I also checked in on Dad again before we took off and could see he had deteriorated a little more - he was also having one of his "down" days which are being managed a little better now that the Nursing Home are taking care of his medications.

We left for Dubbo on Monday the 5th of August for a 2 night stop over.  After the first part of the holiday, I soon realised how much of an effort a one night stop over in a cabin involves! The cabin at the Big 4 in Dubbo was very roomy - enough that our friends who live there came over that afternoon and again the next day for a lovely catch up and for Pete and Tony to finally meet up.  Chris is one of the girls from the 50+ group I started 11 years ago with 12WBT and she came to Melbourne earlier in the year for the meet up

Apparently I was back in the same clothes again from the last photo - comfy for packing and travel!

I took advantage of some nice weather and used the walking path in front of the cabins which took me into the main street of Dubbo (somewhere I've never actually been in all the years we have passed through this town!) and along the river, giving Lucy a nice long walk.

On Wednesday it was time to depart Dubbo and begin the trip to Copeton Dam - which involved turning off the Newell Hwy at Narrabri and heading down a rather ordinary road with some fantastic scenery as we wound our way around hills -

And across low flood crossings which were running due to all the recent rains.  We were lucky there wasn't more rain or we might have had to turn around with a couple of the crossings being a bit fuller - we knew our friends Debbie and Dave (and Bella) were somewhere up ahead with their caravan since we were planning to meet them at Bingera and travel together to the Dam

Bingerra was a surprisingly bigger town than I had imagined being "in the middle of nowhere" and had some lovely old buildings including the old theatre

And Bella and Lucy met up again - sooo happy to have "found" each other - not so happy when they had to get into their cars again not knowing that they would be spending the next 5 days together lol

The Winter Holiday Part 2 - Nambucca Heads to "oh Dear"

 

From Tuncurry we were Heading to Nambucca Heads ...... just 2-3 hrs drive north.  We had been discussing the issues with the Ute which during Day 2 of our travels indicated a decided slowing down when we came to any hills and given all we went through 3 yrs ago with it, decided that once our holiday was over we would sell it and get something else ....... Thus began Pete researching on his phone and calling in at the car yard in Tuncurry to have a look ........  We left Tuncurry driving into better and warmer weather ........            This was our view from our fabulous cabin which had its own separate bedroom, roomy bathroom, lounge, kitchen and this

great deck to sit out on and enjoy the sunshine.  Just to the right of where Pete is standing was a track up to the rock wall.  Whilst you can't access the beach from the rock wall, it does have a walking path that takes you right along the water with a couple of cafes to stop and get coffee on early morning walks which Lucy and I enjoyed. At night you could hear the waves crashing up against the wall ...... I ventured up for a walk and it was rather an eerie feeling with the water flying up over the wall in parts and so dark you could barely see out into the ocean ..... I managed to get a night time photo which I really love with the moon shining down 

Sunset from the  cabin deck which shows all the other cabins around the lake - you can see the park map from my strava walking map

We really enjoyed Nambucca Heads and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at one of the cafes after a morning walk looking for "just the right menu" for Pete who enjoys the old fashioned Bacon & Eggs

And yes ....... I managed to eat all 3 pancakes (minus a little of one for Lucy lol) YUMMY!!!!
I really enjoyed our time at Nambucca Heads and I would go back there for a holiday in a heart beat!!!

On the flip side we had continued discussions about the Ute - by this stage we had been checking out what utes were around the caravan parks and on the highways, what they were towing and how well and Pete had been making multiple phone calls.  We decided it was pointless continuing another 2000kms of travelling up to Queensland and back with the possibility of getting stuck up there.  We cancelled our time in Byron Bay and further north deciding to head home and then re establish the holiday picking it back up at Copeton Dam where we were planning to meet other friends. We made a long haul to Holbrook staying overnight so we could start fresh the next day looking at car yards from Albury, Wodonga and Wangaratta before heading back home. 

It was a long drive and by the time we got over the bridge near the  Newcastle bypass Lucy had had enough and spent from not long after here until around Goulburn sitting with her back to us lol 

Nothing was going to persuade her to turn around until I mentioned we would have a stop shortly lol

In Wangaratta at the Ford Dealership we finally found what we were looking for - and for a pretty good turn over.  Its a 2020 Ford Ranger Wildtrek and they were going to be able to have it serviced, and registered within a week!  Bonus - since it had to be registered in NSW the pick up was here in Corowa!  Bonus!!!

So we spent the next 10 days catching up on things here at home, swapping over the vehicles, unpacking and repacking for the 2nd part of the holiday - working on some labels for my products, visiting dad and FREEZING in the cold weather that was still here and felt so much worse after the T-shirt wearing weather of Nambucca Heads lol

Let's Catch Up 3 - The Winter Holiday - Part 1

 About a year ago I started the planning for a long holiday for us to cover the Winter period since Pete
had not coped well with it last year after his big surgery.  It took a few months of planning due to having to find pet friendly cabins at caravan parks that could also accommodate the boat for parking - We were expecting to leave on July 17 and return August 18 or 19 and drive from here in Corowa up the east coast of NSW and QLD to Rockhampton and then return inland. ....... That was the plan ...  Day 1 - Just 2 hours from home the Ute had a hiccup and luckily Pete was able to get it (and the boat) pulled over to the side so as not to get swallowed up by 3 semi trucks following us............  We made it to Goulburn for our planned overnight stop without a major issue but with memories of what had transpired when the Ute was brand new and all the drama with Mitsubishi!!

DAY 2 - Goulburn to Tuncurry.

The Sydney bypass is great!  Best bypass of Sydney we have had given its been a few years ..... this going through the tunnel

Going over the bridges outside of Newcastle - making sure to be in the correct lane!! 

And then we arrived ready to begin our holiday .......... The first 2 days were fabulous weather

Our Cabin for 3 nights

Caravan Park was right on the waterways

Lucy and I had a great walk to explore 

Then down to the beach to see the surf side

Lucy didn't know what to make of the surf - it kept us amused watching her chase the waves lol

Tuncurry has a big/ huge - doggie park divided into 3 separate areas.  We went on our last day - the weather was freezing and very windy so it was pretty empty.  she had her first experience on the obstacle course but was much happier to meet a new friend.

If you are interested I've managed (I hope) to add the little video of her at the surf - linked to my Facebook Post.

Lucy with the Surf

Lets Catch Up 2 - June escapades with the start of July

Stacey came to visit in June and unfortunately we had to dress in PPE to be able to get in to the Nursing Home to see Dad since they had Covid in there at the time!  Love this one of the 2 of us in all our gear lol

She also made some "from scratch" pasta for us which was soooo much nicer than store bought.  The weather got colder and morning walks were full of fog or very thick frosts!

But we sure had some amazing sunrises.......

More knitting and crochet continued  ..... with requests from a couple of shops for my dishcloths - one of these shops also new I used to have a little business selling lip balms and soaps and put in a request ...... which began me thinking more about taking up the idea of starting it back up since I would really like to reduce my days of nursing.  It also seems a waste that I'm not using my clinical aromatherapy qualification for anything at this stage ....... so began the seed of an idea ....... and the start of some planning whilst the dishcloths went into the shop and the owner made some labels for them ...

They looked so pretty, I couldn't help but order the tins for the lip balms and a few other items lol

All the while back and forth to the nursing home to Dad who continues having multiple falls (even with the alarms on the beds and chairs) After this last fall they decided to take away his recliner and swap it out for another chair that he can't get out of himself.  He is too weak to be able to walk around with the walker anymore and still wants to be independent when his balance just isn't there.   

Mila is growing fast - here she is with PJ when I went for a visit before we head off on our holiday.

And I managed to complete this test knit which had LOTS of lace knitting - way more than I've ever
done before but I'm soooooo happy with the results and hope to use it quite a bit over spring and next Autumn.
 

I'll finish with this cool item that popped up in my garden in a spot where I KNOW I have mowed over it several times thinking it was a weed trying to grow!!!!  OOooooppppsssss.......