We normally stay somewhere for a week but we booked for 5 nights in Scotts Head, and this time 5 nights was plenty (if you missed Week 15 recap). This week we made the trip out to Arakoon to visit TRIAL BAY GAOL and SMOKY CAPE LIGHTHOUSE. We finished the visit in South West Rocks with fish and chips. We went the long way there, past Grassy Heads and Stuart Point on the way there and by the highway on the way back. It was a bit of a windy road, I was glad we didn't end up choosing to got to Grassy Head.
We had a great time playing and swimming at FORSTER BEACH Little miss made sand angels, she was covered in sand and laughed like mad. I headed back to LITTLE BEACH for some more sunrise photos, I was the only one on the beach. I love being the only one on the beach for sunrise. I don't have to share with anyone and it feels like I'm the only person awake in the whole world. I really do love it.
I decided before our visit was up in Scotts Head that I'd go to the LOOKOUT for sunrise. I had a local lady tell me how beautiful it was at the top. She was so right and worth the short walk to the top.
Having the playground to ourselves is amazing but having a friend to play with is even better. Little miss has had so much fun making new friends and playing with new kids in Scotts Head. We do have to be a little careful with Covid 19 but it's really wonderful seeing her playing so well with other children. There was also a lot of dirt to play with in Scotts Head, so much dirt. I don't think I will miss all that dirt. Pack up day always leaves me with mixed feelings. Excited to discover a new town and sad to go.
Moving day we were packed up and ready to go at 9.30am, the earliest we've ever been. We even had room in the back of the truck which was amazing. We both questioned if we'd forgotten something because it went so smoothly. We even had such a good run on the highway that we made it to Port Macquarie 10 minutes before out gate code worked. We stayed at the NRMA Breakwall Caravan Park.
Every time we set up it gets easier and it looks more perfect and Port Macquarie was no different. Little miss spent a long time doing chalk drawings on the concrete, its amazing how much a bucket of chalk can keep kids entertained. After setting up and finding the local shops to top up our groceries we had a much needed swim in the pool.
We had a couple of very windy days. The wind was blowing straight off the river and we just didn't have any protection. It was so windy that the middle annex pole popped out and wouldn't go back in. We had to get a little creative pegging down the annex because we were just a little too much on the concrete, and pegs don't go into concrete. We also weighed down the the side that was getting hammered by the wind. By the evening the wind had died down which made sleeping easier but the floor had so many bubbles from the wind.
A new place means a new place to explore for sunrise photos. Port Macquarie has some amazing places to capture the sunrise. The BREAK WALL was amazingly busy for sunrise but it was also such a great place to wander and look at the artwork. TOWN BEACH had some amazing rock pools to explore.
A little rain hasn't stopped us from getting out and exploring. We both had raincoats on and made the trek to the KOALA HOSPITAL. It was a fair walk (over 2km) but we made it fun and found some koalas on the HELLO KOALA TRAIL. The koala hospital was amazing to see. Once we got back to the caravan park they had a basket weaving class for NAIDOC WEEK. It was amazing to be able to have a turn at weaving and surprisingly harder than I had originally thought. Little miss chose the colours for our little basket and she went and got a new piece every time I needed it. While we were weaving Little miss chose a book off the shelf and before I knew it I was weaving and reading a story at the same time.
I did have to move everything out of the annex to attempt to fix the floor after all the wind. It made it better than it was but it would never be as perfect as when we first set up. It took so long to get everything out and back in and I weighed down the side that had been hit the hardest just in case the winds decided to hit us again. Lucky we did, we ended up with a thunderstorm rolling through so it was nice to know everything was straighter than it was.
We had a visit to the BILLABONG ZOO for Little miss's actual birthday. She was super lucky and her Aunty gave her a koala experience for her birthday (the best birthday present). We also got some kangaroo food and got to feed some wallaby's and kangaroos. You would think after all the parks we've been to she would be bored but she wasn't. After an ice cream at the zoo we had a birthday swim in the pool and the weather ended up being amazing. Birthday cake number 2 for dessert (how many birthday cakes does one little girl need?) was delicious.We were all so tired after such a big day that Jamie nodded off in his chair and I fell asleep in bed with Little miss.
Lessons we learned:
- Sometimes a week is too long to visit
- I'm glad we only booked 5 nights
- Old places are really fascinating
- Little miss wasn't sure about the Gaol
- Lighthouses are the best
- I still love sunrises
- Sand angels are fun
- Sand angels gets sand everywhere
- Tall people clear all the cobwebs first thing in the morning
- A nice vantage point for sunrise makes for some fantastic photos
- A playground to yourself is great
- Making new friends is wonderful
- Little miss is great at making new friends and adapting to new situations
- New friends are amazing
- There is so much dirt in Scotts Head
- I hate so much dirt
- I love so much dirt
- I love when we're packed up so quickly
- Electric brakes working first go is a win for us
- Some days will go so smoothly
- Chalk is the best
- I love chalk drawings
- Wind sucks
- Sometimes you just have to make the best of a bad situation
- The annex didn't collapse even without being connected
- Weighing down the edges of the annex helps a bit
- Bubbles in the floor of the annex are a pain
- The break wall has some incredible art work
- Sunrise by the break wall was incredible
- The break wall is very popular with people exercising and taking photos
- Rock pools are amazing
- I love crabs
- Crabs are amazing
- Lace monitors do startle me
- I'm easily startled
- I love Koalas
- We have the most incredible animals in this beautiful country of ours
- The koala hospital does fantastic things
- Sometime all a koala needs is a hair dryer to blow dry it's bottom
- The koala sculptures are amazing
- There are some incredibly talented artists
- Basket weaving is really fun but takes a long time
- I have so much more appreciation for hand woven baskets
- I love zoos
- Feeding the animals is really fun, we always grab at least 1 bag of food
- The wallaby's were great
- Koalas are the best
Places we visited:
If you enjoyed reading about our adventures you can read more Week 17 Recap
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