It was a lovely night. At about 4ish I pulled the blanket over me – I would have been fine without it, but since it was there I thought I may as well use it.

I woke up a bit after 6. I cooked breakfast outside which was much easier than being the hunchback of notre dame in the caravan since Pete didn’t pop the top. We pottered around, and packed everything up, leaving camp about 8.00, making our way for Joly Nose Lookout. What an adventure that was!

The track was quite rough, and steep. Luckily the brake controller on the caravan was working and holding us back a bit, especially with the downhills. Going up, the car was working hard. There were a couple of areas that we didn’t really like, but there was no turning back so we pushed on. Luckily there were a few areas that we were able to enjoy the views, for the effort.

Eventually we got to a part that we had to stop. We wouldn’t have been able to do it withOUT the caravan, much less with it. There was a clearing just before it, so we were able to reverse the caravan in to there, and be far enough off the track, that we could walk the remaining 200 metres to the top. So we walked up there, and had a look around. Unfortunately the trees were too high to see anything! Where we had left the caravan was actually the best spot. So we walked back down.

We aired down, and headed back along the track. A couple of areas were rough, but we made it, until hitting one hill that we just didn’t have the momentum for. A stop and reset, reverse back down, and then we chocked the road with rocks and sticks to help, and the grade looked a lot better. I watched as Pete gave it what he could. His front left wheel was off the ground where we had built it up, but once that helped with the power, he managed to get over. What a relief!

We continued, and whilst there were some tricky bits, we had made it through the worst of it. And eventually we were back on bitumen. We had to go about 15km, before getting to a servo and were able to air up, and inspect the caravan. The fridge was closed, but had opened, and the shelf was on the floor, along with all the drinks. We lost two good soldiers in that adventure.

Enough of playing – we were a bit behind, so back on the road, and after a stop in Kempsey for the cheapest diesel (20c cheaper – but we paid in other ways, as it was busy, and also a really tight turn to get out), we continued to South West Rocks. Our mission there was to drop Dan’s scuba diving regs off for a service, as he and I were going to be diving there in 3 weeks. It was 11.15, but I was getting hungry, so we ate the leftover salad, and some ham and cheese. Then it was back on the road.

I got some work, while we continued on our way, first to Coffs Harbour – I’ve driven past a couple of times, but never been able to stop and take a photo…

And then another 2 hours or so of driving, to our lodgings for the night…we parked the car at Rese’s block – she and Kai were already there – and then we walked up to the Broadwater hotel for a few beers. I bought a few take-aways as well, as the Two Mates West Coast IPA is a nice one. We walked back to the block, grabbed an overnight bag, and went over to the island for the night. Pete says I had undersold when I had told him about it.

Kai cooked us a meat tray of food, so we had quite a feast for dinner. We spent the night reminiscing and enjoying a few more drinks, enjoying beautiful weather – it was shorts and t-shirt all night, clear sky, close to a full moon…perfect!