Our latest trip was unfortunately shortened due to the COVID pandemic – we had originally planned a 12-week adventure but work commitments due to COVID and COVID restrictions meant we had to rearrange things and only go for 8 weeks…

The last 8 weeks have been a wonderful time of rest and refreshment both physically but more importantly spiritually. Travelling with fellow Christians gave us time to share in God’s word together and encourage one another daily. The beauty and diversity of God’s creation continues to astound and amaze us – and we are so thankful to Him for the opportunity to be able to travel at length to so many remote and unique locations.

We are thankful too for the safe journey and the many people we all met along the way that we had opportunity to speak to about Jesus. May there be fruit born from seeds planted.

To Gordon and Kerry, Klaus and Beryl, and Rose and Dave – thank you for all coming on the journey with us – for sharing the laughs, challenges, breakages and many more experiences (tho’ I am sure there were thing successfully hidden from Branch that did not come to light) …. It has been great spending time with you all, getting to know you all better and I pray that you have all gained much encouragement too from our shared time together….

To all those who have read this blog – I hope you enjoyed reading the latest record of our travels…. But more importantly I hope you have Christ Jesus as your Saviour and Lord… and if you do not, I hope and pray you do not ignore Him but seek Him while you still have time. A few verses from the Bible – God’s message to all…

Psalm 14 v1 “The fool has said in his heart “There is no God”

Please do not turn your back on God – you need to read the Bible and investigate for yourself – start by reading the gospel of Mark and get to know who Jesus is – His life, death and resurrection – all historical facts…

Ecclesiastes 3 v 11 “God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end”

We are all beings created with an eternal soul – which will live on after this life here on earth has ended – do you know your eternal destination – have you considered not just the here and now but what lies ahead when you die?

Isaiah 40 v 26 “Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His mighty power and strength none of them is missing.” V28-31 “Do you not know ? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”

So, we understand that God, the Creator of the universe, has created us for a relationship with Him – which is broken because of our sin. The world is in turmoil because of the sinfulness of man…we see it all around us…. wars, pandemics, bushfires, floods, poverty, crime…. and maybe more importantly, we see it inside ourselves…. but hope can be found in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, who died in our place to take the penalty for us who face the wrath of God.

As it says in Romans 8 v 32 “He (God) who did not spare His only Son but gave Him up for us all- how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”

Knowing that God has made a way for man to have eternal life with Him is a wonderful truth. He longs for all to come to know Him.  It is a fatal mistake to ignore or deny God’s existence – it will have eternal consequences as after this life, those who do not know Christ will spend eternity apart from God. The Bible describes this as hell – a place of torment where all are cut off from God who is the source of goodness and love.

Trusting in Jesus, His sacrifice by His death on the cross in our place and His conquering death when he rose from the dead three days later, realising that in ourselves we cannot please God but that He looks at those whose faith is in Christ and loves them…these are truths that I pray all who read this will come to know by God’s grace and mercy to them…. God is indeed a wonderful and loving Heavenly Father whose grace, mercy and compassion knows no bounds!

Looking forward, God willing, to the next Wild Adventure in ??2024??

The week we have had at Point Plomer can be easily summarised in photos and a few words….

The weather overall was beautiful…..

Point Plomer is a stunning location to camp, swim and surf….

We had the sharks visit each day on the low tide…one, sometimes two and then three – black, brown and a light fawn colour all about 2m feeding lazily in the shallows…

It was possible to get quite close to them on the sand bar….

Some people were even unaware of their presence at certain points!!

It did not stop us swimming and surfing…just keeping an eye out when they were around….

Late one afternoon a storm rolled over with quite spectacular clouds….

We spent the week swimming, reading books on the beach, surfing, walking, eating and bike riding – generally relaxing before our return to work

There were pods of dolphins cruising around – never coming in to shore as close as the sharks but nevertheless a joy to watch.

The sunsets were different each day but beautiful….

Tomorrow we start making our way home to Helensburgh – looking forward to catching up with family and friends!

It was time for us to farewell Dave and Rose as they had to return home to Sydney with the imminent  birth of their 4th grandchild.

We waved goodbye then packed up ourselves to head today to Point Plomer for the last 7 days of our holiday – 7 days to relax by the beach before heading home and back to work….

The drive to Point Plomer was via Coffs Harbour to pick up some groceries, a new doorhandle for the van and to visit the dump point.

Point Plomer is located in Limeburner’s Creek National Park just south of Crescent Head. The last 6 km of the road in was unsealed and pretty rough with lots of potholes…but we made it in OK arriving right on the check-in time of 2PM.

There were a few sites available – I was keen on one on the hill opposite the beach with a great view but Trev at first was keener for one further down the back out of the wind. The ranger came up while we were starting to park in Trev’s spot and advised us to go up to the other area as if we get rain the spot Trev had picked was known to get a bit boggy… so back up the hill we went – and the spot we ended up in was the gun spot! Wind was not an issue and the view and closeness to the beach fantastic!!

After setting up and having lunch we went for a long afternoon walk up the beach – it was pretty windy and the surf was blown out but the beach was beautiful!

When we got back there was a shark in the shallows in the front of the campground!! He was about 2m long and quite dark in colour although people seemed to think he was a grey nurse as there was a colony apparently not far away. He swam around for ages in the shallows obviously fishing…

At this time of year on the northern NSW coast the mullet run occurs – there are huge schools of mullet around which obviously attracts other predators…

The sunset over the beach was lovely and we settled in, hopeful for a few good days of warm fine weather and good surf….

As today was Dave and Rose’s last full day with us we had a pancake brekkie together ably cooked by Dave!! The weather was again nice although there had been heavy showers again overnight.

After a leisurely breakfast we drove down to find the beach with shells that the local had told Rose about yesterday.

We walked down the boat ramp access road and on to the beach where there were a few fishos fishing off the beach and from their boats. As we walked along the beach, we could see one guy struggling to bring in what appeared to be a big fish but as we got closer, we realised that he had snagged a turtle!! Trev helped him free the turtle who was not yet fully grown – he was cute but after a couple of quick pics we released him and he swam off, fortunately uninjured.

We made our way around the rocky headland to several small beaches with lovely rockpools and lots of shells – and spent an hour or so shell fossicking. A few of the rockpools had colonies of live cowrie shells in them – wonderful to see!

When we had finished looking around, we went back to Minnie Water General Store for another homemade pie….delicious!!

As it was warm we decided to go for a drive along the beach and stop at a good place for a swim. The tide was out and there were a few gutters that were deep enough to swim in – the surf was like a washing machine so it was good to have a calmer area to swim in.

When we got back, Barney the goanna was out and about – Rosie had tried feeding him yesterday but he was very forward – chasing her into her van after more food… but she had some meat scraps she wanted to give him so Dave did the honours…. Barney was much more respectful of males and just ate what he was given – not coming back for more!!

As it was the Well’s last night, they spent the afternoon packing up aiming to leave early tomorrow to drive home to Sydney. We still had a week left and were just going as far as Point Plomer tomorrow… so Trev did a bit of reorganising in preparation for our journey tomorrow…

Despite another night of heavy showers the morning was fine again. Trev and I went for an early morning swim – the water was amazingly warm!

After brekkie we went into Minnie Water aiming to have a swim there – it looked cleaner than our front beach at the camp, but we decided to check out Wooli as a lady in a shop in Yamba had told Rosie it was beautiful…

Wooli was only 15 mins away, so we drove there for a look. It was a funny little town with very narrow higgledy-piggledy pot holed streets

The beach was very eroded and had a lot of seaweed on it so we continued on to the Wooli break wall where the water was rushing out against the incoming tide. The water was very murky and brown again due to all the flooding and runoff. We could see across the lake the big sand hill collapses and water pouring out from the side of the cliff….

The area I am sure is probable very picturesque normally, but the flooding and erosion has taken its toll…

We decided to head back to Minnie Water and grab some lunch and coffee from the general store there. The pies were outstanding – home made on the premises – we had beef, tooheys and vege pies – YUM – for lunch.

After lunch we swam at Minnie Water main beach – the water again was lovely and warm and fairly clean. The area had a reef that creates a lagoon where a lot of fishos put their boats out into and fish there – we walked along the beach for a look. One of the friendly locals told Rosie about a beach further around with lots of shells so we thought we may go back there tomorrow….

At the campground there was a beach access point for vehicles as you were allowed to drive on the beach north to Sandon so we did an afternoon drive up the beach.

The Pearl was in her element and Rosie worked the camera well…

Dave did a purposeful photobomb – unlike his usual unintended ones…..

But back at camp Branch was working mischief in the Wells van fridge…. Seems it was refusing to work on gas – fortunately they had their backup Waeco in the Pearl, and the holiday was almost over…. so, they could manage without it – although the ice-cream was very soft and ended up in the Loveday freezer much to Trev’s delight…. Dave was not worried as it was not his favourite Spearmint Choc Chip!!

Another night by the fire…..

It had rained overnight quite heavily but we woke up to sunshine.

We spent the day in Yamba and Maclean as Rosie had not been to either town.

The sea at the breakwall at Yamba was tumultuous and the water quite dirty with all the floodwaters running out from the mouth of the Clarence River. The beaches were also very eroded – lots of sand lost after all the severe weather of the last few months….

We shopped, had lunch and then went to Maclean for a look…. Again everything was very damp and repairs being undertaken to roads and infrastructure after the flooding.

That night we sat around the fire again…..

We woke to an overcast morning in Glen Innes – ANZAC day – Lest we forget! It was very quiet in town, and we could not find anywhere for brekkie or coffee so we ended up at Maccas – first (and no doubt last) time eating at the Golden Arches…

The landscape was becoming more sub-tropical with rainforest and palm trees….we drove along through a very misty morning light through winding roads making our way across the Great Dividing Range…

We stopped at Heffron Lookout and the views down the valley below towards Grafton were spectacular…

The Mann River was really full with rapids evident as we drove alongside it for quite a way.

When we reached Grafton, we decided to just continue on the last half hour to Minnie Water rather than stopping as parking was difficult and nothing much was open…

The road out to Minnie Water was narrow but sealed. Road conditions generally in the area seemed to be quite poor due to the constant rain and floods – lots of potholes and soft edges…

We arrived at Minnie Water and had a quick look at the area – mostly holiday homes and a general store… the beach was pretty but evidence of the heavy seas and rains with erosion of a lot of sand could be seen all along the beach.

The drive into Illaroo North Camp through Yuraygir National Park was along an unsealed road – not very long but very full of potholes….

The sites were great in the campsite – well defined, allocated and clean with great landscaping and right on the beach. The trees and gardens provided good protection.

Across from our site we saw a resident goanna – very large and beautifully marked – Dave named him Barney…and I am sure Rosie will not be able to resist feeding him…..

After we set up we went for a long walk along the beach – the surf was wild and the beach had been quite eroded – there were a lot of washaways with water still flowing from creeks and gullies onto the sand and out to sea… The ocean water was a bit murky due to all the runoff up and down the coast with the huge floods over the last few months.

There were a few dead seahorses washed up on the beach… very sad…

That night we had our first fire of the trip – finally!! It was great to sit and talk around the fire – the campsite has designated fire pits at each camp site and firewood available at the camp managers site – this camping area has it all!!

After packing up and a quick grocery stop at Moree we continued our journey to the coast. The Gwydir River was very full and flowing fast as we crossed over it.

The scenery was becoming more hilly, green with lots of farming – pecan orchards, cattle and other industries.

We arrived at Inverell where we decided to stop for lunch in the park alongside the Macintyre River. The weir was overflowing and the gardens looks lush.

The town of Inverell was lovely – stately old buildings, everything looking well-kept but quiet as today was Sunday so not much was open.

The drive to Glen Innes was uneventful and as we arrived the town looked quiet but beautify with autumn colour coming on the trees and more old buildings.

We had planned to free camp just outside Glen Innes but when we got to the place it was tiny and right on the road – not really what it sounded like on Wikicamps so we found another free camp just south of Glen Innes which was much better – more room and toilets!

The view from the camp was over lush pastures with cows and sheep grazing peacefully in the fading light.

It had been raining and a spectacular rainbow came out over our camp!

After dinner we sat and listened to a sermon on Christ’s birth and purpose for His coming – very thought provoking as a reminder that this life is short and eternity is long – people need to consider the bigger picture, not just the here and now which is so fleeting. Giving your life to Christ gives you that eternal hope and a future beyond this life – an encouragement for every single person to read one of the Gospels in the Bible such as Mark to investigate who Jesus is and what he has done – ignoring the evidence and information that we have will have fatal consequences for eternity.

We left Bourke at around 9 – first stop Brewarrina for a quick coffee….. Although a small place, Brewarrina had some great street art – which was well done and brightened up the town…

The Barwon River was very full – evidence of the recent downpours that NSW had been experiencing across the state since the beginning of the year…

Our lunch stop was Walgett – another small country town with a quirky café Stone’s Throw on the central roundabout where we bought some delicious pulled pork wraps….

As we crossed the Namoi River you could see how high the water was – and further along the road evidence of floodwaters still lingering in the low-lying areas.

The grain had obviously been recently harvested as there were huge piles waiting to be loaded onto trucks for transportation.

We drove past cotton fields in full bloom….

When we arrived in Moree, we set up in the caravan park and went to have an artesian hot spring spa – Moree is the home of some thermal springs and has many of them including ones in both caravan parks…

The spas were small, and one was already occupied by several people, so we jumped into the other one…. which was the cooler one (of course!!) Trev, Dave and I stayed in that one, but Rose did not mind sharing a bath with strangers, so she hopped into the 41-degree spa and soaked with 4 other randoms in the tiny pool……

The sites were close in the caravan park but no real issue as we were only there overnight….

Sunrise on our last morning at White Cliffs was beautiful. We had really had an interesting time in this opal mining town which had its own unique flavour….

Last night we had been checking the road to our next destination and realised that due to a lot of rain over the Darling Paroo area all the roads in and out to Rose Isle Station were closed… we had booked a one-night station stay there which looked fantastic but now not possible, so we had to rethink the next few days travel to the coast. Our best option was to drive as far as Cobar and then head north to Bourke instead of Rose Isle Station.

So, this meant we could all travel together as far as Cobar where Klaus and Beryl would then leave us for home….

We packed up and left White Cliffs on the sealed road to Wilcannia – a nice change from the dirt and mud coming into town!! The countryside around as we drove to Wilcannia became greener with large cattle stations – and a lot of cattle on the road….

A quick fuel and coffee stop at Wilcannia – the Cooee for Coffee café had a really great coffee and lemon slice!!

Rosie had tried to make friends with a mini guard dog near the fuel stop but he was very feisty and would not have a bar of her….

Wilcannia had some lovely old buildings some of which had been restored but others that needed a lot of work.

As we left Wilcannia we crossed the Darling River – looking very full!

Along the roadside were multitudes of feral goats….

Reaching Cobar, we stopped for lunch and then fare-welled Klaus and Beryl- we had really enjoyed their company on the trip and hoped that they had too! Another farewell group shot – this time under the mining sign at Cobar….

Heading north out of Cobar the road was good, but we got stuck behind a huge hay road train for a while – swaying everywhere with such a large load!!

The landscape changed again to very red dirt and arid areas – still cattle farming but quite different from the areas earlier in the day.

We arrived at Bourke and found the caravan park – an oasis in the desert on the Darling! It had lovely green grass and gardens – the owners were a young couple from Engadine of all places who had moved there due to affordability of the business venture and housing…. Big and challenging move!

Bourke not unexpectedly had lovely historic buildings a lot of which were boarded up and security was tight with all shopfronts barred etc… sad to see.

We cooked dinner and planned the next day – to Moree for the night as we make our way across to the coast….