Coffs Harbour and Sawtell beach caravan site

Saturday 26 April

After having a good sleep on our new sheets and after eating a hearty breakfast we again started to get to know the caravan. It seemed we had the canopy stays up all wrong! Our neighbours, Noel and Glenda who are from Newcastle were very keen to help us and exceptionally keen to have a look inside new our home. Noel showed Richard the correct way to set up the canopy and he also had a good look underneath checking out the water system etc. We all agreed to meet up for an evening meal in the village at a Thai restaurant that was most enjoyable.

Sunday morning weather sunny! Noel and Glenda showed us their favourite places around the area. We visited the market at Coffs Harbour on Marine Drive, a busy place with lots of local crafts being exhibited and not many being sold, unfortunately. Richard was only interested in one stall where a man had made fire grates from old gas cylinders; we will probably need one of these when out in the backs of beyond.

A visit to the nearest food and drink establishment which just happened to be Coffs Harbour Yacht Club and was called for as we were definitely ready for lunch.

Our new friends had to leave early on Monday morning, their massive motorhome was going into the dealers to have some work done on it. They had a first class cabin booked on the train from Coffs to Newcastle for their 5 hour journey!!

Monday morning also brought the endless telephoning to the Ford customer services people regarding the breakdown we had. One young lady named Melissa was sweetness and light, very convincing on having our complaint sorted. Little did we know that the conversations with her didn’t happen! 

Most importantly a new gadget was purchased on Monday an appropriately sized coffee machine.

 

 

 

A visit to the caravan dealer was on the agenda as we wanted to see if any more of our boxes had arrived. Richard was in discussions with the service department, as we required a new back light on our van, yes it had condensation inside it! No boxes! We are feeling a little worried!

April 29 Tuesday after our usual long walk on the beach we tried again to contact Ford and was fobbed off by different customer service people. This evening our wonderful daughter suggested we complain via Facebook on the Ford FB page.

And oh, the power of the internet!! Communication at its best. All we ask for is some compensation for the 3 hours we spent trying to get our vehicle back on the road! A nice lady called Lynda has since been trying to sort some kind of compensation for us. A not inconsiderable some of money was incurred, just getting back on the road! We shall see if Ford come to the party!

 April 30 Wednesday. After another long walk we went in the Sawtell RSL club for a well earned drink. We used the free wifi to facetime our lovely friends Helen and Heidi Wrightham, back in sunny Auckland. They are all good there and we enjoyed the catch up! Whilst we were there, they had a free meat pack raffle and we won a pack of lamb chops! Can’t be bad for nowt!!!! Richard is making some very informed decisions about the best beer to drink, trying them all out and making notes……

May 1^st to May 4^th Thursday to Sunday. Had a lovely weekend with great weather although decidedly chilly at night. We have even used the caravan heater to take the chill off whilst watching TV. That being said, the days are very warm out of the shade.

The caravan site is surprisingly busy, mainly with retired couples, just like us, enjoying a relaxed lifestyle. The site is adjacent to a bowls club and a croquet club. We marvel at the people all-resplendent in their club uniforms, battling it out in competitions.

Some of these pictures will not interest the vast majority of our mates but one or two of them want to see details of the caravan so here they are, mainly the kitchen drawers that are amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday 4 May

A trip to Coffs Harbour led us up Mutton Bird Island, an Aboriginal place, protected by the Government as a National Park. It was like the walk up to the Pa at Duder. The Muttonbirds and Shearwaters, rear their young there before migration, they have migrated now so we did not see them. A really beautiful part of the world.

A plaque on the jetty wall shows us that “Today is the gift”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 5^th Monday

Today we were up early. It’s the first official day of our retirement and we celebrated with a walk on the beach in beautiful warm sunlight, the surf was magnificent with only a few people walking the beach.

After our breakfast, cooked by the culinary expert Helen, we were doing our chores when we had a visit from our good mate Sid. He or She is one of many different interesting examples of wildlife here, especially birds and the like.

Another call from Ford Australia and we feel a little more hopeful that we may get a result and guess what? A call from our caravan dealer sends Richard on his way to pick up our final two boxes, thank goodness. We can now move on northwards on Thursday.