He woke at 6:00am when mother nature decided that it was time to rise. Fortunately, we have an on-board toilet and that provided quick relief on this occasion.
Our set alarm sounded at 7:00am and we decided not to sleep further. It had been hot overnight and due to it being dry, we had left the vents open for the full night.
We had a quick breakfast and with all the other members of our touring group, we were ready to leave at 9:00am. One couple decided to visit friends at Port Macquarie and another couple decided they wanted to visit Woolgoolga before arriving at our overnight stop.
The remaining four members decided to form a small convoy for the trip today. We were the leaders. Our GPS took us on the scenic route before returning to the highway. Several minutes into the trip he decided to put on the parking lights. As this was done, he noticed that the lights on the caravan had not come on. A suitable place to stop was found where we discovered that the lead connecting the car to the caravan had fallen out. This was an easy fix and soon after we were back heading north.
We encountered rain during the journey which stopped just after we entered the rest stop at Barrys Creek. At this stop we were able to use the facilities and enjoy a cup of coffee from a vendor operating on the site. We had been informed of this site by another member of our group who we would meet later in the day.
During the trip today we had several conversations with a group member who arrived at the destination earlier. Peter was able to arrange a booking for our group for our evening meal in the on-site café and he was also to confirm that our proposed stop on Friday night was open and not flooded. This part of Australia is experiencing unseasonal rainfall and everything is very wet.
Returning to the highway we encounter more rain just before arriving at Coffs Harbour. The Coffs Harbour by-pass is still under construction, and you are forced to travel on congested roads through Coff Harbour. We were able to purchase fuel at $1.64cpl. This price was $0.20cpl cheaper than other outlets on the same road.
We arrived at our destination, the NRMA Darlington Beach Holiday Resort just before 2:00pm. With rain falling, we got onto our site quickly, stabilised the caravan, connected power but decided not to connect water. The rain continued intermittently for the remained of the afternoon.
We reconnected with two more members of our tagalong, Geoff and Linda and received a call from the member who had to return to Sydney due to mechanical issues. Whether they will join us next week has to be decided after they are appraised on the work required to fix their vehicle.
The group met for happy hour in a licensed area of the caravan park and happy hour was extended into an evening meal in the cafe.We returned to our caravan just after 7pm