Back in the van & going North

After a hectic couple of weeks working on the Early Voting booth, it was with a sense of relief that I packed the van and set off on this trip that has a variety of purposes.  Firstly, it was to go to Bairnsdale and help friends Phil and Liz celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.  Then I planned to visit friends, either living or working along the NSW coast before heading to the Sunshine Coast hinterland to do my first ever housesit.  And let's not forget Christmas with brother Simon and family.  A month of delight!

BUT ... I probably should have packed with more care, forgetting warm clothes (it has been quite cold!), the Christmas and anniversary presents, various toiletries and (shock! horror!) Maggie's food.

AND ... I hadn't travelled more than 100 km when a truck threw up a stone and chipped my windscreen.

THEN ... I stopped to get some lunch and coffee, bought a sausage roll and promptly broke a tooth.

I'll spare you the list of dentists I've approached.  Let's just say, they don't have any available slots until January./February ... April OR they're not taking any new patients OR they have Covid.  I've finally found a dentist in Brisbane who can fit me in and, in the meantime, little bits of tooth occasionally add some crunch to my meals.  Strangely, I'm starting to eat a lot of soup! 

The anniversary party was great and Maggie enjoyed (a) the attention, (b) the food and (c) the sight of three enormous cats.  But then we were off to Cape Conran for a night before joining Phil & Liz and George & Ruth at Bemm River.

Campsite 86 at Cape Conran

Bemm River is where I discovered I hadn't packed enough warm clothes - my! it was cold!  We lit fires and I walked briskly ... a lot! ... but it was still cold.  The lake had recovered from the blue-green algal bloom but there were rather unattractive growths in the water and a very unpleasant smell.  I'm not sure I'd be happy eating fish caught there.  But that didn't come into the equation because the pub was shut and the shop had bait and lures and all things fishing ... but not fish.

Maggie meets pelicans

An incredible number of black swans on the lake

We went out to Pearl Point where there was a beautiful long sandy beach, crashing waves and various bits of fauna and flotsam and an appalling amount of plastics.  In a very short time, we had filled Liz's rubbish bag with bottle tops, broken bits of plastic and foam and discarded fishing line - and all in 100 metres of beach.  Shame, humans, shame!

A pregnant (male?) seahorse

But time to move on.  This morning, we all packed up and left Bemm River ... Phil & Liz returning to Bairnsdale, George & Ruth back to Canberra and I have hit the road, making it as far as the free camp at the back of the Cobargo pub.  The place is heaving (it's Bingo night) so Maggie and I will take it quietly.  Off to Mollymook tomorrow!

The Cobargo Op Shop (unfortunately closed) but I did manage to go to the butchers (bones for Maggie) and the 2nd hand book shop.  Tomorrow ... bakery and shop.