LAND OF THE RINGS

THE CREATION OF THE ROSE’S 9TH BIRTHDAY CAKE.

Meanwhile – Back in BILAMBIL and the rain is also here as it was elsewhere. More like the SCOTTISH mists I have been reading of than sub-tropical Australia.

	And in a previously Meanwhile, Back to the ROUND TRIP. One of the places we ventured into as we took more than a week to cover several hundred kilometres was KARUAH. I wanted to do that. It is another BY-PASSED town. I am interested in the effects of Highway By Passes which leave us now driving through the GREEN DESERTS.  The day was hot – reminiscent of summer holidays and Karuah Pauses en route from Sydney to Urunga. The difference was in the absolute quietness of the newly by-passed. Eerie. With it came a slight fear that we would not find food of our variety and this did seem likely. I had seen the Pool – netted in the Saltwater. That was intact and looking good. But the main street was hot and High Noon in character.
MANNING WALLAMBA FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY INC.	Then we came to the Cafe shown above left and it was EXCELLENT. Bravo indeed! Courteous. Great Food. Friendly people. The Chef who was not only beautiful but also generous of spirit , sent me through to the household’s own private Loo and sent the lads in the living area skedaddling to give me privacy. How Good is that !
TAREE is also another By-Passed town. I went there with my Father not long before he became too ill to travel. In fact he was too ill to travel the day we went there. We had been to the Entrance to a Reunion of the 2/3 Pioneer Battalion and as we returned to Urunga in mid Summer heat he fell ill and we pulled into Taree. That’s when I found another of my derided North Coast towns has discovered a Grace and Tastefulness and Character of its own.  In fact it was in an Hotel in Taree with my father that I was introduced to caramellised banana. Had not expected Taree to know of something I didn’t. ( That’s because I am deluded and arrogant). This time we stayed in the ALL SEASONS MOTEL just south of town. We tried another Motel Just before leaving town and considered it “ a bit dodgy”. The ALL SEASONS however was again a WINNER. Family operated and despite the near swimming disaster caused by the need to chemicalise the pool following some partiers – I liked the ALL SEASONS. A Lot.	15 July 1848 MAITLAND MERCURY
BRAVO CAPITAINE !	THE ALL SEASONS MOTEL AND THE PIZZA CAFE IN KARUAH – PROUD WINNERS OF THE MADAME SAHARY SEAL OF APPROVAL. BRAVO MES CHERS ! ____________________________ READ OF THE 1855 TRIP UP THE KARUAH RIVER TO PUMPKIN POINT. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article700097 The Maitland Mercury… Saturday 14 April 1855 Captain Campbell, of the ship Wharfield, has performed a feat which was considered impracticable for many years, in taking his vessel, deeply laden, and drawing 9 feet 6 inches of water, up the Karuah River to Pumpkin Point.
ALL SEASONS MOTEL TAREE FLAME TREES AND JACARANDAS	http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article811144 The Maitland Mercury… Saturday 7 August 1880 BANK HOLIDAY.-Monday, August 2nd. There was a party organized by some gentlemen of Maitland and Newcastle to spend this day kangarooing and fishing, on the Karuah, near to Stroud. A party of gentlemen arrived by the Goolwa, and met a few sportsmen from this district. As far as kangaroos were concerned, we believe that few were seen. We have neither seen, or heard from the fish. Stroud, August 4.

ROUND TRIP IN NOVEMBER

2 weeks on the road becoming increasingly experienced with NSW North Coast and New England. My fancy is still with  Clarence. We visited with most of our relatives and we visited a good few graveyards.  There is an art to restricted travel. To short distances and small towns. Subtleties of culture and landscape.

Back in Bilambil with the WILD WINDS and HEAT and assimilating the Experiences. Our DOS is mowing the Lawn which is an achievement at 82 in staggering heat. Izzy is building a shelf for my Precious things beside me at the computer desk. As for me, well I have done one McLean Street Meeting with a sadness for the loss of ACTOR BILL.

I am not writing much about the Round Trip at this stage. Let it sink in a little more. I did see the Newling School Play at the OLD TEACHERS’ COLLEGE ARMIDALE. That was one fine play with the crowd cheering and clapping. A very happy experience. And I met 2 fine young people down at Sunshine on Lake Macquarie.

We ate out with Kati B and almost did LIVE MIKE at BELLO BOWLO. We had a fine meal at BETTY MAY’s KITCHEN in the Bowlo. They even tossed in a free dessert. Many eating experiences we had. Including BEETROOT’D in KENDALL and the BLACK BEAR in Bello.

We celebrated The Rose’s 9th birthday in Armidale – including a surprise visit from Kati B who did an overnighter on the KEANS COACH – WE’RE KEAN TO HAVE YOU TRAVELWITH US. The girls were not expecting that ! We put together a fine family sponge decorated with combined verve and creativity and the new LINKED CANDLES for instant ignition. 

Now that I am home I am thinking that the Loved Ones are within easy reach but they are not. I start to go out to the Charade and realise I am here in the North with the snakes and the ticks and the high rents and there is not one living Loved One other than Iz within a Charade Short Drive.

BUT ! A lot of them are kind of within reach – EASILY – from CLARENCE.

KALANG TO TAREE

Due to unavailability of Internet Connection my travelling pages are now way behind and likely to remain that way.  Today we tackle elderly aunt in Taree and Then family in the South. Down on Lake Macquarie.

DAY 3 GRAFTON TO KALANG

I make note before I begin this day because it is leading us into non internet country where I will not be able to add fotos or text. We are to pick up a DVD player for Kati B and IMM from the repair shop in Coffs. Booths it is behind BUNNINGS which is behind MACCAS.

Iz has been for the riverside walk  and bags are being packed for the STARWAGON. I am sending postcards from the mid north coast to the Girls. Going to post them down near the old pub. Then South to Coffs where there might be time to do a meeting. If not, then tomorrow in Nambucca.

DAY 3 BEGINS. Who knows what adventure lies ahead? By Golly says Izzy We can’t decide. The Highway or via Glenreagh ?

Doesn’t matter much.  A barge is passing on the river. An old barge with a crane being pushed along by a tug. I LOVE RIVERS  and I LOVE CLARENCE.

Next the BELLINGER and Kalang.

DAY 2 NOV HOLS GRAFTON

ITS the CROWN HOTEL MOTEL in Grafton which is accommodating us this time. $85 per night and the Clarence is flowing past my window. Breakfast was served this morning on the balcony overlooking the river. A short walk through the old buildings and into the restaurant where continental and/or hot buffet  was set up. We were there before 8am and 20 or so people were there with us. Grafton is a place I have always laughed at and about if not weeping on a hot summer’s day passing through seeking food relief and arrival at destination. 

Now after years on the Tweed and Borderline Gold Coast watching the world disappear overnight and tops shaved off hills to build new housing estates, I am wearied of ALTERATION and deeply relieved to sit by the CLARENCE and walk amongst old bricks.

 

Iz has a full day ahead of him with the Drama groups at the Conservatorium. That’s in Villiers: just down the way a bit.  Yesterday in the late afternoon we went walking in the rain. Iz says it rains here the way it does on the Illawarra. Old couples were walking in the rain. Seems to not worry any of us. We came upon a wee hotel which seemed more like a 19th century inn and stopped in for a coffee. We seemed to startle the Coffee Makers but soon has 2 large mugocinos to eat out in the cool dampness.

I just took a look along Fitzroy Street. Past ROCHES FAMILY hotel and to the ART GALLERY which I didn’t like as much as I like SCHAEFFER HOUSE home of the HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

 

RIVERS
The many-voiced song of the river echoed softly.  Siddhartha looked into the river and saw many pictures in the flowing water.  The river’s voice was sorrowful.  It sang with yearning and sadness, flowing towards its goal … Siddhartha was now listening intently…to this song of a thousand voices … then the great song of a thousand voices consisted of one word: Om — Perfection …  From that hour Siddhartha ceased to fight against his destiny -   Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha ____________________ He thought his happiness was complete when, as he meandered aimlessly along, suddenly he stood by the edge of a full-fed river. Never in his life had he seen a river before — this sleek, sinuous, full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were caught and held again. All as a-shake and a-shiver — glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and swirl, chatter and bubble. The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spellbound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea. Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows	Rivers Rivers hardly ever run in a straight line. Rivers are willing to take ten thousand meanders and enjoy every one and grow from every one. When they leave a meander, they are always more than when they entered it. When rivers meet an obstacle, they do not try to run over it. They merely go around but they always get to the other side. Rivers accept things as they are, conform to the shape they find the world in, yet nothing changes things more than rivers. Rivers move even mountains into the sea. Rivers hardly ever are in a hurry yet is there anything more likely to reach the point it sets out for than a river? James Dillet Freeman _____________________ "Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING– absolutly nothing– half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. "Look here! If you’ve really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together, and have a long day of it?"                       Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows ____________________ No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man. Heraclitus of Ephesus
We grow up hearing so often that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points that we end up thinking it is also the best way to get there.  A river knows better–it has to do with how it dissipates the energy of its flow most efficiently; and how, in its bends, the sediment deposited soon turns into marshes and swampy islands, harboring all manner of interesting life, imparting charm and character to the whole waterway.   I would defy you to find a river on this planet that prefers to run straight, unless it has been taught so by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Tom Horton, Bay Country, 1987	……  but as it is I am only a ferryman and it is my task to take people across this river. I have taken thousands of people across and to all of them my river has been nothing but a hindrance on their journey. They have travelled for money and business, to weddings and on pilgrimages; the river has been in their way and the ferryman was there to take them quickly across the obstacle. However, amongst the thousands there have been a few, four or five, to whom the river was not an obstacle. They heard its voice and listened to it, and the river has become holy to them, as it has to me. Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
The day draws to an end with clouds and rain a coming. They don’t have the 3G network in Grafton but I am online with GPRS. Iz has finished his day with the young drama groups and is  well pleased with the experience. They have 2 plays in rehearsal for December.	A river, though, has so many things to say that it is hard to know what it says to each of us. Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It

DAY ONE GRAFTON

We set out despite the TICK induced LYME disease. The front porch this year has attracted large numbers of the virulent species and I do believe I am mutilated as a result. I need a Good Vet.	We continued despite Izzy’s need to stop at self gravitating toilets in rest stops with Welsh Names such as Tuckmobil or somesuch ( apologies to all who live near said Green Loo) . Of all nights to have success, LUFFLEY CAFE went off deliriously well last night which led to his not being home in time to complete his CLARENCE VALLEY CONSERVATORIUM work till after midnight and therefore sleep minimally and drive without his MOJO.
Seeking a meeting in South Grafton, we came upon  a church fete and  the Old South Grafton Cemetery.	We had  previously paused at Mclean Ferry Park. I  know from the last few weeks that we descend from Janet Mclean from way back. Also McLeods , Mackays and of course Bells.

PACKING DAY

URALLA IN SEPTEMBER 2008

TODAY I pack. I have the BLACK WOLF travelling bag. Known to me as the PERFECT BAG. Kati B thought I would not actually be satisfied by a bag . I am however satisfied by the BLADERUNNER BLACK WOLF from Murwillumbah. I am not a natural traveller and PACKING is a complexity to me. So I get the BLACK WOLF down from the wardrobe top of the small cottage.

Izzy is packing the black bag on wheels which Kate passed on having inherited it from the Uncle. That bag might actually have travelled further than we have. He is also negotiating YESTERBEATS rehearsal with MIKE FISHER by phone. On MY phone. That was my birthday present. 3 black handsets with base stations. As good as the BLACK WOLF are the phones. I had a Uniden White Fone before that. Might even have been OFF WHITE – I bought it for Pauleen on Urliup Road years back. She didn’t want it and it remained with me. I disliked it very much.  Things are now different.

The summer heat is here today which it hasn’t been. The rent is due to be paid and I actually have it intact. Didn’t even know it were pay week which isn’t something which has often happened to me.

As for the WILD COUNTRY TRAVELLIN -  here’s a foto parade of images which come to mind for this NSW traveller. Haven’t been to Victoria since 1990 and that was a weekend in Lakes Entrance by coach to stay with the YOUNG LOVER. Haven’t crossed an Ocean nor even a sea. I have been to and lived in The ACT and in FNQ in the 1970s. I do however get a lot out of even a trip to GRAFTON. And ARMIDALE and SUNSHINE and KALANG and PORT MACQUARIE. I also feel thoroughly challenged. TO PACK ! Back to the foto images  of WILD TRAVELLIN !

Jogger ran for aid with rabid fox on arm

 

November 6, 2008, 2:43 pm

A jogger attacked by a rabid fox ran more than a kilometre with the animal’s jaws clamped on her arm and then drove herself to an Arizona hospital.

PLANNING A TRIP

 

Due to wise investments and serious application to employments, we are in a position to travel, as do other Baby Boomers, in luxury mobile homes which we own outright.	2008 has seen us carefully outfitting our mobile accommodation to perfectly suit our needs.

Iz and I are planning another trip. We put near as much into planning our trips as others do in overseas or trekking adventures. WE are going to Grafton. Then to Kalang. Then we are going south. Could be a long way South to St G’s Bowl or it could be Laurieton and Port Macquarie.  Mebbe we will see some of Kinchela and South West Rocks. Then we go to a housewarming party In Sunshine, Lake Macquarie and then NorWest to Armidale and back down to Kalang and up here.  That’s loosely it.

http://www.crownhotelmotel.com/

This time we are not going to the GATEWAY VAN PARK. We love the GATEWAY VAN PARK. But this time we need to be right in town. So CROWN HOTEL it is.

The hotel is a gracious old building dating back to the late 1800’s. The main bar adjoins the dining area and terrace with superb views of the Clarence River.

Sounds good to us . Izzy has a workshop at CLARENCE VALLEY CONSERVATORIUM and I have a date with GRAFTON ART GALLERY.

welcome to grafton regional gallery

CASSANDRA POMROY has taken off and by now I guess she’s in London despite disgracing herself on the plane. Ben is in Germany. The MIGHTY QUIN in Bali. MY dreams for this trip include humble people places and things.

MY WISH LIST FOR THIS TRIP.

	KINCHELA CREEK Home of the SANDERS and CRAIGS and CO.
	Perhaps we will go to the ENTRANCE as did BRUCE SANDERS and BILL CARTER way back in the 1940s. Bruce and I went there in the 2000s as well. he in his 80 and me in my 50s.
	LAURIETON is high up there on my wish list. Together with Port Macquarie where my sister and her husband live and Izzy’s aunt and uncle.
	I have a great desire to eat from this fridge.

 

 

http://www.clarencehistory.org.au/