Monday, September 11, 2017: On Our Way to Waitui (Y2E)

Up very early, 0430.  Couldn't go back to sleep and wanted to catch up on my blog.  Will eventually need to sit and make time to upload photos.  We will be leaving our digs this morning here in Kirribilli and heading up to Ross and Avril's home in the 'bush.'  Really do enjoy this early quiet time to just chill, gather my thoughts of the past days events and, to try and get them down in the blog.

Last view of the bridge...

Last view to the Opera House

Rosie just outside the Brownstone

We really enjoyed this AirBnB experience.  Thank you so much Ross and Avril!!

Once everyone was up and about, made toast:  buttered toast with apple butter and Vegemite.  We were all packed up and ready to go right at 0900.  (I wouldn't discover until the next day that I'd left my converter plugged into the power strip in the Air BnB. Oh well, we still have the one).  Good bye 4 Waruda St., Apt #4!  Piled into the Mazda and made a quick detour down to Luna Park in the Milsons Point area so Rosie could have a good look.  The 350km trip up to Waitui (pronounced Y2E) would include a handful of short diversions along the way.

Luna Park done, on our way to the Mid North Coast and Waitui via the M1 motorway.

Not long after we'd started out north on the M1, Ross remembered that we'd be passing close to their old digs and thought it might be interesting for us to see where they used to live and where Meg came home to while she was doing her semester abroad.  We enthusiastically agreed.  Ross first drove by an address we were unfamiliar with.  He and Avril discovered that the house they used to own at this particular location had been razed to the ground and condo-like buildings had been erected where they once owned a house!  Things had changed quite a bit.  No matter, Ross continued on to their former home at 10 Eastwood Ave in Eastwood.  It was still there and looked pretty much how they'd left and sold it.  We parked for a very brief time to take some pictures and hear about Meg's time there, another girl they sponsored at the same time, Tiffany and, their daughter Erica, who was the same age as Meg back then.  Great memories!  Before jumping back on to the motorway, Ross and Avril took us on a short tour around their former neighborhood pointing out places of interest for us to see along the way.

The old home

10 Eastwood Ave

Outside of the Brown's former home

One more photo

Side Note:  I was really surprised by the highway infrastructure in place here in New South Wales. My brief 'googling' around before we left to come down under, appeared to indicate most roads - once out of Sydney - turned 2 lane and were unpaved.  I was way wrong.  They have a super highway system along the East coast that reminded me of similar multi-lane roads in the U.S. - granted, a huge difference is that everyone drives on the wrong side of the road and they're called Motorways.  Still, the roads connecting major cities are noteworthy.  They also have Service Centers scattered along the length of their motorways, similar to ours in NJ/NY, where Travelers can pull in get some petrol, rest and refresh then, continue on.  I'm surprised at how many McDonald's restaurants there are around these parts - lots of them including in this Service Station we stopped at:  Wyong Service station.

On the M1 motorway

Pacific Coast highway, the A1

Pulled into the Wyong Service Station

Rosie and Avril enjoying a coffee

Back on the road, we passed through a few areas that were smokey due to bush fires.  Avril has an 'app' on her phone that will show you where and how many fires there are around the area - we were amazed to see over 40!  Some may have been controlled burns, regardless, that's a lot.  Around the mid-way point of our trip up the mid north coast, we pulled into a Heatherbrae's Pies restaurant in Maitland near Newcastle.  Decided it would be nice to pick up some family sized meat pies for our dinner this evening, particularly since I've yet to have one since arriving in country.  Just a different kind of food restaurant from what we see in the U.S.  You can eat in or take out.

A different type of eatery

All kinds of pies sold here.  Eat in or take out

Heatherbrae's

Continued on our way.  In the distance we spied a small mountain rise up with an escarpment that looked pretty cool so, Ross exited the motorway and headed over to small village of Bulahdelah for a quick stop and stroll.  Back in the day it was a mining and timber/logging town.  Main street is short and the town appears quiet.   They have at least 1 of everything you'd need to live well there: pub, IGA grocery store, small hotel, convenience store, petrol, nice river for fishing and, scenic location. Picked up a couple of postcards.

The Myall River in Bulahdelah

Rosie

The Alum Mountain escarpment

Downtown

Me in Bulahdelah

Side Note: Bulahdelah History.  235km/146mi north of Sydney, the 292-metre-high (958 ft) mountain on which the south-eastern sector of the township is built, was first named by the Aboriginal people of the area, the Worimi. They called their mountain "Boolah Dillah" (meaning: the Great Rock). In 1818 John Oxley, a crown surveyor added the word "Mountain" to its original name. The mountain is widely known by its long-term nickname, "the Alum Mountain", but is officially registered as Bulahdelah Mountain.

After the discovery of alunite on the mountain, the mountain was mined from 1878 to 1927, and was managed by the Department of Mining from 1897 onwards. A refinery "The Alum Works" was created to facilitate the extraction of alum from the mined alunite. Another period of mining continued again from 1934 to 1952. Decreasing profitability meant mining had ceased by 1952 and in 1979 NSW State Forests took over management of the mountain.

Construction of the timber bridge across the Myall River was completed in 1892 and the bridge was formally opened on 28 July 1892.  A 2-lane concrete bridge over Myall River was completed in 1969. In 1970 the Bulahdelah tornado swept through the nearby forests, just north of Bulahdelah in what was Australia's most destructive tornado on record.

On 3 May 2006 funding was approved (project approval was granted on 11 October 2007) for the relocation of the Bulahdelah section of Pacific Highway, through the mid-slopes of Bulahdelah (the Alum) Mountain. Major construction of this highway deviation, known as the Bulahdelah Bypass, commenced in August 2010. The bypass was completed in July 2013.
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Postcards in hand we continued north. All of us were starting to feel a bit hungry as Ross neared our late lunch destination in Coolongolook, the Salty Dog.  Located on the northern side of the A1 'Pacific Coast' highway, it's one of 3 eateries nestled together in this small village named for the river that runs by it.  We all ordered fish & chips:  My fish was the New Zealand Haki; Ross & Avril chose Bottom fish, and; Rosie chose Whiting.  All quite tasty. Purchased my first bit of memorabilia here, a long sleeved t-shirt.

Arriving, Salty Dog in Coolongolook

The eateries here off the A1

Seating area and you place your orders under the awning to the left

Today's menu

View to the rear of Salty Dog from our picnic table

Of course I had to have a picture taken here

Late lunch done, back on the road.  Seventeen kilometers up the road, we pulled off into the town of Nabiac to make a quick tour of the National Motorcycle Museum. The entry fee was a bit steep, $15AU/person, so Avril and Rose deferred while Ross and I went in for a look.  Literally hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles (over 800) from all over by familiar and unknown manufacturers along with different sections highlighting a particular segment of the world of motorcycles:  engines, carburetors, Racers, helmets, hybrids, toys, memorabilia, etc.  If you're a motorcycle enthusiast, no way you could absorb the contents of the museum in just a day, much less in an hour!

Motorcycle Museum, Nabiac

Just 1 of the many aisles

Model T

Side Note: History of the Australian Motorcycle Museum (pulled from their website):  The National Motorcycle Museum was initially located in Mitchell, a suburb of Canberra, Australia in 1990.  It was started by Brian and Margaret Kelleher, who at this time had been in the motorcycle retail industry for 18 years.  Brian had been collecting motorcycles before starting the motorcycle business and they continued storing motorcycles and memorabilia with the dream of one day opening a museum.  Motorcycles formed a very important part of Australia's transport history, as they provided a cheap method of motor transport.  In the 1950s and 60s many Australians' first motor vehicle was a motorcycle.

When the Kellehers read in a Bureau of Statistics report in 1988 that substantial numbers of our old motorcycles were leaving the country for the USA, Japan and England, they believed that unless something was done promptly much of Australia's motorcycling heritage would be lost. This was the trigger to start the museum for their collection and to offer a home to some of the motorcycles sitting in peoples' sheds.

After fruitlessly seeking some type of government assistance they decided to go it alone, and set up the National Motorcycle Museum of Australia. The Museum operated in Canberra for approximately ten years, then the Kellehers sold their ACT motorcycle business and moved to the Mid North Coast of NSW where they built a purpose built complex that houses some 800 motorcycles together with an enormous array of motorcycle memorabilia, toys, an extensive private library and a motorcycle orientated gift shop.

The museum is located in the historic village of Nabiac, 28 kilometres south of Taree and 140 kilometres north of Newcastle on the Pacific Highway, on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Many of the motorcycles are on loan to the museum for display, but the majority are owned by the Kelleher family. Those interested in loaning machines or memorabilia should contact the museum either by email or by phoning 02 6554 1333.

Among the favourite machines on display are a Kenilworth scooter (1919), a twin cylinder water-cooled 2 stroke Scott, and a Vincent Black Knight. There is an excellent range of vintage bikes from the early nineteen hundreds, and of course many, many very interesting later machines. Allow an hour or two (or ten, if you're a serious enthusiast) to have a good look around and read some of the fascinating history presented. Books, toys, models, badges, patches and memorabilia are available for sale at the museum.
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Before we got back on the road, stopped at a petrol station in Nabiac to refuel and get me some water to wash down some Claritin.  Something irritated my allergies and I needed to pop a pill.  Our road trip journey will eventually get us up to Waitui, a Maori word meaning 'water bird.'   We had a 1/2 hr/ 50km ride up to the Coopernook Hotel in Coopernook, not far from Waitui, just for a look see and beverage stop.  Used to be a bridge here that spanned the Lansdowne River but, it was demolished after a newer highway was built.  Folks still appear to enjoy coming, having a brew/food and, camping out.  Made time to wander down to the Lansdowne River that flows into the 'mighty' Manning River and photo op.

Coopernook Hotel

The Lansdowne River

Bar inside hotel - my favorite beer so far:  VB

Avril and Ross relaxing

By the time we departed Coopernook Hotel for Waitui, it was just after 1600.  On the way to Waitui, we made a quick stop in Hannam Vale (aka: valley) at their local General Store to pick up some bread and milk and to finally connect the dots with a place that Ross and Avril have spoken about with us. It's extremely rural and definitely lives up to its' qualifier - the 'Bush.'  Having said that the scenery and terrain in this area is gorgeous.  Ross and Avril's 3 acre home happens to be nestled between two hills: Hopper's Hill and Lambert's Hill.

Local School

General store

Side Note: Internet coverage is very temperamental in the Vale between Hopper's Hill and Lambert's Hill.  What I've gleaned from Ross and Avril is that their Service provider (there's only one and no other choice) decided to build the communications tower on Lambert's Hill and not on Hopper's Hill, which is the reason for the highly tenuous and fragile Internet availability enjoyed (or not) at 'Nellies Belly,' Ross and Avril's home.  They could use a tower on Hopper's Hill.
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Before we eventually got to Nellies Belly, Ross took us up some hill just to take in the view.  Once we stopped I spied a couple of Kangaroos beneath us a couple of hundred yards away, the first live kangaroos we'd seen so far.  Rosie was ecstatic!  As the kangaroos started to bound off, she ran after them - we followed in the CX-5 - until she could get some good iPhone photos of the pair, a mom and joey.  Kangaroos are the equivalent of our deer in NJ/NY - just much cooler.  Jumped back into the SUV and continued on to Nellies Belly.

Our 1st live kangaroos!

Nellies Belly is located just off of Waitui Road.  If you didn't know Ross and Avril lived there, you'd just go driving past their mailbox.  When we pulled up, the gate onto their property was closed and locked - they did not leave it that way - and I jumped out to open the gate so Ross could drive through.  Apparently, 1 of 2 their neighbors, the 'other' neighbor, Wayne (he owns 30+ acres) routinely does this sort of thing so his 4 cows can just graze about.  A bit annoying for Ross and Avril.  Those 4 cows were in fact grazing along the 1/2km stretch to their property and we stopped to say hello to them before continuing along.  Just before you get to the property, 2 of the 'Other' neighbors dogs end up barking and chasing the SUV, dangerously close, down to the creek marking the boundary between Nellies Belly and the 'Other' neighbor.  Drove onto the expansive yard and parked up next to the front door into the house at 1645.

The 'Other' neighbors cows

Avril back at home

Nellies Belly

Ross and Avril's home, Nellies Belly, is quite secluded and bounded on all sides by Starr's Creek and a wide variety of very tall trees and shrubs. They also have a dozen or so lemon trees in fruit right now.  Only 1 way in and 1 way out.  Very serene and relaxing.  Quiet except for the sounds of nature, many sounds neither of us have heard before.  Their home is lovely and could easily be mistaken for a retreat for the artistic or anyone just looking to get away.  The layout of the house is fairly open and accommodating.  I'd break up the inside into 5 primary areas: a wrap around porch area; an enclosed 'Florida' room; combined dining and Great room area with fireplace; spacious kitchen and pantry room, and; the sleeping/bathroom area.  They are dependent on electricity but, all of their water is rain water captured and stored in 2 huge water tanks with a 50,000 litre capacity. Very cool.

Early a.m. blogging in the kitchen

the Florida room

Great room - left

Great room - right

Out on the wrap around porch 

The 2 rainwater catch/storage tanks

Enjoyed the tour of their home and just settled in.  Dinner that evening consisted of the meat pies we'd purchased along the way and some veggies Avril through together... delicious!  Spent a very pleasant evening just visiting. On this night Internet access was on the fritz.  In retrospect not a bad thing... made us adapt and change our travel plans for our return trip back to Sydney.

Side Note: With the internet challenges on this first evening with Ross and Avril, we couldn't book flights out of Port Macquarie, Plan A so, decided on a Plan B:   Ross and Avril would drive us down to Newcastle and Broadmeadow Station so we could catch a train back down to Sydney on Wednesday, 9/12.  Ended up saving us ~$700AU!!!
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Enough for today.

Fuji