Saturday, 17th February 2018
After quite a sleepless night for me, I was up quite early and continue writing in my journal till Gerry woke up. Today we were breaking up camp at the Trial Bay Campsite and making our way up northwards to Yamba. Some people we had met told us that Yamba is a pretty fishing village at the mouth of the Clarence River.
Our drive was some 240km however it took somewhat longer as we kept trying to get off the M1 – Pacific Highway to find alternative routes. Well all alternative routes seemed to get back to the M1 so finally we gave up trying and drove further to Yamba. The country side changed to luscious green fields of cane sugar waving gracefully in the wind. The M1 was no longer a 4 lane highway as there was a lot of construction going on which did not hinder our progress.
At the local Macdonalds, we were able to get WIFI while we enjoyed the Maccaffe – also a new experience for Gerry – but then you have to make concessions if you do want to keep in touch with the outside world and family. A helpful staff member gave us all the ins and outs of the fishing village but recommended that we go to Iluka as that would be more authentic. She even gave us her phone number should we need any assistance – I really do hope we did not give her the impression that we are some helpless senior citizens………….
Anyway with a few campsite addresses keyed into the GPS we first went to get some groceries from the local Coles supermarket and then we were on our way. We didn’t get far when we noticed a camp site just a couple of kilometres down the road. We made a quick decision and decided to stop over here and see what the campsite had to offer us for a one night stay. Well it was pretty and well kept and we had a pitch close to the beach – or actually the mouth of the River Clarence – so we stayed. I was rather tired through all the emotions I was going through – it’s ever so difficult not to be with the family at a time when you lose a sibling – so many thoughts running through my head are just draining me.
Well we pitched up for the night and went for a walk along the sea shore – young kids were fishing off the jetty and to the right we could see the fishing trawlers berthed for the night. As we had a late lunch we were not that hungry that evening and just had some snacks and were early to bed.
It’s been a day where I hardly took any pictures – hopefully tomorrow a better day – my daughter Nicole, will be travelling back to Malta to represent the Dutch family at my brother’s funeral which will take place on Monday. We will be travelling to Bryon Bay.
