It costs us just under $4,000pa to have the motorhome parked in the driveway (rego & third party insurance is about $1,100, comprehensive insurance about $1,350, annual Iveco maintenance is around $600 and the annual house service is about $700) so we are keen to use the motorhome as often as possible and at least once a month. As we returned from our last trip in early June and with the next trip planned for August, we needed to fill the gap between.
This time last year we were in far north Queensland enjoying the warmer temperature so a trip in July to a cold destination was definitely out of the question. Seaside, well it should be warmer than the mountains!
Other than trips to Kiama, a couple to Ulladulla and a trip to Nelson Bay, the only other time we have had a coastal visit was in 2009 so it seemed like a good idea to head back to the Central Coast and the holiday township of The Entrance. In 2009 we stayed at a local caravan park (Dunleith) which is located adjacent to Tuggerah Lakes so it seemed only fitting to return to the same place.
As was the case in 2009, we would also use this trip to catch-up with the God Mother of our son.
The weather forecast for the weekend was great with wall to wall blue sky predicted for both days. That would actually be a change as the weather in Sydney has been totally weird over recent times with freezing days followed by above average temperatures. In reality, it has been warmer in Sydney since 1 July and the only factor that we can attribute that to is the introduction of the carbon tax impacting climatic change.
We departed Sydney just before 8:00am and had a very quiet drive to Gosford where we wanted to look at a couple of caravans from a local dealer.
The reason behind looking at the caravan is a long and complicated story, however, what must be said is that for no change from about $120k, you get a caravan that sleeps two persons and a good (Isuzu D-Max) 4wd vehicle. Now compare that with our existing motorhome that can sleep 6 in roughly the same amount of space with a small 4wd being towed behind, why would you change?
It was nice looking at the caravans and when it is all said and done, comfort etc is much the same so at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you do. We hate the words caravanners, motorhomers, 5th wheelers etc, we are all R’vers with the same goal in mind.
We spent a couple of hours looking at the caravans before heading north initially to Blue Haven where we spent a little time looking for “her” relative. Unfortunately we didn’t have the actual house number (we knew the street and roughly where the house was) and after knocking on a couple of doors, it because apparent that they were not at home.
We then headed to the caravan park at the Entrance North and a late lunch.
Last time we were in this area it was very quiet. This was not the case now with the caravan park full of people and more people strolling around than we had seen it the past. Then the penny clicked, this weekend was at the end of the NSW School Holiday period.
As we were eating our lunch, we noticed another Winnebago drive by and much to our surprise, it was towing the Winnebago RV Club trailer (we call it the “Chuck Wagon”).
The Winnebago was being driven by Tony Briant (he has been known as “The Caravan Man”). We assumed correctly that the vehicle was heading back to Sydney having recently attended the WRVC Birdsville Track safari. Tony had been the safari leader. We had a coffee with Tony who filled us in on the “happenings” on the safari. Those “happenings” will not be documented here but we suspect they will certainly be told on the WRVC formum and in future WRVC newsletters.
It was during our discussion with Tony that we received a call from our friend informing us that due to illness, she would not be joining us that afternoon.
Whilst that news was disappointing, she had about a 30 minute drive to our camp site so to ere on the side of safety was very prudent.
After we said farewell to Tony, we walked into The Entrance as we needed to purchase food for the evening. Our original intention was to purchase fish and chips for tea. We ended up buying prawns and a couple of salads. The walk was just over 4k’s and we had the foresight to take with us a freezer bag and freezer bricks to ensure that the prawns would keep fresh. The weather was actually very pleasant and a little on the warm side.
On our return journey we stopped to watch pelicans being fed. Apparently this is a daily occurrence and gives the local community the opportunity to ensure that the pelicans are healthy. Whilst we were watching, a fishing line was removed from the mouth of one of the birds. The feeding, which takes places 365 days a year at 3:30pm, has become a local attraction.
After returning to the motor home we setup our satellite dish and had a long happy hour. The prawns were excellent and really hit the spot.
It was a pleasant night and when we awoke on Sunday morning (we decided not to set an alarm), we both agreed that we both had just experienced our most restful night since we started motor homing.
As it was the last day of the NSW School Holidays, we decided that we needed to arrive back in Sydney before the expected afternoon rush on the Sydney to Newcastle freeway.
We took our time in preparing for a departure and left right at 10:00am. We did stop for fuel on the way home (thank you Coles for a discount voucher of 14cpl) and arrived back in Sydney just after midday.