7 May 2023 - Lake Cathie to Nambucca Heads

Up betimes to investigate the closure of Pacific Drive to accommodate the Port Macquarie Ironman Run.

Upon making further Inquiry of Jess the Landlord she informed the Prop that she was happy for us to remain in situ until the road re-opened. And so we did, but not before standing on the footpath for half an hour or so to encourage the more or less constant stream of Ironpersons riding their titanium bikes.

The Ironpersons of Pacific Drive

Left Little Palm Cabin No. 3 at about 11.15 a.m. after checking with Paul Cook who was said that he was in Port Macquarie as part of the support team for his son in law. However the Prop suspects that Cooky was in fact competing in the Masters Division of the event as he claimed that he was unable to meet the Prop for the very first interstate meeting of the WWS. In fact he formally appled for an adjournment which the Prop reluctantly (and somewhat dubiously) granted.

Heading for Woolgoolga, it occurred to the Prop that recent amendments to the Corporation's Law permit the holding of annual general (and other) meetings by "electronic means". 

.

Accordingly, having taken what turned out to be the very confusing "Tourist Route No 12" and ended up in South West Rocks, the Prop instigated a video call to Mr Cook by which means the very first interstate meeting of members of WWS was duly declared open. There being no business on the agenda (other than vacating the adjournment that had been granted to Mr Cook earlier that same day) the meeting was unanimously acclaimed a great success and duly declared closed.

An epitome of Tourist Drive No 12 - a most confusing journey

Having been very seriously "geographically embarrassed" by Tourist Route No 12, the Prop, somewhat inadvisedly, embarked on Tourist Route No 15!

The result of this very poor decision-making was that instead of arriving at Woolgoolga as originally intended, the Prop and Mrs P found themselves at the Foreshore Caravan Park at Nambucca Heads!  

One Nambucca Head

And the other Nambucca Head

6 May 2023 - Lake Cathie to Port Macquarie and back

Up betimes with no particular plan in mind, so decided to drive the 12 or so kilometres into Port Macquarie and have a bit of a look about. 

Also decided to pay a visit to the Port Macquarie branch of Herr Mart's emporium as the Prop discovered that not only had he failed to pack any long daks (see Devonport) he had also only packed one pair of shorts and a pair of bathers (or swimmers or trunks depending where you live). 

This deficit corrected, we took in the sights.

A view of a small part of Pt. Macquarie

A view of a different part of Pt. Macquarie

Some very nice painted rocks at the Port Macquarie Breakwall

The Prop and Mrs P then took "elevenses" at the "Little Shack" before the Prop competed in and, against all odds, won the "2023 Port Macquarie Ironman" event.

The aptly named "Little Shack"

The Prop pictured apparently winning the 2023 Port Macquarie Ironman Run

However, the Prop's joy at winning the event was short-lived. Perhaps the lack of any other competitors in what was a gruelling 20 metre dash should have alerted the Prop to the fact that the ACTUAL Ironman event is being held tomorrow It consists of a 3.8 kilometre swim, a 180 kilometre bicycle ride and a 42.2 kilometre run.  

Were it not for the fact that we have made plans to travel further north tomorrow (road closures permitting  - see below) the Prop would have been as keen as mustard to have a crack!

Yet another view of a small part of Pt.

Macquarie

Crestfallen, the Prop and Mrs P began the return journey to their lodgings via the Point Tack Lighthouse.

Point Tack Lighthouse - a shining example 

Lake Cathie township as seen from Point Tack. Too far away to see anything if I'm honest.

Upon arrival we discovered that due to the 2023 Port Macquarie Ironman Run, the only road to our lodgings will be closed from 5.30 am tomorrow until 11.30 am tomorrow thus preventing us from leaving our lodgings until one and a half hours after we are contractually required to do so!

How will we get out of this? Force majeure? Frustration? Penalties? Second limb of Hadley v Baxendale?

Stay tuned!!

May 5 2023 - Lake Cathie

Up betimes in order to consider whether "Lake Cathie" is pronounced Lake Kathy or Lake Kaythie. The latter seemed more likely to the Prop, for otherwise the place would have been spelled "Lake Cathy". 

To solve this conundrum the Prop consulted our landlord at the "Little Palms Cabins", Jess, and was astonished to learn that the locals call the place Lake Cat-eye.

One supposes that if the denizens of Dunedoo prefer to call their home Dunny Doo when they could quite easily get away with Dune-Doo or even Dunnede-Oo then the inhabitants of Lake Cat-eye should enjoy the same privilege.

The revelation concerning the correct (or preferred) pronunciation of Lake Cathie put the Prop in mind of George Bernard Shaw who, in his will, directed his trustees to establish a trust under which persons would be employed to translate Shaw's plays using a 40 letter phonetic alphabet devised by Shaw which prevents the mispronunciation of any English word that has been spelled (or transliterated) using Shaw's alphabet. 

Unfortunately, the High Court of England held that the trust was not a charitable trust within the meaning of the Statue of Elizabeth so the trust failed and the funds allocated to it fell into residue. (See Re Shaw's Will Trusts [1957] 1 WLR, 729)

The Prop wonders how Lake Cathie would be pronounced had GBS had his way! (Some claim that it was George Bernard Shaw who demonstrated that it is possible for the word "ghoti" to be pronounced "fish".)

See: https://www.englishclub.com/esl-articles/199909.php

Having learned how to pronounce the name of the place, and, having declared a rest day, we decided to have a bit of a look around the Cat-eye!

The Tadpole ensconced and resting in reserved parking adjacent to Little Palm Cabin No 3

Lake Cat-eye Beach looking north

And looking south

The estuary leading to Lake Cat-eye

A local café - included only to make the blog seem well-illustrated

4 May 2023 - Tamworth to Port Macquarie (via Walcha)

Up betimes to head for Port Macquarie (Lake Cathie) by way of Walcha, a distance of just under 300 kilometres with a few stops on the way.

First stop was the Moonbi Lookout, a depression-era employment project to construct an observation deck on top of a huge rock on top of a big hill.

Moonbi Lookout - a deck on a rock on a hill

Moonbi Lookout - but with a pretty good view

Next, morning tea at the Royal Hotel and Café at Walcha. Not "tea" as such but cappuccino and another Anzac biscuit, even larger than the one at Walla Walla (q.v.) and a good deal more difficult to chew! Even dunking parts of the Anzac in the cappuccino had little effect!

The Royal Hotel & Café -  not all beer and skittles

Located on the "Thunderbolt Way" (named after the bushranger known as "Captain Thunderbolt" - see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Thunderbolt 

Walcha appears to be the very hub of rusty metal sculptures. 

A remarkable but not very rusty drinking fountain at Walcha

Two human figures holding up a rusty  roof onto which water falls from some chrome-plated dishes

A really rusty sculpture at Walcha entitled "The Family"

Then to the quite impressive Apsley Falls in the even more impressive Apsley Gorge. 

Apsley Waterfall in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park

Part of Apsley Gorge - quite a bit bigger than the Anzac biscuit at the Royal Hotel & Café, Walcha

May 3 2023 - Coonabarabran to Tamworth

Up betimes to see the Tadpole, in all its glory, luxuriating in the early morning Coonabarabran sunshine.

The Tadpole at rest in the early morning sun

Then the relatively short journey to Tamworth - a mere 185 kilometres - via Mullaley and Gunnedah (say "gunner dar")

But before leaving the Getaway Caravan Park at Coona, the Prop found it necessary to visit the unique on-site dump point. Say no more!

The Prop "attending to business" at the one-of-a-kind Coona Getaway dump point

Just out of Gunnedah we encountered one of the ubiquitous "Roadworks in Progress" signs. A little further on we found a "Road Scholar" hard at work invigilating an automatically controlled traffic light. 

A Road Scholar checking the smooth operation of automatically controlled traffic lights - must be more tiring than it looks!

Arrived at Tamworth at the height of the noonday sun (actually about 1.30 pm) and secured lodgings for the night at 212 Goonoo Goonoo ( say "Gunu Gunu") Road

Tamworth Motor Inn (and cabins)

Had dinner at "Papa Luigi's" of Tamworth with Michael McHugh (the well-known Tamworth solicitor, not the former High Court judge) who is an old university colleague of the Prop.

Famous solicitor, Michael McHugh (who now bears a more than a passing resemblance to Col. Sanders) and the Prop at Papa Luigi's, Tamworth

Papa Luigi must be quite old as he keeps very modest hours - closing at 8.00 pm so we walked across the road to the "Pig & Tinder Box" (apparently named after the first pub established in the New England region) for dessert and coffee. Better than KFC!

The Pig &Tinder Box - strange bedfellows indeed

2 May 2023 - Dubbo to Coonabarabran

Up betimes to implement the "Authorised  Toyota/Prop Cable-Tie Spare Wheel Frame Solution" (ATPCTSWFS)(Patent Pending).

In response to precisely no requests from readers for a better explanation or, better still, a photograph of "the Solution", the Prop offers the following photograph.

The yellow cable ties were a deliberate fashion choice

Thereafter the Prop and Mrs P left Dubbo intending to travel to Narrabri. 

But first , it is necessary to interrupt the melifluent flow of the Prop's narrative in order to recount the astounding events of the previous evening at the Ox Bar & Grill at Dubbo.

The Ox Bar & Grill - established as long ago as last year

In the time and space available it is impossible to accurately recount how utterly dreadful everything about this establishment was! It was not unlike being an involuntary participant in an episode of Fawlty Towers - but much, much worse!

The man seated next to us arrived  and ordered 15 minutes before we did but did not get anything to eat for two hours - partly because his meal was given to a motel guest who had ordered room service but after waiting for only an hour came in person to the "Ox" to complain. (The Prop had ordered exactly the same meal and was served in under 30 minutes.) Meanwhile a table of 8 were told on arrival that there would be 30 minute wait for their meals. They wisely left. A couple who both ordered lamb shanks waited nearly 2 hours for their meals to arrive and at a table of 5 ladies only 2 of the 5 received anything to eat in the 2 hours that we were there (15 minutes of which were spent waiting to pay the bill.

The Ox Bar & Grill - almost certainly the worst restaurant on three continents. No bar at all, no steak and absolutely no idea!

Although intending to head to Narrabri, we decided to take the "Tourist Drive" through the Warrambungle National Park; and a very wise decision that turned out to be!

First stop, Gilgandra, to revisit the Gilgandra Caravan Park at which the Prop and Mrs P and the Tadpole stayed on their way to Brisbane for Rugby World Cup 2003 - almost exactly 20 years ago (In fact, 19 years 7 months and 4 days ago.)

The Gilgandra Caravan Park - or one very much like it

No time to take a detour to Dunedoo (pronounced "dunny doo" not dyoon doo)

Its a long drop to Dunedoo

Next, to the GK Rohr Warrambungle Viewing Platform, a real engineering marvel.

The Tadpole at "the GK Rohr"

A bronze statue of a returned serviceman abandoning his military costume and ploughing forward in life

Then a brief stop at Frazer Bros Cash and Carry Store at Tooraweenah. 

The Tooraweenah Cash & Carry. No cash and nothing to carry - unlike Mackie Bros' Emporium at Walla Walla which readers will remember, sells "everything".

Again, strapped for time after taking the Tourist Drive, we were forced to by-pass Gulargambone. Not sure but possibly named after a brass instrument which incorporates a yardglass?

Gulragambone - 100 kilometres there and back

Warrambungle National Park - or part of it anyway

Just before reaching Coonabarabran ("Coona") we drove up a big hill to inspect the Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Springs. 

The Anglo - Australian Telescope, a very large optical telescope unlike the radio telescope farther south at Parkes

Arrived at the GETAWAY Caravan Park at Coona after a very exciting time indeed!

1May 2023 - Dubbo

Up betimes to book another night at the Oxley Motel having decided to spend the day at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

But, business before pleasure. 

After passing over a deep gutter crossing at Forbes yesterday, the Tadpole immediately began making a very loud scraping sound. The Prop thought that the tow bar must have broken off!

However, a brief inspection revealed that the bolt and plate which holds in place the frame that retains the spare tyre under the rear floor had disappeared. This had allowed the frame to bounce out and, under the weight of the spare wheel, to scrape on the road. 

Not as bad as the Prop had supposed but nevertheless measures had to be taken to prevent a recurrence.

More in hope than expectation we took the Tadpole to the local Dubbo Toyota Service/Spare Parts dealer. The Prop asked the man at the service desk whether he had in stock a spare wheel retaining plate and bolt for a 1987 Toyota Hi-Ace. Not unexpectedly the man at the service desk said "No". 

He suggested instead that I could go to the shop next door and buy a nylon cable tie, passs it through the bolt hole and around the retaining frame and Bob's your uncle! 

The alacrity with which this solution was offered caused the Prop to wonder whether or not the loss of the spare wheel retaining plate and bolt from Toyotas is a common problem - such that service dealers would be wise to hold adequate supplies of the necessary parts? 

In any case, the Prop is not convinced that a nylon cable tie is likely to be a durable solution. 

Time will tell. 

Off to the zoo then.

Not much to report. 

Very good zoo through which you can cycle or walk or even drive through in your own car and stop more or less wherever you like to inspect the numerous animals, many of which are endangered and form part of the zoo's international captive breeding programme.

A short-horned rhinoceros

Okapi in the foreground, giraffes behind

Cheetahs - able to run at 30 metres per second.

The Pontypool Front Row - having trouble working out how to bind?