Day 26 Monday 6/7/20 Moonee Beach to Lawrence, sunny 19

A cool clear morning peppered with the excitement of moving on.

We veer off the highway to Grafton which seems to totally flummox Gabbi Garmin as Grafton is no longer on the A1 but now on Big River Way. We follow the north bank of the Clarence River through low land dairying country interspersed with sugar cane.

The Lawrence Tavern in the river town of Lawrence has parking in the front yard which before the new bridge was constructed was probably the back yard. To us, the camping area already looks crowded but a lady waves us in and sure enough there is plenty of room for our three vans. It is a spacious grassed area with power for only three vans (first in best dressed), two toilets and a shower. There’s even a small book exchange in the bathrooms. It is a pleasant spot with views across the cow paddocks.

We quickly gallop across to the pub and secure a table in the sun overlooking the river and far from others. The Clarence River looks to be a kilometre wide here and further downstream we can see a ferry crossing. Lunch is excellent, sticky beef ribs and chips with salad. The town of Lawrence is a quaint mix of houses set high on stilts to avoid river floods. Hey! That was a pub lunch on a Monday!

As we sit in the back / front yard in the sun chatting a young woman and her small child joins us. She has parked her campervan hard up against someone’s caravan drawbar. The owners being out in their car. When Woody suggests that she should move her campervan for safety reasons (it is etiquette that all vans should have a clear escape route in an emergency) she claims that no one told her and there won’t be an emergency. Obviously she must be psychic, I’m wondering if she has next week’s Lotto numbers. She continues to tell us that we old people are sticky noses and that we didn’t help her with her two children. She hadn’t told us that there were two of them and of course we’re not psychic. Woody suggests that perhaps she is being ageist.

As we batten the hatches for the night I mention to Woody that perhaps he should help her bathe the two kids and put them to bed!

Accom: $10.00

Travelling Kms: 106Kms