Day 65 Friday 14/8/20 Evans Head to Coraki, lovely

El Prado has problems releasing his Trailermate jack as it was slightly bent under pressure when we were setting up here a few weeks ago. Another camper comes to the rescue with his and he’s able to hook up. Woody wonders why he can’t get his load leveller bars on until he realises that he’s put 40kg of firewood in the back of the Jeep.

Half an hour later and Coraki looks a picture. We are lucky to get three sites in a half circle around a big old Moreton Bay fig overlooking the river and with room for a fire. The town is busy with workers constructing a new two storey amenities block and camp kitchen overlooking the river. There is birdlife and butterflies and the boys just have to have a pot or two at the pub while paying the fee for our stay. The pub is right behind us.

We have lunch in the sun and walk along the main street, Riverview Terrace. Everyone is friendly and it is hard to maintain a safe distance. We meet Milo the cat again and his owner who once lived in Evans Head but left because it was becoming too much like the Gold Coast. Why? Because Gold Coast people visit there to get away from the Gold Coast. There’s a group of cheery motorhomers on the riverbank up from nearby Ballina and we meet N a solo traveller and another lady who has been here since March volunteering at the local historical society. She’s digitising all of their records and being a direct descendant of the town’s founder William Yabsley she is passionate about the area. Yabsley built a shipyard here as the region was rich in cedar which being a soft timber was in great demand*. A sawmill was constructed and steam ships carried the cedar out. When the cedar ran out and the land was clear, sheep were trialled here but the land was too wet thus dairying took over and sugar cane production. Nowadays ti tree is also grown for medicinal oil production.

It is a mild evening and the boys light a fire, we chat with our neighbours.

As we cook a risotto N belts out a tune on the bongos. By bedtime the pub is jumping and there are a few gentle plops in the roof. Not a bad spot this, not bad at all.

Accom:$20.25

Travelling Kms: 23Kms that was a big drive

*In the pioneering days eucalyptus timber was too hard on saws. One of the reasons that a convict colony was set up on Norfolk Island was that it had an abundance of pines.