Day 66 Saturday 15/8/20 Coraki, rain then fine 25

It was a warm night with enough rain to keep the windows closed. Woody has been told that the newspapers are sold by the chemist. He gallops up there only to find that it is closed. He walks up again at 7:00 only to find that it is still closed (the penalty for once being a milkman) and returns muttering. By 10:00 the rain is clearing. We’re all feeling lazy and blaming yesterday’s long drive for our fatigue!

This is a beautiful spot and has to win an award for proximity to both pub and general store. The locals are super friendly and everyone is up for a chat.

We drive the few blocks to Glebe Bridge an old wood and iron lift up bridge that crosses the Richmond river and is currently under repair.

Around town the crazy mix of housing has us intrigued. There are old Northern Rivers two storey timber homes that allow for floodwaters to pass under, there are rough old fibro cement homes, brick veneer and modern corrugated iron. It is easy to spot the areas that flood as they have the two storey homes. The Catholic Church is grand but the cross has come to grief and is currently bandaged with gaffer tape.

Back at camp two A Vans roll in the leader being yet another loudmouth. They seem to want to ignore the specifically marked campsites and park wherever HE wants and his mate Mini Me will follow. When he started shifting our firewood so that he could park up against the Prado van, Elle lost it and told him where to go. He got the message and they finally settled. If they had only asked politely we could have shown them much better sites in the park than those they had chosen.

El Prado lights a lovely fire, it is a mild evening and we watch fish jumping, birds fishing and the clouds glowing pink. At sundown the bats fly into the trees to feed and we eat dinner on our knees by the fire. Lightning lights up the sky to the north in Queensland (that’s the place we’re banned from isn’t it?).