Day 302. Ipswich to Grafton

Let the games begin....

A restored Canberra Bomber; the solitary 'gate guard' at RAAF Base Amberley

Connor and Scarlett saying goodbye

This morning we said farewell to Mark, Connor and Benjamin. Mark took Benjamin to day care, and Bec took Connor, with Scarlett in tow, off to school. Both the kids wanted to spend as much time together before they had to say goodbye, and Scarlett was keen to see where Connor goes everyday. We ended up saying our goodbyes to Cherie-Anne yesterday, as she had to fly to Adelaide for work - on a Sunday!

While Bec and Scarlett took Connor to school, I  repacked the caravan and got it ready for leaving. Before we left this morning, we had a meeting with a Property Consultant about investing in residential property in-and-around mining towns. This is something we have both been interested in since travelling in these areas for the past year, and seeing the mining boom first hand. By the time he left, Bec and I were very intrigued, so there is a very good chance we could be investing and buying our first house in the very near future. Only time will tell....

We then had to make a quick visit back into work so I could return the box trailer to its rightful owner, and say a final goodbye to all our work mates and friends. They will be sorely missed, but that's the price we pay for working in the Australian Defence Force. I have no doubt that we will meet them all again sometime in the future, as that's how these things go....

Waiting out the front of 'Storage Choice' Bundamba; while the removalists pack our gear

It's not much; but it's ours!

We then hooked up the van and headed over to Bundamba, where the removalists were already waiting to load up what remained of our belongings that survived the floods almost 12 months ago.

4 hours later, and the truck was packed - almost. Would you believe the truck wasn't big enough! They had picked up a full house first, and we were squeezed into the remaining space in the rear. After a number of phone calls, and a lot of negotiations, we finally squeezed everything into the back of the truck, inside their front cab (which left one worker walking home), on our roof rack and in our car. If we didn't do this, we were stuck here until a second truck arrived - which potentially could of left us here waiting until 7pm. Not Happy Jan! It was a very painful process - but we expected as much!




We finally got underway, and decided to head down the coast road for this trip. There was a quick dinner stop at Ballina, and then we pulled up at 10pm at the 'Halfway Creek Rest Area'; located between Grafton and Coffs Harbour. The trip south was wet, wet, wet -with rain falling most of the trip south. We weren't used to driving in the wet - let alone in the dark with truck headlight after truck headlight blinding me. Now I know why I only drove during daylight hours while travelling around Australia!

Tomorrow we head to Jo Jo's house down Newcastle way - and Scarlett is very excited!