Monday 16 January 2012

Iluka NSW

Marg and Steve came to see us off in Forster, which was good as we had to dig a hole again to build up the jack to raise the dolly wheel to attach the van t the car on the silly slope. The drive from Forster to Iluka ia way too long, and we will think about staying somewhere in between next time.
We went past Coffs Harbour again and the Big Banana. Jonnie was reminding us.

We past many banana plantations and sugar cane fields.

Woolgoolga must have a high Indian population. They also have a curry festival in April.


The view of the Clarence River from our van site.
We are staying at the Iluka Riverside Tourist Park. 
http://www.ilukariverside.com.au/
We have stayed here before. The park sites are level and range from river view to road view. The amenities are clean and plenty. The staff are friendly. They remembered us from last time.

 We stayed here three nights and it rained from about an hour after we arrived to the time we left.
It was still restful.

We went for a drive around Iluka on Monday, in between the rain.
This is the view of the river from outside our van.

Iluka Beach

Yamba Lighthouse from Iluka Beach


The Iluka Hotel.

World Heritage listed Rainforest.

Woodyhead Caravan Park





Lunch of fish and chips

Because of the rain Peter didn't get a chance to fish or kayak, but it was still lovely to relax.

Taree area NSW - Family Tree

We took Mum on a day trip to see where her (and mine) ancestors use to live. At Forster, we were only about 40 mins away, so it was a good opportunity to do some Family History. 

Ezra Perrett and his wife Rebecca (Gordon) came by boat from the Hunter region to Croki on Jones Island. Croaki is a little village on the Manning River.
 It is predominately a dairy area, and fishing port.


Every time we travel the East Coast, we stop in the Taree area. We have stayed in many of the Caravan Parks. Initially, all I knew about the Perretts was that they lived in Croki on Jones Island, but I had no idea where. I found a newspaper article about the selling of the Perrett house, and it ai there was a Norfolk Pine tree that was planted at the front of the house when they first moved to Croki. There are a number of Nolfolk Pines there. The article also went on to say that the tree had been hit by lightning and had grown 7 (or 8 - can't remember without looking it up) branches - one for each child. On our next trip I found the tree. The house was gone, but one of the sheds was still there. The tree has now gone, but I know where the house was. 
This photo was just inside the front gate.

Ezra & Rebecca Perrett had Sarah Annie Chase Perrett. She is my great grandmother, and my mothers grandmother. She would have lived in this house until she married William McCartney from nearby Cundletown. 
This is my mum outside the property.

One of the original Croki houses.

Croki Village - surveyed 29 May 1898. 
The Perretts arrived here in the 1830's.


This is just around the corner from the Perrett House. Mum was tired and stayed in the car.
We are parked near the pool at the end of the wharf.


This is the old butter factory, across the river on Manning Island. 
Some of the Perrett children worked here. They would catch a ferry from the wharf to the factory.
The graves of Ezra and Rebecca are on Manning Island, up the hill from the Butter Factory.
The graves on Manning Island overlook their property on Jones Island.
Mum was too tired to travel to Manning Island, so we didn't do the 'graves part'.

These trees would have been here when the Perrett children lived here. 
They are around the swimming enclosure.

The swimming enclosure.

Croki Wharf

We drove to nearby Cundletown and saw the house that is now built on the old hotel that the McCartney family ran. It burnt down, but the cellar still remains. 
We also saw the old butchers shop, which was also owned by McCartneys. 

We drove through Taree to Glenthorne, where this monument states the land was given by the Robinson Family (married into the Perretts) and the church, which is now removed, was paid for by the Trotter Family (also married into the Perrett Family)

 This is the old school house, next to the church, which has now been renovated as a private home.
 

One of the old farm buildings in Glenthorne.

Some interesting letter boxes at Glenthorne.

We then headed back to Forster.


Forster NSW

 Arirved in Forster mid afternoon. We set up the van in the FORSTER BEACH HOLIDAY PARK & MARINA.  http://www.forsterbeachcaravan.com.au/  $66.50 per night for three of us.
It is a big park most sites are a reasonable size. To Peter's dismay, the site we got, although in a good position, had a large slope at the front which made it difficult to level the van. Another happy camper came to help dig out the slope so we could build up the front. It was obvious that this had also been done by previous campers. It was also made difficult by the boat on the site at the back, which we did have to move slightly, so as not to hit it when we finally leveled. Anyway, we walked around to where my mum, sister and her family were staying.

 My sister holidays here every year, and after spending the week, I can understand why.

 It was great to see them again. We haven't seen them since our daughters wedding back in May.

 Jonnie made a lot of new friends - here he is playing cards with his cousin.

 My Mum and my sister

 Now they are chasing the ball.

 We took some spectacular photos of sunsets.

 One day we went for a walk in the morning and then a drive around the coast.

 There were some spectacular coastal views - reminded me of the Great Ocean Road.





Our site. Can't really see the slope, but it was there!

We had dinner each evening with my sister. This is one of the many many photos on the walk around.


We went across the long bridge to Tuncurry Bowling Club for dinner one night. 
Here is Jonnie with his older cousins and new friends playing cards at the club after dinner.
 Another Sunset



 Peter putting bait on a rod.

Afternoon spent playing cards and talking

Sunset :-)


Looks like a volcano. Amazing sunset.

We had a BBQ a couple of nights, and Take Away a couple of nights.




We did some day trips, one around the local area, and one to Taree area.
We went out to the breakwater to look for dolphins.

We saw heaps, but they were difficult to photograph.






 I did some sewing and visited the local quilt shop to buy some FQ's.
The last day we went to the Arts and Craft centre and that is well worth a visit.