We have been to Stanthorpe many many times. Every time we go there we find new stuff we did not know about. Watching a video a while back from Caravan Adventure Aus on their time here we discovered a few new places to check out. It’s worth a watch.
One of those place was the Red Bridge “Built in the mid 1880’s. Built without modern equipment using manpower, horse drawn drays and explosives. Shanties and hotels catering for the workers followed the construction of the line” is what the plaque reads.
No longer red
Apparently the bridge was red at time of construction so hence the name. It is a very short east walk from the carpark in good weather.
There is also a boardwalk across the river
Jess and Chris
We called into the visitor information centre and had a lovely chat with the ladies there. A walk about the park and a walk into town, filling in a bit of time before we went……. for that apple pie.
Suttons Apple Farm and Cafe. We have been here mmmm maybe a few times one time we shared a slice. This time it was our late breakfast. All we can say is yum yum yum
Yummy apple pie
We thought we better walk off of the apple pie, heading to Donnellys Castle. If you watched the Caravan Adventure Aus it will show what this place is like. Really is our kind of place with granite boulders to walk around and explore. Can’t believe we only just found out about this place. It is a little bit hidden out of the way.
Donnellys Castle
Jess had fun as well, as it is dog friendly
Great views from the lookout
We loved it and Chris did really really well, walking along tracks with tree roots and rocks to navigate around. Chris had a bad stroke during a brain biopsy where he was also diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. He has recovered a significant amount from the stoke but still has some mobility issues. So rock hopping was an outstanding achievement.
Chris did really well
We felt very optimistic that we could do some further trips together.
We have done a few short trips for shake downs with Trek, mostly local. A few little tweaks here and there mostly with where we put things. Overall we were very happy with how Trek went, how comfortable it was and how everything was working. In fact better than we had expected. Chris’s health had gotten worst and he decided he wanted to head south and see his family while he still could. So we decided to make a bit of a trip of it and use it as another shakedown, squeezing it in between medical appointments. It was a little bit of a trip down memory lane. We stopped in at Evan’s Head for a few days, which is where we met at a church camp nearly 40 years ago. We stayed at the same caravan park with an ensuite site. Which worked out well as it was a little wet with recent heavy rain. We called into Nambucca Heads for a few nights which was really lovely. A place we had driven past on the hwy many times but never called into together but Chris had stayed here several times with his family when he was younger.
The breakwall at Nambucca with loads of amazing art work.
Chris’s brother and sister live in the Port Macquarie area, we stayed at the NRMA Caravan Park near the break wall. A great location to walk into town, explore the area and visit his family. After a few really nice days at Port, which was a little emotional for Chris, we continued south stopping at Old Bar for the night. Chris used to stay here with his family and was reminiscing of all the things he and his siblings would do. Again a great time and special to have Chris share those memories with me. Then onto Newcastle where the memories, wonderful memories came flooding back. We were married at King Edward Park in Newcastle, we visited the place and said “I do” again to each other. Drove around the Nobby’s Breakwall area. Visited Chris’s older sister and my family. The time with Chris’s sister was very special. Also gave an opportunity to explore this area where he grew up and went to school. Drove past our first home together, where our first son was born. We did a day trip to Caves Beach, again a place Chris often went with his family. For me it was a first time and a place I would like to go back to and spend some time.
You really could spend hours exploring here.
Such an incredible place.
After a few days in Newcastle the weather was getting a bit cool and rain was forecast, so we had to change plans deciding heading home on the inland route was going to be a bit too cold. Poor Jess was feeling the cold, we didn’t come prepared for the cooler weather. Even though we had lived the first few years of our married life in the Newcastle area we hadn’t really explored the place together or looked at it from a visitor perspective. We were impressed. Chris was starting to feel a bit poorly so we decided to head back up the coast calling into a few other places along the way. Another stop at Port Macquarie for a few days. The weather had really turned cold, wet and windy. This is when we discovered sitting in the front seats of the van watching some YouTube videos or catchup TV on a tablet worked really well. This is also where the idea of sewing some walls for the awning came from. We called into South West Rocks for the day and thought it was a really nice place we would like to come back and stay a few days. But not this time. Moving on we called into Yamba and stayed a night and then Iluka for a day trip. Again both places we had driven past on the hwy but not called into.
Our CP at Yamba right on the water.
From there we cut out trip short and headed back home. A lot was learnt with the van, we needed some more weather protection outside so we could sit out there in wet or cold weather and still be able to get to the rear pull out kitchen. Juices were flowing for ideas for awning walls. I needed to get some warmer jackets and bits for Jess our Qld dog.
Jess feeling the cold and not impressed
We were also pleasantly surprised how comfy it was sitting inside at night watching video’s. Mmm maybe this whizzbang van was going to work out ok.
