At the time of writing we have been on the road fifteen months. I always felt when we hit the east coast and began to meet up with long time friends, we would be nearing the end of our journey, and it does feel like that. We still have probably six weeks until we get back home to Western Australia and I’m starting to feel sad that the end is nigh. What makes me happy though is that we managed to meet up with more friends we hadn’t seen for a long time.

The last time we were at Kay and Jim’s house was in 2014 when we did a caravan trip in our Jayco Dove to Tasmania and the southern part of the country. You can check out my travel blog from that trip on www.gonetorecess.wordpress.com

We had stayed with them in Kinchela and they had had a daily itinerary planned! So we saw a lot of the area including Crescent Head, South Head, Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Lorne and Kendall. We had a great time and the scenery was stunning. On this visit though, we just planned a catch up, rather than a sightseeing tour!

Kay and Jim live right on the MacLeay River where they have the most incredible sunsets. Their home is lovely with a large garden in which they used to plant lots and lots of vegetables. Unfortunately this area is prone to flooding and recent floods destroyed some of their fruit trees and vegie garden. However, they still have some – paw paws, mandarins, oranges, lemons, limes, bananas, peas, and more. Kay makes use of them all and they also swap their produce with neighbours. We particularly loved the herbs growing in toilet bowls but weren’t sure about eating them! They also have the most beautiful parrots visit each day knowing Kay will feed them.

Kay and Jim did insist on taking us for a drive. We loved looking at all the old character homes in the area and enjoyed a wander through a nearby town called Gladstone where we browsed some lovely vintage shops.

Then we drove to The Gap. The weather was overcast but we could see what a popular beach this would be on a sunny day.

We had a lovely time with our friends, Kay and Jim, who looked after us and made us feel so welcome. Too soon we were in the car and driving south towards Laurieton to visit other long time friends Denise and Russ.

Denise had moved house since 2014 when we last visited and it was exciting to see her brand new home in a lovely, modern estate close to town. We had so much to chat about that I completely forgot to take photos! But it was a beautiful home and she insisted, like Kay and Jim, that we sleep inside rather than in our van. It had been pretty chilly at night so we didn’t argue. Denise does not enjoy sight seeing and we were perfectly happy to stay home and catch up with all her news instead. She cooked both nights and Russell came over to spend a lot of time with us. It was great.

After a couple of terrific days, we said goodbye to Denise and Russ but, before leaving Laurieton, we called in for coffee with another friend, Jaci, who coincidentally lives just five minutes away. Jaci and I had been trying to coordinate a catch up but she is a busy lady with a hectic social calendar (and to be fair she also works)! We had an hour and a half to cram in all our news before she left for an organised day out with friends, and we managed just fine! Jaci and I initially met in Mandurah but haven’t seen each other for a few years. I was happy to see she enjoys her beautiful home in an over 55 residential village. She took us for a tour and we were very impressed. It looks like an amazing place to live.

It was soon time to hit the road again this time for Medowie to meet up with some family. It has almost felt like we are already home as everyone has been so familiar!