NSW -Coffs Harbour - Arrawarra

Wow, what a week!..We were having such an enjoyable time at Nambucca until Monday night when the storm hit. We had rain on Sunday but not too windy. We had a leak in the back of the van which was dripping onto the back couch. We had so much water coming through that we went through six towels trying to keep the couch dry. Mike finally found that they had forgotten to seal around one of the top lights at the back and the water just poured in. Maybe they need to look at their quality control! Somebody had recommended taking a heater with us for the cold nights. Boy, was I grateful that we had that. I dried out the cushions on the couch in no time at all.

When we went to bed on Monday night the wind started to pick up and it just kept getting stronger and stronger all night and pouring with rain as well. The awning outside kept flapping and shaking and Mike and I were up and down all night checking on it. We had never taken the awning down in the wind so hoped that with the extra ropes we had attached would keep it up in the storm. During the night we noticed that other people had taken their awnings down, so at about 6:00 in the morning we finally decided to take the plunge. I had visions of a gust of wind just lifting it up and ripping it off the van. We had heard of such nightmare stories so were rather wary. We talked about the steps that we would take and then got stuck in. It rolled away so easily that we wished we had done it hours ago. Anyway, another lesson learned. Take it down early and then you can have a good nights sleep.
We left Nambucca on Tuesday morning and headed to Arrawarra, just north of Coffs Harbour. This was our longest trip so far, about two hours. Wow. We stopped for coffee on the way though.
It poured the entire way. We arrive at Darlington Caravan Park at Arrawarra to check in and were greeted by water everywhere. I had to change in to my crocks as there was a stream running under our car. As we drove to our site we noticed that there were lots of ducks and geese, but not many people. That should have been our first clue.
We parked the van and Mike gets out of the car and steps ankle deep in water. In fact, our caravan is sitting on an island. There is water all around us and the ducks waddle up to check us out. You have to laugh. Anyway, we slop around in the water and get all set up. We then notice that the couple of tents and camper trailers that are here, have their wet mattresses hanging from makeshift lines under tarps. That made me realize how grateful that we are in a caravan. At least our bed is dry.

That night on TV we watched the terrible flooding in Urunga and Coffs. It happened not long after we had passed through. We were very lucky.
This is a beautiful park and we look forward to coming back in the future when the weather is kinder to us so that we can enjoy the great facilities more.

These few days of rain have certainly given us lots to laugh at. But, bring on the sun. I am over this.
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