Now we knew we could survive on the solar panels it was off into our first little bit of wilderness. The longboard surfers’ paradise of Crescent Head. Three hours up the coast to the village, then 15 minutes down a dirt road and we landed at Waves, a bush camp site I visited on a surfing trip about five years ago.

It was a chilled out wee place with very secluded camping spots, and a lot of wildlife.

There were jumping ants everywhere. A rather large variety I never knew existed but now I’m completely acquainted with. Myself and Skye had a face off with a Kangaroo that I was getting ready to punch if it bounded much closer. There was a giant Goana that terrified the life out of us to begin with, but we all got kind of used to after seeing every day for a week or so. We saw a bird fight a crab and win, and poor little Skye got a nasty sting picking up a blue bottle jelly fish.

We knuckled down on school and hit the beach in the afternoons, or just relaxed around the camp. There was just enough ‘remote’ mixed with the luxury of a warm shower to keep us all happy. Katie was loving her boogie boarding, and could actually stand up when I dragged the board along the glassy water of the receding waves.

We went for a great hike up a headland one day, and we had a few family bike rides. It was brilliant. In fact if it hadn’t been for the school taking up so much of our time, it would have been perfect. Anyway, it was still a great place to hang out for a while.

Then the rain started.

And we discovered there was a leak over our bed. Fortunately it dried out the next day and we drove to Kempsey for silicone to fix it. Just as well, as the rain continued for days which lead us to ‘treating’ ourselves to breakfast when Saturday came around – and boy am I glad we did.

The only place to go ‘out’ to was a couple of hundred metres down the road. A café called the Bush Kitchen that was attached to the side of a surf dude’s house. He was a nice fella, and his English wife was lovely too. They lived there with their three kids, and when I asked him if there was a cinema in Kempsey to occupy the girls on a rainy day he looked at my car and said “Nah mate, but you’ve got a four-wheel drive, you need to head down the beach to Port Macquarie – will only take you half an hour, but an hour fifteen on the highway.”

“It’s easy, just drive down past the camp site, onto the beach and there’s a ferry over to Port Macquarie once you get back on the road at the bottom end.”

Oh oh, here we go again.

With a little more investigation this time I must add. First of all I got onto the Hema maps App and double checked the route. Then I checked the tides. Then I made sure we had the recovery gear in the car, then I deflated the tyres, and then, off we went!

It was a real adventure for the family, and quite stressful, but exciting for me. This is the sort of thing we should be doing on this trip. Oh, and the first thing we saw when we got onto the beach was a dingo!

First one I’ve ever seen.

A life time ago, I think I lost my glasses after a piss up in Edinburgh.

I’m not too sure. Anyway I lost my bloody glasses in Crescent Head, and I have no idea how. I got in the car with my sunglasses on, drove off, and when I looked in the case where I always keep them – gone.

I panicked a little bit. That ridiculous panic you get when you realise you have no idea where your phone is, and you can’t remember when you last backed up. They proved elusive back at camp too, and so, it was another trip into Kempsey for an eye test, and a new set of glasses at $400. Shit.

I also lost my rashy, which I’ve had since I arrived in the country almost 12 years ago. I lost my Swiss army penknife that I can’t even remember being without, although thankfully it turned up a few weeks later. And an arsehole of an Englishman stole a little screw that holds the LED onto my freaking bull bar! What a fucking pain in the ass that was to replace.

No, it was not a good place for losing things Crescent Head.
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Lesson number 6: Put things back once you’ve used them