Chapter 9: The First Time

Friday Week 3

It only took them a little over an hour and a half to drive to Port Macquarie, having set out straight after an early breakfast. When they got to Kew, Dave turned east, so that he could drive through Camden Haven and then up along the coast.

When Dave arrived at the turn off to North Brother Mountain, he parked the RV and unloaded the 4WD. They drove to the summit and drank in the magnificent views of the breakwater at North Haven and the spectacular Doorangan National Park. The other lookout a few metres away enabled them to gaze across Watson Taylors Lake. They were fortunate that the weather was fine and clear, so all the views from this height were unbelievably good and Dave got some fantastic photos.

Then it was back down the narrow, windy road, which although it didn't need a 4WD, would have been impossible for the large RV to use. Once the 4WD was back on the trailer, Dave continued on to Port Macquarie.

As soon as the RV was set up, the three of them stripped the beds, did the washing, cleaned the RV and remade the beds. Housekeeping still had to go on.

Naturally, Peter wanted to go surfing while Dave and Jill decided to go fishing. Dave dropped him off at Flynns Beach, telling him that he and Jill would be fishing for a couple of hours and would come back and pick him up then. As the waves looked real good, Peter was very happy to spend that much time surfing while the other two fished.

Dave and Jill drove around to Settlement Point to get their boat, admiring the uniformly manicured lawns on the nature strips of the housing estates as they drove past. The gardens and the houses all looked so very attractive.

Dave hired a tinny, a small boat with an outboard motor, got some bait, loaded their gear and he and Jill went fishing in the river off Settlement Point.

"Why didn't you get one of those boats with a canopy? Wouldn't we be more comfortable in them?" Jill enquired as she got into the tinny.

"This fishing boat, or tinny as most fishermen call them, is much better for casting a rod. No risk of getting your line caught in the canopy. Best to wear a hat and make sure you use plenty of sunscreen, though" Dave replied.

Dave really enjoyed the quiet time with Jill as they concentrated on catching fish. Using soft plastics, Dave caught several good size flathead fish, more than enough for dinner for the three of them, while Jill managed to catch a couple of bream using prawns for bait. A few fish had to be thrown back, because they were too small, but the ones they kept were really nice and both looked forward to preparing the fish and cooking them.

"How do you know what fish to keep and what to throw back?" Jill asked.

"There is a recreational fishing guide put out by the NSW Government that is really very useful. It not only identifies fish species, gives bag and size limits and lists protected species, but also provided illustrated instructions on the different types of knots and rigs to use." Dave showed her the booklet and the ruler he used to ensure the fish that they kept were big enough.

Peter was ready when Dave and Jill drove back to the beach to collect him, but straight after a late lunch, he asked Dave if he could get a lift and go back surfing again. This time he wanted to try Shelly Beach.

Dave and Jill decided to do the one and a half hour walking tour that took in many of the historic sites in Port Macquarie. They then did a guided tour of the Port Macquarie Historic Courthouse that had been built by convicts back in 1869. Dave and Jill agreed that both tours were really interesting, giving them a better understanding of the town's history.

Their next port of call was the Tacking Point Lighthouse that had been built in 1879. They discovered that it was the third oldest in Australia, had operated for its first 40 years manually, before being converted to automatic operation in 1919.

On the way back into town, Dave picked up Peter, then called in to the local butcher and bought three nice racks of lamb for tomorrow night's dinner. He planned to roast them with Rosemary.

"These would have been for tonight's dinner had we not been lucky fishing this morning," Dave told them.

Dave filleted and boned the fish that they had scaled and cleaned in the morning. He then lightly dusted the fish in flour and fried them with a little butter and oil. These were served simply with some lemon wedges, a green salad and potatoes that had been boiled then cut small and roasted with garlic.

While Dave was preparing dinner, Jill had brought the washing in, folded it and put it away. Dave thought it is nice sharing the chores; we are just like a big family, although sometimes I think Peter is our son, not Jill's lover. Maybe that is just wistful thinking he told himself.

After dinner, Jill asked for another movie, so Dave got another of his favourite Michael J Fox movies, The Concierge, an easy to watch love story.

Then it was time for bed once again. But Jill got into bed with her panties on, so he assumed there would be no show tonight.

Saturday Week 3

Again, it was an early start, as Dave wanted to be able to spend some time in South West Rocks and reckoned that it would take and hour and a half to get there.

Dave knew that South West Rocks was located on the southern peninsular of Trial Bay, but that it was possible to drive along the southern side of the Macleay River from Kempsey, on what turned out to be a very pretty drive. He planned to rejoin the Pacific Highway 20 kilometres north of Kempsey, meaning that there would only be a short distance that they would have to drive both ways.

The Bay was named after the brig Trial which was wrecked there in 1816 after it had been stolen by convicts who were attempting to escape to south-east Asia. When Captain Thomas Whyte found the wreck in 1817 there was no trace of the convicts and it was assumed they had all perished either starving or being killed by the local Aborigines.

In the 1870s it had been decided to build a deepwater harbour at Trial Bay and a breakwater. Subsequently a prison was established and the prisoners began to build the breakwater. However the plan was not a success. Heavy seas washed parts of the breakwater away and the plan was abandoned.

The prison was reopened in 1915 and used to intern Germans during World War 1. The anti German feeling at the time had led to the rounding up of innocent Germans. Although life was hardly pleasant, the Germans established their own music band and turned part of the gaol into a tennis court. Apparently, one visitor had described the nights as being more like a pleasant beer hall than a prison.

All of this they found out when they visited the historic Trial Bay Gaol, which was now a tourist attraction and the most important historical site in the area.

Dave found a café overlooking the water where the three of them sat and enjoyed a cappuccino. Jill shuddered as she thought of the hard life the inmates of that old gaol must have had.

Peter decided to have a quick surf, so Dave and Jill drove up to Smoky Cape Lighthouse and climbed the steep path up to the lighthouse. There were also an informative audio visual display and both found the views fantastic from the lookout. On the way back to the surf beach, they stopped at the old water reservoir, and then climbed onto the cliff overlooking the surf beach.

"Look at that" Jill exclaimed "that's fantastic" as she pointed to a pod of dolphins catching the same wave as a couple of surfers, riding it then pulling off to frolic before catching another wave. When Peter joined them he was as excited as Jill, bubbling with enthusiasm having had his first swim with dolphins.

After an early lunch, they drove back to the Pacific Highway and turned north to Coffs Harbour, stopping at the Big Banana and managing to get another tourist to take the compulsory photo of the three of them standing in front of it. Having got all the tourist information Dave thought he needed, they arrived at the caravan park early enough for Peter to again go surfing while the other two set up the RV and prepared dinner.

Dave always enjoyed the time he could spend with Jill while Peter was surfing. Her conversation was animated but she was also a good listener. They shared the chores of getting the roast rack of lamb dinner ready and were showered and dressed by the time Peter got back. Peter and Jill had never seen lamb served like this and were very impressed, even more so, because it tasted so good, especially with the home made mint sauce, he had made to go with it. Dave selected a nice bottle of his red wine, because he felt that this meal deserved to be accompanied by a good red.

After dinner Dave read to them from a brochure. "Did you know that this place was originally discovered by Captain John Korff when he sought safety from a storm that prevented him entering the river at Urunga. He named the place Korff's Harbour. This later was gazetted, through an unintentional misspelling, to Coffs Harbour and the name has remained ever since."

Dave then put the movie Entrapment on. Although he had seen it before, the others hadn't and both Jill and Peter were enthralled by the twists and turns the movie's plot took and the surprise ending. The three of them were chattering away about the movie for some time after it finished, before Dave said he was going to bed.