We luxuriated with a generous sleep in this morning. Even the dogs were happy to let us lie in until well after 10:00AM. When we did eventually rise, it was to be greeted by another fantastic northern New South Wales warm, sunny morning.

With nothing more than a day relaxing by the van planned, we took our time making breakfast, then getting cleaned up ready to face the day. By the time I got back from the showers, Bec had already finished one load of washing, and was in the midst of loading the machine up with a second. She seems to have an unhealthy obsession with wearing a clean set of clothes each and every day, which sees her burning through the laundry powder at an alarming rate every chance she gets. She has also been fastidiously maintaining the van, sweeping up the never ending torrent of dog hair that spreads quickly throughout.

For my part, I did last nights dishes up, then we plonked ourselves down outside, joined by the dogs, happy to enjoy the glowing warmth of the sunshine. I buried my head in a book, while Bec hit the Internet in search of dog friendly lodgings for us tomorrow night, on the off chance that we get stranded without access to the van. There are not too many options, but we shouldn’t find ourselves without a roof over our head.

Off course, our idleness couldn’t last, and we were soon itching to be doing something. So we laced the dogs up to their leashes and went for a stroll along by the river. We managed to find a flight of steps that led into the water and while Alvin wanted none of it, Bethany was happy to follow me down, although not to sure about getting wet. I ended up holding onto her, as she kicked her legs crazily in the water. We both ended up saturated.

Back at the van, with Bethany still sopping wet, we chained them up outside again, and busied ourselves with a bit more relaxing. I did make us some toasted ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, hoping Bec wouldn’t notice the small green spots growing haphazardly on the bread. If I wasn’t so lazy, I might have considered going down the street to pick up a fresh loaf, but figured that it was hardly worth the effort. It wasn’t like the bread was covered in green. It was literally just a couple of spots.

Green? On the toast? What green?

Following lunch, which I might add, we both survived to tell the story of, albeit with a slightly upset tummy, I would have been happy to sit for the remainder of the day, reading my book and moving no further than the kitchen to grab an occasional drink or nibble. Bec on the other hand, not being too big on the whole reading for fun thing, was soon looking around edgily for something else to occupy herself with. It was thus that I soon found myself cleaning the inside of ‘The Beast’, with a whole lot of help and direction from Bec of course.

I can’t say that it didn’t need a tidy up, the dogs seemingly leaving half their coats floating about inside after 2 weeks of constant travel. I honestly don’t know how they stay so hairy, with all of the hair that they seem to lose. Bec has come up with the theory that she is going to shave them when we get a bit further north into the warmer climes, in an effort to help them endure the heat, as well as minimise the volume of loose hair we need to cope with.

With ‘The Beast’ tidied and suitably prepared for travel, and the dogs looking on morosely, we decided to give them another promenade along the river bank. They were in their element as they strode proudly along the banks, Bethany even daring to take another plunge, not that I gave her much of a choice. Alvin on the other hand still resolutely remained a fair distance away.

Bethany relaxes following her swim.

By the time Bethany had dried off this time, the sun was going down and the afternoon was rapidly chilling down. That meant that it was almost time to withdraw to the confines of the van. Before we did, we quickly packed up all that we could from outside, pulling the awning in and getting ready for an exceptionally early morning tomorrow.

As well as doing that, we had to ready ourselves for dinner. We are going out tonight, to a nearby club, meeting up with a friend who lives frighteningly close by. We didn’t even realise that he was only 5 minutes down the road until we got in yesterday and looked at the map. As such, we gave him a call and organised to catch up over dinner.

Dinner and drinks were taken at the local Ocean Shores Country Club, where we went to what is known colloquially to the residents as ‘Tight Arse Tuesday’. That had our name all over it, and for $14.50 a head, it was as good a meal as you could expect, with a choice of over a dozen dishes. Bec and Bobby had the steak, while I went for a whole baked fish.

Bob and the Byron Bay Cowboy.

A fun couple of hours were had, before we bid our farewells and returned to the van. With our expected departure time slated to be about 6:30AM tomorrow morning, we were in for an early night.

So, that was pretty much our day. Hmm, reading back over it, despite my assurance yesterday of entertaining parry, it was quite a boring day. It was the sort of day where we sat around saying how great it was to travel for weeks, to get to somewhere as beautiful as here, only to sit in the shade of our caravan awning, doing nothing. Such is the life of a caravanner, that it made for a perfect day. And despite being sedentary for the most part, I am exhausted.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.