Old Bar

 28 February - 2 March 2025

We left Fingal Bay after three lovely days with old friends and made our way north to Old Bar. There had been reports of Aleutian terns on the beach so we had to go and investigate. We checked in to the caravan park and then went in search of.

We drove to a spot a little way north then walked about 1½ kilometres up the beach to the sand spit. There were some birds about but it was very windy making it a less than pleasant outing - and, although there were terns, there was no sign of the one we were looking for.

Vehicles drive on the beach which is home to shore birds

We decided to drive up to Harrington the next morning in search of another bird - a South Island Pied Oyster Catcher. We left quite early but the sun was hot by the time we arrived at the beach - and again - no luck with the bird. Later in the afternoon we drove out to Manning Point in search of more birds, and for another walk along the beach in the wind. 

We always keep a close eye on the weather and this time we knew we had to be very careful as there was a cyclone brewing in the Coral Sea that was predicted to make a very southerly track, resulting in some rainy weather along the NSW coast. We figured we could go to Harrington for a night then we would head inland for a few days to wait it out. We had the added complication that the zip on the camper was playing up again and we were having trouble getting it done up - we'd have to try to get that fixed soon.

Finally Heading Home–New South Wales

Old Bar
18 – 19 March 2019

We drove into Sydney from Kandos and picked up the camper trailer from the Cub factory mid-morning and headed north towards the Pacific Motorway. Mick wanted to visit Old Bar, just out of Taree, as there were reports of migratory shore birds birds he wanted to see (what a surprise!). We knew it would be a long day, but hoped we could get that far. Our timing was spot on, getting into Sydney behind the morning rush and heading out in the middle of the day when the traffic was reasonably light. We found a rest area on the motorway where we had stopped before so had our picnic lunch and set off again.

A small group of Aleutian terns has been seen regularly at Old Bar so I thought it would be worth a look to see if I could find them. I did find some terns but they were on a sand bar in the river mouth and a long off. Sadly it was a waste of a walk. Mick

Although it was a very long day, we made it to Old Bar in good time. Because we had to completely strip the trailer of most of our belongings for the repair, we had the unenviable task of putting everything back where it belonged. We set up camp in the caravan park and started to replace everything that had been taken out then headed out for a drive towards the birdy spot. There is no vehicular access closer unless you want to drive on the beach, which we didn’t, so we had a long walk to get to the lagoon. There were storm clouds in the distance so we kept an eye on them as we walked a couple of kilometres up the beach. Mick was hopeful but had some difficulty distinguishing the different shore birds at such a distance. 
 

Pacific Golden Plover

Bar-tailed Godwit in breeding plumage.

As the clouds became darker and the BoM radar showed an approaching storm we had to make haste on our return to the car – we even ran for short distances fearing we would be caught in the storm. Fortunately we were able to get back to the car, and the caravan park before the rain started. In the end it wasn’t as severe as we had expected but we did appreciated the indoor camp kitchen facilities to cook and eat our dinner.

Heading off in the morning we decided on the short drive to Bonny Hills just south of Port Macquarie. We have stayed at Bonny Hills a number of times and it has become a favourite and as a bonus it is only a short drive to the Sea Acres Rainforest Centre.

Bonny HIlls
19 – 20 March 2019

We stayed on an ensuite site and enjoyed the comparative luxury for our overnight stay at the beachside caravan park. We used this stop to restock, finish re-arranging all our gear and to relax a bit after such a long day the previous day. It was even warm enough for a swim! We did call in to Sea Acres but the resident owl hadn’t been seen for a while so we gave it a miss this time.

Ballina
20 – 21 March 2019

A return visit to Flat Rock is a must when on the north coast of New South Wales. Once again we decided on a one night stay at Flat Rock Tent Park. This is a nice camp ground, a short walk from the beach and Flat Rock which abounds with shore birds. Caravans aren’t permitted in this council controlled campsite but there was an assortment of camper trailers, tents and a couple of camper vans. The sites are unpowered which suited us nicely. Because it wasn’t crowded and we were there fairly early, we were able to select our own site. Of course Mick spent a lot time down on the beach trying to photograph the birds.

Surfing Dolphins.

Ruddy Turnstone coming into breeding plumage.

Sanderlings

Silver Gull

Little Tern

Another Sanderling, they're one of my favourites.

 We left Ballina and headed north again, intending to stay at Tamborine Mountain. Instead we ended up in Kingaroy.