The morning of my departure to Iluka NSW, I was up early giving me plenty of time to eat breakfast, finish packing the last things into my bag, enjoy an early coffee then hit the road by 8:30am. It took me awhile to get through the Sydney suburbs, the GPS taking me through a back lane to avoid the congestion on the main roads. Then north-west through Silverwater and Pennant Hills, a familiar route when I was doing my Mothercraft business. It didn’t take me long before I was out of the suburbs and on the M1 heading north. Then clear skies and smooth sailing all the way to Tuncurry. I ate the snacks I had brought and made three urgent stops along the way, arriving just after midday. It had only taken me 4½ hours driving, with another 4½ hours the following day to reach Iluka.
Now in Tuncurry, I unpacked a few things, taking some gear for the night upstairs to Jen and Ralf’s room. Their house mate was away so I had the place to myself, which was just how I like it although I gave myself a scare the first time I shut the main door. I thought I had left the only key inside and there was no one around to help me out! Praise the Lord I had put it into my pocket for safe keeping just in case I forgot to pick it up before leaving. From then on I locked it away in the locked box beside the front door.
I left the unit and walked to the closest supermarket where I was able to buy five chicken pieces and a small bag of baby spinach. I ate this while being watched over by an expectant maggie down near the shoreline of the estuary. I then followed the river, under the bridge connecting Tuncurry to Foster and continued towards the sea, finally coming to the spot called The Rock Pool which is netted off for swimming. The following morning I jogged along this foreshore to the pool to take a quick dip. It wasn’t as cold as the Indian Ocean but it did have a strong undercurrent.
While here I chatted to the only other swimmer, saying I was staying at my sister’s place although she wasn’t at home. I told her I was going to Iluka to stay with another sister who had just bought a place there. She asked if it was The Green Room, I said I didn’t know. She then asked if my sister was using it as a potter studio. It had to be Kat, she was the family potter, taking after Mum. What a coincidence! She was a lovely lady, as when I told her I had forgotten to bring a towel, she lent me a spare she had in the car. What a blessing. From here I jogged back to the unit for my breakfast, packed the car, posted the blog update, contact Sofia who wanted to meet me at Kat’s place in Iluka, locked up the unit and left.
I picked up the M1 once again heading north. It wasn’t as sunny as the previous day with occasional showers but it was still pleasant. More snacks to keep me going and keeping my eyes on the rest spots along the way for emergency stops. It always seems I’m busting before I can find one. The previous day I pulled into a service station just as a bus load of Chinese tourist also pulled in. Thank God there were extra amenities which were unlocked especially for us as the line to the woman’s was too long!
The rural countryside was lush and green with paddocks of cows. As I was drawing near to one paddock I noticed what I thought were cows with white socks but as I drew closer I notice there were too many socks and not enough legs! As I got even closer the socks turned out to be white ducks following the cows to catch the insects as the cows stirred the grass.
I arrived in Iluka at 3:15pm. Found Kat’s enormous new place but went through the wrong entrance. Her new home has a café entrance and a private home entrance all of which she now owns. It was lovely seeing Kat after so long. I’d seen her last in Cairns when I visited in 2021. Her new abode was above a commercial building which also contains the café. It is a three bedroom place with a large kitchen, lounge and dining area with back and front porch. One of the bedrooms she has converted into an office.
Not long after my arrival, Sofia and Alex arrived. It was lovely to see them again. They have a coffee shop called Daze at the jetty in Coffs Harbour. I would have liked to have called in to see them but they were in the Gold Coast when I had passed by. Instead they called in to Kat’s place en route home. We had a lovely catch up before they headed home, then Kat and I sat down for a very late lunch for me and an early dinner for Kat at 5pm. Kat’s cooking is always delicious, we had Malaysian curry and rice made from scratch. After this I unpacked my minimal items, chatted with Kat before we took Poppy, Kat’s dog, out for a walk along the river. It was already dark but enough moonlight to see where we needed to avoid the puddles. Just before turning around to come back it started to rain, not heavy but enough for us to get wet. Kat gave me some dry clothes as I hadn’t brought a change of clothes so as to keep the weight of my carryon below 10kg, believing they would let me take it into the train carriage even though it was a tad larger than the required size.
Kat and I both don’t sleep well and are both early birds, so the next day, we decided to leave early for Mullumbimby. I needed to return Sarah’s car. We left just after 7am, Kat taking her car to meet me at Sarah’s home. I stopped off for petrol and then closer to town a quick loo stop so although I had left first Kat was there before me. I’d found out later the GPS had taken me on a scenic route which was beautiful, instead of through the town.
After a coffee with Sarah and her husband, Kat drove us to the markets. Wow! This took me back to my hippy days. There was lots of fresh produce grown locally and of course organically and lots of alternative-lifestyle families. Kat stocked up on all her needs before we headed to Brunswick Heads on the coast. Here we were meeting Lee and her family whom Kat knew in Melbourne, they were up on holiday. We had lunch here at a Vietnamese Restaurant and a walk along the beach before heading back to Mullumbimby for a supermarket top up. Then the one and a half hour drive, through rain showers, back to Iluka arriving around 5pm. It had been a long day and we were both exhausted so had an early night.
In the morning, as it was getting light around 6am, I decided I should make the effort to go for a jog even though the rain was sprinkling off and on. I took my phone so as to know roughly how far I’d gone plus if I wanted to take photos. It was so quiet at this time of the day, a few walkers and people going to their boats, I presume for fishing. There was a bit of a walking/riding trail that joined the road in places. I went as far as the boat slip ramp then turned back arriving quite wet but not sodden. It had been worth it, I felt revived.
The rest of my time in Iluka was mostly spent at the house with short outings during the day. Most mornings Kat took Poppy for a run on the beach. I went the first morning but then after my jog the following days I decided I would rather stay at the house and do my exercises. Both Kat and I then do our Duolingo language studies in the morning before breakfast. Kat is learning Japanese and I’m studying Indonesian and patching up my Thai through another app as Duolingo doesn’t have Thai. The first day at home we did a heap of washing. I needed some clean clothes to take away with me, my jeans hadn’t been washed since I left home! Praise God I was able to wear Kat’s clothes while I was with her.
During these home days I either did inside things or worked in the garden. Some of my inside jobs were: cleaning the stains off Kat’s kitchen chairs, cleaning her coffee machine and replacing the seal and fixing the hole in my jeans pocket. Kat cleaned her silver candle holders of all the caked on wax, knitted and drew her little gratitude cards plus cooked some lovely meals for us including fresh venison; the deer are considered to be vermin here in Australia. Then if the weather was fine we worked assisting each other in the garden. I dug up the weeds one afternoon while Kat dug up the good buffalo grass to put in a patch where she wanted just grass. The rest of the back area which was not the cement driveway she wanted to make into vegetable and herb garden with stepping stones from the back steps to the carport. The following day between downpours we cut back the neighbour’s Murraya paniculata or Mock Orange bush which had grown so tall it was shading Kat’s solar panels. We took it in turns to use the reciprocating saw Jen had left for us or the hand saw. The blade on the reciprocating saw was very loose but Kat’s neighbour was able to tighten it with an allan key. Some of the branches we cut off were over a metre long. That day we were hoping to go for a walk in the rain forest but the rain didn’t ease up till the evening.
The day before I left I went for my last jog and found some field mushrooms (not the Beef Wellington kind) and some passionfruit which had dropped off into the lane. Kat cooked the mushrooms for her breakfast and I had some on toast. The passionfruit we had in the afternoon. Not bad for a morning foraging. We did some more weeding, taking my back into consideration as it was really playing up after the last weeding session. We also went for a walk in the Heritage listed Rain Forest which was beautiful. There was a large very black lizard on the side of the trail which remained there till we returned the same way. There were a variety of toadstools, including some bright red ones and so many birds. Walking back we carried on through the town to the fish and chip shop where we sat outside in the sunshine eating before wandering back via the shopping centre where I bought a nail brush for Kat. That morning I had also bought her a small collapsible stool for her to use in the garden. A small token of my thanks for hosting me.
On our return Kat fell asleep in her lounge chair while I started sorting things out for my train journey the following day and trying to complete my Working With Children’s update online. After a few attempts I gave up as it was too late to call them. By this time Kat was awake and started cooking fried rice for herself and for me to take on the train for lunch.
I had really enjoyed my time with Kat, visiting different towns, exploring Iluka and helping her in the garden and with things in her home. We certainly had lots of quality time together. It was so nice to relax after my hectic schedule in Sydney, which would resume on my return, with so much to do before flying out to Thailand on the 29th May.
Photos: 1. Pleroma mutabile or Tibouchina Noelene 2. Penguins Tuncurry 3. Kat at the markets Mullumbimby 4. Drive back to Iluka 5. Kat in her garden
Prayer & Praise Points:
Praise the Lord for His continuing grace, providing leading, guidance and protection through all my travels in NSW.
Praise Him for Vi-Lay’s generosity and hospitality, opening her home and heart to me during my stay in Sydney.
Praise the Lord I had a wonderful time with Kat, exploring Iluka and helping around the house and garden.
Please pray for my journey to Thailand, this Friday 29th May. Pray that the Lord will give me favour with the immigration and grant me a 60 day visa.
Pray that the Lord will use me to be a blessing to others while I’m in Thailand and that I can continue to practise and learn Thai.
Pray for the Lord’s presence, peace and strength as I travel around Thailand from Bangkok to Mae Sot and then on to Chiang Mai on the 11th June.
Please continue to pray for my Indonesian visa which is being held up as I’m unable to login to the portal to make payment.
Continue to pray for world peace and countries dealing with major disasters, wars and the unbelievable hardships they cause. Pray for all those caught up in the suffering these events have caused. Pray that God’s peace may be known by all people especially for those who live with despair, that they will find hope in Christ Jesus.
Please keep my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat, in your prayers. Pray that they will come to know the love of Jesus.