Lake Awoonga - Hopefully the bad weather won't come this far north.

I finished the last blog post with the comment...about the weather. Well, was that tempting fate or what? We settled into our new camp in a  quiet camp perched high above Lake Awoonga... this is the view from our ensuite window!

Lake Awoonga from the back window of the van.

As we set up, the sun was warm, a kookaburra was perched in the nearby tree watching us, and there was no wind. We opened up the awning, set up our camp chairs and tables... including my grandmother's lace cloth that we take camping. Some nibblies and a wine as darkness fell and all was right in our camping world. We kept a check on the weather at home via BOM on the laptop as the east coast low approached Nambucca.


Yep.. Guess who was camped in the van in the area that got 'incredible' rain. And wind. And thunder. And lightning. We were up from about 1.30am trying to secure the awning and worrying about the weather. Would have been interesting in the old camper trailer!
Next morning was clean up and dry out!

Drying out the next day

In the afternoon we went for a long walk and I was pleased when the Fit Bit buzzed in at 10,000 steps for the day but it always gives me a fright! The scenery around the lake is beautiful and there is hardly anyone here. We didn't pass one person on our walk around the top of the lake but were intrigued by the sound of bagpipes coming from the recreation area... the mystery was when we got there, there was no one there! 

This view reminded me of Lake Taupo in New Zealand..minus the snow.

The clouds were building in the west and the promise of a pretty sunset beckoned.  We set off for our second walk just before five and Mother Nature delivered.

I experimented with different settings on the camera and got some fabulous shots.

Gorgeous sky... we should have realised what this meant for the weather through the night!

Sinister sky ...and wind up high

Someone else held the camera for once

Sun behind the clouds

Pretty sky over the lake

The colours got deeper after the sun had set

So another early night snug in our van until about eleven o clock when the strong winds hit. Gale force winds of over forty knots shook the van and threatened to tear the awning from the side of the van. After considerable debate, and great reluctance on my part, we ventured out into the wind and the dark (in my fluffy dressing gown!) and pulled the awning down. A couple of vans over from us were having the same problem and Ian went across to help when ours was safe.

The three vans were safe and secure but not so the three young men who had set up camp along from us. They had set up a Quick Shade Gazebo over their swags, and when we saw it at dawn, it was shredded and all the metal was twisted out of shape. They packed up and broke camp just after the sun was up and we tried to catch up on two night's sleep.

We spent a leisurely day sitting in the sun  reading, and then headed for for a short drive along the lake and the Boyne River. Unfortunately the weather and the wind has meant no barramundi fishing this trip.

Tomorrow we will break camp and head for Cape Palmerston...I am not going to say anything about the weather and tempt fate this time!

More from the north soon...