Thursday - Day Two - Kempsey to Cessnock

Well, the rain clouds from yesterday had disappeared by morning and we set out from Kempsey under clear blue skies. The lack of rain seems to have brought all the traffic out in force - and the police. We saw two marked police cars with lights flashing at the roadside, each with a car in front of them. 'That would ruin your day' Sooz said, and it would - not quite sure how much a speeding fine is worth these days - but hopefully it stopped them (and others) from having an even worse day.

We didn't rely on the dashcam for this shot!

I am going to have to do something about the dashcam. There are two options - reset and see if that fixes the issue and/or bin it and buy another one. The problem: with a simple hand gesture you can take photos with the dashcam and a couple of times this trip so far (and it's only Day Two!) it has failed to respond - and I have missed the photos - of a wonderful Christmas tableau which we couldn't find a spot within many many kilometres to turn around and go back for, a huge front loader on the back of another semi, and some concrete bridge support beams in a 'oversize load' convoy - and that's just the ones I remember. Yes, I have already done the research for a replacement unit - the same make, which is currently on special, but I will try the reset first.

It was a good drive today - although much busier than yesterday. The hardest part of it was that we so much wanted to sing Christmas carols along the way - we kept trying to sneak them in by singing other words describing what we were seeing set to Christmas tunes. Sooz caught me a couple of times - 'Is that Silent Night?' and it was. We have done research (on Facebook and other reputable sources) about when 'Christmas' officially starts - carols, Santa shirts, exterior illumination, interior decoration - and the consensus is 1 December. Tomorrow we are going to go for broke - although I may wait until after the wedding to decorate our car Ravi with its window gels - yes, I did remember to pack them.

Log park (not it's real name)

Pub art.

We stopped for lunch in Kurri Kurri - just up the road from Cessnock where we will be staying until Monday. The Bread Basket had just closed their sandwich bar (it was a late lunch) but they had a roll which Sooz had, and I tried one of their handmade sausage rolls - which we had decided to eat in a park. We followed directions to the closest park and we would have eaten there with the kookaburra (the giant kookaburra!) but there was no shade, so we pushed on to the Log Park - across the road from a pub with a fantastic mural on its side wall. As we walked across to a covered table, I reminded Sooz to watch out on the uneven ground and she reminded me to watch out for snakes! We didn't see any. 

The house where we're staying in Cessnock is a three-bedroom cottage - big enough for the five of us. It's not the smickest house in Cessnock but it is light, bright and serviceable, with a huge kitchen, plus a couple of seating areas outside. We have grabbed the master bedroom and after short naps this afternoon, can declare the bed a tremendous success! Wayne, Wendy and Mum are just going to have to fight it out for the other beds.  

 
Dinner was at the Cessnock Leagues Club where we had been lured on the promise of Crumbed Lamb Cutlets (Sooz) and Angus Beef Sausages (me). At least the drinks were icy cold - and they had a wonderful Christmas display in the foyer! Then, tired but happy, we went back to the cottage, watched a little television, and fell into that wonderful bed!