01-20-2025: Back to Rylstone

All too soon it was time to head back to Lou’s. We had breakfast, packed up, had lots of hugs with Tony and Liz, and said farewell. Always sad to leave Krishanda. The only good part was the weather. It was fair and sunny, much better for driving.

We headed back down the Banana Coast and encountered a bit of traffic through Coff’s Harbor. Coff’s is growing rapidly and is a holiday location, so there is a lot of traffic. A bypass around Coff’s is underway, but that will take years to complete. It is a beautiful area with a nice climate.

Clare and Margaret wanted to make a stop at the Slim Dusty museum in Kempsey, which was on the way home. Slim Dusty was a very famous and popular country music singer in Australia. He had a career of over 60 years, made over 100 albums and won loads of awards. He sang about bush life and his lyrics are really great. He married another country singer, who performed with him and managed his career. I liked hearing his music and found it nice to listen to.

There was also a small gallery in the center, Nulla Nulla, and the exhibit was photos of Aboriginal men who had been taken (stolen) by the government as children and placed in schools. It is heartbreaking to me to see and read about this abuse of children, the same as was done to American Indians in the U.S. and the indigenous people in Canada, the sole purpose being to eradicate the culture and identify of these indigenous people.

Another stop we made was in Port Macquarie, another growing city on the coast. The area is known for its beaches, its nature reserves, and its penal colony history. After having lunch, we found the town beach, a very beautiful area. We watched surfers for a while and then walked along one of the breakwaters, which was really an art gallery. All of the huge stones used in the construction of the breakwater have been painted by people, families on holiday, memorials, cute sayings, great designs and all kinds of artwork.

The town beach is just one of many, many beautiful beaches in the area. I wanted so much to get in the surf and play in the waves.

After a long afternoon on the road, we stopped in a little town, Denman, for dinner. After driving around the few streets in the town, we finally came across the Denman Hotel. It had a restaurant sign. Lou asked if they were still serving and with an affirmative answer we sat down in the dining room of the hotel. To our surprise, the menu was quite inviting. Clare, Margaret and Christine had the fish of the day, which was Atlantic Salmon, and it was very good. Lou had a nice steak and I had Spring Rolls. So with full stomachs, back in the car we went for the 90 minute drive to Rylstone.

By now, it was dark and part of the drive was up and down the craggy sandstone cliffs with hairpin turns. Margaret did a super job including avoiding a couple of kangaroos, one that was just sitting in the middle of the road as we approached.

It was nearly 10:30pm by the time we got home. We were all exhausted. But it was a great weekend at Krishanda and the long drive for me is fascinating. My head swivels from side to side not wanting to miss any of the wonderful scenery.

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