Evans Head 

Hi guys Wayno here. The post has been flicked to me again, which is good because we have had another awesome week. So last week we left the Gold Coast and made our way to stay with friends at Evans Head. Evans Head is a small town of about 2600 people located between Byron Bay and Coffs Harbour. It’s completely surrounded by National Park and has a decent river opening to the sea. This place has everything a small town needs and a terrific community to go with it. But the important thing about Evans Head is, it’s the home town of Rod and Win Hatcher.

I used to work with Rod about 10 years ago and upon retirement Rod and Win left Perth for this beautiful town. Being the social couple they are, they bought a large house with an attached, fully self-contained two bedroom flat. There was no way we were heading down the coast without dropping in, and they were very happy to see us. These guys love visitors and have set the flat up with everything you could possibly need.

We ended up spending 8 nights in Evans Head, which now looking back was a journey in itself, particularly for me. On the first night we arrived we headed out to one of Rod mates birthday party, we met a number of locals, were warmly welcomed and enjoyed a bbq with drinks into the night.

The next day Rod and Win showed us around town. Win loves to take photos, and Rod makes sure he’s pointing into the distance every time the camera is trained in his direction. Who were we not to join in..

The next day we headed off to see Ballina, Lennox Head and Byron Bay. Jo loved Byron Bay, me not so much. It’s a busy place with an almost endless stream of backpackers and hippie types kicking around. We visited Cape Byron Lighthouse and the adjacent headland which is the most eastern point of Australia, can’t miss that one.

That night it was time for Rod and I to hit the local bowling club for a few beers. I learnt that I definitely have no aptitude for bowling and that if I am to join a bowling club, I should join as a social member for the cheap beer and stay off the green!

Unlike most of the coast we have seen so far, you can swim in the ocean at Evans Head, the main beach is first class. Rod swims in the ocean at sparrows every morning and loves to get down to the beach and river at every opportunity. He also has a collection of boogie and surfboards for visitors to enjoy, so we had a great time. I even managed to put the yak in the water.

Sadly that night I developed a strong tooth ache which, even as much as I fear dentists, I couldn’t ignore. I have always hated the dentist and this was no different. I paid her for new Porsche and she gladly provided two root canals, three fillings and a headache that wouldn’t budge for a couple of days. Rod and I found a way to numb it in the evenings with Czech beer and bottles of red which was very civilised I thought! .

That aside I managed to get a few early morning pics on one day. At the same time Griffo decided a change was necessary, a nice blonde change. Shes back to the colour of our wedding day, very nice!!!

Not surprisingly Rod is also a member of the local RSL (returned services league) club and every friday night is “Mens Secret Business Night” for the sub branch group. I was lucky enough to tag along and meet some of the gang. These blokes have convinced the RSL to give them their own room overlooking the river, complete with barmaid dishing out cheap Guinness, every Friday night, where do I sign! Needless to say Rod and I stayed until stumps before heading home for a few more, now that’s living!

The next night we decided to head to the local Thai restaurant for dinner. The food was lovely, although Frankie was in fine form. No sooner had we finished our mains and a severe storm hit. Lighting was flashing and thunder cracking overhead, poor Olivia was scared senseless. Moments later in a flash, the town’s power was gone and we were fumbling around in the dark. My first thought was to our caravan back at Rods place which was sitting with windows opened etc… We ran to the car and raced home, it was bucketing down. I got drenched in the 10 metres from car to caravan, I think Rod said we got 55 mls of rain in a couple of hours, we havent seen rain like that in a while. The next day we visited “Woodburn” a small town up the road, to witness where large trees had been ripped out of the ground, roof’s ripped from houses and even a caravan sitting in a paddock on its roof, pretty powerful stuff!

Almost to cap the week off, Rod and Win took us to breakfast at the Evans Head Surf Club. It’s only open on Sunday mornings outside of school holidays and it’s not to be missed if you find yourself in the area.  Rod got the big breakfast and could barely jump over it. The food and coffee were awesome as was the scene over looking the Evans Head Main Beach. It really doesn’t get much better than this.

Unfortunately as is the case with all good things, the end comes around to soon, and today we left Evans Head for Woolgoolga. Rod and Win the whole family thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with you. Sarah is now known as “Sassy” and Olivia as “Lily” and I know these days will be forever remembered.

We have also now decided to detour from our original plan of following the coast line to Sydney. Tomorrow we will head inland to Tamworth, probably Rods country music influence. In any case until next week, enjoy your 9-5 gigs.

Cheers

W