I was fortunate in that my lecturing commitments gave me a fair amount of free time on Friday . Not so for the wife , who was just finishing a long set of nursing night shifts .

However , the chance to check out what looked like an excellent deal needed to be taken instantly . Therefore I packed what was required for the weekend into the back of our small Datsun , and waited for her to arrive home on the Saturday morning . After a quick breakfast and shower she was loaded into the car and off we went .

Her stamina surprised me , as she remained awake for most of the long trip from Sydney to Kempsey

Once there we booked into a motel , and I suggested we wander down into the main part of the town for two things ; first to get a cup of coffee and a snack , and second to locate the offices of the real estate agent who had advertised the hundred acres . On the way down it became very obvious that the wife was tiring badly by now , and when I noticed a different estate agent on the way to the original agent's I left her for a moment to check whether there were any blocks that they had available , within our price range .

I was met by a personable gent , who told me they had a couple of places that he could show us , and so I made an arrangement to look them over on the next morning , Sunday . Then I rejoined the wife who was wandering , a trifle dazed and disoriented , out on the pavement . She had missed the fact that I had ducked off to the side , and was struggling along and alone to find the original agent . I joined her , and we were able to get a rough map of the way to the advertised block , some forty miles west of Kempsey , near a village called Taylor's Arm .

That aroused some interest , as the village is centred around The Pub With No Beer , a place made immortal by one of our country and western singers .

Nevertheless , we had made an earlier appointment , and next morning we joined Guy , the agent , and were taken out into the country, to see what he had to offer

. We drove west along the Macleay River's northern banks , with the hills to our right , enjoying the scenery .The block Guy showed us was quite steep at the back , and he told us that if we climbed to the top of the ridge we would be able to sight the sea. That was a pleasure we eschewed , but at the same time we were impressed with the view afforded in the other direction of the river flats across the road , and the river itself . Another block not too far away was less impressive.

The last block we were shown meant a trip back to the southern side of Kempsey , then out slightly west again , and finally along three gravelled kilometers of ridge road . This block was much more densely bushed , with a huge grey gum standing on the road edge , near the Queensland style gate by which we entered . There was a view of distant mountains to the west , and though the block was steep , the first meters were clear , flattish and well grassed . This block was a trifle more expensive than we would have wished.

We told the agent we would consider what we had been shown , then had lunch and proceeded out past the first blocks we had seen , to find the hundred acre block that we had originally seen advertised ,

That was a task that finally overcame any resolution to see it that we had till now possessed . We must have got within the general vicinity of the block, but it was by dint of taking the Datsun up hills and down gullies , on bad tracks through heavy casuarina scrub . Down in one gully we were able to inquire directions of a group of alternative lifestylers who were establishing a corduroy crossing a small creek , but the directions were vague enough to finally discourage us completely . So it was back to the pub , where there was beer on tap . We had an ale so we could say we had drunk at the famous watering hole , and departed , not entirely disappointed with the failure to find the block.

By now it was getting late in the evening , so , on a sudden inspiration we decided to take a look at the last place Guy had shown us.

We pulled in as the sun dropped very low over the distant blue mountains , in a beautiful blue toned evening that was quiet and still except for the evening chorus of a multitude of small birds , ranging from wrens and finches to black cockatoos , parrots and kookaburras

That was when the decision was made , and the Dondingalong block was set to become our rural retreat , a decision we , but more especially I , have never regretted .