The very first visitors to the block after we purchased it were my brother -in - law and his wife . They had been residents in Kempsey several years before , when he had been an agricultural officer working with the CSIRO . They jumped at the chance to revisit an old stamping ground , where two of their children had been born.

There was as yet no house on the block , so we all stayed in motels in town.We were anxious to call upon his knowledge of the rural scene to help with the possible siting of the dam , and I also took advantage of his presence to identify some of the native trees . There are a considerable number of different kinds of gumtrees , and he was able to help out with the naming of differing kinds . He and I both selected the identical spot for the dam, though when it was finally dug , the contractor placed it a short distance below our choice . Our site was a good one , but the final site had a better base .

After the requisite tour of the twenty-five acres we were able to visit many of the places known to them , and had a lovely afternoon at Crescent Head with a meal at the local RSL Club . It was also a chance to have a flutter on the poker machines , where we met up with an old acquaintance of theirs .

After the house was built we were in a much better situation to entertain , and to have people there for extended periods . My father had come up with me to see the place while my wife stayed with my mother , who was approaching blindness at the time . However , we were able to get them both up there together at a slightly later date , and were able to satisfy my mother's great desire to travel about , by taking them to various seaside places , such as SouthWest Rocks , Hat Head , Crescent Head , Stuart's Point and so on .

When the wife and I were there together we also used to make frequent trips out and about , exploring some of the strangely named places , names mostly of Aboriginal origin . We were upbraided on one occasion when we asked about Bellimbopinni , accenting the syllable bop instead of the correct pin . We did not bother to ask about Yarrahappinni ! That , by the way , was somewhat of a disappointment when we made our way to the mountain lookout , to be met only with a vast expanse of mist below us . But we saw a lot of the rest of the North Coast at other times.

We were able to make quite a few trips down to Wauchope , where the son and his family live , and of course they were able to make days trips up to see us . Port Macquarie is close enough to both places , and we dropped in there often enough , especially if we had to put a visitor on a plane at the airport there. One evening , while we were staying overnight in Wauchope , we managed to overshoot a turn off , and finished up rather a long way down the Pacific Highway before we could get back to the alternate route to Wauchope via the Bago Bago Road.

Another of my co-lecturers from Wagga and his wife also visited . I know they enjoyed it , but I fear that travel to rural parts of Australia might not have been quite as entertaining for them as their frequent world travels were .

The one complete stranger who stayed there was a workmate of my daughter's husband . He and she were auditing a local branch office of the Social Services. Since she was a lady , it was everyone on best behaviour , but she fitted in well , and being a bit of a fitness freak , she was out early and away on a run before Bruce and I stirred . It saved the pair a lot of living expenses . I am still the object of much amusement because I prepared a huge quantity of kebabs for grilling over the outside fire. I was still eating them long after they left . I had a carnivorous week of it .

The Sydney members of our family were always most welcome . My wife has three sisters as well as the brother , and they and their husbands were all keen to see our acquisition . Her youngest sister brought another relative as well , who was much taken with the fact that Kempsey was the home of a music festival , and presented me with a violently coloured tee shirt advertising it .

The next eldest sister and her husband were also highly impressed with the place. I was there alone at the time they arrived , as my wife was still nursing , so we had a fairly quiet time . I think they most enjoyed the simpler elaxation.

The third sister and her husband stayed with us the longest . He was a Kiwi , and I fear , much addicted to what he called a wee ween and it was nothing to get up in the early hours of the morning and find him sipping away at the white wine . The sister was keen to try out the Kempsey golf course, particularly since we all knew that there was a mob of kangaroos that had taken up permanent residence around the thirteenth hole . I personally always approached that mob with care , since the leader was a rather large red , with a fearsome set of toenails .

Unfortunately for the brother in law it was a very hot day, and the third and fourth holes were deep in a gulley , where it was close to sauna conditions. After completing a short hole down there , he decided that the club house was much cooler and far more congenial to his tastes , so he trudged off up the hill and left the rest of us to sweat it out .

Apart from the kangaroos , he was really fascinated by the flock of black cockatoos that lived among my casuarinas .

Both my daughters spent time up there , Vanessa the younger , more than her sister Alyson . The latter is married to a Greek lad , and one must always remember that Greeks are a big friendly clan. Therefore , their son's godparents went up with them to enjoy a break from the city . They too all toured around the countryside , and one of their days was spent fishing . They caught some , and froze a few . The only problem with that was that when they left , they left behind a small redspot whiting in the freezer . I came up a couple of days after they had left , and had the unhappy task of sterilising the freezer . Michael has not been allowed to live that down .

Long before that , when we were looking after young Nicholas their son up there , it was his great delight to be taken for our usual afternoon stroll along the ridge road . Again , kangaroos were a sight seeing treat for him . Since he was young and it was often warm , we took him in a stroller and pushing a stroller along a gravel surfaced country road was a great contribution to our fitness . Nicholas always kept an eye out for Glenys , the neighbour , who often presented him with some small titbit .

The visits paid by Vanessa , Bruce and their two sons are another tale .