Five Days at Casino Resort....

We came to Casino to see if it was the type of place that we could spend out twilight years once we have tired of travelling around this lovely country of ours.  Our report card would be read HR on most counts, in fact it would be difficult to find anything that we did not like about the Park except perhaps a little more relaxation on the dog rules. (but that's just us and we understand that not everyone likes dogs).

Upon arrival, the first thing that you notice is the large pull up area reserved for people booking in followed by the obvious security surrounding the Park. There are various options available for camping from un-powered to En-suite sites, drive through to private hedged sites ranging in price from $22 a night to $33 for an en-suite.  As we did not know the difference they suggested that we drive through, pick one that we liked and come back to reception after we had set up with the site number.  We did this and I am happy we did as the cheaper drive through sites were very baron with only a couple of young saplings for trees (no shade), we drove through to the older more mature section of the Park and chose a lovely long level drive through site with 2 meter hedges on either side and a short walk to the dump site and Office/Shop.

I have to say that the landscapers and ground crew do a marvelous job here even though it is dry everything looks so green and well kept and maintained.

The whole area that you can see behind the dam is an off leash dog area and Pepper loved her morning walks here.  The complex has its own sewerage treatment works and the water that is produced from this is used to water the nine hole golf course.  All other rain water run off is collected and directed to this dam for other irrigation purposes. Most of the trees that you can see have been donated by CMCA members and are labelled by the white pegs that you can see at their bases.

We decided to do the obligatory run to Nimbin to see how the hippies live and have to say we were not impressed. Everything was so dirty (even the Hippies) there was definitely an air of 'she'll be right mate' about the place. I have no problem with the relaxed lifestyle or to an extent being out of it (I have to admit to a period of this in my life), but for me, there is no excuse for filth.        

The people were very friendly and polite and several came up to ask if they could pat Pepper before they got in her face. (very unusual).

We noticed that there were people from overseas talking in their own language and enjoying the experience so it can't be all bad and it proves that being a hippy or alternate is a world wide thing.



We did a round trip to Nimbin driving from Casino to Kyogle and then up and over the range during which time I'm sure Eileen kept her eyes tightly closed (she suffers from vertigo), a shame really because the sights were lovely.  From Nimbin we returned via Lismore back to Casino a more leisurely drive .

Tuesday morning I spent a splendid morning with several of the Resort members at the well equipped Mens Shed. I was kicking myself that I did not bring my turning tools with me.

Could see myself spending lots of time in this environment.

But as life has it - all good things must come to an end - and we are off tomorrow to Woolgoolga via Grafton. A short drive and we will take our time and have a look around.


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Scarborough to Casino.

Departed Scarborough CP at 9.00am and made our way to the Gateway Motorway and on to the M1 at Rochedale following this through to Nerang (by-passing Southport as it was Indy Weekend and lots of road closures).  The Rig was towing well and we were easily able to stay with the traffic flow, although the trucks seem to be able to pass with ease. I’m not sure who invented concrete roads but I would suggest that they should have set a couple of blocks around his feet and dropped him in a creek somewhere… they are atrocious to drive on and it is a huge relief when we once again hit the bitumen.

Crossed over the QLD/NSW boarder and apart for one short toilet break at a rest stop we aimed for Ballina. Fairly good road with a few short hills but all in all, easy going.  Took the Ballina by-pass and made our way to Lismore along the Bruxner Highway. This was a test and Eileen remained relatively quiet as we made our way up hill and down dale on a one lane road with lots and lots of sharp slow speed bends and quite a few little hamlets dotted along the way with 50K speed limits. I have to say that our Rig handled the test well and came out with flying colours. I now have extreme confidence in our road handling capabilities and this has to be a good thing. From Lismore through to Casino was an easy run and we arrived at our destination at 1pm.

264k averaging 13.71lt/100k or 7.3k/lt or 20.6 mpg.  Not bad for a 5.5 tonne rig.

Both Eileen and I have been looking forward to visiting the CMCA (Now Big4) Caravan and Motorhome Resort for some time and so far we have not been disappointed. Set up camp and took puppy for a walk to have a quick look see and then back home for a quick afternoon nap. Note to self:  Must remember to break journey into two parts and organise stop and rest areas otherwise 4 hours of continuous driving is a little taxing for this little vegemite.

Woke up this morning to the lovely serenade of the Currawongs and the other bird life that surrounds our camp site, I think I’m in Heaven. 

  

Eileen looks really happy and relaxed here and I hope I can keep this smile on her face for a long time to come.