12 March, 2011 - Two Shores Holiday Village, The Entrance, NSW

What a strange name for a place; The Entrance. How many entrances to harbours are there in this country? I know that we have crossed at least two today, and no doubt there are others.

We have had a serendipitous day as will be revealed! And it is closing positively, no rain and the crickets alive and well outside.

We left Belmont this morning after assuring our neighbours that we were not heading away on their account. I am sure they moved swiftly to take our place, or rather their place, so that they could complete their ten day break in the routine they look forward to whenever they come up the coast.

The Pacific Highway continues south across the entrance to Lake Macquarie, to Swansea and on down the north reaching peninsula along a high ridge. We came on down toward the Central Coast with two large power stations in view, the Munmorah and Colongra, both beside the Munmorah Lake, the first of the next string of lakes that make up this region know as the Central Coast. We stopped in on the side of the Budgewoi Lake to have a cup of coffee and found ourselves in a tight little park made for Smartcars, not landcruisers and caravans. And then on down to the entrance of Lake Tuggerah, called imaginatively, The Entrance. We were in search of the Information Centre, once again, and found instead ourselves in the middle of a festive celebration with country and western singers and bands busking on the streets and playing in various “auditoriums”. It turns out that this weekend is the11th annual Coast Country Music Festival. Most of the events during the day are free, those events in the evening are either held in pubs where there is free entry but an obligation to buy refreshments or in the Cinema.

We spent a couple of hours in the morning enjoying the entertainment and then decided to stay on to enjoy the whole weekend. After lunch we crossed back across the entrance and booked into this caravan park for two nights and then, once set up, returned to the festival, where we stayed until late afternoon.

Our camp is right on the shore of Lake Tuggerah, a lovely posse. We may walk in to the town tomorrow; we figure it is about 2.5 kilometres away and the walk along the shore does look lovely. We will see how the mood takes us after breakfast.