Sunday, 12th September 1937

“Weather still wet.  Played golf in afternoon.  Went up in bows in evening.  Lovely night and so to bed on deck.”

Sunday, 12th September 2010

Here’s another story of serendipity that has followed this project and obviously continues to do so:  We continued on up the Pacific Highway after staying at Nambucca Heads overnight in an ocean view cabin at the Headland Tourist Park – beautiful spot to stay (see pic below).  Just past Urunga there’s a left turn onto Waterfall Way – it takes you to the rainforest at Dorrigo – but before you get there you come to Bellingen, an old timber cutting town, (see 2nd pic below) a character laden place with magic in the air by the beautiful River Bellinger. What else do you do on a long trip early in the morning except scout for a decent coffee place?!  Vintage Espresso looked different to the normal modern caff.  The coffee part resides in a vintage shop, so the furniture you sit on is for sale.  The shop is large and airy with a moulded patterned ceiling which adds to the unique atmosphere.  The special of the day was Toasted Banana Bread accompanied by Ricotta and Honey.  It came served on a rectangular vintage sandwich plate (decorated with roses and edged with gold) a small pot of ricotta with the honey drizzled around the base.  It was scrumptious and the coffee was great!  Definitely highly recommended.  While waiting for this memorable breakfast, I was drawn to a trolley filled with secondhand books.  Out jumped a title in gold lettering on navy blue cloth – “RAAF Over Europe” edited by Frank Johnson with an introduction by Winston Churchill and published in November 1946.  I gleefully picked it out and had a quick flick through, then passed it to David who got stuck into reading it.  After meandering around the shop looking at all the unusual bits and pieces and browsing through some other great old books, I sat down and David said “You’ll never guess what?”  The radar went up immediately!  Inside the book is a page size photo of Group Captain H.I. Edwards, VC., DSO., DFC., with the quote “… the highest possible standard of gallantry and determination”.  He was one of Robbie’s mates who also went over on the Strathnaver in July 1936.  Needless to say, dear reader, the book was bought.  Who would have thought that was waiting to be found in Bellingen of all places so many miles from Adelaide?

View from Headland Tourist Park, Nambucca Heads, NSW

Bellingen