Here We Go Again - Chapter 3 - Coffs Harbour to Lennox Head

We cannot leave early as we need to await the arrival of the caravan repair man. The traffic noise overnight was relentless. It woke me a few times. 

The repair man from Caravan Fix was right on the appointed time and the reception let him in. Now as well as the broken plug that we discussed with them, he now needs to look at the 12V point for the CPAP and I would like to quiz him on the brake alarm issue and my thoughts as to its cause. He quickly dismantles and replaces the power point on the outside of the van and we have external power again. That was easy when you know what you are doing. 

The 12V point is inspected as well as the jack. He is not convinced the point is the issue and gets me to plug the jack into the other point on the outside of the van, put there for outside TV watching. It works all OK and upon coming back into the van it also works. User Error I suspect he was thinking but too nice to say. 

Now to the brakes. My idea was the release mechanism may be vibrating loose. He thinks not and tests the break away and believes there is nothing wrong there as the automatic brakes engage as evidenced by the brake lights illuminating. We reassemble the breakaway and he leaves with a smile – his work done. 

Eager to get going, we pack up and head to the boom gate. But wait, what is this thumping noise? The automatic braking system has not reset properly. We turn as if to do the block to head north and park in front of the police station to investigate. There is nothing outwardly visible. We call Caravan Fix again and luckily their factory is only a street away. It will be possible to dive to it, which we do. 

Steve the owner is waiting for us with one of his trusted employees. They quickly ascertain the EBS (Electronic Braking System) unit has failed and will require replacing. This is not something they can do as they are not “accredited”. Steve does know a sister business in Maroochydore which does have the accreditation, rings Marlin the owner and lets him know we are “on the way” and that we will be talking to him soon enough. In the meantime the EBS is disengaged (and the brake alarm stops). They get me to drive around the block just to check I am comfortable with the EBS being disengaged and counsel us on the potential consequences of it being off. 

We drive away from the factory more than happy with the service they have provided, and in relative silence now the braking alam is not sounding at the very hint of touching the brakes. There is a text from Jeff from last night chastising me for how badly he feels (having to go to

work). I know I left him with at least half a bottle which apparently evaporated. He wishes us well and can’t wait for us to return at some stage in the future 

Out of Coffs Harbour and settling back into 98kph we call and speak to Marlin at length. Their business closes at 1.00pm on Fridays so we are going to have to get more than a wriggle on tomorrow morning to give them enough time to inspect the issues before heading off for the weekend. It may be that we will have to return on Monday should they not be able to sort it out in the time they will have. Not a problem, we are still expecting to be in the area until Monday. 

The road out of Coff Harbour runs past a number of farms where vast tracts of land have been covered with netting, I suspect to keep aerial pests away from the fruit. A close up look sees there is nothing but long grass under the netting at several spots. Is this simpolya time of fallow (where the land is left to naturally rejuvenate or is there a more sinister reason for the non-use. Times are difficult there is no doubt. Has Covid taken its toll on these producers or some other impact making the farms not viable or as I suspect given the multitude of areas in a similar state and given the time of the year, running into winter, the land is simply having a rest. 

I suspect that is how observations and ill informed assumptions can lead to stories that create mass hysteria to which knee jerk reactions are made – but we wont go down that rabbit holde just yet, lest I end up having a dig at government policy. 

I get Robyn to take some pictures of the mighty river crossings here, the sugar cane and will send one in particular to a small group of friends of me, pointing out the window (photobombing if you will) with the caption – “look, some scenery”. The Clarence and the Richmond here have crossings that are much different to last time we were here. Massive concrete structures built above the floodplain approaching the rivers, then rising up high over the river (it must be a structural thing as last time I checked with my physics trained daughter, water kept its own level) in majestic evidence of the river and allowing the budding photographer to snap a shot of the water from on high. 

Rather than driving through Ballina proper we skirt around and come in from the north to the Reflections Caravan Park at Lennox Head. Slowing down, that damn alarm blares again. Upon getting to the park it stops as Robyn opens her door. Must remember that for the next Toyota dealer to look at. 

Finally plonked into our site here at Lennox, Silver Leader and Rose who had been up the street shopping, stick their noses in the van and say hello. Forbsy is off seeing friends and comes back later. We need to get going early in the morning to make Maroochydore and another van repairer so we will head off before the others. Silver Leader has booked a van park there but has doubled the time we are going to be in the vicinity as we have a special farm stay planned and he has mucked up the time we announced we would be arriving. No problem I am sure it will work itself out.

Tonight is a special one as we get to dine with an old friend. Jon Dale from Small Fish Business Consulting, a guy we know and respect for his coaching qualities and valued friendship. He has picked a restaurant in Byron Bay he suggests will be a great place to meet and we head off to rendezvous at 6.00pm. 

We arrive a little early and Jon is already there. Unfortunately his partner Michelle is unable to join us because of work commitments. It is great to meet up with him again after all these years. We owe Jon so much! It was under his coaching we coined the phrase Not Your Ordinary Accountant for Banks Consultancy after we had been through what was known as a search for your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Ideals that we saw as “normal” for being what I believed an accountant should be, he believed truly went missing in most accounting practices. 

We mused about how accountants believed they were business advisors but truly really only focussed on compliance (preparing statutory returns etc) and those who tried to act as business consultants missed the point altogether. He paid me a great compliment when suggesting there are simply no accountants like what we tried to bring. 

Now focussed on tradies and structuring their businesses to maximise profits, he has found his niche. Prosperity is befalling him, of which we are most thankful. He deserves his success given the success he was able to bring us and his other clients. 

I was reminded of him “throwing out the text book” where other business coaches may have tried to simply “read the book” to us. Tailored the coaching to what we needed after seeing our business model was such that it needed guidance not fixing. Jon is and always has been one of the “good guys”. One time president of Pittwater Business Limited (where I first met him), I followed in his footsteps in that organisation, joined a BNI group (becoming president at one stage) and became president of my Rotary Club (for 2 consecutive terms) based on his push to be more than I seemed to be. 

He noticed the drive in the face of inbred ideals and drew them out, not only in a business sense but in the product that we were. We owe much of what we have today because of the direction provided by Jon Dale and Small Fish Business Coaching. BHis tradie clients I suspect are making better profits and enduring better cash flows under his coaching 

Unfortunately the conversation gets to his tomorrow. A funeral of a good friend who had taken his own life. This had made Jon angry at the actions of his friend and the conflict it was creating in him to wax lyrically at the funeral when deep down he is down right angry. Suicide is a cowards way out. There is always hope. Even in my darkest days (and there have been some along the way) there is always what will my children present me, surprise me or otherwise make me proud – but thats me. 

Jon’s family are his everything, as is ours. He talks in ever glowing terms of their accomplishments. The evening ends way too early as we have an early start. The meal which

the restaurant carved up on a chopping board so everyone could enjoy all the meals ordered was superlative but still only ancillary to the conversation. 

We will be in the Byron Bay area again in the not too distant future and given the reasons may be a little stressful, I am sure some time with the Dale’s may be in order to reduce the impacts on us.