Australian Sojourn – April-May 2026

Part 3: Guruk

I’ve spent the last four-and-a-half days in Guruk (aka Port Macquarie) on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Here with me during this time was my older brother, two of my four nephews, and my two great-nephews. They had all traveled up from Melbourne on Monday, April 13. My younger brother and his family, who live just south of Guruk, also joined us on a number of occasions. The primary purpose of our gathering in Guruk was to spend time with our mum/grandma/great-grandma (right).

Although she continues to make a good recovery from the stroke she experienced last April (just a day after my return to the U.S. after a month-long visit), my mum has moved into the assisted-living hostel that is part of the retirement village in Port Macquarie that’s been her home since 2013 – first with dad and then, after his passing in 2019, on her own.

As well as spending time with mum/grandma/great-grandma, my family also enjoyed time at the beach and a visit to Billabong Zoo, “Port Macquarie Koala and Wildlife Park.”

Above: Four generations are pictured in this photo – my mum, her eldest son Chris (my brother), Chris’s eldest son Ryan and third son Mitch, and Ryan’s two sons Ramy and Jake.

NEXT: Gunnedah

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Last Days in Australia (July 2025)
• Family Time in Guruk (2025)
• Home to Be With Mum (2025)
• Last Days in Guruk (April 2025)
• In Birpai Country (2025)
• Family Time in Melbourne, Guruk, and Gunnedah (2023)
• Return to Guruk (2019)
• Family Time in Guruk . . . and Glimpses of Somaliland (2019)
• Guruk Seascapes, From Dawn to Dusk (2017)
• Port Macquarie, Wingham, and Ellenborough Falls (2015)
• Port Macquarie Days (2014)
• Thanks, Mum!
• Happy Birthday, Mum! – 2024 | 2018 | 2017 | 2014 | 2013 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009
• Congratulations, Mum and Dad! (2009)
• Catholic Rainbow (Australian) Parents (2006)

Images: Michael J. Bayly.