The PALM LAKE LUXURY RESORT

In February 2023, the Palm Lake company started work to develop the large block of land on the western side of Orion Drive, at the street address now known as 2 Orion Drive.
It wasn't number 2 until Palm Lake started work there....number 2 was the first house further along Orion Drive, just past the existing Palm Lake Resort at 1 Orion Drive. That house had been number 2 ever since it was built, back in the 1990s.

No, it is now 2A, because somehow Palm Lake convinced the Clarence River Council to reallocate the number 2 to their new development, so whoever lives at 2A had to advise all their mail contacts that they'd "moved".
It must be nice to know how to pull strings.

Anyway, the location now known as 2 Orion Drive was where the original developer of the village in which we live had the facility for manufacturing and assembling the homes.
The “shed”, as it became known, sat there until 2019, when it was demolished, the land remaining bare until the site began to be filled and all the pipes, drains and conduits for telephones etc were put in place.

There was a lot of filling being trucked in daily and the height of the land was raised by a couple of metres, as can be seen by the wall in the following photos, and it lifted it well above any possibility of flooding….not that it ever flooded prior to that but under the Council’s new requirements, it had to be raised.

In March 2023 work picked up, with the laying of concrete for the internal roadways and the main entrance was started.
Within a couple of months a fence, complete with advertising, had been installed along the front boundary, a sales office was opened and work began on the Vantage Clubhouse – a structure of humongous size and which we locals dubbed “The Taj Mahal” as it was all white and very ornate.

Apparently the intention behind this luxury development was that there would be 70+ two-story villas constructed, each with an electric lift (elevator) and priced between $1.2 million and $1.7 million. Work would be done in three stages.
The Vantage Clubhouse would be completed, furnished and landscaped first and then used as an attraction for potential buyers. It features a theatre, a bar, a gym, a sauna, a pool and other up-market features designed to lure the wealthy downsizers.

At the time of writing (early December 2024), new construction has virtually stopped; we have learned that only twelve units have been sold; only one occupant has moved in (and that was back in April); the prices have been dropped dramatically; and that whilst Stage 2 will be completed, Stage 3 of the development has been “taken off the plan”, according to reliable sources.

Everyone you speak to about this project - both here in the original resort and also with any towns-people aware of the development - has the same opinion: whoever at the Palm Lake company made the decision to place a luxury resort in this spot needs professional counselling.

If you are of retirement age, why would you buy a two-story home with no external view, a flight of stairs to negotiate if the lift breaks down, in a location exactly the same distance from everywhere as the existing resort across the road at 1 Orion Drive, and pay twice to three times as much?

If any development was to be planned for that site it should have been a nursing home/care establishment.
A simple analysis of the demographics of the surrounding region would show that they have a captive market.

It will be interesting to see what happens as time passes.

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Major changes in Orion Drive

(NOTE! To see an image full-size, right-click and choose "Open image in new tab".)

Over the past few months we have seen some significant changes in Orion Drive between Yamba Road and the Palm Lakes Resort.

Perhaps the one that we are happiest about  - and for which we have been waiting over three years - was the construction of a new, double-width, footpath.

For far too long those residents of Palm Lake who find it necessary to use mobility scooters have been placed at risk by having to use the road to go to and from the Yamba Fair shopping centre.

In fact, it was about three years ago that a man was involved in a serious accident which left him with multiple injuries and urgent admittance to Lismore hospital. In addition to that, the need for pedestrians to negotiate tree roots, rocks, potholes, rough road edges and puddles has long been a veritable pain in the backside.......in some cases, quite literally!

So the new footpath was commenced in November 2022 and the works were completed a month or so later.

In addition to the footpath, there has been significant site preparation work ongoing for the past six-to-nine months on the other side of Orion Drive. 

This is the site for the new "prestige" Palm Lakes Resort, a development which has been in the wind for many years and which is now taking shape.

 It has been an eye-opener for those of us completely unfamiliar with the amount of work required on a site before construction of buildings can commence.

Thousands of tonnes of soil have been moved about, the whole area has been raised above any anticipated future flood level and vast quantities of sewer, water and drainage pipes have been laid, along with pipes and ducts for communications cabling.

The most recent work - still underway today - is the construction of what will be the entry into the complex.

Once buildings start to appear I will update this information. It may be some time yet because internal roadworks would have to be done first.

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Here we are, in 2020.

Nine months have elapsed since my last blog entry and during that time the new bridge over the Clarence River at Harwood was completed and opened for traffic in time for Christmas 2019.
It was five years ago that we could see signs of work starting on the approaches and then the bridge itself. It's hard to believe that it is finally open.

We drove across it in January when we had to go up to Lismore - it is a long way above the water to the road deck....30 metres, apparently. It certainly feels like it when you're up there!
It's a beautiful structure. Long may it stand.
(The hyperlink above opens a news video in another window).

An Appropriate Quote......

Recently, when reading a novel by John Connolly, I was struck by how a particular sentence perfectly stated how I feel about my lifestyle since moving from Canberra to Yamba four-and-a-quarter years ago.

The words are reproduced below:-

"I knew that to live a life like his - a life almost mundane in the pleasure it derived from small happinesses and the beauty of the familiar, but uncommon in the value it attached to them - was something to be envied."

That is me in a nutshell.

Another great musical evening

In late July we held another enjoyable musical night, this time the theme was "The Beatles", so some classic 60s & 70s hits were trotted out and performed by Margaret (organ), Michele (keyboard) and myself (keyboard). That's us above, from left to right.

Many thanks go to Margaret's helpers on the night, Venette, Graham and Ben, and to all 20+ guests who sang and laughed, and to the wonderful Gina, whose sponge-cake disappeared within a few seconds of it appearing on the table!!

We are now looking forward to the ABBA night next year but before that we will have another Christmas repertoire to practise.

Bridge update; girders across Yamba Road.

I had to drive across to Maclean this morning and whilst the traffic was stopped at the junction of Yamba Road and the Pacific Highway I managed to grab these quick shots. (Click on image for full-size).
I keep a small camera (Panasonic Lumix) in my car for just such occasions.

The enormous size of this structure can be appreciated by looking at the vehicles on the existing bridge in the background (second photo).
In another year or so they will many times higher....up there on top of the new concrete girders.

Bridge progress update.

As mentioned back in my January post, here is the most recent series of photos on the construction of the new highway bridge over the Clarence River at Harwood.
These were taken last Saturday morning, under a grey and threatening sky.
All photos enlarge to full-size when clicked.

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This is a huge structure. It's only as we see the girders being placed that the enormity of it becomes clear.
The size of the columns and cross-beams can be gauged by the men working on top doing the form-work for where the girders will be keyed to the beams.

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Starting from the south side of the bridge - and looking southwards - the following sequence moves towards the centre of the existing bridge.
Columns are now starting to rise from the piers sunk in the river.

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The cylindrical steel form-work for the construction of the concrete columns.

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On the northern side of the river the girders are being positioned and are getting closer to the northern bank of the Clarence.

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Finally, a few shots of the panorama from a vantage-point along the riverbank towards the sugar factory.

Soon the girders will be marching across the river, so my next update will most likely be later this month.

It's 2018 - Welcome to the first diary entry for the year.

BRIDGE UPDATE

It is several month's (October 2017) since I last updated the progress of the enormous new bridge which will carry the new dual-carriageway Pacific Highway across the Clarence River, some 9kms up-river from Yamba.

So yesterday morning at around 7 o'clock, on what was a beautiful clear summer's morn, I headed off and took the following series of pix.

Refer back to the October and August 2017 entries to follow the progress of the construction.

All images enlarge to full-size when clicked.

The above photos were taken from the same spot as two previous shots in October and August and look northward across the river. It is evident that all the piling work has been completed, the concrete piers and beams have been done for the northern approach and the construction of the piers in the river itself is well in hand.

Work on the southern approach has continued but emphasis has been on the northern side of the river.

Here on the southern side the concrete pilings are under construction.

 

The work which has progressed on the north side is most impressive, with the concrete columns and cross-beams now at the river's edge. In the distance you can see that installation of the huge longitudinal U-beams has commenced. These beams - each weighing over 100 tonnes - are manufactured on-site.

The steel brackets which project from the top of each column are used to anchor the form-work for the concrete cross-beams, which weigh 180 tonnes. The brackets, along with the stainless-steel ferrules into which they are bolted, are removed after the work is completed and the holes then filled with a composite mix.

The existing bridge - which will continue in use for local traffic (and which is being refurbished so that it will last for another 50+ years) - is dwarfed by one of the new "pi" structures.

(As soon as I saw the shape I was instantly reminded of the mathematical symbol for pi.)

I'll have another update in March.

December - Rounding out the year.

The last activities for the year......which were certainly more pleasant than what happened on November 7th.!

CHRISTMAS DAY
December the 25th. was hot and steamy so a planned luncheon of cold turkey, ham and salads, finished with a traditional plum pudding, was right on the ball.

Venette was the hostess and we each brought part of the meal, so the responsibility for catering was shared amongst we five.

The afternoon kicked off at midday with drinks and nibbles and by 3:30 PM, when we were relaxing after clearing the table, an approaching storm-front, and a warning from the bureau of possible hail, brought the festivities to an end.

 

It was a lovely Christmas Day.

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AN EVENING OF CHRISTMAS CAROLS

On the 10th. of December we had a musical evening, under the "baton" of Michele (of Michele Saunders Music Studio - my teacher), with three of us on keyboards & organ and vocalist Connor Wilmore leading the singing.

It was a great night, with everyone joining in and was capped off by the service of drinks, a delicious buffet served up by Venette, Ben and Graham and a dessert of the lightest creamy sponge cakes in the world provided by Gina.

Dramas and excitement we didn't really need.

The last thing that you need to happen a month or so out from Christmas is a house fire....and that is exactly what we suffered on November 7th. - my daughter's birthdate and also the date of this year's Melbourne Cup.
So that is a date firmly embedded into our memories for evermore!

Fortunately, the fire itself - and local damage from the heat - was confined to one bedroom and the immediate external area outside the window............

However, the rest of our home was severely affected by smoke and the subsequent soot deposits, which were carried right through to the front of the building. Ceilings and upper wall areas were black.........

On the Tuesday afternoon the specialist cleaning company arrived and over the next three weeks they cleaned the soot off every surface they could see, including individual items on bench-tops, in cupboards, crockery, cutlery, food packages in the pantry, framed pictures on walls......everything was wiped down and placed back in the cleaned location then covered with plastic........

 

The job that they did was amazing, leaving painted surfaces fifty shades of grey (apparently the soot leaves a microscopic "etching" in the paint surface) but ready to be primed and painted when the restoration work takes place.

Right now our home is uninhabitable, with the living room and main bedroom looking like a furniture warehouse or ready for a garage sale!
But everything is operating....fridge, freezer, washing machine, etcetera....and the computer equipment in my study/office is fine.

All we are now doing is being patient; it is unlikely that building works will start before the Christmas holidays due to the annual summer shutdown.
We are very fortunate in that we are renting a vacant, furnished, house for sale within the resort and which is less than 100 metres from our place.
The view from the front verandah is very relaxing and with a nor-easterly breeze, most pleasant on a hot afternoon.

Panoramic view from three separate photos.

On a final note, the cause of the fire was most probably a short-circuit in either a bedside radio or the power board into which it was plugged.

Every cloud has a silver lining - we were both out of the house when the fire occurred (about 10:00 AM) and the neighbours had the fire out before the brigade arrived.

You can't ask for more than that in a situation like this.

The new Pacific Hwy. bridge over the Clarence....update

Two months ago (August 23rd.) I took some photos of work on the pilings for the northern approach for the new crossing. I made a blog entry HERE.

This morning I revisited the construction site to get some pics of the work underway for the pilings on the southern side, such work commencing only a couple of weeks ago.

So this blog update will consist mainly of photographs (all enlarge to full-size when clicked) and I'll kick off proceedings with a comparison between what the southern approaches looked like then and what they look like now. The shots were taken at about the same location...........

Here is another set of comparisons, with a view north across the river back in August (top) and a view from the same location taken this morning................

As you can see, the work for the northern piling tubes has been completed, as has most of the pile-driving for the tubes across the river and work on the southern tubes is well underway.

Look closely at the full-size image of the shot immediately above and you will see that one of the first concrete pylons on the north bank is being constructed.

The following photos are all from my visit this morning....in no particular order but showing the work being carried out on the southern side of the river.............

 

The earthworks in the right-background is part of the on/off ramp arrangement.

Plumes of steam rise from Harwood sugar mill.

Looking south and the piling tubes yet to be pounded into the ground.

The RMS are taking a photographic record of the construction. One of two cameras seen here.

The shot below is of one of the several trawlers which operate on the river. In the background is part of the village of Harwood, on the upstream (western) side of the bridge.

More galleries will be added as the bridgework continues.