IT'S that time of the year when many of us go on summer holidays, a tradition worldwide.

As a kid, my clan assembled enmasse on the foreshores of Lake Illawarra, south of the `Gong.

Long before there were camping grounds and multimillion-dollar McMansions, we simply

squatted for decades each year in the same spot. We camped alongside families we grew to love but seldom saw until the next school holidays.

Caravans of all shapes and sizes arrived overnight and giant tents sprang up, opposite the island at Windang. It was (and is) prime real estate and it was a great social gathering. Crime was non-existent

in those heady days and cars and vans were left unlocked.

Kids ran about the bullrushes, trudged the dunes to surf the sea and swam in the jade-green lake. We fished from homemade boats

and filled square kerosene tins brimful with

prawns, using nets dragged along the foreshore at night.

It was not surprising, therefore, that several rellos ended up living in the area, one family within bowling distance of our old camping haunts of the 1940s to '60s.

It's almost a tradition these days for people to retire to their regular holiday venues, gobsmacked by the relatively cheap price of country properties in estate agents' windows.

This is how I found a ridiculously cheap deep-waterfront block on the Eden headland, on the far South Coast, where my brother's family built their current home, with picturesque view of Towfold Bay and the port itself.

But be warned. A country lifestyle, especially on the coast, may be envied, but if you think there are health problems in Sydney, check out the boonies. For example, there are 89 doctors listed in the Port Macquarie phone book. But try to consult one.

I rang 25 one day to be told: ''Sorry, the books are closed.'' Too many patients, not

enough medicos - and more people moving in daily. Health professionals are sympathetic but worked off their feet. It can take

many, many months to get medical help from some local practices and you may have to go back to the big smoke for specialised treatment anyway.

One staffer advised me: ''If you get

sick, go to the hospital casualty section.''

Oh, great.

It's an issue without easy resolution and woe betide the country-life seeker who doesn't take it into account when moving house.

Check health facilities very carefully indeed. Once you leave Sydney, it's not that easy to buy back in.

And Merry Christmas to you all.