Brotherly love in Brisbane

Brisbane - 24th June - 4th July

We left Byron Bay heading to Brisbane to see my brother David, Sister in Law Kathlene & nephew Jackson who is 9. We were very grateful when David & Kath offered for us to park the van on their front lawn. Apart from the obvious cost saving, it meant we could have more time together. With all of my brothers & sister living interstate I do cherish the times we spend together.

We spent a few days at Kirra beach on the Gold Coast on our way to Brissie. The caravan park was quite nice but a bit too far away from the beach. As has been the pattern of our trip since leaving home they had been having unseasonable cold & wet weather so we spent most of the time inside the van watching movies & knitting trauma teddies. There was a small break in the weather, just long enough to spend the morning at one of my favourite Gold Coast attractions ....Harbour Town! As much as I love a good shopping trip, it's not quite the same when you're travelling in a caravan & have limited space & have to check the weight in everything. Not to mention having to live on a budget as there are no 'paydays' any more. 

We arrived at David's & were greeted by Jackson standing by his letterbox with the biggest smile & David. (With a big smile too). After a couple of smooth manoeuvres Gary parked the van on the front lawn & we went inside & Jackson gave us a tour of the house & garden.
After Kathlene arrived home from work David explained that they have a great tradition where on Friday nights they celebrate the start of the weekend by putting music on, having a few drinks & making home made pizzas. It was a great way to spend our first night together.

Next day we went to visit the show home & block of land for the house they are about to build. The house is going to be beautiful & they are very excitedly planning all of the details before the build commences. 
That night we went to their favourite Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. We all had Pho which was pretty yummy. They put 2 little dipping bowls on the table that were made of melamine. I was so excited as we love to eat dim sims & dumplings in the van & I had been looking for little dipping bowls for ages but they're all made of glass & I wanted plastic. As we were leaving I asked the manager if I could buy the bowls as I was travelling etc & she said I could have them. That made my night! 

Jackson absolutely LOVES Gary as he also is a huge Star Wars fan & wants to be an engineer when he grows up so Gary is his idol. He often calls him "Uncle Star Wars". We arranged a sleepover night for Jackson. After dinner we went into the van & they played Wii games for a while. We made up a bed on the chairs just like we did when Ashleigh & Lauren slept over. As he kissed us good night he said, "I love you Uncle Gary because you're gentle & funny & I love you my beautiful Aunty Jenny because you're beautiful". He just melted our hearts & that moment will be one of our special memories of this whole trip.
At 2.30 in the morning I was woken up by Jackson standing at the foot of the bed & his little voice saying "Aunty Jenny, I can't get comfortable" I asked if he wanted to go back into his own bed & he very quickly said "yes". After that Jackson would come knocking on the door at 8am each morning & climb into bed with us & he Gary would enjoy playing Wii after tea in the van but no more sleepovers.

On the Sunday we all went to 'Eat Street Markets' at the port of Brisbane. It's a very cool little food market full of food trucks selling all different kinds of food. Gary & I had Yiros followed by Greek honey puffs. They were amazing!

Our time with David, Kathlene & Jackson was great fun & very special. Jackson summed it up by saying to David the day we left ...... I didn't remember very well who Uncle Gary & Aunty Jenny were before they came here but now I will never forget them"!

Next stop..... Sunshine Coast (Coolum)

Beautiful Byron Bay

Byron Bay - 14th - 24th June

We left Pt Macquarie & headed to Byron Bay via Coffs Harbour.  Of course we stopped for the mandatory photo at the Big Banana & purchase of a bunch of bananas.

We were making pretty good time expecting to get in to Byron by about 4pm.  About 40km north of Coffs Harbour the traffic came to a stand still.  There was a LOT of roadworks along the way so we assumed that was the case this time. We waited about 5 or 10 minutes without moving at all when I remembered we have a CB radio! We had turned it on for entertainment value in the past but it really isn't that entertaining. I'm not easily offended by colourful language but my goodness golly gee whizz  they swear a LOT!!

As soon as I turned the CB on, all the talk was about the hold up near Halfway Creek due to a car accident. Some were saying we would be stuck 2 hours! We were at an intersection so Gary said if we were going to turn around it would have to be now or we will be stuck till the road clears. Next thing someone said a police officer said it would be 4 hours!! With that Gary did a perfect U turn. Gary handles towing the caravan so beautifully considering he had never towed one before this trip.
I noticed we had passed a caravan park just before here so we pulled in there & booked a site for the night. Turns out it was the best decision as the traffic did not clear till 8.30 that night. We would have been stuck on the side of the road for 5 1/2 hours!! In saying that, we would have been fine as we have our own toilet, shower, food etc.
Arrawarra Caravan Park was a beautiful find. Set in amongst huge palm trees with kangaroos grazing casually on the lush, green grass, looking up to greet us as we drove in. It was so peaceful.

Next morning we headed off once again for Byron Bay & arrived with no dramas. The caravan park was lovely & only one street over from the Main Street. This came in very handy as this is another town where you have to pay to park on every street.
We spent every day walking down the Main Street to the beach & just sitting watching the water & the people. Although there was the occasional hippy & shoes were definitely optional no matter where you were, I was very surprised to see mainly families & other tourists just like us.
We had a beautiful Mexican tea one night in Miss Margarita & were hoping for a nice Thai dinner on the Saturday night. Well, our Thai meal ended in disaster with terrible service & a hair in Gary's meal. We walked out & ended up in an awesome little Italian place down a laneway off the Main Street. It was a beautiful balmy night walking through the town. It had a fantastic vibe, with the street packed with people & buskers that were so talented they could have all been on stage. I usually hate being out in town at night as usually they're full of drunks or other idiots. This was so different. We felt very safe with everyone happy & enjoying the casual vibe of Byron Bay. We absolutely loved it.

One afternoon we went to Cape Byron Lighthouse. The view was spectacular. There was a huge pod of dolphins playing in the water & we even saw a couple of whales passing by.

Unseasonable wet weather was still following us with one day Byron having record high rainfall for June. We knew it was coming so just spent that day inside the caravan watching movies & knitting Trauma Teddies. It's now laughable that it seems that everywhere we go rain is following us. Colin even messaged me asking where we were headed next so he could alert the locals to stock up on their winter woollies!

We knew we would enjoy Byron Bay but underestimated just how much we would love it. We can't wait to come back & do it all again!

Next stop .......... Brisbane.

Port Macquarie family fun time

Port Macquarie 24th May - 14th June

Port Macquarie is home to my sister & brother in law Chris & Graeme & my niece Jo (Joanne) & her hubby Luke & four & a half year old son Liam. Most years Chris comes to Adelaide for what we like to call 'sisters week' where we get to hang out & generally have quality time together. We both treasure sisters week so were particularly looking forward to spending a lot longer together.

We stayed at Lighthouse Beach caravan park for the first week. It was a nice, small caravan park but was almost completely, shaded by huge trees throughout the park. Due to the unseasonably cold weather they were having we found it even colder being permanently in the shade so decided to move to the 'Breakwall' Caravan park. This park was much bigger & not so many trees so we chose a site in the full sun. It was also literally on the waters edge between the river & the sea so the view was fantastic. The Breakwall ran alongside the park so Gary & I enjoyed walks along the walkway every day. The walking path also went right to the town to the marina which was really nice to walk along.

Chris & Jo had to work so Gary & I amused ourselves during the day by going for walks (weather permitting), or just hanging around the caravan park. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very kind to us. Some days were nice & sunny but some were also very cold & wet. By about 4pm every day the temperature would drop & nights were freezing.
One weekend the forecast was for torrential flooding rain & wind. I checked with the park staff & they advised the location of our van would be ok but lower sites could flood.
We decided to pack up everything from outside the van, lock it up & stay at Chris & Graeme's for the weekend. Almost 100mm of rain fell in one day. Although the caravan park was very soggy, thankfully there was no damage.

We went to Chris & Graeme's every night after they came home from work. Jo, Luke & Liam also came over each night & most nights stayed over so they could enjoy more time with us. Most days were beautiful & sunny & the caravan park was one street over from the main town. Chris would walk over in her lunch break to have lunch with us with Jo & Liam joining us when they could.
We took it in turns cooking dinner which was fun. One Saturday we had pasty making day with Jo & I making up the mixture & Chris & Gary forming & baking the pasty's. It was a great day.
Chris & Jo usually have other things they regularly do during the week like going to the gym or choir but such is the special bond we have, for the time we were there they cancelled everything to spend time with us. They certainly make us both feel very special & gave us many happy memories.

One Friday afternoon Gary wasn't feeling very well, he had a pain in his lower abdomen that wouldn't go away. Early next morning he was still in pain. There wasn't a doctors surgery open on a Saturday morning so I took him to the hospital. They ran quite a lot of tests & finally diagnosed a bowel infection. They prescribed 2 lots of heavy dose antibiotics & heavy pain killers for the pain which left him feeling pretty crap for the week & just to top it all of he was unable to drink alcohol either. We really hope this is the last time we have to visit a hospital or doctor for a long time but doesn't make us feel very confident about travelling too far away from larger towns.

With the weather being so cold, especially at night, I spend a lot of time knitting Trauma Teddies to donate to ambulance stations for the paramedics to give to seriously ill children. Gary now helps out by sewing them up & sewing on their faces. He loves it & says they take on a personality with each one being slightly different to the last.
Jo & Chris asked if I'd show them how to make them & from then on each night became a 'knitting circle' with Chris, Jo & I knitting & Gary sewing while talking & laughing. It really was so much more fun than it sounds!

We celebrated the Queens birthday long weekend together at the caravan park. Graeme brought their caravan the 3.6km trip from their house to the park & had the site next to us for the weekend. We had a fantasic time just sitting around talking & generally doing what you do on a camping long weekend. Jo is a beautician & gave me a beautiful facial on one of the days. The nights were very cold but luckily Luke was able to borrow his parents gas heater so we were able to spend the evenings huddled around it knitting & talking (of course).

It was a fantastic three weeks spent with my wonderful sister & family. When Gary & I were planning this trip, one of the things that attracted us was being able to spend quality time with family & we certainly achieved that!

Next stop..........Byron Bay!