Adelaide - Back To Where It All Began

Semaphore - 10th December - 25th January

To say we were excited to be back 'home' after travelling for 9 months is an understatement. The only negative about our new lifestyle is missing our children & grand children (& friends) terribly. We talk on the phone weekly but seeing them all in the flesh & having Ashleigh & Lauren run up for a hug is irreplaceable. To add to our excitement, Tim, Amy & 4 month old grand daughter Emma were coming to spend Xmas with us.

I knew the 6 weeks would fly by with Xmas in the middle & wanting to catch up with as many friends as possible so I put out a call to anyone that wanted to catch up to 'book in' so we wouldn't run out of time at the end. It worked beautifully with every day filling up with breakfasts lunches & dinners, sometimes all in the one day!
We also booked in doctors check ups, both GP & Cardiologist, drivers licence renewal, new tyres for the van etc so it was going to be a busy 6 weeks!

We stayed at Semaphore Caravan Park again which, although is the perfect location, is a little run down which is a shame. We put the sprinkler on our site as often as we could so it did eventually green up & look a little better.

After almost 2 weeks of catch ups, school Xmas concerts & finalising Xmas shopping Tim, Amy &

Emma arrived from Perth. We took the van up to Hahndorf for 3 nights as they had booked a place there to spend a few relaxing days before the Xmas chaos.
I was a bit worried Emma wouldn't know me & cry when I held her but she gave me a big beautiful smile & was happy to be smothered in Nanny kisses & cuddles!
We had lunch at Tim & Amy's wedding venue, Golding Winery which was lovely. One night we drove around looking at the 'famous' Lobethal Xmas lights. None of us had ever seen them before & although they were nice we all agreed they were a bit overrated.

Xmas day was awesome! We were now back at Semaphore & Tim, Amy & Emma were staying in the city. We had a beautiful breakfast with them in their apartment while watching Emma open her presents on her first Xmas. We then moved on to Gawler for lunch & dinner with Gary's brother & Sister in law Mick & Annie who also had niece Kelly, Greg & family staying from Sydney.
A few days later our nephew Toby & Naomi organised to get all the Griffiths family together at their place for a barbecue. It was fantastic catching up with everyone.
We were also able to celebrate Ashleigh's 9th birthday just after Xmas which was good.

New Years Eve was lovely Mick, Annie, Kelly, Greg & girls & Mike, Emma & family came to the caravan park for fish & chips then walked down to the foreshore to watch the fireworks. It was a great night.

We had a lovely dinner at the Semaphore Palais with Lisa & Brad for our grand daughter Courtney's 18th birthday. They have just moved back from Darwin so that was a bonus being able to see them. The Palais is such a great place that we ended up there three or four times over the weeks.

Ashleigh & Lauren came & spent a few days with us at the caravan park so Gary had to 'make' a bed

for them as they've now outgrown being able to sleep on the bench seats. He fitted a piece of plywood between the two seats then put a piece of foam to fit on the wood. My lovely friend Kym made a cover for it & the setup worked beautifully except the night of the sleepover a huge storm rolled in with heavy rain & crazy wind After a few tears the girls jumped into bed with me while Gary slept on his newly created bed!

We both had skin checks which are even more important now we spend so much time in the sun. Gary had a suspicious mole on his back so he had to go back & have it cut out. The only appointment he could get was 2 days before we were due to leave to head off again.
Ryan had a sleepover the night before. He sleeps in a tent on our site when he comes to see us. Gary had his mole removed then we dropped Ryan back to his place & did a few jobs for him. We made sure he didn't lift anything too heavy to make sure he didn't split his stitches. After a while Ryan said to me 'Dads back is bleeding'. I had a look & blood was literally dripping down his back! I quickly grabbed a clean tea towel, pressed it against his back & off to the local clinic we went. As we were walking down the street to get to the clinic I was keeping pressure on his bloodied back which must have looked like I'd just massacred him then changed my mind.... Luckily the stitches weren't damaged. He was bleeding so much due to the blood thinners Gary takes. The nurse patched him up & next day we went back to the skin cancer clinic & all was good.

The 6 weeks flew by & felt like 6 days but it was fantastic getting to see everyone & have a great 'Adelaide' fix. As with last year, pack up & leaving day was filled with mixed emotions. Sad to be leaving family & friends but excited for the year ahead.

Next stop ........Melbourne!