Time is certainly flying by! With Christmas and the school holidays well and truely behind us, it’s time to recap on what we’ve been up to since my last blog entry.
When we left Dorothy’s house at Palm Beach we headed to Jo’s for about 10 days. As our van was already in storage and it would be in again for our Housesit, Jo suggested we leave it where it was and stay with them for a while.
As usual we had fun with the kids and helped around the house with cooking and washing but before we knew it, it was time to move to the unit where we were house sitting for 4 weeks. The unit was only 5 minutes away from Jo’s and we were looking after 2 indoor cats, Norman and Bean. It was an easy sit in a small but nice unit and home to a beautiful South African family. We had organised with the owners to allow us to have the kids for sleepovers as well so we couldn’t have asked for anything better.
As we are going to be in the Tweed area for a while I had decided to have my cataracts done. I had already had the initial test done when we were last here so now it was just a case of having the ops. I had the first eye done on 6/12 and the second 2 weeks later on the 22/12. While they both seem to have gone well my second eye (the right one) is far more sensitive and I think is going to take longer to settle. I am only now beginning to forget the habit of reaching for my reading glasses so that must be a good thing. There was an element of risk with my eyes as I had had lasik surgery about 25 years ago which was never successful. I kept up the routine of the eye drops 4 times a day for 4 weeks and all in all I’m happy with the results. I’m pleased I had my eyes done and I should never have to wear glasses again. That’s the theory anyway!
Now Christmas was upon us and Emma, Graham, Josh and Ellie arrived on Christmas Eve for the celebrations and their summer holiday.
We went around to Jo’s early Christmas morning to see the grandchildren open their presents. Jenny, Phil and Graham’s mum was also there making 11 of us in total. We all enjoyed a beautiful Christmas brunch with a spread of ham, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, croissants and toast, fruit platter, cakes and chocolates with Buck’s Fizz to celebrate. The day flowed well with lots of laughter and people in and out of the pool all day. In the afternoon my brother John and his wife Vicki came around and we all enjoyed another great spread of seafood, cold meats, cheeses, dips and salads and beautiful desserts. So much food and a relaxing day!
With Christmas Day over it was the usual coming and going of family holidays. Beach, pool, theme parks, shopping and more eating and drinking!
We managed to have the 4 grandchildren over for a sleepover together and for me that was my best Christmas present as we don’t often get all the grandchildren together.
New Year’s Eve is always a big day as it’s also Livi’s birthday so more celebrations to be had. Livi had some friends over for a party in the morning and then the family celebrated with her in the afternoon and going on into the evening where we went to watch the 9 o’clock fireworks. It had been a big day so no one felt the need to stay up until midnight to see the new year in.
Emma and Graham had 10 days at Jo’s and then we got our van out of storage for 4 nights so they could use it. They made use of the gazebo pod that we have that attaches to the awning making another sleeping area.
We managed to have a couple more sleepovers with Livi and Ruby before our Housesit finished and then we headed back to the caravan park for a planned 2 more weeks. We celebrated Australia Day with Jo, Phil and the girls at the caravan park which has it’s own little beach. It was beautiful by the river. The weather was great and the tides worked in our favour. The beach and river were crowded with holiday makers and it was good to watch everyone enjoying themselves. Then it was back to the van where John and Vicki joined us all for an early dinner.
We eventually managed to use the voucher for the Icon cooking school which Simon, Kerry, John and Vicki had given Chris for his 70 birthday. That had been quite a challenge as we are not in the area all the time. We booked the Vibrant Indonesian course which we both enjoyed. Not sure we learnt too much but we had a good time enjoying the experience and the company of the other people there.
We met up with our good friends Bob and Ellen while they were doing their own Housesit in Surfer Paradise. Their daughter Brooke was there for a visit as well so we could meet Ellen’s long awaited granddaughter Billie. Ellen has waited for so many years to become a Nanna and I’m sure she will spoil Billie rotten. I’m thrilled for her and of course I had my kid fix with lots of baby cuddles!
We had only planned to stay at the caravan park for another 2 weeks but that stretched into 4 as it so easily can. Firstly we thought we might be needed to help out John and Vicki at their place but that didn’t happen and then we thought Chris might have been needed to drive Jo and Phil down to Coffs Harbour to pick up their new caravan but that didn’t happen either. We did do the school and gymnastics run a few times and had the girls for sleepovers so I’m sure our help was appreciated in other ways.
We’re glad we did stay though as a couple of days before we left we were offered 2 tickets to The Jersey Guys show performing at Twin Towns. There was a big group of people on the park who had booked tickets and somehow they had 2 spare so we agreed to go. We joined them for dinner first in the club’s bistro where we got to know a few of them before enjoying a really great show. The only negative was that the club is on Queensland time and the show started at 8.00 which was 9.00 NSW time for us. We’re not used to such late nights but it was so worth it!
We left Tweed Heads yesterday and drove only as far as Murwillumbah where we had booked the caravan in for a service and for the door handle to be fixed as it has been playing up. Some 6 hours and $745 later we were on the road to Lismore. Not the best journey as we drove through heavy rain a lot of the way.
Now we are here for 3 nights as we have the car booked into OBrien’s tomorrow to replace the windscreen. What has been a small chip for months is now turning into a crack and it’s time to be fixed. Then with everything done we’ll be on the road again.
Our plan this year (if it doesn’t change) is to travel down the coast, stopping to see the Boorowa Jones. Then head down through Victoria where we hope to catch up with our friends Dennis and Christine. We will then continue on down, along the Gt. Ocean Road to Sth Australia before heading up the middle to Ayres Rock and Alice Springs. From there it will be up to Darwin where we will spend a few weeks and catch up with more friends at Tumbling Waters in Berry Springs. When we leave Darwin the plan is to get to Katherine and turn right. We will then head across to Western Australia and down the coast where we hope to catch up with Jo, Phil and the girls somewhere. They will have started their own adventures by then as they are taking the year off as so many young families are doing now. That’s our plan anyway and it doesn’t sound like much if you say it quickly. I’m sure there will be lots of adventures, experiences and great people along the way. We’re looking forward to it!

* Note that the 3 last photos are ones sent to us from Frank. He, his wife Sylvia and daughter Sandra were a German family we met while watching the platypus at Yungaburra. Frank promised to send us some pictures when they got home and true to his word, he did. Thank you Frank, it was lovely to meet and chat with you all.😘