Straddie

Danni and I were awoken at 8:15am with an over excited James just seeing if I had a hangover; so caring. We got up to the smells of bacon cooking after an amazing breakfast courtesy of Mrs H-R we hurriedly packed our bags and were on our way to Stradbrooke Island, or Straddie as the locals call it. Danni was in charge of the music on the way so I was loving it, James resorted to plugging his own headphones in, although that may have been because we were singing along!
Pip was a great tour guide showing us some cool beaches and telling us a bit about straddie. We stopped for a snack and went for a short coastal walk admiring the rocks, sea and beaches. When we could check into our hostel we found it to be very clean and we had a room to ourselves so it was perfect. We wasted no time in getting our swimmers on and heading to the swimming beach. As usual James was in the water straight away and I finally had other people with me so I could mock him! He turns into a four year old when trying to catch the waves and you have to make sure you are watching at all times in case you miss him catching the best wave (which I often do). You may think you can lie to him and say you saw him, but he knows he is watching you watch him the whole time. It was good to have two pairs of eyes to help watch James as well!
James's catch phrase in Oz is 'it's nice when you get in' so after a while we all went and joined him. James was right it was nice when you got in. We all frolicked about in the waves laughing and sexily dodging the water as it splashed over us. It was like an episode of Baywatch how slick and smooth we rode those waves. Well, that's how I remember it anyway. There was no hair covering the face as we got knocked over. Our bikini's stayed exactly where they were supposed to. James didn't almost wipe out Pip as he rode the wave in. And Danni and I easily got in and out of the water without flashing our bums/boobs to the beach!
The weather started to close in so we went back to the hostel to make use of its facilities and enjoy some beers and cider. James played pool against himself whilst Pip, Danni and I attempted to keep a running rally going at table tennis. When we were all tired and a bit sick from constantly running in circles I decided to do some colouring and the 'expert' players carried on with some success! Soon the temptation of colouring proved too much so Pip and I had a competition (I won) and Danni beat James at pool (on a fluke, I am told!).
We got changed and had a well needed shower before heading out to the nearest bar for some food and a few more cocktails. We were all pretty tired from the night before so got a more reasonable night sleep.
For our morning on Straddie we went to another beach and took a walk to a sand dune where I fell over on the way down and performed a spectacular fall! Next we went to Brown Lake with a small picnic. You can probably guess where the lake got its name from but it made your hair really soft, according to Pip and James. I only dipped my feet in.
Danni and I wanted to buy a postcard we had seen at the hostel shop so on the way back we stopped to go on another walk but pip couldn't really remember where it was so we don't go too far. Back on the road Pip gave us all a lesson on how to get clocked by the police of Straddie going a few km/h over the limit. Her lesson objectives were clear, never speed in Australia unless you have your full license and a LOT of money to burn. Thanks Pip, lesson learnt!
We all felt a bit bewildered and shocked after our run in with the cops and it was a quieter journey back. Until James thought enough time had passed for the incident to become a joke! By the time we got back to the H-R residence we were mocking Pip quite considerably.
To our great delight Jude (Mrs H-R) had rustled up a delicious roast dinner with gravy. It was such a great treat and to top it off Pip made a pavlova for dessert-yummy (not as yummy for Danni!). We had a funny Skype conversation with Sibley and I thanked her for my awesome presents from Primark that I will cherish forever!
On Straddie we had played cards and on the last count Pip was most definitely the SH and the Ahole! To get us back Pip and Jamie (middle brother) taught us killer bunnies a highly complex and amusing game with magic spatulas and holographic bunnies.
It was a great weekend seeing Haynes again, especially as it will probably be at least another year until we meet up again. Pip was a bit of a ledge and hopefully we'll be able to see her an her orphanage up and running in Tanzania. Donate to Many Shades to help out!