Weather and Wildlife

I know that I went on a bit last time about some of the wildlife that we have been encountering along the way. But I am putting in my bid for a new shock TV series, made up of home video, called “When native animals turn nasty.” Basically, when the kids have gone to bed in the evening, Tracy and I have the habit if sitting outside with a cuppa tea, minding our own business, chatting, reading and emailing. But the last few nights we have been in fear of our lives. The culprits… possums, mice, and kangaroos. They will not leave us alone I know, we have kids and the kids eat messy. And to be honest, since we eat outdoors my table manners have taken a journey south and I don’t care if food falls all over the place. And so we have a few scraps on the ground. And I don’t even mind if the little critters want to come along after we have gone to bed and forage and whatever they do for the odd bit of left over. Fine by me. But what I do object to is them climbing all over the place, on the roof, through the pantry, in the boxes, under my camping chair… basically everywhere, trying to get whatever they can. It’s enough to put one right off one’s herbal tea and toffee Tim tam.

 

OK, that out of the way and off my chest, let’s continue.  

 

Well, its been a while since we last posted something, so time to catch up. The last time we met up this way we were camping at the Myall Lakes. Despite being mauled by mosquitoes on the first night it was actually an extremely pleasant place to stay. We took a day trip into Forster, enjoying some time on the beach there, and having lunch together at a little noodle bar that Tracy, Tane and I had eaten at 3 years earlier on our way to Brisbane. We also spent a couple of mornings lounging on ‘the beach’ which gave us an opportunity to get our little blow up boat a run. The kids loved paddling around in that. I would row up the lake with Kezia and one of the boys in the boat, while Tracy would walk with the other. Kezia loved it so much she was usually asleep in the boat by the time we got there.

 

We also took a morning trip to Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens, which were a lot smaller than we expected. Most afternoons were spent taking a trip up to the resort pool for a swim and a coffee for Tracy.

 

Finally after our allotted 5 night stay we packed up and headed towards the central coast, to spend a night with Renze and Inke, (Tracy’s uncle and aunt), and impose ourselves on them for a lift to the airport early Tuesday morning. From there we flew to Christchurch to spend a week with “Opa and Oma” and Jared and Candis (my brother and his wife) and their 2 month old daughter Olivia. This was the first time we had been all together for about 18 months, and so it was great to all catch up again.

 

Tracy and I enjoyed being able to leave the kids behind and head out on our own a couple of times for coffees and movies. (If you want to see a really good movie then we recommend “Revolutionary Road”) and the kids enjoyed being spoiled by their grandparents. Mum and Dad live near the coast with a river mouth, so we took the opportunity to get wet in the river. The boys enjoyed a morning of kayaking while the girls got stuck into some shopping. Everybody wins with that arrangement. We also managed to catch up with some friends from that part of the world. Tracy lived in Christchurch from 10-15 years of age and so still has a few friends and family friends to catch up.

 

It was great spending the time with family, sleeping in real beds, having toilets just in the next room, a dishwasher in the house, and a whole lot more of life’s little comforts. And so it was with a bit of reluctance that we packed up 7 days later (at 3.30 in the morning!) and got back on the plane and back to Sydney. Again it was time to impose on Tracy’s family for a lift and a place to sleep for the night, before we headed off again on Wednesday morning.

 

Since that time we have been in Jervis Bay, 3 hours south of Sydney, in Booderee National Park. And since that time it has been raining. Ok, not constant, but off and on. Enough to get everything damp, enough to keep us off the beach, and enough to send us most days into local towns to keep ourselves dry and amused. Actually there is a fair bit to do around here. We took a trip to an old abandoned lighthouse on the coast; the kids enjoyed exploring the ruins. We have been for a day to Nowra for some shopping and a trip to Centerlink. (I would like to say some more things here about that trip, possibly including it the section on “wildlife encounters” but I am going to restrain). We have also been a couple of times into Huskison, which is a very pleasant sea side town which seems to be a weekend holiday destination for Syndeysiders. We enjoyed the movies there with the kids (“Bedtime stories” – a great movie) and have been 3 times to the Bakery / Café there in 2 days. Not a bad effort.

 

Apart from that its been a little subdued. The camp ground set up is very nice, hot showers, flush toilets. Tracy and the kids made a fire yesterday and so the marshmallows came out. But apart from that, not a lot to report.

 

Tomorrow we plan to pack up and head south 100kms or so, to Depot Beach, which is not far out of Bateman’s Bay. We are hoping that the weather improves a bit, but the forecast isn’t good at this stage. We might have to check out what the movies there have on offer at the moment.

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