We missed you very much tonight Lady Lynn. I hope that your health is improving quickly and you will be well enough to join us at Christmas in July on Saturday night!
So much for my studies today.
The fridge seal man came this morning and replaced the seals on the fridge/freezer in our garage. That should help our electricity bill somewhat! The fridge seal man was very nice but really wanted to have a chat. He needed to show Adoring Husband all the intricate details of replacing the seals on fridge/freezers. We just wanted him to hurry up so that we could go into The Bay!
AH had some errands to run for the SES so I decided to take the opportunity to have a pedicure/manicure.
I used to have French tips put on my nails on a regular basis and my nails were weak and easily broken, so they were never long enough to require a manicure.
Since I began eating Paleo, my nails grow very quickly and are, comparatively speaking, quite strong and healthy. My only difficulty lies in food preparation, when I regularly slice the end of my nail when preparing dinner!
So my toenails and fingernails are looking very groomed and clean and beautiful right now, just in time for Christmas in July tomorrow night!
It is currently 9.30pm and I'm feeling quite weary after a few glasses of wine, so I think an early night is on the catrds so that I can make the most of tomorrow night (Christmas in July).
No other news, or photos or FB pics to share, but I hope to get some great pics tomorrow night of the Christmas in July function, so I'll share them here.
Meanwhile, I can't stop *yawning* and need to lie down.
Nite all.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Movie Mania
So Adoring Husband was keen to hire a new release movie on Foxtel today. It was called 'Project Almanac' and the IMDB site describes it like this ...
"As a group of friends discover plans for a time machine, they build it and use it to fix their problems and for personal gain. But as the future falls apart with disasters, and each of them disappear little by little, they must travel back to the past to make sure they never invent the machine or face the destruction of humanity."
"As a group of friends discover plans for a time machine, they build it and use it to fix their problems and for personal gain. But as the future falls apart with disasters, and each of them disappear little by little, they must travel back to the past to make sure they never invent the machine or face the destruction of humanity."
Being the huge Sci-fi fan that he is, you can understand from that description, why he was keen to watch it.
After the movie, I found my way to the IMDB site and gave the movie a rating out of ten. The rating that I gave it was a big fat TWO out of ten. That was being generous.
The acting was dreadful. The storyline has been done. The camera work made it difficult to watch (it was filmed as if one of the group of kids was hand holding a video camera throughout the entire film). The special effects were pretty sad. It was all very predictable.
So my recommendation is ... don't watch it.
I sacrificed starting my essay assignment so that I could share the movie experience with AH so my disappointment was palpable.
We watched another movie on one of the movie channels called 'Starter for 10' which starred Benedict Cumberbatch and James McAvoy. It wasn't a bad movie. Nothing spectacular but easy to watch.
The next movie I watched after AH left for an SES meeting. One of my all time favourites. 'Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'.
Now, as I write this, I am watching the movie 'Swordfish' starring John Travolta and Hugh Jackman.
I think I will be pretty much all movie'd (yes I just made up that word) out by the time I go to bed. Swordfish doesn't finish til 11.30pm, so I guess it will be another late night .. but at least this blog update will be posted early!
I started the day with a visit to The Motivator to deliver her share of something we ordered online and to deliver her early birthday present. It was just a small gift, but I also made the chocolate cake last night and put a single slice in a cake gift box with a candle sticky taped to it. I think she appreciated the gesture and seemed very pleased.
I bought her last two sand crabs while I was there.
Picking up the mail and buying my morning coffee was the next stop, before I headed home and made AH a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, garlic mushrooms and tomato which he ate while I munched away on my sand crabs.
We didn't have lunch, but for afternoon tea, we had a huge slice of that chocolate cake with strawberries and cream. YUM!
Because of AH's SES meeting, I prepared an early dinner. I cooked a bacon, ricotta, sundried tomato and spinach quiche in the cast iron frypan (because as you may remember, my oven is not working!). I thought my quiche was delicious, but AH didn't like it, so his dinner consisted mainly of a salad.
So my day has been all about the movies.
Tomorrow will be all about the essay assignment!
Nite all.
Nite all.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Another Done and Dusted
Another exam done and dusted today. Anatomy and Physiology 2. Easier and shorter than I expected.
Now I focus on an 800 word essay which is due in two weeks.
I'm not sure if I've shared this video before, but it makes me feel warm and fuzzy when I watch it. All dog lovers, animal lovers, baby lovers and lovers of children will love this video.
Here is another photo from our road trip.
I've only ever once found this type of bird in the wild before and it was too high in the tree to get a decent photo .. even this one was a distance away and the photo is not as sharp as I'd have liked, but the colour is pretty spectacular just the same.
The oven man did not appear to fix my oven today and I am not happy Jan! This means that I have at least another week until I can cook in my oven again. UGH!! If he doesn't turn up next week, I think I might be ready to give him a piece of my mind and find somebody else to fix it. By next week, it will be six weeks since my oven worked.
I'm off now to make a raw paleo chocolate cake, so that I can take a slice with a candle in it to The Motivator for her birthday tomorrow. Stoopid oven.
Here is the link to the recipe if you're interested.
Paleo Raw Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Nite all.
Now I focus on an 800 word essay which is due in two weeks.
I'm not sure if I've shared this video before, but it makes me feel warm and fuzzy when I watch it. All dog lovers, animal lovers, baby lovers and lovers of children will love this video.
Here is another photo from our road trip.
I've only ever once found this type of bird in the wild before and it was too high in the tree to get a decent photo .. even this one was a distance away and the photo is not as sharp as I'd have liked, but the colour is pretty spectacular just the same.
The oven man did not appear to fix my oven today and I am not happy Jan! This means that I have at least another week until I can cook in my oven again. UGH!! If he doesn't turn up next week, I think I might be ready to give him a piece of my mind and find somebody else to fix it. By next week, it will be six weeks since my oven worked.
I'm off now to make a raw paleo chocolate cake, so that I can take a slice with a candle in it to The Motivator for her birthday tomorrow. Stoopid oven.
Here is the link to the recipe if you're interested.
Paleo Raw Chocolate Raspberry Cake
Nite all.
Marginally Productive
Today was productive, but not in the study sense.
Morning tea was enjoyable with six ladies turning up this morning. We missed Lady Lynn who was absent due to illness. I hope she's feeling much better and full of beans as she reads this before she starts her day.
After morning tea, I spent an hour trying to sort out my exam papers with AIAS. Thank goodness the papers have now been emailed to my exam supervisor and I can relax about that part.
I prepared Osso Bucco for the slow cooker so that I could head into The Bay with Adoring Husband and not have to worry about cooking when we returned.
We headed into town to restock some pantry items and while we were there, had lunch at Aquavue. They have a delicious gluten free Prawn, Mango and Macadamia Nut salad that I used to enjoy on a regular basis, so I ordered that with a coffee. It was delicious, as it always was.
Of course I had to practice some retail therapy while I was in town and I bought a top and some pyjamas. Adoring Husband contributed to my teapot collection, buying me a very large and colourful teapot in the shape of a chicken. It's spectacular!
I thought my wine drinking friends might enjoy this little video...
... and these appealed to me ...
Morning tea was enjoyable with six ladies turning up this morning. We missed Lady Lynn who was absent due to illness. I hope she's feeling much better and full of beans as she reads this before she starts her day.
After morning tea, I spent an hour trying to sort out my exam papers with AIAS. Thank goodness the papers have now been emailed to my exam supervisor and I can relax about that part.
I prepared Osso Bucco for the slow cooker so that I could head into The Bay with Adoring Husband and not have to worry about cooking when we returned.
We headed into town to restock some pantry items and while we were there, had lunch at Aquavue. They have a delicious gluten free Prawn, Mango and Macadamia Nut salad that I used to enjoy on a regular basis, so I ordered that with a coffee. It was delicious, as it always was.
Of course I had to practice some retail therapy while I was in town and I bought a top and some pyjamas. Adoring Husband contributed to my teapot collection, buying me a very large and colourful teapot in the shape of a chicken. It's spectacular!
I thought my wine drinking friends might enjoy this little video...
... and these appealed to me ...
It's now midnight and I have an exam to sit early tomorrow.
Nite all.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Followed Through
So I said I would have a fresh motivated start today.
And I did.
I not only woke up early, but also got out of bed early, showered, rode down to see the boys at the Seat of Knowledge, bought my coffee and came home to study. I put in six hours of solid study today, with one break when I pedalled to the Post Office to replenish printer paper stocks and another break to take a photograph.
The flickr challenge this month is 'Simplicity' and I had an idea in the middle of my studies, so I stopped for twenty minutes to take a couple of shots. I won't be using this one, but I had to try it.
So obviously there is nothing to write here .. I'm sure you're not interested in eyes, ears, taste and pain, which is what I studied today.
True to form, it's after midnight, so I'm off to bed.
Nite all.
And I did.
I not only woke up early, but also got out of bed early, showered, rode down to see the boys at the Seat of Knowledge, bought my coffee and came home to study. I put in six hours of solid study today, with one break when I pedalled to the Post Office to replenish printer paper stocks and another break to take a photograph.
The flickr challenge this month is 'Simplicity' and I had an idea in the middle of my studies, so I stopped for twenty minutes to take a couple of shots. I won't be using this one, but I had to try it.
So obviously there is nothing to write here .. I'm sure you're not interested in eyes, ears, taste and pain, which is what I studied today.
True to form, it's after midnight, so I'm off to bed.
Nite all.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Weekend End
Well, it's the end of another weekend and I've been home from my holiday for over a week! How time flies.
There are three things that I have forgotten to do over the last week or more.
I was supposed to print out a photo that I took of a lady at the Village Voices fund raiser before I went on holidays, but forgot all about it.
I was supposed to deliver a photo to 'The Leggy Blonde' before I went on holidays and then wanted to do it last week, but didn't do it.
I was supposed to go to the Volunteer Fire Brigade shed on Wednesday just gone, to take photos of their new machinery .. and even though I put a reminder on my computer calendar, I didn't go into my laptop (unusually so) that day, so didn't get the reminder. I forgot about that too.
Honestly, I really have to get my act together. I have to get back into a routine and I have to make a 'to do' list each day, so that hopefully, I won't forget this stuff. I think the cold weather has sent my brain into hibernation.
Today, I got some study in and I also watched a dvd. I finished off the beef bone broth and did some washing. I did a little cooking .. nothing very delicious .. I feel like I've lost my kitchen mojo without my oven working. Hopefully the oven guy will turn up this Wednesday.
It's 10.30pm and I'm going to bed as soon as I sign off here.
Tomorrow morning, I'm going to wake up to a fresh start, a new routine and a more motivated me. I have an exam this week, so I need to be on my game!
No photos or videos or recipes to share today, so this is short and sweet.
Nite all.
There are three things that I have forgotten to do over the last week or more.
I was supposed to print out a photo that I took of a lady at the Village Voices fund raiser before I went on holidays, but forgot all about it.
I was supposed to deliver a photo to 'The Leggy Blonde' before I went on holidays and then wanted to do it last week, but didn't do it.
I was supposed to go to the Volunteer Fire Brigade shed on Wednesday just gone, to take photos of their new machinery .. and even though I put a reminder on my computer calendar, I didn't go into my laptop (unusually so) that day, so didn't get the reminder. I forgot about that too.
Honestly, I really have to get my act together. I have to get back into a routine and I have to make a 'to do' list each day, so that hopefully, I won't forget this stuff. I think the cold weather has sent my brain into hibernation.
Today, I got some study in and I also watched a dvd. I finished off the beef bone broth and did some washing. I did a little cooking .. nothing very delicious .. I feel like I've lost my kitchen mojo without my oven working. Hopefully the oven guy will turn up this Wednesday.
It's 10.30pm and I'm going to bed as soon as I sign off here.
Tomorrow morning, I'm going to wake up to a fresh start, a new routine and a more motivated me. I have an exam this week, so I need to be on my game!
No photos or videos or recipes to share today, so this is short and sweet.
Nite all.
It's all About the Food
This is definitely the coldest Winter that we have experienced since moving here seven years ago. The last few mornings have been 4C and 5C but felt much colder. Icy in fact! We've had cold mornings in the past, but never this many in a row.
The good news is that next week, we should be back to our usual Winter weather, which is cool, but sunshiny. Minimums of 11-13C are much more pleasurable and it's so much easier to get out of bed in the mornings.
This morning it was too cold to get out of bed, so Adoring Husband bought my take away coffee and delivered it to me so that I could stay in bed reading .. which I did until after 11am!! It was wonderful and I'd slept for a good ten hours last night, so it was a luscious way to start the day.
Adoring Husband was kind enough to invite me out for lunch, so we got all dressed up and headed into The Bay. There were plenty of choices, but we chose our favourite place, The Wild Lotus.
We selected a window seat and then proceeded to gorge ourselves on a three course meal! Well, actually, AH only had two courses, it was ME that had three!
I started with Lime and Black Pepper Crusted Calamari, followed by Slow Roasted Pork Belly and for dessert, which was incredibly decadent for us, Creme Brulee which was served with a side of vanilla ice cream and berry sauce! For someone who doesn't eat sugar anymore, that sugar hit sent me for a six!!
I was feeling so full for so long, that I couldn't even eat dinner tonight!
After lunch, we returned home just in time to watch the football. Three games today for Super Saturday and I got three out of three correct with my footy tipping.
I have spent the evening online, searching for shoes to go with Bubbles' dress that she's wearing to the engagement party.
This is a very dangerous thing .. me .. in a shoe shop .. online. Oh you should see some of those perfectly divine shoes. The colours. The bling. The different styles. Wedges. Stilettos. Kitten heels. Cone heels. Prism heels. Spool heels. Sling backs. Platforms. So many delicious designs.
It was difficult, but my shoe cupboard should not be expecting any new additions in the coming weeks. I showed incredible restraint. Believe it or not!
The clock is rapidly heading towards 1AM. This is what happens when I sleep for ten hours! I think I hear my pillow calling my name, so I'm off.
Before I go, I watched this amazing short video (ten minutes) today that I thought some of you would appreciate. Truly amazing and miraculous.
Oh and a couple of photos from the road trip!! The first is a Katoomba Kookaburra and the second is 'The Drip Gorge' near Mudgee.
Nite all.
The good news is that next week, we should be back to our usual Winter weather, which is cool, but sunshiny. Minimums of 11-13C are much more pleasurable and it's so much easier to get out of bed in the mornings.
This morning it was too cold to get out of bed, so Adoring Husband bought my take away coffee and delivered it to me so that I could stay in bed reading .. which I did until after 11am!! It was wonderful and I'd slept for a good ten hours last night, so it was a luscious way to start the day.
Adoring Husband was kind enough to invite me out for lunch, so we got all dressed up and headed into The Bay. There were plenty of choices, but we chose our favourite place, The Wild Lotus.
We selected a window seat and then proceeded to gorge ourselves on a three course meal! Well, actually, AH only had two courses, it was ME that had three!
I started with Lime and Black Pepper Crusted Calamari, followed by Slow Roasted Pork Belly and for dessert, which was incredibly decadent for us, Creme Brulee which was served with a side of vanilla ice cream and berry sauce! For someone who doesn't eat sugar anymore, that sugar hit sent me for a six!!
I was feeling so full for so long, that I couldn't even eat dinner tonight!
After lunch, we returned home just in time to watch the football. Three games today for Super Saturday and I got three out of three correct with my footy tipping.
I have spent the evening online, searching for shoes to go with Bubbles' dress that she's wearing to the engagement party.
This is a very dangerous thing .. me .. in a shoe shop .. online. Oh you should see some of those perfectly divine shoes. The colours. The bling. The different styles. Wedges. Stilettos. Kitten heels. Cone heels. Prism heels. Spool heels. Sling backs. Platforms. So many delicious designs.
It was difficult, but my shoe cupboard should not be expecting any new additions in the coming weeks. I showed incredible restraint. Believe it or not!
The clock is rapidly heading towards 1AM. This is what happens when I sleep for ten hours! I think I hear my pillow calling my name, so I'm off.
Before I go, I watched this amazing short video (ten minutes) today that I thought some of you would appreciate. Truly amazing and miraculous.
Oh and a couple of photos from the road trip!! The first is a Katoomba Kookaburra and the second is 'The Drip Gorge' near Mudgee.
Nite all.
Friday, July 17, 2015
Social Butterfly
I was awake before 6am this morning, and through the window, from my bed, I saw the most beautiful pink sky as the sun rose.
Did I take the opportunity to race down to the river or the beach with my camera to capture the beauty of this sunrise?
Nooooooooo!
It was dang cold this morning! I was not getting out from under that warm doona for any reason!
I didn't even get up early enough to meet my boys at the Seat of Knowledge. Instead, I enjoyed another long leisurely morning of delicious toastiness under my doona, reading.
I finally decided to rise some time after 8.30am and then took half an hour to find clothes warm enough to wear outside! I just don't possess warm clothes anymore!
Since we moved here, we've only had one Winter cold enough for me to wear a jacket, and that weather only lasted for about a week, so I discarded most of my Winter clothes. Today, I regretted that decision.
As I began my ride to the shops, 'Woman of Many Talents' drove toward me and stopped her car for a quick chat. We quickly arranged for her to drop in at my house for a catch up and a drink or two this afternoon, and then I rode on to the shops, bought my morning coffee and checked the post box for mail. I was returning home and noticed that 'The Motivator' had the sign up for selling sand crabs, so I stopped at her house with the intention of buying some crabs.
She invited me inside and there went two hours! It was almost 11.30am when I got home. I enjoy her company very much and she makes a lot of sense out of my .. what I like to call .. quirky personality traits.
So, two hours and five sand crabs later, I returned home fully intending to study. You know how my life is full of good intentions. Yes you do.
I stood at my sink and ate four of the five crabs.
I sat down on the couch and watched the movie 'Something New' starring Simon Baker.
I prepared some carrot sticks and guacamole for my drinking buddy and then spent 2.5 hours drinking and chatting and analysing and reminiscing and laughing with 'Woman of Many Talents'.
After she left, I had to mix up and package 6kgs of dog food.
Adoring Husband arrived home from Fraser Island at about 8pm and all he got for dinner at that hour was a mug of chicken broth.
I have a few photos from the road trip to share ...
... and of course, it is well after midnight, so I'm off to bed.
Nite all.
Did I take the opportunity to race down to the river or the beach with my camera to capture the beauty of this sunrise?
Nooooooooo!
It was dang cold this morning! I was not getting out from under that warm doona for any reason!
I didn't even get up early enough to meet my boys at the Seat of Knowledge. Instead, I enjoyed another long leisurely morning of delicious toastiness under my doona, reading.
I finally decided to rise some time after 8.30am and then took half an hour to find clothes warm enough to wear outside! I just don't possess warm clothes anymore!
Since we moved here, we've only had one Winter cold enough for me to wear a jacket, and that weather only lasted for about a week, so I discarded most of my Winter clothes. Today, I regretted that decision.
As I began my ride to the shops, 'Woman of Many Talents' drove toward me and stopped her car for a quick chat. We quickly arranged for her to drop in at my house for a catch up and a drink or two this afternoon, and then I rode on to the shops, bought my morning coffee and checked the post box for mail. I was returning home and noticed that 'The Motivator' had the sign up for selling sand crabs, so I stopped at her house with the intention of buying some crabs.
She invited me inside and there went two hours! It was almost 11.30am when I got home. I enjoy her company very much and she makes a lot of sense out of my .. what I like to call .. quirky personality traits.
So, two hours and five sand crabs later, I returned home fully intending to study. You know how my life is full of good intentions. Yes you do.
I stood at my sink and ate four of the five crabs.
I sat down on the couch and watched the movie 'Something New' starring Simon Baker.
I prepared some carrot sticks and guacamole for my drinking buddy and then spent 2.5 hours drinking and chatting and analysing and reminiscing and laughing with 'Woman of Many Talents'.
After she left, I had to mix up and package 6kgs of dog food.
Adoring Husband arrived home from Fraser Island at about 8pm and all he got for dinner at that hour was a mug of chicken broth.
I have a few photos from the road trip to share ...
... and of course, it is well after midnight, so I'm off to bed.
Nite all.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
I Did It
I finally looked at the holiday pics and have a couple to share here. The first photo is of BGWLBH taking photos of 'The Drip'. I have more pics of The Drip to come, at a later date. The second photo, I can't even remember where it was on the road, but BGWLBH and I were in the middle of a conversation, when I yelled "STOP THE CAR!" We obviously disturbed the mob because I barely got a shot before they all hopped away in the opposite direction.
I studied hard today and learnt about the brain and memory and the eyes and ears.
The oven man didn't come and fix my oven, so now I have to wait another week before I can use my oven. UGH!!
And that's all from me tonight.
Nite all.
I studied hard today and learnt about the brain and memory and the eyes and ears.
The oven man didn't come and fix my oven, so now I have to wait another week before I can use my oven. UGH!!
And that's all from me tonight.
Nite all.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Improving
I'm happy to announce that Dad W's health has improved enough that he is delegating his chores. I tell you, he won't go down without a fight!!
... and WOOPS!! I still haven't looked at my photos from the trip.
I had a great morning tea with a bigger group of ladies than usual, this morning. There were eight of us, which is fantastic, but with so many of us away lately, it was difficult to catch up on everyone's news and holiday/weekend/caravanning/road trip stories.
So many interesting stories to listen to and so little time to do it.
Meanwhile, this was advertised by the FROG people that we order our organic fruit and veg from and it looks like something some of us might enjoy.
Retreat (<- click here for more info)
OR .. there is this one .. Heartland.
that Vegan Chickie experienced recently, and highly recommends, though I feel it is a little more 'rustic' than 'luxury', so it all depends on what you're looking for.
... and some quotes and pics from facebook that I liked today.
I'm happily enjoying the new season of Winners and Losers right now and tomorrow I plan on a solid day of study, which means that I need to sleep very soon.
Nite all.
... and WOOPS!! I still haven't looked at my photos from the trip.
I had a great morning tea with a bigger group of ladies than usual, this morning. There were eight of us, which is fantastic, but with so many of us away lately, it was difficult to catch up on everyone's news and holiday/weekend/caravanning/road trip stories.
So many interesting stories to listen to and so little time to do it.
Meanwhile, this was advertised by the FROG people that we order our organic fruit and veg from and it looks like something some of us might enjoy.
Retreat (<- click here for more info)
OR .. there is this one .. Heartland.
that Vegan Chickie experienced recently, and highly recommends, though I feel it is a little more 'rustic' than 'luxury', so it all depends on what you're looking for.
... and some quotes and pics from facebook that I liked today.
I'm happily enjoying the new season of Winners and Losers right now and tomorrow I plan on a solid day of study, which means that I need to sleep very soon.
Nite all.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Cooling Off
I woke early this morning, but decided it was too cosy in bed to be getting up and heading out into the very cool windy morning, so I stayed there until after 9am! How good is my life?
So I missed my boys at the Seat of Knowledge, but the parcel of 'stuff that wouldn't fit in my suitcase', that I sent myself from Sydney, arrived today! I was hoping that I accidentally packed my sunglasses in the box, but they weren't there. Three new handbags were though, so that soothed my disappointment :)
I stopped to chat with Sam at the caravan park. Sam and his wife, Mika, are from South Australia and have been coming to our town every Winter for about 13 years. They celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary a few days ago. He told me that most people respond to that information with "Oh poor Mika!"
Sam and I call out to each other every morning when I ride past his caravan with my coffee. He's a really nice old bloke and his wife is lovely too.
I've had the entire day to myself because Adoring Husband had SES duties all day and was out of town for various meetings.
I did absolutely nothing productive all day. Minimal study. Minimal housework. Minimal cooking.
I have just realised that I haven't looked at any of my photos from the road trip yet! Must have a quick look at them tomorrow and see if there are any worth sharing here. I really didn't take as many photos this trip. I usually see the entire trip through the lens, but I actually 'lived' most of the road trip this time round and didn't take the camera out of the bag very often at all. I think, also, that it was too bloody cold to think about photos!!
I'm looking forward to morning tea with my girls tomorrow and Maid Marian is home from her couple of months caravaning, so she should have some stories to tell.
Off to bed for me. I'm exhausted from doing nothing!
Nite all.
So I missed my boys at the Seat of Knowledge, but the parcel of 'stuff that wouldn't fit in my suitcase', that I sent myself from Sydney, arrived today! I was hoping that I accidentally packed my sunglasses in the box, but they weren't there. Three new handbags were though, so that soothed my disappointment :)
I stopped to chat with Sam at the caravan park. Sam and his wife, Mika, are from South Australia and have been coming to our town every Winter for about 13 years. They celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary a few days ago. He told me that most people respond to that information with "Oh poor Mika!"
Sam and I call out to each other every morning when I ride past his caravan with my coffee. He's a really nice old bloke and his wife is lovely too.
I've had the entire day to myself because Adoring Husband had SES duties all day and was out of town for various meetings.
I did absolutely nothing productive all day. Minimal study. Minimal housework. Minimal cooking.
I have just realised that I haven't looked at any of my photos from the road trip yet! Must have a quick look at them tomorrow and see if there are any worth sharing here. I really didn't take as many photos this trip. I usually see the entire trip through the lens, but I actually 'lived' most of the road trip this time round and didn't take the camera out of the bag very often at all. I think, also, that it was too bloody cold to think about photos!!
I'm looking forward to morning tea with my girls tomorrow and Maid Marian is home from her couple of months caravaning, so she should have some stories to tell.
Off to bed for me. I'm exhausted from doing nothing!
Nite all.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
The News
I haven't made this yet because my oven died just before I went on the road trip and it's not fixed yet, but I reckon it will be the first thing I make once it's fixed! In the meantime, feel free to try it yourself.
I had a good morning catching up with The Motivator today and spent about 2 hours with her talking about health, holidays, parents, men and friends, among other things. We had some good giggles, until finally I purchased some freshly cooked crabs from her and made my way home to start studying.
I have two weeks to study 8 weeks worth of Physiology and Anatomy before I sit another exam. I still haven't received the results from my last exam!
Sadly, I received a phone call from BGWLBH about her Dad (Dad W) who is very very ill. I know that he is one of my regular readers of this blog and I think of him often when I write my updates. I feel really low and distracted by this news, so I put my study on hold for the day.
He is a very strong man who has faced and survived many serious health problems over the years - the last 15 years in particular and I so want to believe that he will be strong enough to make that happen this time too.
It's a rough time for the family and I wish I could be there now to help somehow, but if the worst happens, I'll be there as quick as I can make it.
My thoughts and prayers and love go across the miles.
My apologies to BGWLBH who wanted to hear the voice of reason and sanity and strength .. I just had to put this out there.
Nite all.
I had a good morning catching up with The Motivator today and spent about 2 hours with her talking about health, holidays, parents, men and friends, among other things. We had some good giggles, until finally I purchased some freshly cooked crabs from her and made my way home to start studying.
I have two weeks to study 8 weeks worth of Physiology and Anatomy before I sit another exam. I still haven't received the results from my last exam!
Sadly, I received a phone call from BGWLBH about her Dad (Dad W) who is very very ill. I know that he is one of my regular readers of this blog and I think of him often when I write my updates. I feel really low and distracted by this news, so I put my study on hold for the day.
He is a very strong man who has faced and survived many serious health problems over the years - the last 15 years in particular and I so want to believe that he will be strong enough to make that happen this time too.
It's a rough time for the family and I wish I could be there now to help somehow, but if the worst happens, I'll be there as quick as I can make it.
My thoughts and prayers and love go across the miles.
My apologies to BGWLBH who wanted to hear the voice of reason and sanity and strength .. I just had to put this out there.
Nite all.
The Holiday is Over
My plane landed in The Bay around midday yesterday and after stopping by their SES shed so that Adoring Husband could conduct a quick (but unsuccessful) search for his reading glasses, I was home and unpacking by about 1.30pm.
It was a long day.
At the motel in Sydney, because I had to be up and packed and ready to leave at 7am, I set my alarm for 6am. My brain, however, decided that 3am would be a good time to wake up .. and stay awake. I looked at my watch every half an hour, hoping that perhaps I'd fallen asleep for a couple of hours, but alas .. not.
At 5.30am, I finally gave up and got out of bed, heading for the shower.
I attempted to pack, but of course, despite the fact that I had already sent two big boxes of stuff in the mail (one to myself and one to Chicklet) I still had too much stuff and I had to fill a plastic bag to give to Bubbles to send in the mail for me on Monday! Good grief!
Also .. I couldn't find my sunglasses. They are prescription sunglasses and I couldn't find them anywhere. They MAY be in one of the boxes that I sent in the mail, but that's a long shot. I can't remember the last time I had them, but I know I had them in Sydney. So it seems that I need to order myself a new pair of prescription sunglasses. *sigh* I ALMOST got through the entire holiday without permanently losing anything!
Knight in Shining Armour WAS my Knight in Shining Armour and arrived fifteen minutes early to take me to the airport.
This was a big deal for me for two reasons. The first being that he has a medical condition that sometimes knocks him flat and he needs more sleep than the rest of us. The second is that we would be driving in peak hour traffic and it could possibly take 90 minutes or more to travel what would normally be a 40 minute trip just one way. He would then have to return through the same traffic.
BGWLBH and I said our goodbyes - they are always fast and furious goodbyes because we don't like to get emotional. Long lingering sad goodbyes are just not us and we avoid them like the plague .. doesn't matter how sad we feel, we will deny it and remain brave and strong!
The drive to the airport was a smooth run. I think we encountered two red lights and they were the only times we had to stop. We kept looking at each other in astonishment and shaking our heads in disbelief and it only took 35 minutes to reach our destination!
He had a reasonable run home too, so it was our lucky day on Sydney roads!
I checked my luggage in and collected my boarding pass and attempted to get through the security gates, but the lady scanning the hand luggage decided that the keys in my camera bag, and my camera with two lenses was suspicious looking, so a very polite gentleman donned some scary looking gloves and took me and my hand luggage aside to investigate further.
He inspected my keys carefully, suitably admired my camera and then politely dismissed me.
I found a nice little 'cafeteria come bar', sat in a quiet corner, ordered bacon, eggs and coffee for breakfast, then took a leisurely hour to eat and drink while catching up with emails and facebook on my iPad.
It was a very enjoyable way to waste some airport time.
We boarded our flight at 9.50am and immediately the captain told us that the weather in The Bay was not very pleasant and although he expected we would arrive on time, we may not be able to land immediately. Being the nervous flyer that I am (though not as nervous as Adoring Husband), this news made me feel incredibly uncomfortable, as I'm sure you can imagine!
The flight was uneventful, in fact, it was very smooth and very comfortable .. I slept for the entirety of it .. but as we flew over The Sunshine Coast, the captain announced "We are about to begin our decent into The Bay, but the weather has not improved and there is a strong wind and heavy rain, so please don't be concerned if we have to make more than one attempt to land".
Immediately I felt concerned!
I took some deep breaths, placed my hands firmly on the arm rests and closed my eyes. In my mind, the voices repeated "Everything will be fine".
We descended through very heavy low cloud and it got a little bit bumpy, but then I could see land clearly and the pilot landed the plane very easily and very smoothly. I checked out the wind socks on the poles and they were limp. There were a few puddles on the tarmac, but it wasn't raining and looked like it had been a while since it had rained. I questioned my pilot's sanity and wondered if he was just playing with us. I think my pilot had a sick sense of humour. I wish I could have met my pilot face to face so that I could pour water over his head!
Adoring Husband's smiling face was there to greet me and it was great to feel his arms wrap around me to welcome me home.
It was Friday yesterday, so I got to dress up and go to the club and catch up with friends and drink wine. It seems a lot of us are, or have been, away recently so our numbers are somewhat diminished for the moment.
This morning I pedalled down to the Seat of Knowledge and caught up with a couple of my boys, then on to have my morning coffee, which I threw in the rubbish bin because one of the young girls made it and it was weak and uninspiring.
My next stop was the markets where I made a few purchases to support our local crafty ladies and also our local growers.
One more stop before heading home, was to buy a gift for BGWLBH to commemorate our holiday. I was going to buy it before our trip, but something happened to distract me (it doesn't take much these days) but I think that happened for a reason, because there were comments made during the road trip that makes the gift just a bit more appropriate. I think she will love and appreciate the gift very much.
Finally, Adoring Husband and I went on a lunch date today at Wild Lotus, which was just lovely, as always. A little bit of shopping, some new shoes, some jewellery and some food and the date was complete!
We came home and watched some footy (my team won!)
All is right with my world and once again, it is after midnight!
Nite all.
It was a long day.
At the motel in Sydney, because I had to be up and packed and ready to leave at 7am, I set my alarm for 6am. My brain, however, decided that 3am would be a good time to wake up .. and stay awake. I looked at my watch every half an hour, hoping that perhaps I'd fallen asleep for a couple of hours, but alas .. not.
At 5.30am, I finally gave up and got out of bed, heading for the shower.
I attempted to pack, but of course, despite the fact that I had already sent two big boxes of stuff in the mail (one to myself and one to Chicklet) I still had too much stuff and I had to fill a plastic bag to give to Bubbles to send in the mail for me on Monday! Good grief!
Also .. I couldn't find my sunglasses. They are prescription sunglasses and I couldn't find them anywhere. They MAY be in one of the boxes that I sent in the mail, but that's a long shot. I can't remember the last time I had them, but I know I had them in Sydney. So it seems that I need to order myself a new pair of prescription sunglasses. *sigh* I ALMOST got through the entire holiday without permanently losing anything!
Knight in Shining Armour WAS my Knight in Shining Armour and arrived fifteen minutes early to take me to the airport.
This was a big deal for me for two reasons. The first being that he has a medical condition that sometimes knocks him flat and he needs more sleep than the rest of us. The second is that we would be driving in peak hour traffic and it could possibly take 90 minutes or more to travel what would normally be a 40 minute trip just one way. He would then have to return through the same traffic.
BGWLBH and I said our goodbyes - they are always fast and furious goodbyes because we don't like to get emotional. Long lingering sad goodbyes are just not us and we avoid them like the plague .. doesn't matter how sad we feel, we will deny it and remain brave and strong!
The drive to the airport was a smooth run. I think we encountered two red lights and they were the only times we had to stop. We kept looking at each other in astonishment and shaking our heads in disbelief and it only took 35 minutes to reach our destination!
He had a reasonable run home too, so it was our lucky day on Sydney roads!
I checked my luggage in and collected my boarding pass and attempted to get through the security gates, but the lady scanning the hand luggage decided that the keys in my camera bag, and my camera with two lenses was suspicious looking, so a very polite gentleman donned some scary looking gloves and took me and my hand luggage aside to investigate further.
He inspected my keys carefully, suitably admired my camera and then politely dismissed me.
I found a nice little 'cafeteria come bar', sat in a quiet corner, ordered bacon, eggs and coffee for breakfast, then took a leisurely hour to eat and drink while catching up with emails and facebook on my iPad.
It was a very enjoyable way to waste some airport time.
We boarded our flight at 9.50am and immediately the captain told us that the weather in The Bay was not very pleasant and although he expected we would arrive on time, we may not be able to land immediately. Being the nervous flyer that I am (though not as nervous as Adoring Husband), this news made me feel incredibly uncomfortable, as I'm sure you can imagine!
The flight was uneventful, in fact, it was very smooth and very comfortable .. I slept for the entirety of it .. but as we flew over The Sunshine Coast, the captain announced "We are about to begin our decent into The Bay, but the weather has not improved and there is a strong wind and heavy rain, so please don't be concerned if we have to make more than one attempt to land".
Immediately I felt concerned!
I took some deep breaths, placed my hands firmly on the arm rests and closed my eyes. In my mind, the voices repeated "Everything will be fine".
We descended through very heavy low cloud and it got a little bit bumpy, but then I could see land clearly and the pilot landed the plane very easily and very smoothly. I checked out the wind socks on the poles and they were limp. There were a few puddles on the tarmac, but it wasn't raining and looked like it had been a while since it had rained. I questioned my pilot's sanity and wondered if he was just playing with us. I think my pilot had a sick sense of humour. I wish I could have met my pilot face to face so that I could pour water over his head!
Adoring Husband's smiling face was there to greet me and it was great to feel his arms wrap around me to welcome me home.
It was Friday yesterday, so I got to dress up and go to the club and catch up with friends and drink wine. It seems a lot of us are, or have been, away recently so our numbers are somewhat diminished for the moment.
This morning I pedalled down to the Seat of Knowledge and caught up with a couple of my boys, then on to have my morning coffee, which I threw in the rubbish bin because one of the young girls made it and it was weak and uninspiring.
My next stop was the markets where I made a few purchases to support our local crafty ladies and also our local growers.
One more stop before heading home, was to buy a gift for BGWLBH to commemorate our holiday. I was going to buy it before our trip, but something happened to distract me (it doesn't take much these days) but I think that happened for a reason, because there were comments made during the road trip that makes the gift just a bit more appropriate. I think she will love and appreciate the gift very much.
Finally, Adoring Husband and I went on a lunch date today at Wild Lotus, which was just lovely, as always. A little bit of shopping, some new shoes, some jewellery and some food and the date was complete!
We came home and watched some footy (my team won!)
All is right with my world and once again, it is after midnight!
Nite all.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Model Material
I met Bubbles this morning for a shopping trip.
She is attending a formal engagement party in Brisbane next month and needed a dress for the occasion, so for her birthday (which is in a couple of weeks) I bought her some new clothes, including a beautiful purple and black ombre maxi dress.
We spent two hours in a shop called 'City Chic' which caters to plus size young women. Bubbles fit perfectly into the 'extra small' sizes of their fashions and looked amazing in their outfits. She stayed in the fitting room trying on about 25 different outfits, while the salesperson waited on her hand and foot.
We bought 2 dresses, a bolero, 2 tops, a pair of black jeggings, a beautiful blingy belt to go with the purple dress and two bras. She was beaming from ear to ear when we left the shop carrying two full bags of clothes.
I must say that when she tried on the purple dress and opened the curtain with that huge smile on her face, it brought a tear to my eye. It was almost like a 'wedding dress moment'. She will look amazing for the engagement party.
Unfortunately, she had to leave for work at lunch time, but that gave me a couple of hours to shop for myself.
I found a black boot which had been marked down by 50% and then had a further 50% markdown on top of that! The saleswoman, however, couldn't find the other boot! So I created a drama filled moment in my silly kind of way and walked off pouting .. a few moments later, she came up to me and said "There are other shoes missing their partner and I think they may have been taken for shop displays, so if you wait around, I will go searching and hopefully I'll find the other boot for you."
Sure enough, twenty minutes later, she appeared with the other boot! So I got a fabulous pair of black leather ankle boots which had been marked down from $260 to $130 and then down to $65. Ya gotta be happy with that!!
I found some nice jewellery in the 'Tree of Life' store, a couple of tops in a shop having a 50% off sale, another handbag and a few other odds and ends.
This afternoon, I had to find a post office to send off a box of goodies for the Chicklet family and a box of goodies to myself because they wouldn't all fit in my suitcase!
BGWLBH and I caught a taxi to the Sharkies Club this afternoon. She had coffee. I had wine. Things sure have changed there since we moved from Sydney and there is so much construction and work happening, I hardly recognised the place. We might have a decent motel to stay in next time we come to Sydney!
Soon after that, we headed back to the Miranda RSL for dinner. The meals are delicious there at a great price, which you can probably tell because we've eaten there three times this visit!
That's about it for our day.
Tomorrow we go our separate ways and head home back to reality.
I know I've said it before, but it's been a fantastic holiday. I've enjoyed every minute of it (oh except for those two dodgy rooms that we stayed at in Coffs Harbour) and am so glad that I decided to do it. I came so close to deciding NOT to go this year and now we are already planning the next one.
Now, we need to sleep because we both have a very early start tomorrow.
Nite all.
She is attending a formal engagement party in Brisbane next month and needed a dress for the occasion, so for her birthday (which is in a couple of weeks) I bought her some new clothes, including a beautiful purple and black ombre maxi dress.
We spent two hours in a shop called 'City Chic' which caters to plus size young women. Bubbles fit perfectly into the 'extra small' sizes of their fashions and looked amazing in their outfits. She stayed in the fitting room trying on about 25 different outfits, while the salesperson waited on her hand and foot.
We bought 2 dresses, a bolero, 2 tops, a pair of black jeggings, a beautiful blingy belt to go with the purple dress and two bras. She was beaming from ear to ear when we left the shop carrying two full bags of clothes.
I must say that when she tried on the purple dress and opened the curtain with that huge smile on her face, it brought a tear to my eye. It was almost like a 'wedding dress moment'. She will look amazing for the engagement party.
Unfortunately, she had to leave for work at lunch time, but that gave me a couple of hours to shop for myself.
I found a black boot which had been marked down by 50% and then had a further 50% markdown on top of that! The saleswoman, however, couldn't find the other boot! So I created a drama filled moment in my silly kind of way and walked off pouting .. a few moments later, she came up to me and said "There are other shoes missing their partner and I think they may have been taken for shop displays, so if you wait around, I will go searching and hopefully I'll find the other boot for you."
Sure enough, twenty minutes later, she appeared with the other boot! So I got a fabulous pair of black leather ankle boots which had been marked down from $260 to $130 and then down to $65. Ya gotta be happy with that!!
I found some nice jewellery in the 'Tree of Life' store, a couple of tops in a shop having a 50% off sale, another handbag and a few other odds and ends.
This afternoon, I had to find a post office to send off a box of goodies for the Chicklet family and a box of goodies to myself because they wouldn't all fit in my suitcase!
BGWLBH and I caught a taxi to the Sharkies Club this afternoon. She had coffee. I had wine. Things sure have changed there since we moved from Sydney and there is so much construction and work happening, I hardly recognised the place. We might have a decent motel to stay in next time we come to Sydney!
Soon after that, we headed back to the Miranda RSL for dinner. The meals are delicious there at a great price, which you can probably tell because we've eaten there three times this visit!
That's about it for our day.
Tomorrow we go our separate ways and head home back to reality.
I know I've said it before, but it's been a fantastic holiday. I've enjoyed every minute of it (oh except for those two dodgy rooms that we stayed at in Coffs Harbour) and am so glad that I decided to do it. I came so close to deciding NOT to go this year and now we are already planning the next one.
Now, we need to sleep because we both have a very early start tomorrow.
Nite all.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
The Big Smoke
Well, here we are in Sydney.
Two more sleeps and I will be home in my own bed .. I must say that I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed!
It seemed like a very long drive today. Five hours on the freeway is long and boring. Our trips prior to this have been on the back roads which are much more interesting than long straight freeways. Today felt like it was never ending.
I have to mention a lovely little cafe named Rosie's, at John's River. We were in need of a coffee and there was a sign on the freeway between Port Macquarie and Taree promoting Rosie's, so we took the turn off and BGWLBH ordered her coffee while I checked out the gift shop. I didn't buy anything, but BGWLBH LOVED her coffee so much, she told me to mention it here in the blog.
After the long freeway trip, we were very grateful for google maps getting us through Sydney today .. made it so much easier .. and we were lucky with all the traffic lights and barely stopped for the entire trip from one end of Sydney to the other.
It was a huge relief to finally pull into the carpark of the Metro and after we checked in ... guess what we did? YES!! We shopped some more.
We met Bubbles at the Miranda RSL and had dinner there. I had the veal scallopini this time round and it was delicious. I probably had one too many wines and I think that I'll sleep soundly tonight.
We're a bit sad that the road trip has come to an end, but excited about shopping til we drop tomorrow.
BGWLBH and I both agree that this has been the best road trip yet. Thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. We are also exhausted! My food options have not always been favourable and I think I've gained a couple of kgs so I'm looking forward to some healthy, organic meal options and some bone broth, which I've missed a lot.
Meanwhile, I need some sleep tonight.
Nite all.
Two more sleeps and I will be home in my own bed .. I must say that I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed!
It seemed like a very long drive today. Five hours on the freeway is long and boring. Our trips prior to this have been on the back roads which are much more interesting than long straight freeways. Today felt like it was never ending.
I have to mention a lovely little cafe named Rosie's, at John's River. We were in need of a coffee and there was a sign on the freeway between Port Macquarie and Taree promoting Rosie's, so we took the turn off and BGWLBH ordered her coffee while I checked out the gift shop. I didn't buy anything, but BGWLBH LOVED her coffee so much, she told me to mention it here in the blog.
After the long freeway trip, we were very grateful for google maps getting us through Sydney today .. made it so much easier .. and we were lucky with all the traffic lights and barely stopped for the entire trip from one end of Sydney to the other.
It was a huge relief to finally pull into the carpark of the Metro and after we checked in ... guess what we did? YES!! We shopped some more.
We met Bubbles at the Miranda RSL and had dinner there. I had the veal scallopini this time round and it was delicious. I probably had one too many wines and I think that I'll sleep soundly tonight.
We're a bit sad that the road trip has come to an end, but excited about shopping til we drop tomorrow.
BGWLBH and I both agree that this has been the best road trip yet. Thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. We are also exhausted! My food options have not always been favourable and I think I've gained a couple of kgs so I'm looking forward to some healthy, organic meal options and some bone broth, which I've missed a lot.
Meanwhile, I need some sleep tonight.
Nite all.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Moving On
It got worse.
The bathroom and shower had mould, the air conditioner barely worked and the cabin was like an ice box all night. The bedding didn't make up for the lack of warmth and we both had dreadful nights sleep. One of the front windows was actually broken ... somebody had obviously tried to break in at some point and bent the frame of the window, which meant it couldn't close properly. We went out for dinner, leaving thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment in the room, not to mention jewellery and other valuables and anyone could have climbed in the window and taken it all.
We both rose with the sun ... it was the longest night ever, and we couldn't wait to get out of the place.
I'll be sending them an email when I get home and I'll be putting an unfavourable review on the website.
We decided to head out to Coffs Harbour Yacht Club for breakfast. It was a beautiful sunny morning so we sat out on the deck and enjoyed bacon and eggs and tea and coffee in the sun.
We were excited to get out of Coffs after our two disappointing accommodation experiences, so we quickly headed towards our next destination .. Port Macquarie .. where last night, I booked us a room at Rydges.
We stayed at Rydges a couple of years ago, when Adoring Husband booked it for us on a return trip to Griffith, so we knew it was going to be warm, clean, comfortable and a little bit luxurious, with a great restaurant and close to shopping and clubs.
We arrived early, but our room was ready, so after a quick (and delicious) lunch in a little cafe, we checked in earlier than expected and went on a shopping spree. More jewellery for me .. because you can never have too much jewellery .. remembering that I threw away an entire shopping bad of old jewellery before I came on holidays! Also, it's the only thing that I can fit in my suitcase to take home!!
There were food markets across the road from our motel this afternoon. I wished that we had a kitchen in our room and that we were staying for a couple of days, so that I could buy food and do some cooking. Beautiful fresh fruit and veg. We bought some freshly squeezed orange juice, which was AMAZING.
It was time to freshen up and head out for some more fun.
The Bowls Club entertained us for about an hour and then we decided to come back to the motel for dinner in the restaurant. It turned out to be an excellent decision because there were a couple of singer/musicians in the corner entertaining quite a big crowd in the bar/restaurant.
It's quite chilly tonight and it had been raining when we left the club, so the fireplace in the restaurant was very warm and welcoming.
The very friendly barman, Ryan, recommended a nice wine for me and BGWLBH enjoyed a Sangria while we waited for our dinner. I ordered a quinoa, beetroot and rocket salad with prawns, while BGWLBH had steak and vegetables with peppercorn sauce.
The atmosphere in the restaurant was very happy and relaxing and the music was from our generation with some Paul Kelly thrown in for good measure.
We were back in our room before 8pm and spent half an hour watching the previews for movies that we haven't seen yet and making a list to watch them when we get home.
I'm hoping for a nice sunrise tomorrow. There is a little cloud about, so with any luck, it could be pretty.
As I write this, I'm sitting up in my comfortable double bed watching an old movie on TV, but I think it will be an early night for both of us, considering our last two nights of broken, uncomfortable sleep. Got to catch up on some shut eye!
Nite all.
The bathroom and shower had mould, the air conditioner barely worked and the cabin was like an ice box all night. The bedding didn't make up for the lack of warmth and we both had dreadful nights sleep. One of the front windows was actually broken ... somebody had obviously tried to break in at some point and bent the frame of the window, which meant it couldn't close properly. We went out for dinner, leaving thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment in the room, not to mention jewellery and other valuables and anyone could have climbed in the window and taken it all.
We both rose with the sun ... it was the longest night ever, and we couldn't wait to get out of the place.
I'll be sending them an email when I get home and I'll be putting an unfavourable review on the website.
We decided to head out to Coffs Harbour Yacht Club for breakfast. It was a beautiful sunny morning so we sat out on the deck and enjoyed bacon and eggs and tea and coffee in the sun.
We were excited to get out of Coffs after our two disappointing accommodation experiences, so we quickly headed towards our next destination .. Port Macquarie .. where last night, I booked us a room at Rydges.
We stayed at Rydges a couple of years ago, when Adoring Husband booked it for us on a return trip to Griffith, so we knew it was going to be warm, clean, comfortable and a little bit luxurious, with a great restaurant and close to shopping and clubs.
We arrived early, but our room was ready, so after a quick (and delicious) lunch in a little cafe, we checked in earlier than expected and went on a shopping spree. More jewellery for me .. because you can never have too much jewellery .. remembering that I threw away an entire shopping bad of old jewellery before I came on holidays! Also, it's the only thing that I can fit in my suitcase to take home!!
There were food markets across the road from our motel this afternoon. I wished that we had a kitchen in our room and that we were staying for a couple of days, so that I could buy food and do some cooking. Beautiful fresh fruit and veg. We bought some freshly squeezed orange juice, which was AMAZING.
It was time to freshen up and head out for some more fun.
The Bowls Club entertained us for about an hour and then we decided to come back to the motel for dinner in the restaurant. It turned out to be an excellent decision because there were a couple of singer/musicians in the corner entertaining quite a big crowd in the bar/restaurant.
It's quite chilly tonight and it had been raining when we left the club, so the fireplace in the restaurant was very warm and welcoming.
The very friendly barman, Ryan, recommended a nice wine for me and BGWLBH enjoyed a Sangria while we waited for our dinner. I ordered a quinoa, beetroot and rocket salad with prawns, while BGWLBH had steak and vegetables with peppercorn sauce.
The atmosphere in the restaurant was very happy and relaxing and the music was from our generation with some Paul Kelly thrown in for good measure.
We were back in our room before 8pm and spent half an hour watching the previews for movies that we haven't seen yet and making a list to watch them when we get home.
I'm hoping for a nice sunrise tomorrow. There is a little cloud about, so with any luck, it could be pretty.
As I write this, I'm sitting up in my comfortable double bed watching an old movie on TV, but I think it will be an early night for both of us, considering our last two nights of broken, uncomfortable sleep. Got to catch up on some shut eye!
Nite all.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Ranting Time
We've had a good run, so I shouldn't complain really... BUT ... today is day ten of our road trip and until now, our accommodation in every town has met, or exceeded our expectations. 98% of our meals have been above average and the holiday has been exceptional.
Coffs Harbour, on the other hand, has been pretty dismal. We left the last motel because it was dingy and old and uncomfortable. They tried to charge us $18 a head for breakfast, of which we took one mouthful and walked out of the restaurant refusing to pay. Powdered egg, tough slimy bacon, rock hard stale sausages, soggy hash browns and coffee out of a crappy little machine. $160 per night. Not worth it.
So we got online and spent an hour searching for other accommodation - short notice in school holiday time, difficult I know, but we found this resort room for $190 per night and figured that it had to be a step up from the last place.
Well, the roof gutters are falling down, the front porch is covered in dirt and dead leaves, the walls inside are patched but not finished, half of the power points don't work, we can't get free to air TV (I wanted to watch Kyrgios tonight) and minimal foxtel channels, the windows are filthy, the fly screen in the toilet is covered in dirt and mould, the toilet doesn't flush properly, there is no phone in the unit and it just cost us $16 to do two loads of washing.
Glad to be moving on tomorrow and hopefully will find something better in Port Macquarie, or wherever we decide to stop.
At the last motel, we did meet a lovely couple who are travelling around in a mini van. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in February and the woman turned 70 years of age today! Her husband shouted her a night in the motel for her birthday. We've met some really nice people in our travels.
After abandoning our breakfast, we found a nice cafe and bought a take away coffee, then spent the morning shopping. I bought a beautiful tree pendant with amber stones mimicking fruit. I also found some t-shirts that I've been searching the world over for the Bare-chested Chef, so I grabbed a couple of them while I had the chance.
We found our way to the big shopping plaza and discovered a great little cafe (wish I could remember the name of it) that served up the most delicious chicken salad I've ever tasted. I then spoiled myself and bought a piece of gf orange and almond cake, which was very nice, but I couldn't eat it all.
While we ate lunch, we searched online for our accommodation - I took my laptop into the cafe with me. There wasn't a lot on offer obviously. Aside from it being school holidays, there is a big soccer tournament on in town, so that doesn't help. We have about 30 soccer kids accommodated in the units beside us. They've been pretty quiet though. I imagine they would all be exhausted from playing sports all day!
The weather here is significantly warmer than Armidale! The maximum in Armidale was 12C. The maximum here today was 24C. Beautiful.
Anyway, I'm off to sulk in my bedroom since I can't watch the Kyrgios tennis match tonight.
Nite all.
Coffs Harbour, on the other hand, has been pretty dismal. We left the last motel because it was dingy and old and uncomfortable. They tried to charge us $18 a head for breakfast, of which we took one mouthful and walked out of the restaurant refusing to pay. Powdered egg, tough slimy bacon, rock hard stale sausages, soggy hash browns and coffee out of a crappy little machine. $160 per night. Not worth it.
So we got online and spent an hour searching for other accommodation - short notice in school holiday time, difficult I know, but we found this resort room for $190 per night and figured that it had to be a step up from the last place.
Well, the roof gutters are falling down, the front porch is covered in dirt and dead leaves, the walls inside are patched but not finished, half of the power points don't work, we can't get free to air TV (I wanted to watch Kyrgios tonight) and minimal foxtel channels, the windows are filthy, the fly screen in the toilet is covered in dirt and mould, the toilet doesn't flush properly, there is no phone in the unit and it just cost us $16 to do two loads of washing.
Glad to be moving on tomorrow and hopefully will find something better in Port Macquarie, or wherever we decide to stop.
At the last motel, we did meet a lovely couple who are travelling around in a mini van. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in February and the woman turned 70 years of age today! Her husband shouted her a night in the motel for her birthday. We've met some really nice people in our travels.
After abandoning our breakfast, we found a nice cafe and bought a take away coffee, then spent the morning shopping. I bought a beautiful tree pendant with amber stones mimicking fruit. I also found some t-shirts that I've been searching the world over for the Bare-chested Chef, so I grabbed a couple of them while I had the chance.
We found our way to the big shopping plaza and discovered a great little cafe (wish I could remember the name of it) that served up the most delicious chicken salad I've ever tasted. I then spoiled myself and bought a piece of gf orange and almond cake, which was very nice, but I couldn't eat it all.
While we ate lunch, we searched online for our accommodation - I took my laptop into the cafe with me. There wasn't a lot on offer obviously. Aside from it being school holidays, there is a big soccer tournament on in town, so that doesn't help. We have about 30 soccer kids accommodated in the units beside us. They've been pretty quiet though. I imagine they would all be exhausted from playing sports all day!
The weather here is significantly warmer than Armidale! The maximum in Armidale was 12C. The maximum here today was 24C. Beautiful.
Anyway, I'm off to sulk in my bedroom since I can't watch the Kyrgios tennis match tonight.
Nite all.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Discombobulation
What a ridiculous start to the day!!
We didn't start early, because it was a very cold and foggy morning and knowing that we would be driving up the mountain to Dorrigo, we decided to delay our departure until there was a good chance that the fog would lift.
Last time we drove to Dorrigo, we turned a corner and drove into thick fog with misty rain and we were terrified for the entire trip, with a semitrailer right on our tail and BGWLBH alternating between praying to god and apologising profusely to the truck driver behind us.
So we took our time getting ready and packing the car. Once we were ready to go, I went to grab the cabin key from my bag to lodge at reception and I couldn't find it! I emptied my handbag with no success. Checked the pockets of the coat that I wore last night, checked under the car seat, double checked the cabin, looked in my computer bag ... and meanwhile, BGWLBH was checking through the car and in her handbag, on the off chance that she grabbed it by mistake. Nothing.
I decided to get my suitcase out of the boot and take it back into the cabin to empty it out. FINALLY, I found it in the most obvious spot .. in my jewellery travel bag .. where all shiny sparkly things should be!
We packed everything back into the car and I climbed into the passenger seat and said "Where are my sunglasses?"
We looked at each other and BGWLBH rolled her eyes.
I emptied my bag, with no success, checked the floor of the car and in the door pocket. Checked the glove box. Looked in my toiletries bag and a couple of other bags in the boot. BGWLBH said "Go empty your suitcase again". I replied with .. "It won't be there, I just looked there for the keys! I probably left them at the Club last night."
So I dragged my suitcase out of the car again and took it into the cabin to empty it out. Halfway through the 'emptying out' process, I found the damned things in the middle of my clothes!
Luckily, we were in no hurry and we both had a good giggle about it .. I will never live it down and BGWLBH will have something to tease me and laugh about for years to come!
We had to fuel up the car, so we drove back into Armidale and then on to the shopping mall where we had bacon and eggs at The Coffee Club and did a little shopping for necessities. It was about 11.30am before we finally made it onto the open road.
On the drive, we saw a signpost for the town of Wollomombi and decided to turn in to check it out. We recognised it immediately because we had bought the worst coffee in the history of the universe at the little shop (which is now a post office) on the main street last time we were there. Our memories were obviously struggling this morning.
So on we drove to the next stop, which was Ebor. We've been to Ebor twice before. Ebor Falls are quite spectacular, but we didn't go there today. We stopped at the little coffee shop called 'Fusspots' and BGWLBH got herself a Mocha. She also spotted a very appropriate sign that said "I finally got it all together and now I can't remember where I put it!"
Dorrigo was our next stop. We had a bathroom break and went for a stroll around the town. There was a lovely little boutique where I bought a vest and another gift shop where BGWLBH spent some money.
We noticed a sign for 'Dangar Falls' so we decided to head in that direction and found another beautiful waterfall very close to the town. We also noticed that the closer we got to the coast, the more tourists were about. Lots of kids and noise. Not our idea of a fun holiday.
So on we went.
We didn't get very far on the other side of Dorrigo when we saw a sign for Dorrigo National Park with a skywalk lookout and decided to go for a sticky beak there. Soooooo many people and kids! We checked out the skywalk .. well I did .. BGWLBH is terrified of heights. We started off on the walk through the rainforest hoping to spot some birds, but there were kids running and jumping and making a hell of racket, so we decided to turn back and have lunch at the restaurant near the skywalk instead.
BGWLBH had a pulled chicken toasted sandwich with gf bread and I had a giant bowl of Chicken and Corn Chowder. It was the biggest bowl of soup I've ever seen and as yummy as it was, I could only eat half of it. The gf sourdough toast that came with it was pretty disgusting though.
I should mention that we decided overnight, not to go to Kempsey today, because the accommodation looked very unsavoury and a quick post on facebook brought us enough negative comments warning us not to go there.
We chose Coffs Harbour instead.
We drove through to Bellingen and discovered a beautiful little coffee shop on the edge of town nestled in the side of the mountain. An old style home converted into a coffee shop/cafe. There were people sitting at tables out the front playing chess .. it looked to be a couple of elderly gentlemen playing chess with some young teenagers and a young man.
We walked through the shop to the side doors and stepped out onto a verandah where we chose a table and then ordered a wine for me (it was after 3pm) and another mocha for BGWLBH. I set my laptop up on the table and searched for accommodation in Coffs Harbour and booked a room online. The view from the back of the cafe was breathtaking with green fields, the huge trees lining the river and then the rolling hills in the background.
We could hear entertainment up the road. It sounded like fiddles and banjoes and crowds of people yelling for more. Such a great atmosphere.
When we hit the road again and drove through the main street of Bellingen, it was obvious that there had been markets on all day and they were packing up. There were lots of hippies and colourful people with dreadlocks and musical instruments and a crazy big colourful double decker bus with music blaring and the driver obviously bopping along as he drove.
I felt a little disappointed that we missed it all, but we certainly drove through a very happy atmosphere and Bellingen is obviously the place to be on the weekends!
Finally we made it to Coffs Harbour and were excited to see that our Motel had a lovely restaurant with a great menu and we planned on eating 'in' until we realised that it is closed on Sundays. Of course it was!
Luckily, I had overheard the receptionist telling a guest that the Coff's Exies had a courtesy bus that picked people up from our motel, so we booked the bus and headed to the Club for dinner instead. It was a beautiful club with a big friendly smiling man at the front door to welcome guests as they entered. He did all the hard work with the computer sign in for us and explained where everything was in the club.
The staff were all very friendly and helpful. The club was huge and looked almost brand new. There was a little coffee shop area and then the bistro which had it's own bar. The meals were huge and the food delicious and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time for a couple of hours until the courtesy bus brought us home when we were ready.
It's been a long, eventful, interesting and fun day.
Time for sleep.
Nite all.
We didn't start early, because it was a very cold and foggy morning and knowing that we would be driving up the mountain to Dorrigo, we decided to delay our departure until there was a good chance that the fog would lift.
Last time we drove to Dorrigo, we turned a corner and drove into thick fog with misty rain and we were terrified for the entire trip, with a semitrailer right on our tail and BGWLBH alternating between praying to god and apologising profusely to the truck driver behind us.
So we took our time getting ready and packing the car. Once we were ready to go, I went to grab the cabin key from my bag to lodge at reception and I couldn't find it! I emptied my handbag with no success. Checked the pockets of the coat that I wore last night, checked under the car seat, double checked the cabin, looked in my computer bag ... and meanwhile, BGWLBH was checking through the car and in her handbag, on the off chance that she grabbed it by mistake. Nothing.
I decided to get my suitcase out of the boot and take it back into the cabin to empty it out. FINALLY, I found it in the most obvious spot .. in my jewellery travel bag .. where all shiny sparkly things should be!
We packed everything back into the car and I climbed into the passenger seat and said "Where are my sunglasses?"
We looked at each other and BGWLBH rolled her eyes.
I emptied my bag, with no success, checked the floor of the car and in the door pocket. Checked the glove box. Looked in my toiletries bag and a couple of other bags in the boot. BGWLBH said "Go empty your suitcase again". I replied with .. "It won't be there, I just looked there for the keys! I probably left them at the Club last night."
So I dragged my suitcase out of the car again and took it into the cabin to empty it out. Halfway through the 'emptying out' process, I found the damned things in the middle of my clothes!
Luckily, we were in no hurry and we both had a good giggle about it .. I will never live it down and BGWLBH will have something to tease me and laugh about for years to come!
We had to fuel up the car, so we drove back into Armidale and then on to the shopping mall where we had bacon and eggs at The Coffee Club and did a little shopping for necessities. It was about 11.30am before we finally made it onto the open road.
On the drive, we saw a signpost for the town of Wollomombi and decided to turn in to check it out. We recognised it immediately because we had bought the worst coffee in the history of the universe at the little shop (which is now a post office) on the main street last time we were there. Our memories were obviously struggling this morning.
So on we drove to the next stop, which was Ebor. We've been to Ebor twice before. Ebor Falls are quite spectacular, but we didn't go there today. We stopped at the little coffee shop called 'Fusspots' and BGWLBH got herself a Mocha. She also spotted a very appropriate sign that said "I finally got it all together and now I can't remember where I put it!"
Dorrigo was our next stop. We had a bathroom break and went for a stroll around the town. There was a lovely little boutique where I bought a vest and another gift shop where BGWLBH spent some money.
We noticed a sign for 'Dangar Falls' so we decided to head in that direction and found another beautiful waterfall very close to the town. We also noticed that the closer we got to the coast, the more tourists were about. Lots of kids and noise. Not our idea of a fun holiday.
So on we went.
We didn't get very far on the other side of Dorrigo when we saw a sign for Dorrigo National Park with a skywalk lookout and decided to go for a sticky beak there. Soooooo many people and kids! We checked out the skywalk .. well I did .. BGWLBH is terrified of heights. We started off on the walk through the rainforest hoping to spot some birds, but there were kids running and jumping and making a hell of racket, so we decided to turn back and have lunch at the restaurant near the skywalk instead.
BGWLBH had a pulled chicken toasted sandwich with gf bread and I had a giant bowl of Chicken and Corn Chowder. It was the biggest bowl of soup I've ever seen and as yummy as it was, I could only eat half of it. The gf sourdough toast that came with it was pretty disgusting though.
I should mention that we decided overnight, not to go to Kempsey today, because the accommodation looked very unsavoury and a quick post on facebook brought us enough negative comments warning us not to go there.
We chose Coffs Harbour instead.
We drove through to Bellingen and discovered a beautiful little coffee shop on the edge of town nestled in the side of the mountain. An old style home converted into a coffee shop/cafe. There were people sitting at tables out the front playing chess .. it looked to be a couple of elderly gentlemen playing chess with some young teenagers and a young man.
We walked through the shop to the side doors and stepped out onto a verandah where we chose a table and then ordered a wine for me (it was after 3pm) and another mocha for BGWLBH. I set my laptop up on the table and searched for accommodation in Coffs Harbour and booked a room online. The view from the back of the cafe was breathtaking with green fields, the huge trees lining the river and then the rolling hills in the background.
We could hear entertainment up the road. It sounded like fiddles and banjoes and crowds of people yelling for more. Such a great atmosphere.
When we hit the road again and drove through the main street of Bellingen, it was obvious that there had been markets on all day and they were packing up. There were lots of hippies and colourful people with dreadlocks and musical instruments and a crazy big colourful double decker bus with music blaring and the driver obviously bopping along as he drove.
I felt a little disappointed that we missed it all, but we certainly drove through a very happy atmosphere and Bellingen is obviously the place to be on the weekends!
Finally we made it to Coffs Harbour and were excited to see that our Motel had a lovely restaurant with a great menu and we planned on eating 'in' until we realised that it is closed on Sundays. Of course it was!
Luckily, I had overheard the receptionist telling a guest that the Coff's Exies had a courtesy bus that picked people up from our motel, so we booked the bus and headed to the Club for dinner instead. It was a beautiful club with a big friendly smiling man at the front door to welcome guests as they entered. He did all the hard work with the computer sign in for us and explained where everything was in the club.
The staff were all very friendly and helpful. The club was huge and looked almost brand new. There was a little coffee shop area and then the bistro which had it's own bar. The meals were huge and the food delicious and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time for a couple of hours until the courtesy bus brought us home when we were ready.
It's been a long, eventful, interesting and fun day.
Time for sleep.
Nite all.
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Lyre Lyre
It didn't quite reach the minus four degrees that we were expecting this morning. Minus two was our minimum and I stayed in bed with the electric blanket on 'one' until after 8am!
Luckily, BGWLBH was up well before me and put the heater on, so the cabin was nice and toasty warm by the time I climbed out of bed.
We were both brave enough to wash our hair today. I blow dried mine with the very small, but effective hair dryer attached to the wall bracket in the main bedroom, while BGWLBH chose to wind her hair into a twist and hold it in place with a loose beanie.
We left the cabin well after 9.30am and drove to the main shopping mall, where we found a little bohemian style cafe to have breakfast. We then grabbed some fruit and nuts from the supermarket to take to Wollomombi Falls with us.
Last time we came to this area, we spent a couple of hours at Wollomombi Falls attempting to photograph Wedge-tailed Eagles that soared and hovered at our eye level at the lookouts above the gorge. So we were really hoping to spend more time doing the same today.
After about 45 minutes, it was obvious that there were no eagles in the vicinity, but I did see a couple of Crimson Rosellas, an Eastern Spinebill and some Robins. BGWLBH came back from her trek and urged me to follow her back up the path to see some Fairy Wrens, which I did.
Along the way, we came across a male Superb Lyrebird! BGWLBH had already met him earlier, so I followed him around for a bit and got some shots. He kept moving in the opposite direction, so I couldn't get any frontal shots, but his tail was his best feature anyway, so it didn't really matter.
I've done a lot of trekking on our road trips and we have never crossed paths with a Lyrebird before this trip. There was one scratching around in the bushes at The Drip too, but we didn't get any good shots of that one because he was much more skittish than this one.
We left him to his own devices and further along the path there was a patch of bush and trees full of different birds. There was a red robin (I haven't looked at these photos yet, so I can't correctly identify the birds), a yellow robin, pardalotes, honey eaters and finches. No fairy wrens unfortunately.
At our last visit, we had the entire lookout and the tracks to ourselves, but today there were a lot of tourists about. Noisy kids, other photographers, families, backpackers etc. We should have realised that it would be busier on a weekend.
We had a bite to eat and decided to drive back to Metz Gorge. We had been there on our last trek too and that's when I took this photo ...
It was completely different this visit. A new lookout platform had been built, a new fence and the road in was very much improved. The two alpacas were still there, along with a couple of horses and a shetland pony.
Today, there were no clouds, just bright Winter sunshine. A perfect day really.
On the drive back into Armidale, an idiot with a mini van full of kids overtook us on a bend and there was another car coming in the opposite direction. The other car had to veer off the road to miss this idiot. They were about ten feet away from a head on collision. The ridiculous part about it, was that the mini van was only about twenty seconds in front of us when we drove into Armidale. What a stupid risk to take for the sake of 20 seconds!
Tonight we had a delicious dinner at the Armidale Exies Club. Grilled chicken breast with salad and chips and gf gravy. The chef made the gravy gf especially for us. While we ate, there was a musician with a guitar, and he was singing Eagles, Creedence, Sherbet and other songs from the 70s and 80s. He was very good and we sang along and took our time over dinner.
Back to the cabin by 8pm and checking out the touring atlas to figure out what direction to drive tomorrow. We think we've decided on Kempsey as our next destination.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring? I must say that I'm having a great time on this road trip. Very relaxing, interesting and fun. I'm glad we're here .. even if it IS cold!
Nite all.
Luckily, BGWLBH was up well before me and put the heater on, so the cabin was nice and toasty warm by the time I climbed out of bed.
We were both brave enough to wash our hair today. I blow dried mine with the very small, but effective hair dryer attached to the wall bracket in the main bedroom, while BGWLBH chose to wind her hair into a twist and hold it in place with a loose beanie.
We left the cabin well after 9.30am and drove to the main shopping mall, where we found a little bohemian style cafe to have breakfast. We then grabbed some fruit and nuts from the supermarket to take to Wollomombi Falls with us.
Last time we came to this area, we spent a couple of hours at Wollomombi Falls attempting to photograph Wedge-tailed Eagles that soared and hovered at our eye level at the lookouts above the gorge. So we were really hoping to spend more time doing the same today.
After about 45 minutes, it was obvious that there were no eagles in the vicinity, but I did see a couple of Crimson Rosellas, an Eastern Spinebill and some Robins. BGWLBH came back from her trek and urged me to follow her back up the path to see some Fairy Wrens, which I did.
Along the way, we came across a male Superb Lyrebird! BGWLBH had already met him earlier, so I followed him around for a bit and got some shots. He kept moving in the opposite direction, so I couldn't get any frontal shots, but his tail was his best feature anyway, so it didn't really matter.
I've done a lot of trekking on our road trips and we have never crossed paths with a Lyrebird before this trip. There was one scratching around in the bushes at The Drip too, but we didn't get any good shots of that one because he was much more skittish than this one.
We left him to his own devices and further along the path there was a patch of bush and trees full of different birds. There was a red robin (I haven't looked at these photos yet, so I can't correctly identify the birds), a yellow robin, pardalotes, honey eaters and finches. No fairy wrens unfortunately.
At our last visit, we had the entire lookout and the tracks to ourselves, but today there were a lot of tourists about. Noisy kids, other photographers, families, backpackers etc. We should have realised that it would be busier on a weekend.
We had a bite to eat and decided to drive back to Metz Gorge. We had been there on our last trek too and that's when I took this photo ...
It was completely different this visit. A new lookout platform had been built, a new fence and the road in was very much improved. The two alpacas were still there, along with a couple of horses and a shetland pony.
Today, there were no clouds, just bright Winter sunshine. A perfect day really.
On the drive back into Armidale, an idiot with a mini van full of kids overtook us on a bend and there was another car coming in the opposite direction. The other car had to veer off the road to miss this idiot. They were about ten feet away from a head on collision. The ridiculous part about it, was that the mini van was only about twenty seconds in front of us when we drove into Armidale. What a stupid risk to take for the sake of 20 seconds!
Tonight we had a delicious dinner at the Armidale Exies Club. Grilled chicken breast with salad and chips and gf gravy. The chef made the gravy gf especially for us. While we ate, there was a musician with a guitar, and he was singing Eagles, Creedence, Sherbet and other songs from the 70s and 80s. He was very good and we sang along and took our time over dinner.
Back to the cabin by 8pm and checking out the touring atlas to figure out what direction to drive tomorrow. We think we've decided on Kempsey as our next destination.
I wonder what tomorrow will bring? I must say that I'm having a great time on this road trip. Very relaxing, interesting and fun. I'm glad we're here .. even if it IS cold!
Nite all.
Friday, July 3, 2015
Icy Icy Baby
Armidale - where they issue slips of paper to visitors with warnings about frozen water pipes, adding layers to your bedding to keep warm, icy roads (black ice) and driving through fog, warming your engine before driving off, depleted battery power due to the cold and using loyalty cards to scrape ice off your windscreen in the mornings.
At least they have electric blankets on the beds!
It is currently 1C and is expected to be -3C in the morning. Oh the joys of Winter road trips.
At least they have electric blankets on the beds!
It is currently 1C and is expected to be -3C in the morning. Oh the joys of Winter road trips.
We plan on driving to the lookout where the famed Wedge-tailed Eagle looms from below the lookout, to within eye level, for hopefully some great shots with the long lens.
We'll take a picnic lunch and make a day of it, walking the trails and checking out whatever else mother nature has to offer.
We had a good drive today from Scone, stopping at Tamworth along the way to run some errands and do some shopping. Every time we visit Tamworth, it seems to have grown bigger.
We reached Armidale by 2pm and immediately checked into the Tourist Park. I had booked a cabin with two bedrooms, each with a double bed, but they gave us a two bedroom, one with a double bed and one with two double bunks! So toddled back over to reception and using my most pleasant demeanour, asked for what I had booked.
At first, she said there was nothing available, but before she even finished the sentence, she corrected herself and said "Oh wait! Yes there is one cabin .. I'll just have to check that it's ready."
So we are settled in here for two nights and it looks like the kitchen/dining/living area has been newly renovated, with timber floorboards, new white kitchen cabinets with the soft closing drawers, a glass splashback, a new black leather couch and a big screen TV on the wall.
Very nice and very comfortable.
We attempted to see a movie this afternoon, but we could barely get through the front door for the crowds of kids, so we did a quick 'about face' and walked next door to the Exservicemen's Club instead. We were going to have dinner there, but decided to get Chinese takeaway and head back to the cabin.
Luckily, there were gluten free options available and we ordered a couple of chicken dishes with some fried rice. Quite delicious and satisfying. The menu does look good at the club though, so I hope we get to try that tomorrow night.
I will be attempting to watch some tennis tonight, with a couple of Aussies playing. Kyrgios is playing Raonic, and Tomic is playing Djokovic. They should be good matches.
Hopefully, tomorrow night, I will have the most fabulous photo of a Wedge-tailed Eagle to show you!
Nite all.
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