Our parents moved to the coastal town, Merimbula, last July and so we headed off, sans husbands, for a bit of sister time.
Will was a charming prince all the way. What a great travel mate he is! He chattered to himself, asked questions and sang along to Play School or Hi 5 cds happily. He was fabulous company.
I was worried as we headed out of town. I'd promised you all sunny photos. Things weren't looking good. On the way to Cooma (first port of call for toilet stops) it looked like this.
Soon, it turned to this.
And over Brown Mountain, it looked like this.
By the time we hit Merimbula at lunch time, the rain had cleared, but it was still gloomy.
This photo was taken about 30 mins out of Merimbula, in the dairy country of the Bega Valley. Not exactly late spring/early summer huh? But awfully pretty though, that lush dairy country. From a parched Canberran's point of view, this greenery is paradise.Thursday afternoon we hung around indoors, looking at the swimming pool down below my parents' place. It didn't matter how we longed, it wasn't that sort of day. But it was just warm enough for my dad to get out and do some stuff in the yard.
But we passed a fun afternoon with Thomas and Gordon and all the other engines Will brought to play with.
Friday, we got out of the house. Adele and I had a leisurely wander around town while Will went to the beach with Grandad. In the afternoon, we drove to the next village, Pambula, where mum took us shopping for our Christmas presents. New handbags. I shall post a photo of mine later when I've got a photo of it. Amazingly, Adele and I chose very nearly identical bags, having already chosen identical hats in the morning. It's a good thing we live in separate cities!
Next stop was Eden, the old whaling town where we lived for a decade. This is a photo of Mum and Will on the lookout over Aslings Beach.
Going back there is always sort of odd for me. I was not a particularly happy girl there. You could say I spent a fairly miserable adolescence in Eden, because I suffered badly at school.
In my twenties, I wrote a novel that featured both this beach, and the cemetery that's across the road.
I love cemeteries, mostly those that you find in country towns. They tell the story of the town so wonderfully. See how close it is to the beach? It's full of people who drowned at Aslings Beach. I'm really drawn to it.
After fish and chips in a nearby park, we left Eden and its mixed bag of memories, heading back to Merimbula, where Will and Adele and I finally got a swim.
Did I get any creative stuff done while I was away? You bet. I made the snake in this photo.
And I finished some socks but I'll save those for another post.On Saturday morning, Will and I hung with the birds that visit Mum and Dad's place.
We said goodbye on Saturday morning.
And finally, the return trip, where the sun finally decided to shine on the Monaro Plains.
I do love the plains. Some might say it's fairly bland countryside, but something about its wide, wind blown openness really moves me.
So thanks guys for a lovely few days. I had a blast and loved spending so much time with you both. And thanks to Mum and Dad for having us. Great fun.Bells
xo
ps I try not to get political here, but I can't post without saying, 'good riddance to the Howard government!' Last night was a tremendous, powerful and moving night for all those Australians who've suffered through nearly 12 long years of Howard's government. Today is a brand new world. Kevin Rudd might just be a great man and Julia Gillard as Depty PM is an achievement of astounding proportions.
|