Hi,
We have had a fabulous time on the central coast (about 1 hour north of Sydney) at Scott's mother's house. Judes and Len have looked after us very well.
We got here on Sunday after a great drive up. Mike and I drove the kids and we sang all the way. Made it go very fast. Karen and Scott followed behind in the second car - about an hour behind in the end.
We nipped into the local shopping centre for some supplies - Mike now has some really great undies. Hahahah. The brand we were after were not there, but I found a great pair that looked like leopard skin pattern. Scary. So scary that I had to buy them!
Judes had prepared a magnificent BBQ dinner that Scott cooked up. Toby asked for seconds!
 |
| Yummo! |
 |
| Toby and Abby killing their food while Tyler waits for hers |
Up early the next day for a walk along the beach. Mike went for a run. Loads of bluebottles washed up. The day was not quite warm enough for me to swim. I did have my togs on because the last time I did this I ended up swimming in my clothes!
We bought loads of seafood from the fish co-op and cooked a great BBQ lunch of salmon, calamari and prawns. So delicious!
New Years Eve was spent wandering over to the The Entrance and catching up with friends of Karen and Scott's. Then walking into The Entrance proper for fish 'n' chips. At 9pm we found a great position at the apex of the bridge and watched the fireworks. I think Tyler may have videoed the entire 15 minutes on her phone.
We walked back to the car and drove slowly home with the others doing the exact same thing. In fact, one thing I am recalling from this holiday is that there are so many more people living here than in New Zealand. Everyone is doing what you're doing. And yet, if you went to the next beach, there would be just as many people doing it there too!
Once back home, everyone stayed up - even the kids. The adults (besides me) played Phase 10 while I watched the build up to the big event in Sydney on TV. Kisses all round at midnight. I think the kids were underwhelmed by it all.
New Years Day we went to the beach. It was going to be a hot day so we left early so we'd be back before it got too hot. I got to drive Len's fantastic Toyota Land Cruiser so we could all fit in one car to the beach (and I was the only person in the house capable of driving after the New Years excesses. What a great car! Loads of space, loads of power, great visibility. I wish I had a reason to need one!
The beach was great fun. Mike went for a run while I went swimming with the kids. Scotty joined us after his coffee. Toby had a ball jumping the surf waves - it was the first time he has ever spent ages doing it and enjoying it. I loved seeing his face alight with joy - even after a wave dumped him into the sand! When Mike got back from his run, he jumped in too. He got red marks on his chest and lips from when a waves smashed him into the sand. Ouch! Only saw one bluebottle - the crowds part quite quickly around a bluebottle. Someone eventually (a woman!) scooped it up with two handfuls of sand and took it away to bury.
We left the Central Coast on Jan 2nd and drove to Kiama, on the south coast. This took us 6 hours - not too sure why. Well, we did stop for sushi lunch on the way, and checked out the cliff side bridges.
 |
| Abby having sushi |
 |
| Self portrait showing the bridge back behind me |
 |
| Nice pic - ta Scotty |
 |
| And evidence Scotty was with us. See Mike behind inspecting the bridge! He was checking the expansion joint. |
I have been wanting to see these bridges for ages. We stopped at Coal Cliff and walked over them and back while Karen let the kids run around at a park.
Then down past Wollongong to Kiama to check out the blowhole. If there had been a bigger southerly swell, I suspect it would have been spectacular. Toby declared it boring. But I enjoyed it.
 |
| Yes - I accept the risk. As do those people on the top of the rocks behind me. |
The locals all seemed to be in jackets and long sleeves at this point. Well, after twenty minutes out int he breeze, I was starting to feel a little cool myself.
Into our accommodation at Jamberoo - the pub! Very nice dinner there before bed! Then up on Thursday for the big day at the Jamberoo Action Park. Woo hoo! What fun!
 |
| Tyler needed help with her spider - but Toby didn't like her pink version (raspberry fizzy) |
 |
| And Abby's even pinker spider! |
The Jamberoo Action Park was amazing - basically a water park. The crowds meant we had a wait for most things. The Funnel Web was worth it. In fact, Mike, Scott and I did that twice - waiting 40 minutes and then 50 minutes just for the thrill of it. It has space for four people on the raft and you head off down a completely black tunnel that spins you around and then dumps you down a steep slide into a huge funnel. With Karen and Abby we had lots of squealing (Karen!). With Mike and Scott we had speed! They both hunkered down in their "seat" and used opposing weight to get the most speed out into the funnel. It worked!
The wave pool was great fun. The Taipan was a tamer version of a water slide with rafts compared to the Funnel Web. The River Rapids was a ride on tubes and wasn't very fast at all. But this had a short queue and the water was warm! So we did this ride quite a bit.
I took Abby up the chairlift at the end while Mike and Scott hurtled back down from there on the toboggan run. We beat them back on the chairlift!
After 7 hours non stop fun we hopped in the car for the 1.5 hour drive back to Sydney. The kids all flaked out.
 |
| Sleeping kids on the way home |
Perhaps it was a respite from my singing! Hahahahah.
Now it is Friday, Jan 4th and Mike returns home tomorrow. He's back at work on Monday. I have another week here with the kids while Scott and Karen work (well, Scott is at work today - it's a shame for him!).
The weather has been great and I think I am completely on Australian time now. Going to be ruined when I get back home.
Have a great weekend!
Love,
Angela
