Ending our trip happened in two stages - first was a few days in Newcastle spending time with mum and catching up with my sisters as well as my other sisters, the SAGs. (St Anne Girls' School buddies for those unfamiliar with our name.) - Warm, nourishing times that only happen with close family and friends.
Next was coming home to 'Rockview' and to Jeni - hard to describe the feeling, but it was certainly lovely and easy and fun. She is wonderful company and has been managing extremely well without us- nor surprise there.
The further we drove south, the colder it got, until just before
Numeralla the temperature read 6 degrees. An almost full moon appeared
at about 4pm...and we knew we were home!
Already some of our memories of the trip are fading - thank God for blogs I say - but we have had a fabulous time and feel lucky that we can continue to have a fabulous time here at home and in our hometown.
Until next time xoxo
Get Outta Town Now
Off we go to Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road, Kangaroo Island, Adelaide, the Barossa Valley, Broken Hill and across the top of NSW via Cobar and Moree to the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. From two weeks in our favourite resort there, we work our way down the coast, staying in places such as Kingscliff, Clunes, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie to visit lovely family and friends before landing in Newcastle for a few days to see more loved ones, including my wonderful mother.
This trip is for Jon and me– tailor made for us, by us, starting 4 days after Jon’s 60th birthday. We will no doubt miss ‘Rockview’, our friends in Cooma and especially our darlings, Charlie and Jeni, but we are more than ready to hit the road and get outta town!
Monday, 2 July 2012
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
The Last Resort
Life is relaxed. Everything is here, so that we can choose
specific activities as the mood dictates or just slowly gravitate to them as
the day unfolds. As the Restaurant
Manager at Pacific Bay advised me at breakfast, “Stay for a while and sit in
the sun near the water, have another coffee and read the paper. Wait until 12
and order a bottle of wine. Why not?”
When we go out for the day, we love coming home, not just to
a lovely suite or apartment but to the whole place. It has a village atmosphere
that is comforting. Yes, I know it’s an artificial village populated with temporary
residents, but everyone accepts that and for the time we are here, it’s real.
We love resorts at this time of year, when the pool or restaurant or bar has only a few other couples or families. At times, some conference delegates intrude, but usually we don’t have to queue or compete with anyone else. We sit by almost deserted pools, walk along beaches and pass perhaps four or five people.
The view before us feels as if it’s only for us and when we do pass someone else, we nod and smile, not minding sharing , instead silently congratulating each other on the wisdom of our choice.
And when we stay a long time, we notice that walking past
the same scene each day often means seeing it in a different way each time, not
just in a different light but noticing more details. The beauty is in the close
up.
Love these friends of ours xx
It’s
a fabulous feeling to wander around Gerry and Tania’s, to sit in a sunny corner
out the back in the gentle warmth of day’s end and absorb the peace of Nana
Glen.
And all the while, Gerry keeps downing beers as he throws magnificent pizzas together, listening to the conversation of others before stepping in with a comment - sometimes outrageous, sometimes thoughtful, always entertaining. He is a brilliant man and I love absorbing the way his mind works. Once the kids are bathed and fed, Tania finds time to relax and enjoy the conversation too. It’s lovely to get to know her as this is only the second time we’ve met.
It is lovely to feel so welcomed in both homes and even lovelier to know that thanks to Jeni’s relocation to Queensland next year, we will have a fabulous excuse to visit again.
Later we move inside and their daily life swirls around us
all, with both of them trying to orchestrate the kids plus ‘see’ to us as well
as get dinner ready. Friends of theirs drop by with some freshly
caught kingfish and settle in to the evening with us. They are easy and open to
talk to and I feel as if I’ve made new friends.
Gerry has always been the king of story telling and tonight
I am reminded why. Some of the time he
talks so fast I can hardly keep up, but then I hear just a few words to make me
remember a lifetime and I burst out laughing. Stories are recounted for the
benefit of others, but mostly for ourselves I suspect, to remind us of where
we’ve come from and what we share. We have to keep the memories alive and so we
help each other.
And all the while, Gerry keeps downing beers as he throws magnificent pizzas together, listening to the conversation of others before stepping in with a comment - sometimes outrageous, sometimes thoughtful, always entertaining. He is a brilliant man and I love absorbing the way his mind works. Once the kids are bathed and fed, Tania finds time to relax and enjoy the conversation too. It’s lovely to get to know her as this is only the second time we’ve met.
I enjoy that there is so much to say and hear and learn and laugh
about – a perfect night!
This theme continues the next day at the Rushforths for
lunch. (We certainly are being well fed!)
Initially, it seems as if we’re all
talking at once, so excited are we to see each other. But enough fragments of
conversations filter through so that we understand what we’re saying. The pop
of a champagne cork brings us to the reality of the day in a way that makes me
smile. I love that sound.
Once we change to still wine, conversation flows at a slightly steadier pace, although Ian
can’t help himself, providing an hilarious commentary that weaves and bubbles its way
through the afternoon. I am reminded not so much of old times but of
personalities: Ian and Deahne’s warmth as well as their intelligence and quick
minds; Ian’s rapid fire wit and wicked delight in playing with language and
ideas; Deahne’s cleverness and perception, her calm way of seeming to sail
through apparent chaos and bring a quiet order. Such fun to experience again. And to reacquaint
ourselves with Evie, almost 17, is a delight, especially to witness the way she
is like her parents but also independent.
It is lovely to feel so welcomed in both homes and even lovelier to know that thanks to Jeni’s relocation to Queensland next year, we will have a fabulous excuse to visit again.
We know we’re lucky to have such
friends, friends who make us feel comfortable and valued, and also rejuvenated. What a mix!
Sunday, 24 June 2012
Almost Home Territory
This second half of our trip has a different flavour from
the first. Once we arrived in Twin Waters
we were in familiar territory and now that we’re heading south, we’re also covering
more familiar ground.
The newness in this half comes from catching up with family
and old friends, to see the changes in our lives since last we met. The
familiarity comes from those same family and friends as well as the roads we travel
and the towns where we stay. Everything is more comfortable, more relaxing,
more like a ‘regular’ holiday. Heading south also makes it feel as if we’re
heading home.
Something quite unfamiliar, however, was our little
exploration of Griffith University and the Village residence to check out where
Jeni will be spending the next three years. It felt good to walk around and get
a feel for the place, with our first impressions being very positive. It is
comforting to be able to picture her there.
Before leaving Queensland, we had a quick afternoon tea stop
with our friend Angela and her sons Sam and Tim. Sam and Charlie are the same
age, and Angela and I met in a mothers group when they were babies, back in our
Wollongong days. We have seen each other since, but no-one could remember the
last time with any accuracy. The years didn’t seem to matter as we all chatted
non stop throughout the afternoon.
Tim may well be at ANU next year, so I can be a support
person for him if there are any emergencies and Angela will do the same for
Jeni in Qld. We love how our lives have brought us to this point of symmetry.
Onto Peppers Resort at Salt on the far north coast of NSW,
where we stayed in order to catch up with Jon’s sister Jo and her beautiful
family – husband Dave and sons Jack and Wil - who live nearby.
We enjoyed reconnecting with them all, having
a bit more time to chat and find out what’s really happening in all our lives.
We also enjoyed watching the boys one night at Salt Bar and Grill, when Dan the
Balloon Man fashioned incredible toys for them. Their eyes never strayed from
his every move and they laughed with delight when presented with each masterpiece.
I’d forgotten what kids they age are like and it’s lovely to
know that we’ll be seeing them more often over the next few years. As Jeni’s
aunt and god mother, Jo is most excited about Jeni’s living closer to her and
is already formulating plans for get togethers. Dave has been supportive of
Jeni’s move since we told him last Christmas, immediately grasping a sense of
the opportunities that this change opens up for her.
Great brother and sister photo! |
Stopping off at Byron Bay for a few hours was also stepping
into familiar territory but it felt different this time. In previous years, we
haven’t felt very comfortable there, but this time we revelled in the eclectic
mix of people and the relaxed atmosphere. Even in the off season, it was busy,
but it felt as if people weren’t all trying to be cool.
We ate our lunch
sitting under a pandanus tree, (Hello Mark) gazing out at the gentle activity
on the beach before us, feeling as if we could just quietly melt into the
scene.
We had a wonderful night with old buddies from Richmond High
days, Dryse and Tracey, who live in Clunes, a village north of Lismore. We were
reminded of what we’ve always loved about them and why we’re thankful they’re
still in our lives. We hadn’t seen them for several years, but again, it didn’t
seem to matter.
It was the same feeling the next day when we had a quick
lunch stop with Kerry in Lismore. Even though we had seen her reasonably
recently at ‘Rockview’, it was lovely to catch up with her in her home
territory and to ‘swap notes’ on the changes in our lives since then. I’ve
known her since we were in Yr 6 (45 years!!!) and having such a friend is
precious. Definitely some familiar
territory there, but always something new too.
And so, here we are at Pacific Bay Resort at Coffs Harbour.
I have stayed here before (when I was in Coffs doing HSC marking) but Jon
hasn’t. Today and tomorrow we are seeing two more sets of old friends, each
from a different part of our lives.
And we have warm sunshine and blue skies to watch over us –
something which we have grown more than
used to. (but that's another blog entry - somewhere down the road)
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