1^st Feb 2015

“Adventure before Dementia” is one of the more amusing caravan wheel covers we have seen along the way but it’s far from the only source of humour on the trip… The kids are seeing plenty of things they haven’t necessarily come across before and often come up with some beauties that have us in stitches! A couple of golden moments that come to mind are below:

• As we passed a large herd of cows on our way to Culburra, Denver is explaining to April that the male cows are called bulls – April “so they boss all the cows around and bully them?”
• At the Mogo Zoo we said that we were going to listen to the Gorilla talk at 11:30 – after listening patiently to the keeper explain about the Gorillas, April said “so we have heard the man talk, but when will the actual Gorillas talk?”

There is plenty more every day but as those of you who know me would testify, my memory is well on the way to dementia already! I will try to note them as they happen, both for the blog and for 21^st speeches!

Our second stop, Culburra Caravan Park (Crookhaven Heads), has a jumping pillow, mini golf, a swimming pool, a playground and plenty of open roads for the kids to ride bikes and scooters. Quickly meeting with new “friends” (although Aprils “special friend” Kyson from Narrabeen will take some beating for April on this trip – we still hear about him every day!) the kids are tearing around the open streets on bikes and scooters before we can even get the van set up! Of course the flip-side of these activities is there is only so much you can cram into your first afternoon, although try telling the kids that!

With the somewhat inclement weather (it is still summer right?) we have had plenty of practise with elements of the van, the awning especially which is susceptible to high winds – certainly before we got our “anti-flappers” (which I cheekily suggested to Hayley could be put to good use in a few other applications also!). Caravaners’ seem to love stories about how they have seen awnings fly right over the roof of vans, ripping them to shreds, so I am a bit paranoid about this element and even now err on the side of caution (you can never have too many guy ropes right!).

A few wet days have also given us opportunities to test the entertainment systems, reading lights, journal writing tables and the oven.. Although bakery hours don’t really appeal I must admit I was pretty chuffed with the first thing that came out of our oven, hence why there are so many photos of it and why I forced Hayley to take photos of me holding it like a celebrity baby!

Freshly baked

Our first born (loaf!)

In amongst the wind and rain we have managed to get to the beach a few times. I want to say “our” first effort, but really it was mine alone, left a bit to be desired – it saw the wind whipping sand into our faces, waves crashing on the shore break and the beach tent erected in the path of the oncoming tide – so after taking April back for a toilet break I was met by a not too amused Hayley in a tent she was sharing with a wave! No photos of that one I’m afraid (or at least I was at the time!)…

Fortunately things improved from there, for the catch-up and paddleboarding extravaganza with Hayley’s sister Kellie and the Kick family in Shoalhaven, as well as a trip to Hyams beach, which deservedly earns the title of one of the better beaches in the area, if not the country!

It’s hard to judge or rate things just yet, I feel like a judge on a reality show – you know it’s good, but you have to leave yourself some room to mark higher in case something better comes along! 8/10!

Darren “motor” Kick

They went right across the lake like this!

Sisters!

Denver the sea monster!

Hyams beach – Jervis Bay

Hyams rock pool

Looks like we were there alone (wrong – Australia Day eve!)

Culburra also saw evening cricket with other kids before dinner each afternoon (irrespective of rain or wind!), Denver and April both make their first catches (some puffer fish that April says are “poison and don’t taste very good” which I’m not quite sure how to interpret) as well as being our home for Australia Day! If you have never done Australia Day in a caravan park you really are missing out on a cultural spectacular – I encourage you to do it immediately or avoid it completely, depending on your level of cultural integration!

Now we have moved on from Culburra to Bermagui (36°25′S 150°04′E ) we have a couple of larger “tows” under our belts, one in some extreme winds also, so it’s all starting to get a bit more familiar and (dare I say) relaxed. For the first few hours with every bump and creak and groan from the rear I was anxiously looking in the rear view mirrors, expecting to see the van separated from the car and careening off on its own adventures, but now I am close to accepting that the ludicrously small and simple looking coupling that holds the two together actually does work! (although it still seems woefully inadequate to me!). Anyway Murphy – no need to intervene with one of your “law’s” here, let’s just keep things running as smoothly as they have been!

The next update will cover our time in Bermagui – I just want to get the second post up for now  – you know when your mother is hassling you for updates to your social media pages that things have been a little too long between drinks (although not here on holidays – cheers!!)