South West Rocks and Seal Rocks

We just had to stop at Coffs Harbour again.  We loved this place back in 2011 when we stayed here with the Ellis family.  A highlight was the big banana and the lolly shop attached.  The kids (and adults) were so super excited to see the lolly shop was still running.  Its pretty amazing watching how they make all the lollies from this giant twist of colour down to this little little lolly!

We kept on driving and went to the old jail campground at South West Rocks.  Its a fabulous campground set on the coast near a gorgeous beach.  We set up camp for the night and went exploring.

The view form our van was pretty sweet.  We went for a walk along the beach and the kids thought it was nice enough for a swim.  I wasn't really sure but they were so keen.  They ended up having a wonderful time swimming about, its been a while since they have been to a beach they could swim at.  This place would be so so good in the warmer months, I can see why its so popular and expensive.

We were treated to a gorgeous sunset that night.  I was snuggled up inside in the warmth and almost didn't go outside to see it.  Was so worth the near frostbite (just kidding), I'm just not used to the cold weather yet.  We drove so fast down through QLD that we went from 38degrees to 18 degrees far far took quick.

A few of our mates!! These guys are everywhere and are so so huge!  Didn't want to run into them late at night!

The next morning we walk from the camp ground along the beach into town.  Was a lovely morning for a nice long walk on the beach, such a fabulous way to start the day.  Its these parts of the trip i am so going to miss.

We packed up again, the part of this trip I am not going to miss!  And drove to Seal rocks, at the recommendation of my sis.  What she forgot to tell us was its pretty hilly and windy, but we just took it slow.  We stayed a night at the caravan park, as we didn't want to drag the van into the camp ground further on.  We went for a walk up the hill to the light house.  Its a very steep climb but the surrounding landscape and views make it so worth while.  The wind, well that just annoyed me!  The lighthouse is a very cute old building.  The water was very rough and we could see how ships easily had gotten wrecked in this area.  Its a lovely lovely part of NSW.

Mark has an app on his phone of bird noises.  We saw a blue winged kookaburra and Mark thought he'd try to get close to him.  He played the recorded sound of the kookaburra and we managed to get really close to it.  The poor bird looked really confused by us!   

The next morning we got up early again and had a walk on the beach. We saw this beautiful large pod of 15 plus dolphins frolicking about.  Like I said, its these times as a family that I am so so sad to be missing out on everyday when we set back up for normal life again. Am sure it will make us appreciate our holidays even more!

Ballina

Next stop was Ballina to see the Cronan Crew, Nik, Matt, Hazza, Will and Em.  We have travelled and lived with these guys a bit over the last two years after meeting them at Mareeba in 2012 for Cape York.  Once again we were lucky and pulled up in their driveway.  Was incredibly surreal to see their house they had described to us and even weirder to see them in a house not a caravan.  Took me a bit to get used to it.  The kids soon caught up as if no time had past.  Em and Charlotte locked themselves in the bedroom away from the boys to play.  Jake was a little in awe of the big boys, and even more in awe of the video games!  We had a lovely time chatting and sharing stories with Nik and Matt, two of our favourite people .

On Sunday we all went  to the Channon markets.  Its a lovely little drive from Ballina up through the hills to Channon.  Its all lush green rolling hills country side, a beautiful place to live! We had a nice time wandering about, doing a bit of shopping and having some lunch.  Just how Sundays should be spent.

Nik was lovely enough to take the four youngest kids to the pool and the water slide.  Mark, Matt and Hazza wanted to watch Bathurst......and I kinda fell asleep on their super comfy slug pillow/bean bag thingy.  I must have been tired from all the socialising!  Sounds like they all had a blast and went on the rather big slides!

We are loving the joys of being in a house.  Like laying on the floor on the Slug (blue bag), the most comfy thing ever, curling up on the couch, sitting at a dining room table etc.  I tried to buy a slug at the markets but didn't have any :(.  Will definitely be ordering one for our house.

I needed to do some printing and photocopying for work applications so we headed off to the library.  I love seeing my kids passion for books.  They had a lovely time sitting reading story books.  Mark had a lovely time reading his story books too.....beer guides!

Nik and Matt treated us to some lovely meals whilst we stayed with them.  Matty's ribs and lamb roast being a highlight!  I even cooked a curry in their kitchen, I almost got lost, hee hee. Still weird sitting at a table.... I'm sure we'll get used to it again.  I have to remember my table manners.

Nik and Matt live in a lovely area near this pretty lake.  I had a few walks/runs around the area and thankfully didn't get attacked by magpies like usual.  I have a big phobia about the horrid creatures now!

The three days just flew past, in no time it was time to head off again.  We had such a great time catching up with the Cronans, so very sad to say goodbye to these guys.  Its people like this who have made our trip all the better.  Am sure we will organise a get together again, might be a few years though :(

Gold Coast

Next stop was the Gold Coast, a nice short drive. But a shock to the senses, four lanes of busy traffic, cars and people everywhere!!!! We pulled into our friends Rachel, Tim, Liv and Brooke's place for three nights in Coomera. These guys are originally from Tassie, Rachel and I nursed together. Liv and Charlotte were friends when they were little.  We were lucky these guys had room in their front yard for us!!

Charlotte and Liv get on very well and so did Brooke and Jake. Charlotte had a sleep over in Liv's room every night whilst we stayed in Coomera. Rachel and I took the girls shopping one day, was hilarious!! Little ladies wanting to be older girls!

We were lucky that coincidently our friends from Adelaide were on the Gold Coast whilst we were ther. We had a lovely dinner out at the Northcliffe SLSC with Leanne, Ronnie, Chelsea and Alisha. So lovely to be able to spend time with these guys again. 

One day I went to check out Rachel's work and got my hair cut. Then we took the kids to Burleigh for lunch and to Cold Rock for dessert. We had a walk around Burleigh then went to Tallebudgera for a look. Was pretty nice to be back here, we loved these areas when we lived here in 2012 and spent a lot of time here. We also drove past the caravan park where we lived but looked like it's closed these days. The kids really enjoyed and remembered these places and spent a fair bit of time reminiscing about old memories. 

Rachel was good enough to arranged a babysitter one night. Jake wasn't too sure, he's never had a different babysitter at home before. He kept joking that baby sitters sit on babies. The kids ended up having a great time and enjoyed it. The adults went out for yummy Thai then to the casino. We lost but at least Rachel won! Nice to be an adult again without kids around. 

We're still finding it pretty weird hanging out in houses with people. We are so used to hanging out in caravans. Our kids are loving laying around on couches and watching Tv.  Plus hiding in the other kids rooms well away from adults , yes!!

We had a lovely few days on the Gold Coast.  We eventually left after Rachel (Tim) cooked us bacon and eggs for brunch.  Was especially sad for Charlotte to say bye to Liv, they wished they lived closer to each other.  South we go.........