Fond Farewells

it was with heavy heart that we geared ourselves up for our final trip into maclean and beyond on our trip up to brisbane for the night. we drove up to the maclean lookout as James had taken bob and corina there soon after their arrival but now it would make more sense to them. through the hazy sunshine we got a good view of yamba (now rechristened Yamboo in our common parlance)



as we drove back down the hill, we stoppped to take snaps of the view of the clarence river and ilarwill. if you look closely at the hill, you'll see a path cut through the trails (the local fire trail). we live close to the foot of the trail and if you look even closer you'll see the small white bridge crossing the south arm of the river from ilarwill on woodford island into maclean. this is the macfarlane bridge which endures a love from Caitlin similar to that of the jacarandas. it's also the bridge james cycles across on his way to work everyday.

anyway, onwards and upwards to bonnie brisvegas. or rather onwards, sideways and backwards then finally upwards to brisvegas...

you see, we had decided to treat bob and corina to a view of Surfer's Paradise, the Gold Costa Del Sol...so off we set confidently....took an early turning and got all turned back on ourselves in the gold cost suburbs of tweed heads and coolangatta. i, ever the back seat navigator, grew icier with every passing kilometre having (of course) suspected at the beginning that tweed heads was not the desired direction...but lacked the necessary courage of my convictions to voice my concerns. so when we emerged from the maze, james added to the joy by trying to thread his way through tugun's back streets to surfers. he finally admitted defeat when corina noticed two of her toes had fallen off due to frostbite, thanks to the extreme chill emanating from the seat next to her. at this point we returned to the Pacific Highway and located Surfers with a nanosecond. by this point, we were all obliged to disparage Surfers through gritted teeth having spent the better part of the day arriving there. and of course, having promised them lunch at Pete's Seafood Market in Southport, we had to see that one through to the bitter end too. suffice to say, the half hour trip to Southport was pretty silent as we all fantasised some form of nutrition and some blessed release from the car. and to cap it all, in our hunger induced blur, we all misread the menu and ended up ordering fish,calamari and chips for everyone. we were obliged to eat it all just to stop the table collapsing under the weight of all the food.

finally we reached the hotel! For an airport hotel, it was very pleasant - decor was standard hotel bland, but the rooms were spacious, comfortable and well equipped. we had a comfy seating area and a seperate kitchen for breakfast in the morning. so that meant we were able to enjoy our pre dinner drinks in comfort rather than everyone balancing on the beds precariously with their glass of wine

anyway, before the pre-dinner drinks were poured, james and i decided to kill a couple of hours and took the citycat (catamaran ferry) down the river to central brisbane. the trip downriver was lovely and it was great to neb at all the now very expensive riverside houses with their jetties and to gawp at the riverside city developments (planning our return to the riverside restaurants one day)

We didn't have much time really to explore brisbane so got off at North Quay and did a massive circuit of the centre from Queens Street to Fortitude Valley and back. unfortunately, not much really stood out but it was good to get a feel for the city as it started to come alive for the evening and we liked it enough to try to wangle a return, child free visit and 'do' the city more. anyway, we took the citycat back and timed it nicely for those pre dinner drinks!

the rest of the evening was quiet...a low key dinner in a nice italian
restaurant and then early to bed for everyone.

we sadly dropped off our house guests in the airport in the morning and made our brief goodbyes, reminding them of their talk of a return for three months next year!
we took off before things got out of hand and sped off down the road...after all ikea was close by and we could already hear its siren call...

Thanks, Bob and Corina, for a lovely time and for being such great house guests!

Sunny Sunday Lunch

we talked about for long enough and finally on the last sunday we did it...we took the ferry from Yamba to Iluka.


on Sundays, a courtesy bus from the waterfront bar, Sedger's Reef, meets the ferry in Iluka and takes you along the road to have lunch at the pub, which itself is situated in a very nice spot opposite a calm bay with a small jetty.

The ferry took about half an hour...bob and corina stayed in the shade downstairs while we braved the sun upstairs. it was a lovely trip, if a little windy and occasional moments of fear thinking the overexcited children were about to tip over the edge and into the water. we were, however, safely deposited at iluka and the ferry went on, jazz musicans twiddling away on board to treat the remaining passengers to their sunday jazz cruise

the courtesy bus was waiting for us and we all crammed in, kids sitting on laps, for the trip to the pub. it only took a few mins but probably would have a been bit much for all of us to walk, especially in the midday heat. we all disembarked at the water's edge and the kids went straight in for a dip...zara threw the gauntlet down so i followed her in and we all had a great time swimming with the kids. (i'll blog that separately later). James lounged on the pier, master of all he surrveyed (yeah, right).

after working up an appetite, we nabbedd a table outside the pub. we felt like right locals me and james as we must have waved hello to half of the other customers. it has been said, however, that being considered an iluka local is not a flattering description due to the rather, er, isolated nature of the community.

Lunch arrived and it was the usual enormous portions of food at ridiculously low prices. i think Oz could give Scotland a run for its money in its love for deep fried food and i can safely say i'm looking forward to a few months chip free after a month of eating lunch out! in its defence, the food is so fresh and tasty, you feel the fish just jumped out the river into the kitchen.

bob and corina decided to take the courtesy bus back whilst the rest of us were game enough to try the waterside walk back. it was probably a little further than anticipated and a little hotter than advisable, but it was still picturesque...i took photos all the way along back to the ferry and will blog them too later.

The jazz was still going strong on the return trip so that was fun...we all arrived back in yamba, tired, full of food and glad to have spent our time in such a pleasant spot

Casing the Joint

Just when we were giving up hope that Bob would see a single kangaroo during his holiday here, the kids laid on a good show literally right outside the house..we got both wallabies and kangaroos. the wallabies are the little ones in the pic with the orange flower.

We then had a fanmily of 'roos go for a wander up and down the street...perhaps it's the roo version of kirsty and phil (location etc)...

anyway, it was all very exciting... i am standing at the bottom of my drive to take these pics, getting ready to make a sharp exit if the roos took exception to the paparazzi. however, they just bounced over the fence eventually and vanished into the trees.

What Kids and Toys Do When You Are Not Looking

i'd like to preface this by assuring everyone that this is not a normal situation.

Shortly after bob and corina arrived, and when we were all asleep, some local hoodlums quite clearly snuck around to the back of our house and left behind a whole empty bottles. i can only presume that their constant debauchery had already filled up their recycling bin and, noting our abstinent lifestyle, decided to avail themselve of our recycling facilities. had they but asked...anyway, suffice to say i have written to the council expressing my concerns iin no uncertain terms.

Jacob leads the band in a jazz rendition of twinke twinkle little star

the band look overjoyed on learning of their successful bid to represent Australia in the yet again expanded Eurovision Song Contest

Things have started to get out of hand, the roadies are getting stuck into the rider

Boo fights her inner demons

Party's over but the roadie is off to look for some more action. Boo, alas, is off the wagon.

A Wander Around Ilarwill

i finally went for a walk around ilarwill with james, corina and caitlin. bob opted to continue to relax on the verandah. it was the first time i'd walked up to the top of the hill. those of you who have located ilarwill on google earth may find this laughable, but such is the pace of my life here.

as you can see, the view from the hill across the river is pleasing to the eye. james with his superior height advantage over my dwarf legs was able to capture the view a little better!

Rouding the corner at the top of the hill, we got a cracking view down the other side, across the fields where there were loads of kangaroos grazing. it felt like a scene out of Jurassic Park, except slightly less lethal and a whole lot more stupid.


Thus we carried on our gentle stroll, waving at neighbours who were undoubtedly muutering 'there go that scottish family' as we passed. we almost spent the rest of evening at one place as caitlin was transfixed by the 2 or 3 shih tzu puppies that were running about. she got to stroke them and with that awed look that only small children can have in the face of manifestly small and pointless dogs (apologies to any shih tzu lovers, no offence meant,it's a personal belief)

we were able to distract her as she cast longing glances backwards to the puppies as we rounded the corner and found a jacaranda tree in full bloom. those of you familiar with caitlin will remember the obsession with purple and understand the now accompanying obsession with the purple blossoming jacaranda....ah how we thrill to her shrieks of 'A JACARANDA!' as we drive around this area, noted for its jacaranda trees and the jacaranda festival....

The Obligatory Trip to Broomshead

after the rain had stopped and we had stashed the ark in the shed, james took everyone bar me to broomshead for a taste of their first aussie beach. he took them up to the lookout and took a pic of them with Back Beach as the scenery. it's a lovely walk down through the hilly,grassy
dunes to a very secluded beach .



however, bob and corina opted for the relative comforts of Main Beach (The Snacky, picnic tables and level access to the beach)...they did however have to put up with the crowds to compensate for the amenities. Just take a look at the throng!

Paint The Whole World With A Rainbow

well. australia rose to the occasion again and welcomed the visiting pommies (bob and corina) with a deluge, the likes of which had not been seen since our arrival on these shores! on the plus side, we had a lovely view of a rainbow, looking from our deck over to maclean!