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Published: January 31st 2010
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You know, it’s kinda funny that I call this home, because the Northern Rivers area is my real home these days … this is where I hung out most of my life though, so I should give the place some credence!
Shellharbour village was once just called Shellharbour. In the ‘olden days’ (when I was a kid) it was a quaint little seaside village, not unlike what Lennox Head may have been years ago. People from everywhere discovered it and decided that they’d all like to live here, and it has turned into a big thing called ‘Shellharbour City’. The distinction has to be made now, between ‘The Village’ and the surrounding areas.
The expansion brings much change to the place. The gorgeous cottage I lived in for many years has been bulldozed to accommodate a huge concrete mansion, my horse paddock is now 67 units and 14 shop fronts (4 stories high), and I can fairly confidently walk all the way down the main street and not receive an acknowledgment from anyone.
For people wanting to move out there’s good news - the overpriced real estate goes in their favour! For people wanting to move in -
No Fear!
He just went straight off the block without second thought there’s quite the selection of expensive café’s and specialty shops (some of which are on MY HORSE PADDOCK).
It’s not all bad news though …
My beautiful long time friends are here!!! … I am so enjoying just hanging out with them. The beauty of it is that we don’t have to do anything special - just hanging out is fantastic! I have two very special girlfriends - Jen & Mikylla. Between us we have eight children who hang out almost like siblings. We really miss them all, and are relishing every moment of being here with them!
I also have Dad & Marty here. We are camped on Dad’s front lawn so catch glimpses of him when we’re not out and about, and he’s not at work. It’s nice for the kids to have a granddad around (even though he thinks he’s too young to be a grandfather so we have to call him Spags!). My brother Marty lives in Sydney - he drove down last Sunday to say hi and may drive down this weekend also. It’s different having real live family around.
We started school this week. The first day I stressed out
at the immensity of the load that needs to be finished. By the second day I’d calmed down though. We’ve managed to get it all done by about 11am each day, and then have the rest of the day to play.
Just as well too! I must say that being a tourist in your own hometown is kinda cool. It’s like having a cheat sheet for all the best tourist hot spots!!! Considering the kids haven’t seen most of these places for a good 4 years or so, it’s almost brand new to them!
Dad lives in the ‘Village’ not far from the boat ramp. All the keen fishermen launch their boats there. We go for walks down there most days, and when the fishermen come in they clean their fish and let the kids feed the hungry pelicans. Quite a treat!
Dakota has been down there fishing a few times, but hasn’t landed anything yet. Shay and I have been down to Cowrie Island hunting cowrie shells, but I think they must be extinct in this area now! When I was a kid, Cowrie Island still regularly shared cowrie shells with us.
Yesterday we found
the elusive Shed at Dapto - it’s a church called ‘The Shed’, which was a bit tricky to find. We then went for a drive down to beautiful Gerringong (which miraculously still hasn’t been built out yet!) to meet up with my gorgeous girlfriend Julia and her beau Andrew. We all explored the rock pools all afternoon and found some really interesting creatures. On the way home we stopped at the Kiama blowhole and I actually managed to get a snap of a blow!
Today we had a BBQ at Dad's place. Dad's new friend Anne and her family came, and Marty drove down from Sydney again. It's really lovely to see Dad happy, and re-meet some friends from years ago. A good day 😊
Afterward Marty took the kids to Bombo beach surfing and apparently Kalahni did really well - standing up on a few waves for a fairly long stretch! We then went for a walk down to the boat ramp so the kids could have a jump. As soon as well got there Kalahni was in - head first! No fear. Shay ventured in after him, and then Dakota even had a jump toward the
end!
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Aussie Road Trip Adventures
Trudy
Re: Nostalgia
Thanks for the comments Tim - it's nice to see that someone is actually reading my work ;) The shed - Someone had mentioned to me that I really should have a visit whilst here. Apparently it's called the shed because it originated in the back of a furniture warehouse. The first Sabbath we looked on the conference website and it didn't give the full address. We hunted for a good half hour and then just went to Oak Flats (which is as tiny as churches come, and all the members were away at big camp). So we found it the next week. It's an interesting congregation, with some people there that have been reached in the community. The music was very much like your family's style and I did get a little homesick for Ballina. I find it very disappointing that this area has such a large population, yet very few church members (even Wollongong is small as far as I remember) - their big camp had a good turnout with 500 members!!! We're going back to the shed this sabbath and will stay on for lunch, so will find out more about the place. It's raining here also at the moment - it's been crappy weather ever since we got here really. I'm trying to study in a tiny caravan with 3 cabin feverish children - yes i know, the joke is on me. The plus side is that after monday there will be no study until i get back *does a little victory dance*. Your method of Mango harvesting is quite interesting. Why do you put them in hot water?