The Party's Over!!!!!!!

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September 12th 2011

Published: September 17th 2011

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Van Royce

Ballina

Our first taste of NSW since leaving Broken Hill nearly ten weeks ago!!!!

Hello again from sunny (sort of) and warm (ha ha) Melbourne as we publish our last holiday blog (unless you want me to write what I will be doing at home for the next four weeks....) .

Just over two weeks ago we left far north Queensland where it was 30 degrees each day and have gradually been adding layers of clothes as we head south. And, it’s very bloody depressing!!!!
We arrived in Brisbane last Friday week at Tania (Lisa’s cousin) and Adrian Salvati’s house to spend a few days with them and their 16 kids. Only joking, their four kids. As luck would have it we arrived on the same day as the Socceroos World Cup qualifier against Thailand at Suncorp Stadium and it just so happened that Adrian had a spare ticket..... So, lucky me headed off to the soccer with Adrian and his eldest son Ben while Lisa caught up with Tania and her 15 kids.

The next day we pottered around a bit, doing washing etc while the Salvati’s had Ben’s soccer presentation then headed over to their break up BBQ and finally wandering down to a nearby oval to watch the local soccer

Don't come the raw prawn with me

Just outside Ballina and guess what, it's closed down....

team (I’ve seen more soccer on this trip than in the past year and it’s been great!!!). That evening we told Tania & Adrian to P... off (nicely). Having 21 kids doesn’t give them much time to spend together so we were happy to give them a night off and as soon as they left we sent all the kids to bed ....( LVS-What’s this G, didn’t you take your med’s coz it sounds like you are hallucinating).

The next day we travelled into Brisbane city to look around the town. I was disappointed to see there weren’t any houses still under water and cars floating by. Still we had a pleasant day wandering around South Bank while the kids had a dip in the very cold paddling pools. Later on it was home to organise the RV and watch Darren Lockyer play his last game in front of his home crowd, although in a clever twist of marketing he actually came back the next week for the first week of the finals.

On Monday morning we bid Tania, Adrian and their 27 kid’s goodbye and headed back over the border to NSW. Now, I know that we

Message in the sand

At Coffs Harbour, another beautiful spot

are one big happy country but I must say that that the signs announcing your arrival from one state into another are on average, pretty shitty. All we got was a sign about 20cm by 3mm saying, “You are now in NSW.” The only decent boundary was the one from SA to NT. All the others are a disgrace and I for one blame Julia Gillard for it!!!!

After a quick stop in Ballina (home of the big prawn) we finally stopped in Coffs Harbour (home of the big banana....)! And what a lovely place it was. The beach was just beautiful and the town very pleasant. So, how did we spend the morning? At the bloody shopping centre!!!!! By the time we left Lisa could see steam coming out of my ears. Now those people who know me know that I like (he say’s sarcastically- LVS) to spend a lazy weekend strolling around the shops, markets, bazaars, looking for a bargain, trying on clothes and having soy chai lattes in the cafes. However, on this trip I have avoided shops wherever possible (although I have had to wander down to pick up a slab every couple of days

Do we love it?

What we think of our trip!!!

or so....).

So when we arrived at the information centre I made it known to the assistant that we had half a day, and what could she recommend. And I’d have to say that she certainly knew her stuff because we were thoroughly entertained. On her advice, we spent a pleasant lunch at the wharf teasing the seagulls by throwing stones in the air etc (Did you know they don’t eat lemon??) then drove to the Pet Porpoise Pool which was much like a mini Sea World apart from the fact it was much nicer, cheaper, educational, hands-on, informative, likeable etc etc. They have three two and a half hour sessions each day and our session must have only had about 50 people in it so we had prime seats for everything. However the main thing was that they actually encouraged interaction with all the animals. We ended up feeding dolphins, fish, sharks and penguins, getting kissed by seals and dolphins, watching great shows and generally having a great time. Of the 50 people, at least 30 were retiree’s/pensioners who weren’t interested in getting involved so the kids (and us) had plenty of involvement. Charlize became part of the

Meeting Sharky

The start of a great visit

show when she was invited to throw a ball to the seal.

Later that afternoon we drove back to the wharf to walk onto Mutton Bird (not to be confused with Mutton Chops Island -Vanin family joke), where Charlize spotted two dolphins frolicking in the surf just below where we were standing.

When we were at Hervey Bay the couple who we’d bumped into many times said they had just been on a Whale Watching Cruise and that it was fantastic. At the Coffs Harbour wharf we had noticed that several operators were advertising trips at $20 a person instead of the normal rate of $60pp. As we were meant to leave the next day we thought, “Bugger it” we’ll just leave later. So we booked into a morning cruise and went home to get the Van Royce all packed.

The next day we drove to the wharf again (with RV in tow) and jumped about the Spirit of Coffs Harbour with about 60 other people for a two hour whale watching cruise. We headed straight upstairs to get the best spots right at the back.

While working our way out of the marina the captain’s

Scarlett's kiss

No prince though.....

voice rang out advising us and what the trip will involve, where we will be going etc; then he mentioned that as we were headed into open sea that sea sickness may be an issue for some people. We all had a chuckle about this until about 5 minutes later there was some commotion right next to me as the old duck turned around (away from us) and attempted to vomit over the back of the boat.....Luckily for us there was no collateral damage (LVS-however her shoes wore the brunt of it) but it certainly unnerved the girls for a bit. And so, the happy times began.
For the next three hours (yes, an additional hour) I felt like Captain Ahab as we searched for the elusive whales over high seas and to be quite honest by the end of the first two hours I was over it anyway. We actually had a fairly pleasant cruise but didn’t see one whale (LVS- or dolphin, octopus, jellyfish, sea mollusc...the list of things we didn’t see is endless ). The girls seemed to enjoy themselves and if anyone asked we’ll just tell them that we saw hundreds.

At least we were

G's big kiss

Like getting kissed by a wet fish (not that I'd know anything about that......)

actually looking. This time, Charlize and Scarlett were the only kids on the boat and the next youngest to me must have been about 65 years old. Now, I’m not saying anything against old people, after all they keep the bingo halls alive but do you reckon any of them would crack a smile. I realise that most of them are probably just counting off days until they die but for God’s sake, lighten up!!! Every breath is an achievement you should be proud of!!

Pumped after that three hour cruise, three hour cruise (thanks Gilligan), we jumped back into our tow vehicle for the trip further south towards Sydney. Having had a late start we ended up at Taree for the night, home of the big Oyster! Funnily enough the man who designed the Big Oyster also designed the Big Prawn and ironically both businesses went bust. Who would have thought (The Big Oyster is now home to a car dealership)? The next morning about 5.30am we were woken by a huge noise (No, it wasn’t that burger again...) which sounded like a clap of thunder. That’s because that was exactly what it was. Next thing the heavens

Charlize is not so sure

Getting a seal kiss

opened and we saw our first real rain since Coober Pedy so many weeks ago. Luckily it only rained for about 20 minutes; even so it was enough to stop me having my morning jog....

Then it was off to Sydney where we stopped at Lakeside RV Park in Narrabeen (about 20km north of Sydney) along the northern beaches. The park is great and just about empty, so much so that we were offered a stay 5, pay 3, ensuite site deal which was instantly snapped up.

The first day or so it rained however it hasn’t stopped us getting out to the local sights such as Manly and Bondi Beach. Our sense of timing on this trip has been impeccable. Every time we go somewhere we have either just missed a big event or it will take place just after we leave. In this case the Bondi Beach “Festival of the Winds” was on the day after we were there. However the beach was still spectacular with all sorts of people wandering along the promenade. No bikini clad babes though as it was too cold for that. The kids had a great time building sandcastles in their

This is much nicer

Charlize's dolphin kiss

jumpers and coats, while we were entertained by a gang of young blokes beating up foreigners......Sorry, my mistake that was Cronulla. These young blokes were doing all sorts of jumping, somersaults etc off the promenade onto the sand as well as jumping on one of those big rubber yoga balls until it burst.

After doing lots of sightseeing it was getting late so we stopped at the Narrabeen RSL for tea and settled down with the crowd (about 10 others) to watch the band play, who were very good. So good, in fact that we decided to have a dance. If you had to pick which child is the most outgoing I reckon you’d all select child number two. You would therefore be most surprised to hear that it was child number one that was on the dance floor by herself while child number two suddenly went all shy and even resorted to sucking her thumb!!! This astounded even us; however by the fifth song she had come out of her shell and was leading the conga line, while doing a bum dance. The band even recognised the efforts of both girls and were very disappointed when we decided

Puckering up

Scarlett receives a big wet one

to leave (reducing the crowd by four fifths....). The three female singers blew our girls a goodnight kiss from the stage and then we were off to put the girls to bed

The next day it was off to Sydney on the Manly Ferry for what was an unforgettable day. Initially we wandered around the harbour getting photos of the Opera House and bridge from every angle then during lunch had a chat about what we’d like to see. In Sydney every Sunday is “Funday Sunday” where a daily public transport ticket is $2.50 per person for all ferries, buses and trains all day. This is a great initiative which Melbourne should adopt. It certainly gets people out and about. Anyway, we thought that we’d head back to the harbour and catch the next ferry to wherever it took us. Lo and behold the next one was to Kirribilli.

When we got off we realised the return ferry was in an hour and actually turned around to see if we could get back on it. How long could we spend looking at a house through the fence? And what could we do for the next 56 mins until

Mummy's turn

It was like getting kissed by a man (not that I'd know anything about that.....)

our ferry came back. Well, as we wandered up to Kirribilli and Admiralty House we noticed a number of AFP officers and people milling around. When we enquired what was going on we were informed that today was an open day however it had just finished 5 minutes ago. Bloody Hell!! Lisa got talking to one of the officers and asked if we could get a photo of Kirribilli House for Charlize’s journal that she’s been keeping for school. He wandered down the road with us having a chat, then next thing you know he excused himself but told us to wait at the second gate. He came back minutes later and said we could come in for 30 minutes, tops. We were delighted, thanked him and started our tour at lightning speed of Kirribilli House looking around the PM’s Sydney residence and gardens then onto Admiralty House. All the staff/volunteers were great and gave us plenty of information.

As we were getting shuffled out we stopped to take a photo of us standing at Quentin’s front door when a man offered to take a photo for us. Little did we know that he was the public servant

Playing dead

The dolphin and seal show was fantastic

in charge of the Government houses and of the event, then he proceeded to walk us around the grounds for plenty of photo opportunities after everyone else had left. We felt like royalty or at least VIP’s. He then suggested we follow him for some more great shots by the garden and proceeded to take the camera off us. Photos were taken with the Opera House in the background and then at the exact spot where all the leaders and royalty get their official photo’s taken. He then walked us back to the gate to ensure we wouldn’t get in trouble while filling us in on all sorts of interesting facts. This great experience was only possible through the kind gestures of the APF officer and Government house official. Leaving on a high, we jumped back on the ferry to Circular Quay, then straight onto another one for Luna Park. This was great to look at from a distance but up close looked very dated and kitsch so we walked around a bit then jumped on the next ferry for Darling Harbour, then Circular Quay then back to Manly for dinner. A really great day.

We were going to

Flying high

The dolphins showing us what they can do

make our way slowly home via the coast but on Monday decided that while we didn’t want to rush home, as it was getting cooler there was no point in stopping at coastal parks. As a result we decided to jump on the Hume Fwy and see where we ended up. On Tuesday night we stopped at Gundagai (yes, after visiting the Dog on the Tuckerbox), then on our last night we had a pleasant day, and night in Beechworth.
Then, around 1.00pm on Thursday we arrived home. The girls were beside themselves; especially Scarlett who missed her Sheepy (her stuffed Sheep). Ten weeks has absolutely flown by and we are quite torn. On one hand we wanted to keep going and never come home. On the other we miss our families and friends and realise that 1. We need to come home to start paying for this trip, and 2. See point no. 1.

I (Lisa) have come to the conclusion that I am a City girl born and bred. The country is great to visit and spend time experiencing an alternative lifestyle, wearing an Akubra hat, R M Williams and listening to the howl of wild dingos

Playing ball

Charlize playing ball with one of the seals

but, “Where are the bloody shops ”. I have found myself pining for a shopping expedition only to fill this need in some areas with a trip to the teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy supermarket...How sad is that!!!! And as far as I know there do not appear to be any divorce proceedings in the pipeline on my behalf, although I thought we would be ready after a minimum of 10 days on the road. We have NEVER spent this much time together and I was secretly worried about this but there are still a few more days til we leave the confines of this van. Anything can happen. I have also decided that if I find G lying on the family room floor in the foetal position, rocking backwards and forwards and crying during our first week back home, then I shall just leave him there while the girls and I, HIT THE SHOPS!!!!!
It’s been a great adventure and as soon as we have paid for this trip there’s no doubt we will start saving for the next one.

We hope you have enjoyed coming on this adventure with us and can’t wait to catch up with our