Kristy's Clip 2

Beautiful Anna Bay

From grapevines and mountains to beaches and sand dunes.  What a contrast.  We settled into beautiful Birubi Beach in Port Stephens.  So many of my friends had told me about this little piece of paradise but it has seriously taken my breath away.  Some things need to be seen to be truly appreciated.  Morning runs along the cliffs of Anna Bay with the sun warming my back, ahhhh almost enough to get me back into training for the marathon.

There’s so much to do here and the kids have just loved it.  To my gal pals at home I’ll let you know that I’ve ticked off one of those bucket list activities that I told you about.  Keep reading and all will be revealed (yes I took photos). 

After setting up the van we took a stroll down to the beach.  You wouldn’t believe that the beach was just 300m away and there’s a skate park on the edge of the beach.  As we wandered along the foreshore we came upon a cemetery.  Seriously, a cemetery with million dollar views of the cliffs and the oceans.  So you can get million dollar beach views but it will cost you your life. 



The view from the cemetary



We got back to the van and Chris suggested that we go for a drive.  We headed down the road and Chris saw the sign 4wd beach access.  “Let’s give that a crack,” he says. “Alright but if it starts to get tricky we turn around Ok.  Remember we’ve never been 4w driving before”, I reply.  Sharp left off the main rd., whack it into 4wd and hit it! 100m in, we’re cruising, 200m in, too easy, 300m in, “Oh dear lord, hold on kids”.  We were all laughing hysterically as we bounce our way through the deep sand with me urging Chris to keep flooring it.  Finally we make it out onto the beach front and we get to cruise along the beach, smiles from ear to ear.  Up in the distance a 4wd pulls over, as we pass he pulls back in behind us and begins to follow.  We note that he mustn’t feel very confident and has decided to follow us for added comfort.  Chris’ quote of the trip at this point, “Don’t follow us ya dickhead.  We got bogged in our own paddock”.  In the distance we can see silhouettes of people running up sand dunes so we figure there must be a way to get up to the back of the dunes.  We take a right and head inland.  That’s when we come unstuck, or should I say stuck.  We contemplated going over a dune but could see that it was going to be a challenge.  Sure enough we hit the sandbank and stop.  Thankfully we were able to reverse out on full throttle.  We all jumped out of the car and head off into the sunset.  The next day we come back armed with surfboards and boogie boards.  With a little more confidence we got the car over the dune and the adventure began.  Check out the amazing photos.  Again, seeing is believing.

I had told a couple of the girls at home the intention to knock a few items off my bucket list while I’m away.  This week I got to do one of them.  As promised, photos are available.  Yes I faced all my insecurities, stripped off and …….. Swam in a tank full of sharks.  It was amazing.  For all of you who think I’m foolish let me explain my rationale.  You see, I went in with my entire family.  I figured if the sharks were really hungry they’d eat the biggest person, bye bye Chris.  If they were a little peckish then they’d go for the smallest one, see ya later Taj. I figured I was pretty safe!  So straight into the big tank we went.  The big sharks were so relaxed and calm it was just beautiful.  Then I went into the small sting ray tank and had my toes nibbled on causing hysterical laughter and snorting.  Finally I got into the mixed tank with the 300kg sting ray, the Port Jacksons, Reef sharks, Banjo sharks and many many more.  It was amazing.  The sting ray was utterly intimidating, she kept swimming up to Taj and I and pushing on our legs to get us to loose balance.  Later when I got to feed her she pinned Ry, Tamsyn am I to the wall while trying to eat food off our tummies.  It was in this tank that the inevitable happened, a shark bit me on the butt.  Sadly it didn’t take a big enough bite; I’ll need to keep running to stay in my jeans!


Floating smorgesboard





I’m surprised as I write this to think that I got all this and more done in one week.  Funny enough it doesn’t end there.  Today we headed off to the Toboggan Park.  It was a morning of fun and giggles as all of us tried to catch Tamsyn on the toboggans.  She had one mission, get down fast.  Apparently the way to do that is to not use your break at all.  She flew at break-neck speed (seriously has anyone started taking bets on our first hospital visit). Ry, as usual was conservative while Taj tried to roll his by swinging it up to the sides.

Our final adventure at Port Stephens was to take a cruise out on the bay looking for dolphins.  Although the weather has been beautiful this week a strong gusty wind has chopped up the bay in a big way.  Chris rang the tour operator this morning explaining that we have a child who tends to get sea sck, “No worries mate.  It’s very calm in the bay”, was the operators reply.  If that’s his idea of calm it would take a tsunami to get him to rate it as choppy.  We board the boat with 40 Japanese tourists (not really the seafaring type). The tour operator brings on board a yummy box of fresh fish and chips for all the Japanese people (possibly not the best food for a boat trip) and set off in the hope of spotting some bottle nose dolphins.  45 minutes in and there’s 7 people on the floor holding their heads.  Every additional 5 minutes sees another tourist lay down on the floor.  Then the vomiting starts.  They’re vomiting on the carpet, in the toilet, off the side, off the back, it was hilarious.  Looking at my kids I felt a little proud, yeah I have kids with iron guts, kids who can stomach anything.  Then I think, mmmmm, where’s Chris.  Down the stairs he comes with Taj and they make a beeline for the couch, “Arghhh, just move, I’ve gotta lie down”, moaned my hulk tinged husband.  “Me too”, groans Taj.  So that’s the end of my bragging.  At that moment the captain announced that the dolphins were surfacing at the front of the boat.  With that, Tamsyn, Ry and I skip to the front of the boat for an unobscured view of the 7 majestic dolphins.  Taj was then tempted to come and watch, providing an instant cure to his sea sickness.  Chris on the other hand remained on the couch until the boat docked. 

Tazzy Talk 2

Well it has been another week and I have more favorite things. I have liked The Anna Bay Sand dunes, swimming with the sting rays and sharks.
Anna Bay Sand Dunes

The Anna Bay sand dunes are the biggest in the southern hemisphere. The first time we went to the dunes we left the boogie boards behind but the next time we had them with us. It was really fun going down the sand dunes with the boogie board. Some times we went down in doubles. I got to surf down on the boards and I nearly made it all the way down.

Rays and Sharks
It was really fun. We got to swim with 2.5m sharks and a 300kg sting ray. At the start I was really scared but after a while I found it really relaxing. Their was a tank where the little sharks would think your feet were food and bite them but the sharks had no teeth. I liked when I went into the tank with the Port  Jacksons, Eagle Rays and small sting rays. I actually got to swim right next to a beautiful sting ray. My favorite rays were the 300kg ray and their was a a blue dotted eagle ray. It is the only place where you get to feed and swim with sharks and rays. I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Tobogganing

We started the day by going to a tobogganing place. I raced to the toboggan slide. Had a slow pull to the top of the hill and then when the man yelled “Go”, I raced off full speed and only braked around the 7 bends. The second time when I was going to the top Dad was behind me and he was so convinced that he was going to catch me. When I was at the top the man yelled GO and I was off I didn’t break at all and at the end Dad said “How do you go that fast” I just smiled and said “I like to go fast”.

After some fast racing on the toboggans we went on a s-l-o-w tractor ride to a maze. When we got to the maze it was a race again. I didn’t go so well I was the last to complete the maze but it was still lots of fun and laughter.

Finding Dolphins

After a racing time at the toboggans we were off to a dolphin seeing tour. It took a while for the dolphins to arrive but when they got there, they put on a beautiful show. Unfortunately Dad was on the other side of the boat nearly throwing up. At least we got to see some dolphins. There was a pack of 6 dolphins including 2 calves (Baby Dolphins).

I have really liked it at Anna Bay and am sad to go. I will miss you Anna Bay!!!!!!

Taj's Tattles

The Skate Park


Me at the Cootamundra Skate Park

 The skate park was fun and it was my first skate park of the trip.
I saw red dirt.
I've gone to lots of skate parks this trip. 
I rode on the quad bikes with dead Uncle Mike and my family. And I saw heaps of kangaroos. I saw his black pig that they are going to eat for dinner.  I fed the pig, he didn't like people as much.  I got to feed him twice.

The Dubbo Zoo
Isaw lots of animals. My favourite was the Ruffled Lemurs.  I liked the giraffes and the emus because the emus were really active and giraffes are my favourite zoo animals.



A Zebra



Me with an elephant at the Dubbo Zoo

The Wellington Caves

There was stelictytes and stelicmytes in them.  There were heaps and heaps and heaps of steps and it was a really long way down.  We had to walk up lots of steps to get out.  Stelictytes hang from the cave and the stelicmytes go up really tall and the stelictytes go down.

We saw Jay and Claire in the Hunter Valley.

Now we are in Anna Bay and we have already gone to one skate park.  I think I'm going to have fun.

See you later,

from Taj

The Adventures of Lemur Boy



At the zoo we had a great time. We saw lots of animals and got to drive around the zoo in the car because the zoo was really big. Some of my favourite animals where the elephants. There were lots of them they were cool. The hipppos were really cool too, they kept poking there heads up and wiggling their ears. They were funny. The rhinos were awesome, they were really close up. We saw the white rhinos and the black rhinos. The black rhinos had a baby it was cute, the white rhinos were really active.
There was also cheetahs. They were cute and the second most active animal at the zoo. Saimang were funny and active whilst the spider monkeys were really funny. They always followed each other and some would go in the house and poke their head out. They were one of the funniest animals.
The giraffes were cool. Their were heaps. I loved them there were heaps of babies which were cute.
We also saw bengel tigers. They were cool, one was active and one was sleepy.


Dubbo Zoo



My favourite animals were the lemurs. We had just left the zoo and then mum and dad stopped the car and walked down the hill and said what's those animals and then I realised there was lemurs. We got to the lemurs and there were heaps  of them and we got there at feeding time. There was black and white ruffelled lemurs which are the biggest type of lemur left in the wild. There was also ring tailed lemurs. There was a baby, it was so cute and there were lots of  cockies in the tree and one squarked at a lemur and then the lemur hit the cocky and the cocky flew away, it was funny. They were the best. At the end we went to the shop and I brought a lemur mask. I had a great time at the zoo.

So far we have been to lots of skate parks. I've stacked a few times but I'm ok. I've cut my hip and badly bruised my shin.  Almost all the skate parks have had a bowl. There has been a few back flips on bmxs and scooters. I almost got hit on the head by a bike it was scary. I've learnt lots of new tricks and got new wheels. I am going to get metal core wheels. I've had a bit of trouble with my scooter but hopefully it will get better. I'm having lots of fun at the skate parks.

I'm starting to run every day and at the caravan park there is a pool, a playground and mini golf. It's really cool there is a beach about 200 metres away and you can go sand dune driving and you can drive on the beach. I'm missing my friends.

Uncle Mike's house was great. They have more than 500 acres.  I didn't catch any lizards but i caught lots of frogs and yabbys. They hade no tv so we have watched no tv so far. We went on the quads alot. We went 48 km and Cam and I chased kangaroos. We went very fast it  was fun. 

Kristy's Clip

Wow, what a week!  The Hunter Valley is absolutlely beautiful.  I found myself smiling yesterday as we drove into the region just because it made me happy to be in such a beautiful place.  We've settled for a couple of days with the Rigby's and Pagenstecher's in Singleton.  We have the luxury of a beautiful house that includes a bath and washing machine, two luxuries that I don't believe I'll see much of for the next 6 months.

I even got out for a run today (you'd think being in a valley would mean it was pretty flat) up and down hill constantly.  Have realised that I don't need the full length skins and wind jacket anymore, singlet top and shorts are all that's necessary. Sunshine and beautiful views, all that a runner needs.



Ry, Taz and Little Dude at Canowindra



 

I'm a little sad that my son has now been renamed.  It doesn't seem to matter which skate park he goes to he's constantly referred to as Little Dude.  Todays skate session saw Ry stack and take a fair bit of skin off his hip.  I think now is the time that you can all start betting on the date of our first hospital visit (is my ambulance subscription nationwide).

The Dubbo Zoo was fantastic.  The kids took such a long time to take in every enclosure and all the information on offer.  By far the best part was the lemur Islands.  Lemurs are Ry's favourite animal and we happened to get to the islands at feeding time. Ry was very excited to find lemur masks in the gift shop.



Look it's Lemur Boy



=

I think my highlight so far would be the wonderful time I had at Goolma with Michael, Neets, Case, Chlo and Cam.  Thanks for showing me around your little piece of paradise.  Those Mudgee rats are a bit of a worry though.  I'm a little worried about Taj too, given he spent 4 very active days with Uncle Mike he still refers to him as Dead Uncle Mike (perhaps he sees dead people).

Well that's it for me for the first week.  Next week we head to the coast to begin Ry's fishing expedition (hopefully reducing the skate park expedition).

Love to all xoxo

Kristy



Little Dude carven et up

Tazzy Talk

Here I am at the Wellington Caves

It has almost been a week and I have liked many things but my favrouite have been the Dubbo Zoo, My cousin's house, Badman's Birthplace, The Wellington Caves and the Hunter Valley.

Dubbo Zoo was really good, we got to drive around in the car and see a lot of animals. My favrouite animals were the Lemars because we got to see them being fed and they were jumping around and their was a little baby.

My Cousins House
It was really fun because we got to go around on the Quad Bikes and Chloe and Cam showed us
 a really cool game.

Bradmans Birthplace
I loved Bradmans Birthplace because we got to see his bat and learnt a lot about him. We watched a movie on Don Bradman.  I never knew he went out for a Duck. He only needed 4 runs to adverage 100 runs everytime he went out to bat.
The Caves
It was amazing what I saw when we went to the Caves. There was some beautiful stelictights and stelicmights. Their was a beautiful well at the bottom of the cave it stays 18 degrees all year round inside the cave.
The Hunter Valley
It was plain beautiful the Hunter Valley there were horses everywhere and the houses would blow you away. I think this is the most beautiful place I have been in Australia.

Weather Updadate
It has been really nice the coldest day was 15 and the warmest day was 18

I'll chat again next week,
see ya, Taz.

What a Start!!!

 Got off to  a late start on the Saturday and had a steady nights progress all the way to Cootamundra. From here had a very entertaining first 24 hours of the trip.
On arrival at Cootamundra, we found the caravan park at 10pm, only to be greeted by an overweight older gentlemen sporting just oversize undies whom Kristy tried to sweet talk with limited success. In the end he told us in no uncertain terms to ... off. Welcome to NSW.
Lucky found a lovely couple at one of the motels and after a couple of giggles we settled for the night (paid with cash and a generous offerring of some of Zed's caramel slice). Note to all do not got to Cootamundra Caravan Park

Good night sleep. The next morning we woke and were ready for our travels, after having a look at the Birthplace Of Don Bradman Cottage and experiencing the Skate Park, which Taj gave a rave review we were back on our way. On leaving our sway bars had a major malfunction and snapped off, Never mind let's go.

Shortly after we started a very grumpy police officer pulled us over and gave us the once over. Fines for no driving mirrors and a suspect speeding fine. Not quite sure how we got the Patrol doing 87 up hill when we couldn't do it for the rest of the day.

Another stop at Canowindra for theiir skate park and lunch. Taj deciding this one was even better. Finally we make it Goolma and Kristy's brother house to be warmly greeted at the gate.

Heading up the driveway, some 3km's of it, we have a tyre blow out. Very exciting. Fix the tyre and we finally make it. Wow, what a start!

July,  Monday 4th
Had a great day with our faith in NSWelshman restored. Got the tyre fixed and replaced for just $40 (Furnseys in Mudgee) where awesome and then the bracket to the sway bars fixed for $10. A couple of bargains, well done girls.
The boys spent the day exploring the 500 acres on Quads, however, no luck with the yabby nets.


Thanks Milburn Mob



Thanks to Michael, Anita and the kids for some great hospitality.

July, Tuesday 5th
Another great relaxed day with the Milburns. Headed into Wellington and went through the Wellington Caves. Pretty cool.
Taj was super excited as we found another Skate park. Unfortunately for Taj this one didn't rate as high as it was a bit more difficult. Ry learnt to drop in to the bowl, very impressive and some of the local kids were amazing. One Koori lad, about 15 was awesome. Super athletics, stood about 6ft approached him about be the Doggies next Centre Half Forward. Nephew Cam took a great tumble. Good fun had by all.

Little Dude (formerly known as Taj)