Home Sweet Home
24th November 2017 - 18th January 2018
Our time was split between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. Week One we spent camped at Maroochy Beach Caravan park. What a beaut spot. Right on Maroochydore Beach. Let me in the surf!!! So excited to be back home and have family cuddles.
Almost there.
Maroochydore beach looking towards Point Cartwright.
First stop at the Coast was to have Eli cuddles and introduce him to Poppi. This little man has stolen our hearts. Such an amazingly placid boy. And, oh, the cuddles. Heaven. How blessed we are to have another grandson to love.
This was very well orchestrated to co-ordinate with our home hairdresser, Andrea. Very happy to see her too!
Very comfy. Poppi lapping up the cuddles.
Well hello there!
The following day there was a festival in Caloundra. Oh yeah...off to get some Good Food Fellas delicousness in our bellies.
Lined up for our lunch and look who is there. Andrea - our hairdresser. A loyal GFF follower!
We have been waiting soooooo long for this. What to have - what to have!!!!
Beautiful Brazilian dancers in the parade.
Tough for Joel and Raymond - right in front of the truck!
We even ran into an old friend from our very early days in Caloundra. Brilliant.
Sunday saw the family together to celebrate Meg's 80th birthday at the Mooloolaba Surf Club. It was a stunning, sunny day. Absolutely wonderful to have everyone together. (except for Laura who had to take Sienna to a skating examination). Meg thoroughly enjoyed herself, and seeing all the grand and great grandchildren.
The birthday girl.
Meg and Joel. Having a day off from the Good Food Fellas.
Love this shot. Joel, Bec and Dezzi.
Great Grandson, Jaxson, and Meg.
Chelsea, Georgia-Grace and Jaxson getting into the party spirit.
Georgia-Grace, Chelsea and Harland.
Lani and Grandma.
And, of course, the most popular little man at the event - Eli David looking very smart.
Such an amazing little man. Passed from one set of arms to another without a murmur.
Grandma's turn.
Love this. Great Gran Meg with Eli.
Poppi Dezziz snuggle time.
The experienced Uncle Juz and Auntie Bec with Eli, getting ready for his bottle. Harland doesn't look so sure.
A great birthday celebration.
On the actual "day" we had lunch at Alexandra Headlands Surf Club beach café. Meg and I frequented this spot from time to time on our regular Monday lunches. Top spot right on the beach. Great food, too!
Love being back by the beach.
Plenty of chatter and laughs catching up with this lot. With Lea, Gary and Steve at Maroochy Beach Park.
With Lani and Sienna. A lot of catching up to do. And game playing.
Hanging out with our mates @ Your Mates Brewery. So much to catch up on. Fun times.
The boys having a Larry brew.
Week two had us doing a house sit at Buddina Beach. Another brilliant location on the beach. Glorious sunny days floating in the ocean. BUT....lookout for the typical summer storms late in the afternoon. We had some crackers!
Don't know that I would want to be out in that. Lightening galore, too!
Looking towards Point Cartwright. My (almost) daily walk.
Just a two minute walk to the beach.
While we were home it was the best time to upgrade our car. Very sadly, goodbye to our trusty Paj. Man, we have covered some country in this lounge room on wheels. 40,000 klm just on this trip! Unfortunately, we need something a bit heftier to tow the new caravan, so we upgraded to a Ford Ranger (2013 XLT). It was no small task to change cars. It was more like relocating a bloke's shed! All the 'extras' had to be removed, shelving taken out, seats put back in. Solar panel removed. I couldn't believe how much stuff we had in there. Talk about Bunnings and Supercheap on wheels! The seats were in our shed in Brisbane so off we went. Arrgghh! Could only find the back seat, not the 3rd row seat. I climbed over all the boxes like a mountain goat but could not find it. Very well buried. Back to the Coast and called the local wreckers who amazingly had one - even in the same cream leather. BUT, both seats were well covered in mould. A very good clean later with oil of cloves and they were as good as new. PHEW!
Change over time was pressing, so nothing for it but to take everything apart in the pouring rain of another afternoon storm.
Poor Dezzi. What a champ.
So while Dezzi sorted out all that "stuff" I headed down to Brisbane for a good dose of Grandma cuddles and to bring Jaxson and Chelsea back up the Coast for a few days. Oh...and hugs with Juz and Bec too!
Lovely sunny day, so off to Coochie Island for some fun in the sun. One of our favourite spots. Hop on the ferry, swim, fish and chips and an ice cream. Summer days.
On the ferry to Coochie.
Poor Jaxson. Just before school broke up he came a cropper off his scooter and ended up in surgery to fix a broken and dislocated pinky finger. No beach or pool swimming for 2-3 weeks. He was a real trooper about it overall.
Plenty of water fun.
Yum - lunch!
Our lovely Chelsea Blossom.
An afternoon storm was brewing quick time so we hightailed it to the ferry and got to the Victoria Point jetty just as the heavens opened. The kids waited under the bus awning, but Grandma was soaked!
Back up to the Coast and Cotton Tree (Maroochydore) Carols and Fireworks in the park. All fun and games until yet again a huge storm came through. Meg, Laura, Lani, Sienna, Eli, Jaxson, Chelsea and myself all soaked to the skin. It was quite an ordeal being caught in such a big weather event. We landed home on the doorstep to Poppi Dezzi looking like drowned rats after driving through flooded roads!
Big crowd.
Meg came along on her gopher buggy and had to ride home in the pouring rain. What a trooper!
The Dance Academy Sienna attends did some fabulous performances. Sienna was a snowman, or, snowgirl!
All the kids
Cousins hanging out together.
Time for some Christmas fun. Christmas cookies. Beautifully decorated thanks to Gran Meg's supply of all things decorative!
Pretty good.
They even tasted yummy. Made from scratch.
The kids love going to Meg's. She has all the fun toys!
So much time spent on the beach.
Dez and Val soaking up the sun-downers.
Summer bliss.
Hours in the surf. Chelsea is a real beach bunny.
Taking Jess for walks. Absolutely in heaven having these two for a few days.
We also had one night with my brother Lawry and sis-in-law Chris at their son, Ashely's home. They were en route to Warrnambool from Kuranda. A rare treat catching up with them.
Checking out pictures of their fabulous new home in the Kuranda rainforest.
Meg, Chris and Dez relaxing.
Time to head up to our - still - most favourite place. Double Island, in the Cooloola National Park. Set between Tewantin and Rainbow Beach. Nine days of absolute beachfront camping bliss. We have been camping here for about 20 years. Our first set-up was a Suzuki Sierra with a trailer and tent. Next came the 1988 Cub Camper and Pajero. We thought we were pretty special with the 2002 Paj and our Jayco Eagle for a few years. But, I can tell you. Luxury is a caravan on the beach!!! We absolutely love it here.
Time to test out the Ranger on the beach. She goes great.
It's 5.00 O'Clock Somewhere flag was the location marker to find our camping buddies Lea and Gary who were already there. It is common for people to put up flags as location markers. You see all sorts.
Van all set up and time for sun-downers. Doesn't get any better!
Prime real estate for $6.50 per person per night!
Heaven on a stick!
The beach even provides bait. Pipis by the hundreds. We have never seen as many as this trip.
Bait ready for fishing.
Yeah baby - ha ha ha!
A bit more dedication paid off.
Shovel nose shark.
Cooked up fresh for lunch with coleslaw. Yum delish!
There is always the chores. Chopping wood for our nightly fire.
There is something about the sand between your toes, good friends, wine and a fire.
With our great mate, Ray.
It's hard to tire of this every night.
Even Eagles in the trees.
Plenty of hours in this position.
And this one.
But it is not just about Double Island. A drive up the beach and across the Leisha Track takes you to Rainbow Bay. Great for an 'outing'.
The Leisha Track.
Set up for the day. Brolly, click clack chair, Evakool fridge with the supplies. Aahhh yessss.
Rainbow Beach coloured sand cliffs.
Popular spot.
Just-love-it!!!
Yep....love the Forda Ranga.
For me it's not a trip 'up the beach' without a walk up to the lighthouse at the point.
Double Island Lighthouse.
View coming back down.
View looking south towards Noosa and the camping area along the beach.
A stop off at Freshwater. Not only is this the most beautiful beach camping, there is also a 'service' area complete with freshwater, two dump points and two showers. There are also industrial sized bins all along the camping stretch.
Add to that Mr Yum Yum who comes by almost daily with supplies. Including ICE CREAMS :)
So cheers to a fabulous nine days of swimming, reading, relaxing, fishing, walking, eating, drinking and generally soaking up the serenity!
Pretty happy to be able to bring The Penthouse up here.
The Ranger even pulled her off the beach without a hassle.
So that took us to December 23rd. Time for Christmas activities. We headed back to Buddina Beach to Val and Jamie's place where we were very grateful to have been able to store all the 'car' stuff. An early Christmas with them on 24th.
Val and Jamie with Lachy and Georgia. Georgia and Val created an amazing lunch spread that we missed. But luckily there were plenty of leftovers for later in the day.
The pool might be small, but it was big enough to float about in ha ha!
Christmas Day Brunch with Joel and his family. Unfortunately Lani and Sienna were not there (at their Dad's). So Eli got all the attention.
Father and son.
Jo and Meg.
Us - obviously. Back under the lychee tree.
Master Eli with his new beach hat.
Laura and Eli opening prezzies.
We then spent the evening with Dezziz sister, Kathy and hubby Ben. Along with other friends and family. All in all a beaut Christmas Day.
Dezzi with Paj number one and two.
Boxing Day and time to head to Brisbane for ten days with Juz, Bec, Grandies and other friends. So armed with more prezzies.....off we went.
Harland very excited about his gift card!
Chelsea and Georgia digging in.
They seem happy!
Jaxson happy too!
All in for the share gift from Meg.
The annual Boxing Day Bash at Mark and Mandy's place around the corner. Always fun.
All the boys intent on the cricket.
So the kids took over the Beer Pong table. They only got softdrink.
Jaxson pretty happy with his effort. And the plaster cast is off and a splint now fitted. Swimming is permitted!
Summer fun.
Juz and Chelsea.
One very happy Grandma.
Hanging out at Southbank in Brisbane city with Jax and Chelsea.
The ten days we were at Victoria Point we scored a great house sit nearby to Juz and Bec. Lovely large home, pool and a very well behaved, friendly staffy pup.
The boys were the first for a sleepover. Taking a stroll down the road to the water.
Harland was happy to explore the mangrove.
Looking for crabs.
Jaxson, however, wears the typical look of a pre-teen made to walk. Ha ha ha!
Plenty of time spent in the pool floating the day away with the kids. Actually, most of it was spent playing Marco Polo!
This is called Dabbing or Dobbing or something like that. I don't get it but the boys think it's cool. Especially if Grandma does it. So, an underwater Dibbing Dobbing Dabbing apparently was VERY cool!
Meanwhile, while Grandma was having all the fun, Dez was installing the draw system and air bags into the Ranger. He has all the fun?!?!?!!?
Nothing says Auzzie summer like Slip and Slide. More Dibbing Dobbing Dabbing stuff.
Neat shot.
This was so much fun. Try talking with this in your mouth! Haven't laughed so much in ages.
Harland's turn. This game involves reading a card and the rest of us trying to guess what they are saying. Easier said than done I can tell you.
Miss Georgia's turn. Some serious orthodontics on the way here.
And board games.
And of course a couple of trips to the movies.
Ten days just zoomed by. Back to the Coast for a week. We camped at the Buddina School on the oval. It was perfect. Kawana Shops on one side, and the beach on the other.
The ocean was sensational every day. Perfect for swimming and just lazing on the beach.
Meg and I took Lani and Sienna to see The Australian Ballet's production of Sleeping Beauty. The girls were very excited to see 'real' ballerinas.
Never too young for swimming lessons. Young Eli loved it......well he didn't complain anyway!
It seems that we no sooner were say "hi" and it was time for "goodbye". Thanks to Lea and Gary Hepburn for hosting a brilliant afternoon of eating, drinking, floating in the pool and many laughs.
But it was time to kiss the baby one more time and head back to Brisbane for a final few days on our way back south.
So back to Victoria Point and Juz, Bec and the gang.
Tides out at Thompson's Beach, but still love this spot. Great for the kids, too!
Perfect place for a catch up with long time mate Natasha, and Mick and kids. We have had a great time seeing so many friends.
Just hanging around.
Just down the road is the YMCA pool. Plenty of time here too.
Last week of the school holidays and time to get Jaxson and Georgia-Grace ready for High School! I can't believe it! They were both so excited. I wanted to see their school - Carmel College - so off to the uniform shop to get kitted out.
Trial run of the formal uniform for us. Instructions from Poppi on how to tie his tie. More excitement over his box of provisions that Christmas.
And just like that, they are High School.
Eight weeks has flown by so fast, and we crammed so much in. There is nothing like being back with family and friends.
Time to hitch up, though, and hit the road again. Next journey through NSW to Victoria and back to Mildura.
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