Beach holiday!

It had been so long since we traveled that I had forgotten how annoying it is to prepare to travel. Packing and cleaning and booking the house and the car. Shopping. What are we going to eat? And does your swimsuit still fit? Don't forget to close all the window shades and lock the balcony door. 

Here is Jonathan waiting to drive away.

It takes 1.5 hours to drive all the way out of the outer suburbs of the city. Then another hour to get to our destination. We saw an echidna crossing the road. 

And then upon arrival, there was no power. 

A few trucks from the power company came and spent several hours trying to get it back on. 

By 11pm, after I had given up and was brushing my teeth in the dark using my own water bottle (tank water requires power to activate the pump), the power came on! We turned it off and went to bed. 

Day 1 of vacation:

We followed a path through the neighbourhood that turned out to lead over the sand dunes to the ocean. 

Not a super warm ocean. But ocean. 

Back to our rental house again for lunch, then a drive to the grocery store, and out again for sunset. Lots of kangaroos out in the fields at dusk.

It doesn't sound like much but it was over 20,000 steps. 

Day 2:

Boogie boarding! The beach was patrolled in the afternoon, but watch out for the rip currents on either side of the patrolled area. And the water is frigid. I was the only one in our family to get into the water. And it was fun fun fun! But I was shivering for hours after. 

I warmed up enough to go out for another sunset walk. Gorgeous. 

And walking back to our rental house, we saw wombats. Wombats live in this neighbourhood.

Day 3: A morning hike. 

Yellow jewel beetles and a kangaroo.

To the point!

We were supposed to go boogie boarding again in the afternoon, but the beach wasn't patrolled, and I was still cold. 

So we read books and played board games and watched movies instead. 

Day 4: Rain. Rain rain rain rain. Pouring rain all night and all morning. There was a gap in the rain in the afternoon, so we took a walk. 

I wore my swim suit, but it was too cold. I couldn't get in the water. I couldn't do it. 

Day 5: Merry Christmas cherries.

And more movies and books and sunsets. Silver and green and pink. But still no swimming.

Day 6: River walk. I finally got a little sun on my nose and throat.

After the walk, we took Jonathan back to the beach and made him dip his feet in the water, because he hadn't yet. And he liked it! He did. Still too cold for swimming, though. But not too cold to look for clams, chase the waves, lie in the sand. 

Gulls. Pied oystercatchers. Ravens. Wattle birds. More wombats in the evening. Around it all, we snuggled up with the TV for Christmas movies and carols by candlelight. On TV.

Day 7: Pack up, clean up, drive home. Back to traffic. Figure out how to fill up the rental car with petrol on a major holiday. (No problems. Half the city is out driving and needs to fuel up.)

Home by afternoon. Presents. Chocolate! Merry Christmas, home.

Merry Christmas, everyone.