Terrigal part 3 - Cafes...

We did a lot of my favourite thing while we were away...eating out!

Hot chocolates at a beach side cafe

Pizza and pasta at a street cafe

Brunch at another cafe

Pancakes at Yvonnes cafe in Woy Woy

I think I am getting better at the self portrait thing

Yvonne and Joys' new business, its called Pepe's at the Pavillion and is becoming very successful for them.

They opened in February this year and are working long hours 7 days a week but its paying off for them. The food was delicious and the coffee fabulous. Shame it is such a long way away, popping in for a coffee is not an option, but if you are in Woy Woy (near the station) do try it!

The party...

The whole reason for our trip was to get together to celebrate Yvonne's birthday. She will be 40 on 10/10/10, the youngest of the clan with 16 years separating her from the oldest (Brendan). Not all could be there but we were able to catch up on

Aunties

Von

Donna

Uncles

Duncan

Cousins

Emma

Clare

CJ, the character

And some new friends

Tina & Joy

There were even some spectacular fireworks

And a good time had by all despite the chilly temperature and constant rain, as night fell the warm jackets came out and I was glad I had packed them even though I thought it was a waste of space at the time.

Erin had the camera on a tilt most of the night!

Terrigal...part 2...

Our internet find for accomodation has been pretty good. When you book something sight unseen or without a recommendation it can be a bit risky. We have been pretty lucky in that;

the house is in a good location with great views and

its pretty clean & close to its description.

The views are fabulous

The pool would be great to swim in if it were 10 degrees warmer and not raining

The  10 minute walk to the beach is a steep downhill with what seems to be a vertical climb back up

I've been watching the surfers whilst reading my book and sipping on a wine

Would be just about perfect if it wouldn't rain so much.

It reminds me of when we used to go on fishing holidays as children. The locals used to say 'you should have been here last week' when the fish were apparently jumping into the boat and weighed about 5 pounds each. Today a local shopkeeper told me the weather in Terrigal last week was a sunny 28 degrees. Not this weekend, its been cold rainy and windy, but I'm not letting that spoil my holiday.

Terrigal,part one...

Our little trip to NSW began with Erin's first ever plane ride...

When she got off this little plane at Avalon airport we got on a slightly bigger one! She was full of nervous chatter and questions, testing of window shades, seatbelts and asking where the life jackets and oxygen masks were.

She settled down after we took off (and we hoped the kid with the fog horn voice would too)

Chris changed seats with me so he could crane his neck and try to see what she was looking at out the little window. I was reading my book and they were trying to guess what the river was ??Murray and which snow capped mountain it was ?? Kosiosko whichever it was it was very pretty in the distance.

Then as we were approaching Sydney airport Erin taught Chris how to make an origami crane out of a paper napkin.

Then we dashed out to the baggage collection/car rental desk and headed out into mad peak hour/Friday afternoon of a long weekend/Sydney traffic for what turned out to be a 3 hours trip to our Terrigal destination.

More on that next time...

Pies...

Look what happens when we leave the state

Collingwood won the grand final!

20 years of waiting finally paid off, well done

Cold snap...

After our lovely weekend a very cold front has blown through bringing low temperatures, cold winds and heavy showers. I've been able to get a daily walk in with some good timing and brisk walking!

I've packed and repacked and am ready to go on Friday. I am really looking forward to our trip now that it is so close. Our intended surprise gathering is no longer a surprise but will be a great chance to catch up with Chris' family. I've been able to see both my sisters this week, which doesn't happen very often, but more often than Chris gets to with his family spread around Australia. Not all of them will be together for this trip but you have to take what you can and enjoy the moment.

A glorious weekend...

Finally the sun has broken through and given us a perfect weekend. Aside from the stunning draw in the football grandfinal, the weekend has been just perfect.

I was able to do some walking, baking, cleaning -I even washed my car. We went for a ride with Callum and for a while there I was glad he was behind us and I couldn't see what he was doing. For the short time he was ahead and I was yelling in my helmet...merge, merge or STOP STOP.

Father teaching son...listen closely grasshopper...

 

Learning on a bike is not so different from learning in a car, they still need instruction, supervision and time to gain experience.  Chris can't be the boy racer at these times, Callum needs to know that he can follow his fathers lead to be a safe rider, these are not the times for riding for pleasure.

I've seen 3 movies this weekend, firstly Erin wanted to see Avatar The Last Airbender, which was quite good but she tried to explain the whole thing during the movie which was a bit annoying but showed how much she like the whole Avatar story. We were just 2 of a dozen people in the theatre.









Erin  borrowed the new Alice in Wonderland from the local rental, she enjoyed it but I don't think she was completely sold on it. I went to bed I didn't like it much and I love Johnny Depp.








 I also borrowed Beneath Hill 60 which I really enjoyed and recommend. Based on a true story of an Australian unit fighting on the Western Front during WW1, I was thinking of our ancestors whose stories I have been researching lately and it made it all the more poignant, an insight to what those men went through and how hard it must have been to come home to a normal life after the war.


As Molly used to say 'do yourself a favour'

Grand final...

Chris has been waiting 20 years to retake this photo

Hayley was just 2 years old when Collingwood last won the Grand final and he was able to capture this pic with his little daughter, a daughter who was malleable in her choice of teams.

Looks like he will have to wait another week for the photo opportunity

One to go...

I've been counting down to my holiday. I'm taking a glorious four week break from work and now have just one shift left to work.

I have made a lot of plans in my head and I know I wont get it all done but I am looking forward to this time off, a real, fair dinkum break.

My plans include...

get some exercise

walk every day

a trip to Sydney

and explore Terrigal and the Central Coast

open up the house and spring clean

and read and sleep and sleep and read

One day to go!!!!

The little things...

the little things you do can be big things to others.

On Saturday afternoon, after our trip to the river, I went down to the local park where the locals were participating in the 'Relay for life'.

2009 opening lap

Participants walked in teams around the oval earning sponsorship money for each lap they did from 4pm overnight and into Sunday morning. The first lap was a special one  for the survivors, carers and people living with cancer.
According to their web site they have raised $100,000 so far for the Cancer Council.

I went down to encourage a patient/friend by walking with her for a bit, not a lot but she was really grateful.I found out today how much she appreciated it. A little thing for me but it meant so much more for her.

Glad to do it Leanne.