SURFING, ABSEILING, PARTYING

May 6, 2010

Another morning jog.  Ran to the beach just in time to watch the sun rising.  It was worth it. It always is.  Cooked a large omelet breakfast with fruits and toast.  Surfs Up first thing at 8:30am.  We drove down to Tathra where we met up with CoastLife Adventures this is the company we had the surf school and gear rental with.  Everyone tried the surfing… even Dilawar (Lisa’s father).  It was great fun!  I won’t lie, but the waves were somewhat pathetic compared to the ones near Tofino.  It was really hard to catch the small waves.  However, the instructors were topnotch!  Then we drove up to the sea cliffs and Sven & Lisa did small group activities with family and friends.  It was so windy when we were up at the headland… a few times I thought I could start flying.  We met a few extras from the family like Arild, Barbara, Diane, Eric, Kieran, Tristan, and Taro.  It was great to see everyone socializing and learning to work together before the abseiling/ climbing session.  Abseiling is just like rappelling and having a controlled descent down the face of a cliff.  In our case it was a sea cliffs.  It was rewarding to watch each person go down one by one.  Learning to have control of themselves on the rope and watch them trust the equipment.  Some were more afraid than others.  After watching everyone attempt the two descents… we had to rush back to Merimbula for the girls bachelorette party while the guys went to Windsong for some shenanigans I don’t really want to know about!!  We all showered and de-salted our hair from surfing… quickly got dressed and then car pooled to this Mexican restaurant named ‘Santa Fe’, let me recommend the sangrias and the food.  We proceeded the evening with a trip to the local bar and dressed Lisa with ridiculous bridal accessories.  It was a fun but very tiring day!

RUNNING ERRANDS

May 5, 2010

Wednesday 

Not sure how I'm capable of doing this… of waking up at 5:30am for a jog along main beach.  'Usually', being the key word. I am usually not a morning person and often only workout in the later part of the day.  I’ve been enjoying the morning jogs.  We baked the carrot cake, banana cake, orange poppy seed, and the lemon.  Riana and Zofia helped with the mixing and re-reading the instructions.  Once all the cakes were done baking we strolled into town for some last minute errands, the girls went shopping… they had never been into the charming town of Merimbula.  Rain showers on and off during the day.  A great day for running around.  *photo: compliments of The Wheeler Family. 

SKIPPY

May 4, 2010

Pottoro Palace, Scotts Bay and Bournda National Park

The rainbow lorikeets were a huge hit this morning.  Lisa’s nieces were both eager to feed and try holding the birds onto their arms.  I had free entertainment all morning long!  Somewhere between 10:30am and 10:55am the big bus arrived to for a pick up.  We were ‘just on time’ for Potoroo Palace.  Incase you’re wondering, what Potoroo Palace entails,  it’s an Australian animal sanctuary that promotes education to the public,  and protects the natural environment of the native species in NSW.  In other words it’s not a ZOO! 

During our guided walk we learnt about the Emus, Wallabies, Long-Nosed Potoroos, Cockatoos, Dingoes, Wombats, Echidnas, Snakes, Blue-Tongued Lizards, Koalas  and of course KANGAROOS!!  While we were there, we found a natural acting roo.

Skippy, Skippy

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

Skippy, Skippy

Skippy, our friend ever true.

It was a nice way to spend the morning in a peaceful area, surrounded with animals.  Followed by our tasty lunch at the ‘Blue Wren Café’.  Once our tour ended we jumped back in the magic white bus and headed to Scotts Bay to see Wallagoot Lake and Scott’s Hut.  Sven told us some great stories… excellent tour guide.  Went to Bournda Beach for some fishing with Arild and everyone roamed at their own leisure… playing Frisbee, jogging and searching for every type of seashell possible.  The sunset was spectacular and shortly after the sun disappeared on the horizon we pilled back into the van bound for Merimbula. 

  

MOVING DAY @ WINDSONG

May 3, 2010 

This morning I moved from Bega to Merimbula.  It was sad saying goodbye to ‘Windsong’ and everyone including the Dalmatians.  I’ve become attached to this peaceful place where I’ve spent the past four weeks living with Barbara, Arild, Sven and Lisa at the Helland’s.  Lisa’s mother came to pick me up from FishPen bright and early.  We went to Coles together, one of the local supermarkets in Bega to pick up the wedding flowers. {Oriental Lilies, to be specific}  Unfortunately, the order had not arrived yet and was possibly re-scheduled for Wednesday.  Came back with brekkie stuff i.e. bananas, grapes, bread, yogurt, and cereal, for all the Canadians to consume once they overcome the jet-lag.  Oh yes!!  Arild, Sven and Lisa left in the big bus at 5am headed up towards Wollongong/Sydney to pick up the Stobe family and Canadian travelers.  They have one really long day ahead of them, a minimum of 12 hours driving maybe more.  I went searching for cake ingredients, laundry, and baked the pasta dishes… those all sound like housewife qualities. Oh dear lord, scary!  The bus full of Canadians finally arrived late at night around 8:30pm and you could easily tell they were beyond the point of exhaustion.  They sounded slightly disoriented… we gave them food and beer… which allowed them to have a restful sleep.  I was so thankful, not having to experience the pains of jet-lag.    
P.S. Happy Birthday to Rebecca :)