Monday, April 18, 2011

Our roadtrip

Buladelah






Forster at sunset


Forster in the morning
Any kid who has ever travelled the east coast of Australia will have childhood memories of this place. It is indeed an icon. It is part of the shared cultural history my husband and I have for example - even though our childhoods were quite different both of us remember the family car, hot summer days and stopping at the big banana. Well it is smaller than I remember and inside it is no longer a photographic display but it is being renovated and a couple of videos were playing - the theme of the display was the same - the growing of bananas! The icecream sundaes at the cafe still seemed enormous and the gift shop was filled with tacky yellow souvenirs. We had a blast - a trip down memory lane for me and a memory making visit for the twins.


Jumping for fun

It was about 4pm and the beach was almost deserted. Just beyond was a lovely playground. The twins loved these parts of the holidays.



Before the dunking we were all having a ball - although it was a little cold so we simply paddled at the edge of the water.
Hannah got a dunking in the shallow waves - in some ways I think that is worse - cos she was absolutely coated with pretty harsh sand. She got a scare but trooper that she is managed to get back up - I took her tot he car to change her clothes - sat her in the boot to make it easier - she loved that idea (our poodle normally travels in the boot) and wanted to ride in the boot as the family dog when we went to go home too!! Imagine what my pals at DOCS would say about that!!lol.

How cool is the Bunya nut tree? I love them!
The food and service at Phoen Wong in Coffs was very good. Every time we eat out somewhere Asian the twins have a go at using chopsticks - they weren't able to eat using them but they did improvise and entertain Dad and I with them

We stopped at Ballina to meet in real time a virtual friend from the Aussie DS forum I am on. It was lovely to chat with Trish and her daughter Jodie who is almost 21 is a lovely young woman.
We got to Dad's and the twins obviously felt right at home. They immediately found a box of mobilo that I had sent up for my nephew's stepdaughter - and got to work building.

1 comment:

Adelaide Dupont said...

Oh, yes.

Every child has experience of the Big Banana: if only in theory and in advertisement.

Glad Hannah and Kit saw it in real life!

The beach photos are just stunning, and the sand was harsh!

Stroking the monkey.

Really great about the chopsticks. I really only know how to handle the wooden ones. The plastic ones have quite defeated me. There must be something of a Star Trek grasp.

Wonderful to meet Trish and Jodie.

And just beyond was a lovely [blocked out by big map]...