Merimbula Again, This Time With Deb and Kerrie

 I headed back down to Merimbula the following weekend after going down with Bindi and the kids. This time I went down with my friends Kerrie and Deb, both of whom I worked with at Southside Physio. We stayed at the same place and in the same cottage, this time for an extra nights. We had a lovely time. We headed down Saturday, it was a chilly 8 degrees at Nimmitabel! We stopped off at the Candelo General Store and Cafe for a yummy lunch. We headed to Merimbula where we did the Merimbula Boardwalk then headed up to our accommodation and settled in. After a bit of a break we headed down to Tathra and checked out the historic wharf, walked along the headland and then a long walk on the beach.

Tathra Beach- lovely spot

Kerrie on the beach- camera in hand 

Breakfast in the morning- relaxing way to start the day

Day 2 was a drive to Wyndham, stopping off at Mrytle Mountain which was a lovely forested area

We enjoyed the Wyndham Village markets and came away with quite a selection.

From Wyndham we headed to Eden where we had shared a very yummy Fisherman's Basket for lunch, some of the best fish and chips around in my opinion.

We wandered around Eden for a bit then headed out to the Lookout and Rotary Park Walk

Kerrie found a chair to enjoy the view

On the way back we stopped of at the Pinnacles and Pinnacle Beach- stunning coastal scenery

Driving back though Pambula we discovered that Stella's Tea Room was still open so enjoyed scones and tea.

This little roadside store was just up the road from where we were staying, so we had to drop in a number of times and brought all of the items mentioned below.

On our drive home it was warm at the top of Brown Mountain so enjoyed a short walk from Pipers Lookout

And another walk around the small lake at Nimmatabel before heading for Canberra.

Merimbula with Bindi and the Kids

 With my church calling I try to get down to visit the branch in Merimula, it has been a while since we have been able to get down there due to COVID restrictions so had the opportunity to head down in late November. Amy and I were planning to go down with Bindi and the kids and booked a 3 bedroom cottage on a small property 5 minutes from Tathra and 15 minutes from Merimbula. Amy had been miserable during the week with facial and jaw pain so decided she would stay home. This meant I could go down with Bindi and the kids so she picked me up on Saturday morning around 8:30am and we headed down. The weather forecast  was for a fair bit of rain and cool temperatures, so not really coast weather. However it was mainly a few light showers and didn't stop us from doing much and having a good time.

On the Saturday we did the Merimbula Board walk and caught up with the Stuart's who were staying at the same location as us. Micheal was fishing so we went to the beach to check it out and go for a walk along the beach. We had the beach and the lagoon to ourselves.

Kalaru Lodge where we stayed. They had ducks, chooks, goats, pigs, cows, sheep and peacocks. Amy would have loved all the animals.

Sunday afternoon after church we went for a walk, Charlie didn't really want to come for a walk so we made him walk down the drive which was probably around 500 metres.

We discovered this pond with hundreds of beautiful waterlilies  .

Our 3 bedroom cottage for the two night.

Before heading back on the Monday we drove down to Tathra and did a nice walk around the headland.

On the way home we stopped in at Cooma and found this lovely bookshop and tea room where we had scones and herbal tea.

As you can see that Charlie is just thrilled at having to go for a walk with his Aunty Sue!

November and December Catch Up

 We are entering a new chapter in our lives- Bill has retired. As you can see from the photos below he doesn't appear to have too much trouble adapting to the new way of life! All I can say is thank goodness the granny flat and outdoor alfresco area is all finished and that is where the macaws spend most of their time!

Jack and Luna enjoy spending time outside as well so are keeping Bill company!

We have had the sliding gates installed between the walkway and the alfresco area which means we can close of that are and contain the birds into one area when we need to move things through the alfresco or want to keep the birds out. It has all come together and is working well. Just need to convince Bill that the birds don't need free reign everywhere.

Have had a lovely bloom of Flanders poppies in my garden this year with a few random pink and white poppies.

We have had lots of rain over the past few months, when we get heavy rain over  a couple of days Point Hut Crossing, a low level crossing over the Murrumbidgee will often flood, I headed down after our last rainfall episode to check it out, I love watching the rise and fall of the river. The Murrumbidgee has certainly been flowing this year!

We have a few birds that regularly come for a visit, Bill and Amy are often feeding them sunflower seeds, as you can see Bill was pretty delighted when a King Parrot and a Sulphur Crested cockatoo jumped on his arms. Some of them will feed from his hand but this is the first time they have actually hopped on his arm.

Lockdown and Halloween to Celebrate the End of Lockdown

Amy and I got down to a couple of lockdown projects. One was making some biscuit faces and delivering them to some of our favourite families along with a kit to make up some of their own, it was a fun thing to do and we enjoyed getting photos of their creations.

Bill having a little snooze in a lockdown lunchbreak- hard work working form home!

Bill's work sent out hampers so this little box of sunshine arrived one day. After consuming the edible contents we recycled it and dropped it off to another family with our version of a little box of sunshine.

Last weekend our Lockdown was ending and we could gather in homes with groups up to 10 so we got to go to Bindi's along with the Stuart's for a fun and yummy Halloween Dinner. Amy and I were in charge of drinks so we made some frozen eyeballs and hands to put in the punch.

Mia decorated the foccacia that Bindi made- how good is that.

Emma Stuart brought along this "head" that Amy had to try on.

Table all set for our Halloween Dinner

Our lovely Halloween Pavlova that Bindi created. It was a fun night.