Wide open spaces

The drive to Sawtell was really beautiful. The road wound its way through grass covered rolling hills with cattle and sheep grazing happily. After passing through Dorrigo at the top of the Great Dividing Range, we headed down a steep and winding road for about 11km which tested out the trailer brakes, leaving them nice and hot by the time we reached the bottom. We stopped in Bellingen for a wander but being a Sunday most things were closed. We then continued on for the last part of the drive to Sawtell, and before long we arrived at our mate (and Em’s godfather) Lach’s place. After parking the trailer we headed upstairs for a quick catch up before we all walked down to the beach for a surf. Lach was keen to give the kids their first taste of surfing and they took it in turns having a go on his board. Both kids loved it and managed to get to their feet before crashing into the water. Having not been on a board for at least 10 years, I was keen to give it a go as well, and managed to stand up first time, much to my surprise. After exhausting the kids in the surf, we headed back to the flat where Lach cooked up pizzas for dinner. With bellies full, we put the kids to bed and enjoyed catching up without the kids around.

Being in the home stretch of the trip, we had been keen to find a nice place along the coast to stop for a week or so and just enjoy a holiday by the beach with no setups and pack ups, and no sights to see or walks to go on. Sawtell ended up being that place, and Lach was more than happy for us to hang at his place for as long as we wanted. We ended up spending a week there, enjoying daily trips to the beach, and appreciating that we were in a flat rather than our tent, with all the basic luxuries that go along with that. It was also great for Em (and Oli and us) to spend some quality time with Lach. Most days we just lazed around in Sawtell, with a few trips into Coffs Harbour. The kids loved surfing and we went down a few more times to let them have a go. They got better every day, culminating in them both managing to stand up for a few seconds which they were thrilled about.

One day we drove into Coffs to see the Big Banana and to surprise the kids with a session at the huge water park there. It had 4 giant slides, one of which was a really steep one that dropped straight down. We had a ball on the slides for about 1.5 hours before our time was up, and both kids agreed that this water park was even better than the one in Darwin.

Another day we went to Coffs to the beachside market where I played chess with both kids as they had some free chess boards there, while Kat wandered through the markets. The kids then enjoyed an ice-cream and slushie before we headed to a school fete down the road. There was more fun to be had there, and the kids both bought a few things from the white elephant stall and played a couple of the games they had on offer.

Another highlight for the kids was going to watch Lach play ice hockey. He plays each week on a Thursday night so we fed the kids and then headed to the ice rink where we got to watch him play most of a game before we went home to get the kids to bed. Another night Lach offered to feed the kids and put them to bed so Kat and I enjoyed a night out in a great local restaurant with live jazz. The food was great and it was nice to have a kid free dinner at the end of the trip to reflect on the last 7 months as well as chat about what we thought returning home might be like.

We ended up staying until Em’s birthday on Halloween so we could celebrate her birthday with Lach. That morning we decorated the flat with birthday and halloween decorations before Em opened her presents. We then brought out the birthday cake. The kids thought it was a great treat to have cake for breakfast, which Em then washed down with a couple of pancakes. After the festivities we said goodbye to Lach before packing the last few things into the trailer, hitching up and heading off towards Newcastle where we would spend our last few nights visiting a couple more mates.

On the drive to Sawtell

Surfing fun at the beach

The Big Banana Water Park

Watching Lach play ice hockey

Fun times in Sawtell

Em’s birthday celebrations