Sick of Whales....literally!

Hold on to your akubras this blog is a biggy. Spring has sprung, the only chance for Chris to join Stacey and the rest of the family and 6 exchange teachers looking for a place to meet called for a big weekend and that is exactly what we had. Unfortunately our 6 hour driving radius (the limit given for a weekend viable driving distance ) does not leave us with many new places to visit and so we made our third trip up to Nelson Bay except this time to stay. This meant we could appreciate the sunset. We travelled in convoy and arrived just in time to appreciate it and really annoy a woman who had come up alone for Friday night Tranquility. With these three together you don't get tranquil.



Come the morning and we gave away our hard earned dollars to go on a three hour whale cruise. Here are some of us ready to go and checking if our sunglasses look cool enough.



Thank the lord for digital Cameras. We could have blogged 70 failed attempts to get a picture of a whale's arse. We were so pleased to get the arse of two whales that this had to constitute our best shot. Not quite like the website promises. Apparently these humpbacks have been "humping" for a while so they're a bit tired as they make their way back down south. Unfortunately it was all but missed by Stacey who having gone down below, stayed down feeling ill for quite a while and then spent 95% of the rest of the trip horizontal.



No wonder she was ill look how rough it is!!!!!!!
So having oohed and aahed at the whales it was time for some fun on the boomnet. Undoubtedly the highlight for the children and one immature adult.



People were desperate for two things when we got back...... Nelson Bay is just so obliging.



The lodging was excellent. Some of our party used the slightly worrying "rustic" euphemism but this was chic rustic with an open plan bush kitchen , log cabins, campfire and a pool table. It was like going on a year six kids residential without the kids (except our own)



The picture above was a snapshot of a speed eating lunch as we rushed to get ready for the afternoon itinerary. This included a hummer tour on Stockton dunes, where the proportions of the driver and his vehicle have to match, it seems.



The best part of doing this was the party was big enough to have our own hummer. Infact the party was too big so two of us had to go quad biking instead.



Life is tough sometimes. The quadbikers had fun even though with 30km of dune to play with they were restricted to about 300m and went into the $500 fine zone twice without knowing it.
The other downside is that they missed out on the sandboarding. The safety talk took so long that the camera battery went flat but not before we got a shot of Stacy and Jessica about to go for an 80m drop.



Sunday morning's post campfire hangover was not as bad as Friday's even though we had to endure Tina serenading the camp with her versions of "American Pie" and "Wild Rover". Stacey and Jessica were not hungover at all and got first crack at the strawberries, which unlike bananas, are very cheap at the moment.



26 degrees and the beach beckoned but we felt we had to earn it by walking up Tomaree heads.
It took about 45 minutes of walking and whining but 360 of (yawn yawn) spectacular views at the top made it worthwhile. This continues to amaze the children as was demonstrated when we met Rab and Celia (two of our pack) on their way up and on our way down and Jessica told them quite bluntly "Don't bother it's really not worth it!"



The expression on the left in the picture below is a definition of a brave face. We finally made it to the beach and Stacey was very relieved as despite our "parental" warnings about Ozone layers she was determined to go for the tan. Well we allowed her about one hour before going to lunch at a place where they managed to make a 45 minute meal last over two hours and by then the sun was going down rapidly. Time for one more sunbathe? No chance! We went down to Birrubi point where the kids loved the dunes but the wind meant that relaxing on the beach was out of the question. This picture was the ten seconds that Stacey took her towel off her shoulders. Meanwhile Chris (Garrett) and Richard were pondering over the fact that their younger son was enjoying the dunes whilst their older son was having a major sulk in the car because he wanted to go home. No sulks on our part though. Chris G had organised a great weekend (slightly assisted by Chris C's anal itinerary) and we went home happy even if we had more mosquito bites than suntan.