The Harries Family Happenings

The rest of the photos can be seen here!

Well, it didn't end as we had hoped, but for the first five weeks it was very good.  

Though it was a little hectic, with usually getting into a campsite, with just enough time to set up the tent & cook some dinner, before it was too dark. Then being up, fed & packed to go again, by 8:30am. 

We became quite good at packing up ;-)

 

The Cape, wasn't as difficult as we had expected, though we did manage to get water over the bonnet a few times, and the Infamous Gunshot Creek required nearly everyone to be pulled out, at the bottom, due to it being so steep that the car's front end was digging into the mud at the bottom of the incline!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kylie expects to update this blog with her notes from the trip, so I'll leave the rest of it to her

Brendan, also, kept a blog however due to laptop power supply problems it only did half the trip. See Here for Brendan's Blog

The rest of the photos can be seen here!

Hmmm not keeping this up to date, lately ;-(

Went up to Surfers Paradise, just before the major floods hit SE Queensland, and bought a Malibu Wakesetter VLX 2009. A 21 foot wakeboarding boat

Finally got a chance to try it out, last Saturday. I LOVE Cruise control in a boat ;-)

 

 

 

 

The boys, including Brendan, enjoyed having a go at Wake Surfing, for the first time.

The Captain's Hat, from Venice, even made an appearance ;-)

After a week of constantly checking weather reports for various area's we had the same conclusion..rain. Now we don't like putting tents up & down in wet weather so we were really hoping the all knowing weatherman might change his mind at the last moment, we should have known better..nope.still rain. Friday night saw us debating once again where to go, & if we should go at all. In the end we agreed to phone Nelligen Big 4 caravan park to see if they had any cabins available, there is a large river & they have a boat ramp so we thought we could do some recon for later use with the boat.you never know!

The Gods where against us.all booked out, we tried 2 others until we found that there was 1 cabin at the Clyde River Caravan Park . We booked this & decided to go to the South Coast camping & caravan show , Visit Mogo Zoo & see the attractions down south & as we were in a cabin we didn't have to worry about the soggy ground & the promise of wet weather.

Early Saturday morning we had a phone call...ooops the caravan park had some how double booked! So they have made arrangements with a sister park at South Durras called Lakesea Caravan Park, which is only 10km north of Batemans Bay, so we weren't too concerned. We packed up, fed the animals & where on our way. It rained on & off the whole way!. We found the Caravan Park fairly easily , it reminded me of Merry Beach with all the trees along the road, & booked in.

We had a cabin facing the lake (Durras Lake), it had a nice deck with tables & chairs to sit on , Inside was a open area which included a kitchen, dining table ,lounge with TV & DVD player, 2 bedrooms & a separate bathroom. The cabins are each named after native wildlife and ours was called the Eagle.

Continue...

Over the June Long weekend, after Brendan got the all clear about his appendicitis scare, we went on a TLCC trip down to Deua National Park.

It didn't start well, as the side rails, that had only been installed on the Wednesday, at TJM Wollongong, were found to be barely hanging on. We were only on dirt roads for about 15min!The front mounting bolts were showing about 6mm of thread in the gap and the rear bolts were only

hanging on by the barest amount. Just imagine if the front had dropped, the car could of cart wheeled! They had, obviously, only been

hand tightened! ( Apparently TJM didn't think this justified reimbursing my installation fee, as I was fobbed off on the weekend with a promise to ring me on the Monday... I'm still waiting .





I bet you can't guess where I'll be telling everyone NOT to go to, for their 4wd gear )

So after crawling around in the dirt to install the rails, properly, we headed off towards Braidwood.



Plenty of river crossings, some steep tracks, and some very cold nights saw out an enjoyable weekend.

 

Our last day today...Once again sat & watched the waves while eating breakfast. - one could really get used to this !

David & I decided to get a massage from the Melasti Spa, outside the Melasti hotel ( 2 up from ours) we had been told really good things about it. Brendan stayed to play in the pool with a few friends he had made from Perth.

We were taken into the waiting room through 2 very large solid timber doors, very posh.was like another world.completely different to our previous massage...We sat on the large lounge chairs waiting for our masseuses & perused through the service guide as to what we could have done  .. the prices on the sheet were double that of what we paid before !  You could buy special masks & oils, from the reception area (where they did the feet massage) they were displayed very nicely. There was a huge variety of treatments you could have ranging from foot massage, facials, stone massage etc ..we were even offered a romantic spa for two.in chocolate !

David & I were taken to our room, together, where there were 2 tables next to each other. we stripped down to our underwear & lied down, when you looked down though the hole in the table there was a container which contained various flower patterns to look at,( a lot of small things made a huge difference). The lights were dimmed &  soothing background music was played while massaging.  so much different from our previous massage.The one negative I have is that we were coated in oil, they gave you a towel to wipe it off but we really needed a shower.An hour later we headed back to have our shower & check on Brendan.

We decided to head back to the shops for some last minute spending , stopping to say goodbye to Tony & Yudah along the way.

Back at the hotel we changed into our cosies & headed straight for the pool.was so humid , had sweat dripping everywhere!  We ordered some drinks & some lunch to eat while soaking in the water. While we were waiting for our 2nd plate of chips to be served, a storm came,really dark clouds & strong winds, blowing the umbrellas over..lightning flashing..& the rain that fell was so heavy & cold !  In less than 2 minutes the walkways were all under water again -about ankle high , the kids were sliding down the ramp ways  which looked like waterfalls, the pool had overflowed & water was every where. All the adults were soon out of the pool up into the restaurant. We finished our lunch in the restaurant which was marginally drier & then made a mad dash  for the room.

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Yahoo, sunshine today. We had breakfast outside overlooking the beach & watched the peddlers try to sell their wares to the tourists who walked past.

Off to Waterbom park this morning, we hailed a taxi & it took around 3/4 hour as traffic was heavy due to a fire in the middle of Kuta. We handed over our entrance tickets & were given an E-bracelet ( you pay money & it electronically calculates what you have spent - acts as a credit card because they don't use other currency in the park. We hired a locker & towel & headed out.  The grounds were really beautifully - green & lush with pools kept in immaculate condition. We found 2 banana lounges near the pool bar & claimed them, then were off to try the boomerang ride, Brendan & I rode together, 5 flights of stairs later we hopped on our double tube & went down - going round & round ,then a steep drop which flicks you over to another slope much like a ski ramp. Brendan & David then went on this again, then Brendan was ok to go by himself. Next ride the Boogie, you lie on a mat & slide down the ramp. Then the Macaroni & River raft, this one finished at the lagoon where you could float around the circuit in the tubes.

Brendan made a friend - Jarrad from Perth & went off, with him, doing all the rides again.

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Morning sleep in before a leisurely breakfast..inside today as it is still raining, but only lightly. We left Brendan playing in the pool, as the temperature is still hot, while we went shopping yet again - this time for shoes for Jarrad & Chris, we went to every shop along Garlic lane & of course no one had the ones they wanted, finally in a back ally we found some, but not in the right size! luckily the store owners really wanted a sale, we waited for around 20 minutes while they located some, agreed on the price (130,000rp ea for 5 pairs), finished our sale (with extras for David & me) & started to walk back to the hotel to pick up Brendan, stopping occasionally to look at a few other bits & pieces.

Emptied the bags in the room ( they put the wrong shoes in after all the hassle we went through !....not going back again, so Jarrad will have slightly different to what he wanted.

We met Scott & Fiona on the way to collect Brendan from the pool & arranged to go out for tea at 6.30.

 

 

 

 

 

Continued.