Quiet Rainy Day

We woke to rain today. It didn't stop. My wet weather Australian wet weather curse has still got a hold of me!

Oh hum. We are on holiday, so we WILL make the most of it and that we did. Lindsey and Stuart had requested a quiet day today to recuperate, we thought it a good idea, so we decided to do our own things. In a perfect world we would have spent the day on the beach, but it poured down all day. The rain varied from light to heavy but it didn't stop.

Roaring on the ferry

We spent the first part of the morning planning our mini trip from Sydney to Brisbane - we have decided to spend 3 x 2 nights in places: 2 nights in The Great Lakes (not been there before), 2 nights in Nambucca Heads (location of one of my best travel stories from Australia last time I was here) and 2 nights in Byron Bay (I've been before but it has been recommended to Matt by various people and he wants to go) each time we are staying in a cabin in a holiday park meaning we can cook (eating out here is astronomically expensive), we have more room than at a hotel, more facilities (children's play area, swimming pool etc), more chances of Tom meeting a playmate and it is cheaper than hotels - a no brainer really. Anyway, I had no trouble booking anything - the woman in the tourist information centre obviously was clueless (oh and having an ipad is wonderful - I did it all by email).

Around 10, we decided to brave the weather and headed out to Manly. We got soaked but managed a fairly successful trip: a quick trip to a coffee bar for coffee and cake, some Christmas present shopping, and a fab towel poncho thing for Tom - he'll now be an Australian pirate when he goes swimming! Then a quick bit of groceries shopping - replacing what we have been using at the flat. We then had lunch at the apartment - Lindsey had got in lots of cheese and condiments (she has made friends with a lady who makes condiments and sells them at the market each weekend and now is in the awkward position of feeling she has to buy something each time she goes to the market - they are great though. I would happily have gone to her stall and bought some as presents for Martin & Vanessa but the market was cancelled because of the rain (Aussies are true wossies when it comes to bad weather - they want bad weather they should see the brave people of Kirkby Lonsdale market in the Winter!))

Lindsey with her Snap, Crackle and Pop Pie

So after a pound or so of cheese and chutney (diet has gone out the window) we all had a little rest - Tom went to bed (his idea), I finished up the bookings, Matt did some work. The 3 of us then went for a return trip on the Manly ferry - ferries apparently are better than trains right now! We even had a look around Circular Quay for some sort of ferry momento - but none was to be had!

We came home, Tom had dinner - the rest of the lamb from the other day. He then went to bed. I went out for dinner with Lindsey and the boys stayed at home for a film and a takeaway. Had a really lovely night out - helped by the fact that we got a free pudding each because the till didn't put our original order through meaning we had to wait a while for it (we didn't really notice as we were gassing so much!). Oh and the pudding was amazing as you can see by the pic. So not a very interesting day, but a useful one.

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Location:Manly