New Year adventures....

I can't believe that January is almost over before I have written one word of our latest adventures.  I guess we have just been so busy but it's time to stop for a moment and catch our breath so now seems like as good a time as any to let you know what we have been up to.

Our year started with some sad news from Leslie in Canberra.  Her mother, Dorothy, had passed away on New Years Eve.  Dorothy had been married to Bill's Dad and for our first 15 years in Perth she played a large part in our lives.  We were very sorry to hear of her passing and decided that we would like to go to the funeral so arranged the time off to fly up on the Thursday morning.   It was a lovely service at St Paul's in Manuka and we were glad to be able to offer our support to Leslie at this sad time.

What was to have been a flight up and back on the one day had by then turned into a weekend away but not in Canberra.  Just as we had decided to travel we received an email from Bill's cousins, Mandy and Peter, inviting us to spend some time with them at their holiday home in Narooma.  We decided that fate had played a part here and this was an offer too good to refuse so we hired a car and drove the 3 hours over the ranges to spend three wonderful days on the NSW coast.

We stopped for lunch at a quaint little place called Bungendore, 30 mins out of Canberra, and here at a little cafe behind a Woodworking Gallery we had the biggest iced coffee we have ever seen.  Neither of us could finish it and certainly didn't need any further snacks along the way.  Just up the road we came across a huge Kewpie Doll and discovered that 'Pansy' was one of the giant Kewpie Dolls that featured in the closing ceremony at the Sydney Olympics.  She was very cute!

Our second and last stop was at a little place called Nelligan on the Clyde River.  A very scenic little spot where we found 'the bushranger tree'.  This is just a stump now but it was here that they chained the bushrangers as they waited for the wagons to come and get them to transport them to the lockup.

Mandy and Peter have a wonderful house in Dalmeny about 5 kms past Narooma and situated on a headland they have amazing views of the sea from both the front and back.   We arrived around 5pm on Thursday afternoon and had a great night catching up on each others news before falling into bed for a much needed sleep.  It had been a big day.

After a leisurely start to the morning we piled into the car and Mandy and Peter took us sightseeing around Narooma.  We went round to the lookout where we had great views over the 'bar' and then came back round to ground level where we found the rock formation 'Australia Rock'.

We then drove into the hills to a lovely little village called Tilba where we wandered along the main street checking out all the quirky little shops.  Finishing at the Cheese store we tasted and purchased some wonderful cheeses before heading back to Narooma to meet some friends for lunch at the Quarterdeck for the most amazing Grilled Seafood Salad.  We finished our long lunch with a bag of fish food and walked out on the jetty to feed the fish who seem to wait just for this each day.

A quick drink in one of the clubs looking at another amazing view before we drove home and spent what was left of the afternoon with the birds then the evening with a bottle of red and another great meal cooked by Peter. I could get used to this lifestyle guys.  We were all ready for an early night after our day of sightseeing.

We had an earlier start the next morning as we were off to Moruya to check out the market there and have a slice of their famous pizza for breakfast.  Wow, the pizza was amazing and the queue waiting for it to be cooked just kept growing.  At $5 for a huge slice it was a bargain.  And it was a really fabulous market as well right on the banks of the Moruya River.  Great fun watching the Dragon Boat crews training on the morning we were there.

After we had seen all there was to see we drove on to Batemans Bay where we had a look at the shops followed by a very light lunch at the Soldiers Club overlooking the Clyde River.  Another beautiful view and one I could never get sick of.  We continued our tour of Batemans Bay before driving home along the coast road.

Our last detour was to follow the road into Tuross Head.  This quiet seaside village is on a headland that juts out into the Tasman Sea with Coila Lake to the north and Tuross Lake and Tuross River to the south making the headland virtually surrounded by water and joined to the mainland by a thin sandbar. It was a very windy day and starting to get quite cold but that didn't stop the holiday makers from checking out the surf.  I was quite happy staying warm and dry.

We drove home via the supermarket to pick up some ingredients for an entree I was going to make.  I had found the recipe on the plane and decided that I would try it out.  Asparagus and Crushed Peas on Toast with Goat's Cheese and Mint.  It was delicious and so easy to make it will will surely become another of my fave dishes to cook.

Once home Bill left us for an hour or so as he prowled the coastline with his camera and we all just settled in for a couple hours to relax and chat some more.

So with my entree, followed by Peter's bar-b-que and Asian Crispy Noodle salad, we had another great night around the table sharing stories, drinks and lots of laughs.

Sunday morning came around all too soon and after breakfast it was time to pack our bags again and drive back to Canberra for our flight home.  We said goodbye to Mandy and Peter and a huge thank you for a wonderful weekend.  We had the most amazing time and love your little corner of Australia.  We will certainly look forward to seeing you both again sometime soon.

We stopped for a coffee at Mogo, a quick rest stop at Nelligan and then drove on over the ranges to Bungendore where we had lunch.  No more iced coffee this time, we had learnt our lesson.

We arrived home safe and sound that evening, two weary travellers after our big day, with lots of great memories of another wonderful adventure in this amazing country we live in.  Thanks once again to Mandy and Peter for sharing your home with us for a fabulous weekend.

And before we knew it the alarm was going off and we had to get up and go to work on Monday morning.  Only 5 days to go before it's Saturday again.  What can we do then?

until next time...........