The Holiday Part 2: Highlights in Words (with lots of pictures)

On Friday we drove from Orient Point to Wonboyn Lake, which is a teeny little community not too far from Eden, and is where my sister-in-law/kindred spirit and her husband (my husband’s brother) live. On the way we stopped in Bega and found out that our brief visit just so happened to coincide with the grand opening of the new shopping centre. It was very exciting! Especially popping into the new Woolworths for snacks and supplies - look at this:

How cool is that?! And each shelf was stocked to the brim, it looked great! I had to stop myself from taking photos of every aisle.

So that was a good start to the week.

Wonboyn Lake is a gorgeous spot, and my son saw more animals in his first hour there than he had in his entire life up to that point. He was on his best behaviour for the dog and cat in particular, politely and cheerily greeting them each time he saw them (including when he looked away and then looked back again). During our days there he patted a chicken and learned the difference between wallabies and kangaroos and had a rainbow lorikeet land on his head. We’d met the lorikeet the previous day during a standoff between the boys and a parrot...

The Standoff Part 1 (about 10 minutes have already elapsed)

The Standoff Part 2 (what feels like an hour has now elapsed)

The Standoff Part 3 (seriously, this was going on forever)

Fortunately it ended. And it ended well. The rainbow lorikeet startled us all by flying in from the other direction and rewarding my husband's patience by landing on his outstretched arm. Then it was my turn...

Besides waiting on the local birds, I don't really know how we passed the rest of the time; my memories are already a blur of wildlife and freshly baked bread and quality chats with my sister-in-law and chocolate fudge sauce and the general sense of contentment and wellness that comes from spending time with loved ones and sharing hearty meals. Oh! Something else: My husband caught his first decent-sized fish.

All in all, it was exactly what a break should look like. But all breaks must end, and, despite having loved both parts of our holiday, I was very much looking forward to returning home and enjoying the things I usually take for granted here, such as putting clothes in my wardrobe (or being able to put my clothes in the wardrobe if I want to), peeing with the door open and sleeping in my bed. I’d booked a plane ticket home for my husband and son, because the idea of 6 hours of toddler-free driving/uninterrupted singing-with-gusto time made me giddy with excitement and seemed like the perfect end to a perfect holiday.

I had a blast. (The drive from Canberra to Sydney was mind-numbingly boring, but I forced myself to enjoy it.) The highlight was cruising down the Monaro Highway snacking on Sweet and Salty Popcorn and singing along to Def Leppard: Make love [bom bom]/Like a man [bom bom]/I’m a man/That’s what I am, UH!  

Ah, how I love that album.

And that was our holiday!