Despite an early start on Thursday morning, we didn't get off down to the coast before lunch time. I'd been down to Andrew and Leigh's the night before and picked up their tent, as well as a great deal more camping hardware and paraphernalia including a gazebo, a stove, a couple of lamps, mattresses, mozzie lamp, eskys, 10 folding chairs, etc. We'd been given a camping sink and pot storage unit that folds away for Christmas by Leanne and Jim, and this was the first outing for that. What with all this kit, all our own kit and all the boat stuff, there was a fair bit to pack.
We got caught in the holiday traffic that we'd intended to get in front of, and this was compounded by the time difference in NSW, as they're an hour ahead of us. Never-the-less, we got there with enough time to put up the tent in the daylight, which was a laugh cos although I'd seen it up before, I'd not realised at the time that I was going to need to put it up myself... no small task as it is pretty big. It looked reasonable enough to us, although our neighbours, Matt and Andrea and her parents looked amused as we wrestled with it, and I'm not sure that Clive, Andrea's dad was impressed with our less than precise methodology. (He's an ex military, a Colonel in the reserves I believe, so it would have pained him I'm sure). Matt is an old friend of Andrew's, and it was Andrew that had orriginally booked this plot. He and Leigh couldn't make it because they had to go to a wedding, so that's how we got involved.
Camping is a big pastime here, and the kit you can get is all BIG stuff. I mean that there's a lot of things that people
need to have here, and the packing list is big. We loved it, so we'll be getting a bit more stuff ourselves, although we already have a self inflating mattress, a couple of tents of sorts and a blistering stove. We used Andrew's cos ours is still in storage somewhere!
We found the site to be pretty good, and the view from where we were camped was excellent, but even better, we were throwing distance from the boat ramp! The next morning, we woke to rain and foraging Ibis's, but it cleared before we got out of bed, and the day brightened quickly.
After a slow and laconic start, I got the boat in, and we got going with the shoe! Up until now, I'd not been in the shoe myself as the law dictates that the boat has to have a licence holder in it, even if they're not driving. However, it turned out that Matt had a boat licence too, so I was able to try it out. He showed me that there's a bit more to getting the shoe to skitter about than simply turning from side to side as I'd been doing. What you have to do is set up a gentle series of turns because the towed object will try to find the shortest route, and then time a larger turn to
slingshot the shoe to the outside of the wake, and then turn really hard to flick it out further, and straighten up to bring it almost alongside the back of the boat, but 50 feet out from it (or however long the rope is). When you get the rhythm, you can get it so its exhausting for the rider to stay on it! Ha ha!
He was pretty hard to shake off when it was his turn, but even he found it hard to keep it on the water if the edges got stuck on a wave. This is a 'kids toy' so as an adult, you really have to keep your weight on the trailing edge of it to keep it from flipping over at speed!
All the kids had a go, and most of them got tipped out. Mackenzie took a couple of doozies, as did Josh.
At first, we accompanied the kids, and then, since Matilda and Luis seemed to be fearless, we let them go in it by themselves, and cranked it up....with predictable (and requested) results!
This was the first dunking they did together, but not the last. (Those skiers amongst you will spot that they don't have their hands up (the recognised way to improve your chances of being seen by other boats when you're in the drink)... they did do in all subsequent dunkings)
If you zoom into this following pic, you'll see Daile's reaction! You'll also see the assembled Wayne, Bernadette, Carlene, Sandra, and Lillie, who were variously staying the night, or just for the day.
When Lillie and Matt and Andrea's little girl Amelia went out, it was a
relatively slow affair, but they got a few bumps (with Matt at the wheel) and they enjoyed waving at the assembled crowd....
Matilda and Luis, looked on from the rocks as we towed the girls back in at the end of several hours of screaming Mercury engine, battering waves, waft of 2 stroke and about 45 litres of fuel... (and about 40 litres the day before too!) Fantastic.
We watched the stars, the full moon, the dolphins and the kettle boiling....we talked about Molly and how much she'd have loved it there.
But all said and done, a really nice few days off...
:-)
