Give me a home among the gumtrees

Well, I just got back from a weekend away at Pacific Palms. We did lots of really cool stuff. I got to see some animals in the wild too! Kangaroos, wallabies, dolphins, kookaburras..and many other cool birds!Here is the link of the place we stayed.
http://terms.pacificpalmsholidays.com.au/game/realestate.nsf/BlueysBeach/BLUEYS_SANCTUARY
There were 7 of us all together. Kristin and Steve, Rupert and Jess, and then Jo, Matty and I. It was a beautiful place with a green scenery in the backyard with kangaroos and wallabies playing around in the grass. From our balcony we could see the ocean. On the first day there we saw dolphins playing in the waves. We saw them again on the last day but it was nothing like the first day. There was a huge pod of them jumping around and playing. It was sweet.
We were pretty lucky, the weekend was supposed to be full of rain but we had sunshine and nice warm days. We went to Seals Rocks first thing in the morning on Friday. It was packed with Surfers. The water was nice and warm although I didn't get the chance to go for a swim. Later on that night, after driving around for hours to find the perfect spot, the boys went fishing while the girls just hung out. Steve managed to catch a flathead which we ended up cooking and eating for supper. Delicious! After supper, Jo went under the sink to get something and came out to ask the boys to help her with a spider. She seemed very calm about it so I didn't think much about it. All of a sudden, Steve came out with a HUGE SPIDER on a cutting board (Stephanie, you are lucky you didn't see this) Jess and I freaked out! I ran to the other end of the balcony. I realized that I probably wanted a picture of this to show everyone back home so I started to run to get my camera. That plan did not work as the spider felt off the board and onto the ground right in front of me. I ran in the opposite direction of my camera. This was like the size of a tarantula or something. Huge body, thick legs and HAIRY! Steve, who has lived with this kind of stuff for years, said that that was the biggest spider of that kind he has ever seen! Yikes!
At around 1:30 or so that evening (or early morning) the boys and I went fishing with the flathead's head as bait. It was kind of neat fishing from the beach in the dark. The moon was bright enough that we could see everything. Unfortuately, Rupert snagged the line into the rocks and that was the end of our fishing for that night.
On Saturday we did a few little hiking trails. The trees and forests are so beautiful around here. Pictures cannot do justice. We went in an area called Booti Booti National Park...hehehe. The boys and Jess went to fish at Elizabeth Beach while Jo, Kristin and I walked up a trail to Shelly Beach (the beach that was known as a Nudist Beach...ek!) It was a beautiful beach. Not very busy like I had thought it would be. There was a little colony of nudists off to one side and the rest of the beach had children and families running around. Kristin, Jo and I decided to Rock Scramble (from pictures you may see there are always lots of rocks at the end of beaches. We climbed along those) across to Elizabeth Beach. We got about half way and reached a cliff that made the rest of the trip impossible. We then met up with the boys and Jess and headed back for a relaxed evening at the house.
Sunday, I was woken up to two little "easter bunnies" hoping into my room with a plastic bag telling me to get ready for the easter egg hunt. Jo and Kristin had hid a whole bunch of eggs outside and we all had to go find them. It was actually really fun and there was TONS of chocolate. I do have a bit of a tummy ache now. We spent the rest of the afternoon at a Market and the beach. Steve dusted off his surfboard and surfed like a pro, until his fin hit his ankle. He stayed in for a bit but thought it may not be a good idea to be out there like shark bait. He was bleeding pretty bad. I had to sit in the van and wait until everyone was done bandaging him up. Puke. I did manage to get a picture of it while the blood was cleaned up, before it started gushing again. The boys ended the night with fishing again. We watched them for awhile. Dolphins would come up to them every once and a while. It was so neat. Steve caught another flathead which made for another delicious part to our supper again.
Today was a day of lots of rain and busy traffic. We decided to take the scenic route back to Sydney. We went off the highway and drove through Myall Lakes National Park (remember Stephanie?! I will explain it in another post as this one is long enough.) It was beautiful!!! Still didn't see any koalas even though we were constantly on the lookout. Back on the highway traffic was pretty busy. It took us a lot longer than it normally should to get back. But we did. And now I am back in my lovely home.

I hope I have remembered most of it. It was so great to get to go on a camping trip with some Australians!!!! We had lots of fun and I was very appreciative of it all!

that is all for now,

holly