To get to turtle beach!

Another day that really stretches the boundaries of human perception and endurance.

The morning started in the usual fashion with Ethan picking Caramel waffles for breakfast. Eating one bite, deciding that he didn’t like the chocolate, and asking Mum for her pancakes.

Both Kids wanted to buy ‘souvenirs’ from the Clog Barn that had nothing to do with the Dutch or Coffs Harbour.

We walked through the little model village, Ethan liked the train and windmills and how they generate electricity. I’m looking forward to the next Godzilla movie being based in Holland, I think there is real potential there.

Our best-laid plans of a simple trip to a Chocolate factory were undone when Apple maps took us to a random house in the middle of nowhere. And as usual, we had no internet reception, so calling the factory and asking for directions sent us all the way back to where we started. We had plenty of time so it was an opportunity to discuss the flooding in Victoria, which detoured into a discussion about 000 emergency services, people trying to kidnap you, then finally kicking people in the privates. At this point, Ethan is still having a serious discussion about his kicking technique, while Mum and Dad are trying not to break out in full-blown hysterics.

We finally arrived and got to watch a batch of honeycomb being made, and see some freshly coated licorice, Kelsie and Ethan loved tasting the dipped marshmallows and other samples, we won’t tell them it was carob chocolate. Still, they wanted to buy the snakes and gummy worms that weren’t actually made on-site.

It was soon time to kick on. This was fraught with the usual challenges. Ipads running out of battery and needing to charge. There just aren’t enough quick charge ports in the Rav. Snack time Ethan polished off a whole packet of BBQ rice crackers. Another tropical downpour reduced visibility on the freeway to about 20 meters. For about 60km we had a convoy of the Rav, a Harley towing a trailer, and a ‘groovy’ Datsun.

We only had 3 hours of driving to get through and with the time difference, we actually arrived at Mermaid beach ahead of check-in. A quick stop for groceries to last us the stay and we finally got to unpack the Rav fully. Kelsie and Ethan finally have their own room.

Drink of Choice

Mum: Fruit Tingle

Dad: Tipsy Turtle