Wangi Wangi, 121km North of Sydney, on the way to Newcastle, is the home of my great Aunt Alma (my mum's mum's sister) who I've met a few times before and already had fond memories of, and her daughter Audrey and son-in-law Peter, who are now fully-fledged, patriotic-as-they-come Aussies (definitely not poms anymore) who are making it their mission to tour Australia in their huge and very impressive mobile home.
We spent a week in Wangi Wangi; reminiscing (and crying!) over old photo albums with Alma and Audrey; swimming in the sea at Caves Beach; aqua biking on Lake Macquarie, and generally hanging out with the rellies and getting to know them.
Christmas Day was almost as we'd expected it, except that it wasn't sunny. What?! It was too cold to sit on the balcony unfortunately, but we had a lovely cold buffet inside instead, accompanied by lots of great company and Coopers Green beer.
Ben was in his element in the pool room, and I was in my element playing with Scruffy (who I renamed twice, once to 'Sparky' and then to 'Scratchy') - a cute little dog who was adopted by Audrey and Peter when she turned up on their doorstep, and wouldn't leave.Although we were made to feel very welcome, and had a Christmas to remember, it was still difficult being away from home, and a very special part of the day was speaking to our families on Skype. The joint Aussie/ Brit rendition of 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' was a particular highlight of mine.
The worst part of our stay was on the 27th, when I got a 24 hour bug. Damn. The puking started at 10am (following bets on when I'd deliver my first puke (Audrey guessed 3pm, Peter guessed 12.30pm, Alma guessed 3pm, and Ben guessed 10.30am) and continued until 10pm in the evening. I still wasn't right the next day, so we delayed our return to Sydney whilst Audrey and Peter generously looked after me and kept Ben entertained with old movies.
Thanks to Audrey, Peter and Alma for making us feel so welcome in their home at Christmas, and looking after me when I was sick (I still haven't quite recovered BTW).Love
Debs, x
2 comments:
hows the tummy, if it happens again and your still feeling yukky in the stomach bye some ginger from the heath food shop and chew on a few over a couple of days it works wonders. have you got your first aid book yet as the survival guide is good in the jungle or desert not in modern Australia.
Chroooooist cobber, Bens sportin a ruddy woooooifbeater! Galloping gallaaaaaaahs! HNY to you both from Sunny Hamilton! Bobby xx
Post a Comment