On the road again

Goin' places that I've never been.
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again.
On the road again -
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends.
Insisting that the world keep turning our way


Thanks Willie! I really love that song

Christmas for our family usually means taking a week or so of pure R&R and heading to sunny Florida to be with family. We all really look forward to this time. We eat, drink, play in the pool, walk the beach, and basically unwind from the rigors of the year. This year with Mike having 4 days of vacation a trip to the States was not in the cards. So in attempt to make the best of a not ideal situation we planned a Griswold style vacation. We loaded up the family truckster(we did not spring for a new station wagon with fancy wood panels, the CX-9 would have to do) and we headed out to see this wild and wacky country of OZ.

 We left right after the baby prom and made our merry way to Port Macquarie. All of Mike’s work mates said it was wonderful. It was. But we had to discover that as it was not apparent on first glance. The drive into town was awful. It looks like you are on your way to a great family vacation in Palatka. And then suddenly there it is the most beautiful beaches. It was so incredibly beautiful pristine and so incredibly unpopulated. We spent two nights in PM. Highlights were a trip to the Big W to buy raincoats-we will expand on rain rain rain later. At the Big W I could have been at any smalltown USA Wal Mart, it felt exactly the same, complete with the local flavor of colorful characters, local fashion statements and local locals. Real highlights were The Koala Sanctuary, where we excelled at roo feeding, some of us excelled some of us dumped food on the roo or in front of the roo. Kangaroos are so soft, they have some of the softest fur I have ever petted or as they say “patted.” I took a coastal walk enjoyed alone while the boys were napping, the family went to a delicious dinner at the Stunned Mullett per the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2011, despite being muy gourmet they had high chairs and $18 hand breaded chicken tenders! After dinner we had a wonderful night walking around the rockwall and off to bed. 

MORE PICS TO COME. 

We busted out of P.M at 8:00 am. We were able to achieve this amazing departure time thanks to Colin and his incredible internal clock that has set itself to 6:10 am. If you hated me because my kids slept from 7:30-7:30 you can stop, cuz that ship has sailed. From PM we drove the Pacific Highway to Bellingen. Bellingen is a small town that has many of its buildings on the World Heritage list, it also could be any Colorado mountain town, not Vail or Aspen more Telluride Crested Butte or a tiny tiny Boulder. Long haired freaky people please apply read the sign. It was a cute town and not too far off the beaten path so I would say it was worth it. We got a great cappucinno and snacks at Vintage Espresso, an almost too cool espresso and antiques shop. I say almost because it wasn’t too cool, it was actually cool. There were a group of the greasiest haired counter culture ish people enjoying a Christmas Eve day cap together, which makes me wonder what is so counter culture about not washing your hair or conversely is it all that conformist to have a clean head? Am I a slave to the man and machine because I love a good loofah? I LOVE TO SHOWER. I could do it multiple times a day! Sometimes it is my relaxation “activity” during the boys nap. If “fighting the power” means I can’t shower then count me out of the revolution, man. 

After Bellingen it was off to our next stop Byron Bay. A great town, I would love to go back one day, this is like a little Boulder set on a beautiful Bay, of course. BB is complete with wealth and health and patchouli all in one fabulous place. We tried to eat lunch at another Sydney Morning Hearld Good Food Guide rec but it was closed for lunch so we lucked into some delicious dim sum or yum cha right next store at a teahouse. After Byron it was back on the Pacific Highway, Gold Coast or bust! The drive took most of the day. We had two things going on, one an intense rarely ceasing rainstorm that followed us all day and 2. The Pacific Highway itself. I think this highway would be like US 1 before I-95 kinda in the sense of all the little towns and Mom and Pop joints on the wayside. It is sometimes a freeway, then suddenly that is totally lame so it changes it up and it becomes a two lane road, and then that is so over and it becomes a little road with roundabouts, stop lights and all of the fun things you do not want to see on a long car trip! The cool thing about the drive is we are really getting to see what life is like outside of Sydney and outside of the bigger cities. On the drive the diversity of the topography was astounding. All I have to compare it to are places in the States, and everyone who reads this blog is American so...one minute it looks like N. Florida S Georgia and not in a good way, think notel motels, then in another instant it looks like the drive in the mountains in Colorado in summer, then the next minute you have California craggy rocky mountains, then wide rivers reminiscent of Missippi delta complete with sugar cane factories, then the next few kilomaters could be Hawaii with banana plantations set on the hillside, then we have N. Fl and S Ga in a good way, think lush vegetations and roadside fruit and veggie stands. It must be something in my blood because I can barely pass one of those without the overwhelming desire to load up on a ten pound bag a taters. Now what would I do with it, who knows and what would I do with it at the Marriott the next five days really who knows but I feel such a pull to stop and get that farm fresh goodness. One thing is universal small towns want you to stop and really pull out the marketing geniuses to stops to to try and lure you off your GPS. 

A few favs: 

1. “Don’t you want to see what the Scottish town of MacClean’s is hiding under it’s kilt?” Huge roadside sign complete with giant scary Scottish man tempting you with what is under his windblown kilt. Um no, um hell no, that signs makes me want to do anything but turn towards the Scottish town of MacClean, it actually makes me want to hit triple zero(911) on my phone and have my finger on the call button ready to notify the authorities in seconds.
2. The Macadamia Castle

Good Coffee

Pancakes 

HOT NUTS

Written on the sign exactly as shown above. A few reasons this made me laugh, the coffee is good, they have pancakes, no assurances or claims on taste and they have HOT NUTS! We both laughed out loud when we passed the sign. Yes it is actually a castle, it is guarded by a giant knight, and if it is not a tropical depression I will stop on the way home. The marketing geniuses win this one.

3. Sudden Comfort Inn- Sudden Comfort, is sudden anything good? It all sounds too jarring for me. Oh my gosh I am now so suddenly comfortable. It was shocking. I was so uncomfortable prior to my entering this one story exterior corridor 6 room motel, thank goodness I am now suddenly comfortable, lead Zepplin could have had a follow up to Comfortably Numb. "I have become suddenly comfortable. 

4. Honey Tastings- I love rich sweet food more than the next guy but I don’t know if I could stomach a honey tasting. 

5.The Old Butter Factory- Great Shopping No Butter. Am I the only one dissapointed and disillusioned to hear the old butter factory has NO BUTTER? I was going to hit up the butter tasting right after the honey tasting and maybe throw a 5 pounder of fresh churned in the suitcase!

Port Macquarie Coastal Walk

PMCW

 PMCW

Three Stunned Mullets

The house that time forgot, beachfront, perfectly manicured lawn, looks like nothing has changed since it was lovingly built circa 1950/60? This type of thing always intrigues me.

The rockwall Port Macquarie

Beautiful

Brotherly Love

One of the Gingerbread Houses at the Marriot

I could eat them up in their Big W "kino" raincoats. Kino aka Lightening McQueen

Same details different day

All of this fun and frivolity brings us to our next stop the Surfers Paradise Marriott. A beautiful Marriott. One of the prettiest I have ever seen, and as the offspring of a lifetime platinum member whose number starts with 0000, the number on his card more than likely indicates he was the 234th member, I have seen alot of JWs creations! I checked in proudly as Pete Montaigne. Clearly, I look like a Pete b.c no one asked for id or blinked when Allison Medor's Am Ex paid for Pete's little holiday. Scary huh? I got my upgraded room and my comp’d chardonnay and cheese plate, you know I chose it just to keep up the fascade that I am Pete. I wonder what will happen when I check back in as Allison Medor for my reward stay on Tuesday? The hotel has gorgeous grounds, an awesome resort pool complete with a stocked lagoon and artificial reef that you can snorkel in, its own marina with many toys. It is big open and airy. The bar is beautiful.  It is a very nice American chain hotel. If you have done any international traveling you will know that Americans do hotels well. There are generally no crazy surprises in your room like, oh, I am so sorry Madam we have no a/c and when you open your windows you can not get out of the bed the room is so small, ala Venice or oh your taller than 4’11” then you must lean out of the shower from the waist ala my in laws in France or the ac will only run with your key in the door and we will only give you one key so when you come back to your room your stuff may or may not be melted due to the over 100’F temps. or the dreaded twin beds pushed together as a king that seem to abound internationally. So, I am loving this place! Aussies seem to disdain what I love! Including Surfers Paradise! Surfers Paradise is Ft. Lauderdale ish with high rises abounding, beautiful beaches and legendary weather. EXCEPT when its a tropical cyclone which is happening right now, on our vacation. Tropical Cyclone Tasha and apparently she is bringing one of her mates right behind her.It has rained and rained and rained some more. I actually can not believe there is still rain in the sky. We have eaten most meals at the hotel because of the weather and are actually excited to go to the Bennihana on the third floor!

Some people may say that a vacation with kids is no vacation at all. You know from reading this blog I am crazy about those monkeys so although I crave and lust after a vaca without my kids I will say that a vaca with little ones is the way or pace that a vacation should be. It forces you to slow down. If you come home from your trips feeling like you need a vacation from your vacation(I always did) try it toddler style. You wake up early, but not work early just early enough to get a good start on the day, eat a proper breakfast, no coffee and croissant on the run here, we need real food, fruit, waffles, pancakes, sausage or in Colin’s case 2 chocolate croissants(yes call CPS I am horrible Mom) You play. You eat a proper lunch, digest a bit and then down for a nap. You wake. Have a snack to get the blood sugar back up. Explore the town, maybe another playtime. Have an early dinner, because it is frowned upon to bring little ones to the 9:00 pm seating, walk around digest a bit and then off to bed. You will feel like a million bucks, “99 and three quarters percent guaranteed!” Despite the Cyclone trying to ruin our trip I still feel so relaxed and I owe it all to following the toddler vacation plan.

MORE PICS TO COME FOR THIS POST