Beach Day Thursday 2/21/08

After 7 weeks on the road we have finally set aside a day to do nothing. We are perched near a miles long white sand beach and as we went to bed last night with an almost full moon shining we thought "this is perfect."

The rain, which was almost as noisy as the wind, woke us up at about 4:00AM. It will probably pass through. Then there was an orchestra conductor in the forest who dropped the baton at exactly 5:55 and every bird in southern Australia started screaming at once. Then stopped. Five minutes later started and stopped. Five minutes later started and stopped. And so it went. We gave up and got up so we could better hear the thunder that now accompanied the birds and the rain and the wind.

It all settled down a bit around 10:00 and we decided to chance a walk on the beach even though we could see the pile of clouds just off shore and still hear rumbling. There were no other people on the beach but as Minnesotans we are accustomed to that. If we travel someplace in February to be warm we will participate, even when no local would ever bother to peek out a window. Our walk lasts about 45 minutes which we decide has justified our visit and we give up the beach.
Now that we have been given lemons, we consider this a wonderful opportunity to explore the area and head out in the car. We visit the "Visitor’s Center" at the local national park, look at a couple possible restaurants for tonight, get some stamps, check emails, go to the grocery store and have lunch. Mary has a brunch of poached eggs and salmon, and John has the chili-lime chicken burger. While waiting for our food Mary is walking around and the server brings a pot of breakfast tea. Isn't that nice that she gets tea with her breakfast. A little later the server returns with a look of panic as she realizes that she has delivered the tea to the wrong person who is now sipping it. Oops! We walk around a bit with an ice cream cone and check out the beach area in Huskissen (a plastic bag free city) which is gearing up for a triathlon on the weekend.

If not the beach, then why not at least a nap? We spent the rest of the afternoon reading, dozing and fooling around on the computer, and since we can hear the waves it was almost as nice as a beach day. That is what we would have done there anyway.

We have decided to eat in our cottage and have picked up pints of pasta salad, cole slaw and a grocery store rotisserie chicken which is all chased with a chilled Aussie Chardonnay. This really was a day of rest for us and we are early to bed since we know what will be coming at 5:55.

Today's local headline: Dirty Sexy Money Sydney Morning Herald (sex, real estate bribes and extortion all show up in the Woolongong city council)

Today's local cartoon: A man and a woman sitting at a restaurant table. He: Do you issue building permits? She: Not on the first date!