A week of bliss

The past week has been SO relaxing. Caroline and I rode along with Caroline's friend and coworker, Louise, to her holiday beach house in Tathra, New South Wales. It was a long drive, about 600 km to the north eastern coast. But we had plenty of rest stops, which I blogged through Track My Tour.

The house was AMAZING. Louise owns a four bedroom/two bathroom, two story house at the top of a hill and at the end of the street. The west side of the house faces a tree line, where a family of kangaroos live and sometimes come out into her front yard to graze. The air is alive with the sound of bellbirds, kookaburras, rainbow lorikeets, Willy Wagtails, and ravens. Beneath all the birdsong is is the soothing sound of the waves crashing 500 meters away.



Tathra is a small town, with views so incredible is serves well as a touristy, get-away vacation spot. Even so (probably because it is now the start of autumn) we never saw more than 50 people at any given time. The locals are mostly retired and the town is quiet, clean and peaceful. Major features include an historical wharf, a pub, and a collection of independent shops and cafes.



The week was spent doing very little, as planned. Caroline and I rose before the sun each morning and wandered down to the beach, where we did yoga and took pictures as the sun rose. We bought groceries from the local Friendly Grocer and made much of our own meals. We visited the op shop and bought a bag of clothes for $5 including some nice tops, some shorts, and some swimming gear. We went with Louise to the pub Monday evening and shared a plate of chips (fries). We talked about the future. We wrote.

A lot.



The Tathra Beach Cafe was AMAZING. Greg was so hospitable and let us camp out at the corner table all day, sucking up electricity. But we paid our rent... all the food was SO GOOD! Caroline developed an addiction for Jasmine tea and I could quite happily live on Chai Lattes. We split an order of the most addictive seasoned wedges covered in sweet chili sauce and sour cream, and for dessert, a CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CAKE. Every single thing we tried was beyond perfect. We enjoyed it so much that two days later, we did it all over again.

We also went to see the Bega cheese factory, in the town of Bega. Though the factory was no longer giving tours, they did still offer free samples out of their cafe and had a 'history of Bega cheese' museum. It was a pretty hopping place, and one of the things on the 'must-see' list in that part of the country.



The boogie boarding did not pan out as well as planned. The afternoon we'd mustered up enough courage to try, the wind was strong and the waves were intimidating. Louise drove us to a peaceful little inlet, where Caroline and I paddled around in what was really a large puddle about 8 inches deep. We had to get the technique down, you know. ;)



It was fun, but really not hot enough to warrant a second go. I much preferred laying on the land, soaking up the sun.



We helped Louise do some weeding, which is something I happen to enjoy so it really wasn't work. Plus she was nice enough to let us stay with her, after all.

Getting away from the internet is great, but it also means a lot of catching up. Because we actually did so little, I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

PS--My tan just keeps getting darker!!