June Holiday Part 2

It was great to be greeted by Michael at the airport after a long day/night of travelling, although the temperature change took a bit of getting used to. We picked Pauline up and had a very tasty breakfast in the surf club, overlooking Lighthouse Beach. After having a short reviving nap at Pauline's we headed up to Lismore to look for some warm clothes in the storage shed. On the way we caught up with Sue at her Saturday netball game. One thing led to another and we ended up at the Guests later in the afternoon for a welcome back drink, of which Michael was determined to have only one, so we cold drive back to Ballina. Of course that didn't happen, so after dinner at the local, and a few more drinks , we had a 'sleepover'. The eating and drinking seemed to become a theme for the week really!

Unfortunately this meant a very early start the next morning as we had to go to Byron, via Ballina, to pick Pauline up. The difference between my walking gear in Singapore and Byron was very marked. Despite the chill in the air it was a very pleasant walk up to the lighthouse and on the way back we saw a blue-faced honeyeater.

After lunch we caught up with Chris and Steve in their new abode in Ballina. It will be good to have her closer when I return to Australia. We moved on to dinner at The Shawsy before an early night as Michael had to work on Monday.
I kept up my Monday walking tradition meeting Chris and her friend Carmen for a gentle stroll along North Wall and were lucky enough to see a number of whales passing on their journey north, as well as dolphins and a variety of seabirds. Some of the rocks along the wall were very colourful victims of a ýarn bomber'. Sue came down for lunch and I taught the girls how to play Five Crowns.

heron, royal spoonbill, Australian ibis

Michael worked in Lismore on Tuesday so I went up with him so I had the car for the day. This gave me the opportunity to get a few things done and catch up with some old friends. We continued my birthday celebrating with Don, John and Rebecca at the Hoho, as it would be a bit unPC for them to come along on Saturday night.

Wednesday began as a quiet day with a walk along Shelly Beach which gave me the opportunity to curse my lack of binoculars again.  After lunch I strolled over to Chris and Pam's, another pair who have moved to Ballina since my departure. Michael came by to pick me up on his way home , and inevitably we ended up enjoying pizza with them. 
After receiving lots of birthday messages on Thursday morning Sue, Pam, Pauline and I headed over to The Belle General for a low key birthday lunch. It was a bit like going back in time as this cafe is in the shop that Michael and I owned when we first moved back to the area in 1988. It was also where we lived when Duncan was born. Although the external appearance hasn't changed much the interior is very different. In the afternoon we introduced Pam to Five Crowns before Michael returned from work for a tasty home cooked meal. It was also the first day since my arrival that it hadn't rained for at least part of the day!

Laughing kookaburra and spangled drongo, rainbow lorikeet

Michael worked in Ballina on Friday which meant I was able to have the car for the day, so I headed up to Lismore again. One of the long term cleaners from my old school was finishing up today and Jodie suggested I come along to catch up with everyone. I was a bit unsure at first but finally decided to go along and it was good to see some of the old faces...it would appear that some things never change.
After a leisurely start to Saturday we drove up to Byron to catch up with Duncan and Bianca. Duncan joined us for lunch at the Beach Hotel, where we connected with Helen and her friend Michelle. Then it was time to prepare for another birthday celebration. This one was held at Ballina Manor, which has had a number of uses over the years. It was built by the Methodist Church in 1924/5 for the North Coast Girls College. The school closed in 1930 and the building served as a guesthouse and boarding house before being úglified' in to flats. In 1999 demolition was approved by the council but a new owner elected to restore it and re-opened it as a classy guest house.

 Michael did a great job organising a wonderful birthday, with delicious food and drink and an amazing cake. It was a great pleasure to have so many friends in the one place together. It also gave me the opportunity to wear something other than the orange sweater I appear to have been wearing all week!

Old Friends

Colleagues, old and new

Bianca's mother had invited us to go to 'The Farm" for brunch on Sunday morning, so after the swim we headed out to this new venture.  To quote from their blog:

We're big on sustainable farming and getting back to traditional methods of growing food for the community. We’re 100% spray and chemical free. Our ultimate goal is to Grow, Feed and Educate, and The Farm provides a space for all of these elements to come together with our farm residents, Three Blue Ducks Restaurant & Cafe, The Bread Social, Flowers at The Farm, Milkwood Permaculture courses and Farm Yoga.

The owners have spent an amazing amount to develop this place and, being the new trendy place in Byron there were big crowds. Judging from the car park a large number of them had traveled down from north of the border to test it out. The food was tasty, the presentation very modern and if we had been inclined we could have joined a yoga class after eating. Instead we chose to stroll around the grounds to look at tomorrows lunch!

Lunch was not needed after such a tasty brunch so we took Helen for a walk to show her our local sights stopping in at the Shaws Bay Hotel, where we found some of Michael's swimming buddies listening to the band containing one of their offspring. Then it was a gentle stroll up the hill before a night of pasta and Phase 10.

infamous site of the bicycle crash, the Big Prawn, Osprey.

Monday was the first day of Michael's holidays so we took Helen for a tour up to Lismore and surrounds. As she was keen to see some of the wildlife that New Zealand can't claim to have we were able to show her some koalas climbing around in the trees near the Koala Hospital. Injured/sick koalas are nursed back to health here before being released back in to the wild, usually where they were found but you can usually count on seeing some in the eucalyptus corridor around the centre. After checking out all the places she has heard us talking about we dropped in to Sue's to hand over a pack of Five Crowns...I expect some of them to be able to play it by the time I return!

We finished our Australian visit with a visit to the Ballina RSL club for dinner. It is in a superb location overlooking the river and the food is definitely a step up from the old style 'rissole' menu. Helen and Pauline tried their hardest to get me enthused about the poker machines but really how much fun is there in pushing a button, over and over and over! Tuesday morning required a very early start to catch our flight, from the Gold Coast...which incidentally left an hour and a half late which had rather disruptive consequences for our connecting flight in KL!