What an Adventure

Wow what a month....  We had a homeschool camp, a week away as a family, and two weeks official school holidays between terms 3 and 4.
We had such a busy time, I ended up needing a few days to recover. And in truth so did Brid.

I wanted to share with you about our holiday.
We decided as we were so close to the Boarder of NSW & Queensland, that we would take a holiday up that way.
As Dermot works from home, its harder for him to switch off if we have holidays at home, so we try to get away at least once a year.

Coolangatta Beach

So back to our holiday...We left camp...stopped in the village of Lennox Head, had a lovely morning coffee and milkshake, and drove the hour or so to Coolangatta.
We needed to waste a little time as we were unable to check in to our accomodation before 1pm, so we drove through Byron Bay and had the car washed. It was very very dusty.
The Gps got us to our accomodation and we checked in, unpacked and were taken aback by the gorgeous views. We would see Dermot  later that afternoon. Meanwhile, we got used to our surroundings and relaxed. Had a late lunch on the beach and sent txtx back to family.
We got lost getting to the airport- the gps took us on back streets that didn't exist anymore. All I wanted to do was see my Darling.
So finally with Dermot arriving safely on the scheduled flight from our home town, we started our holiday, But not before one young lady got the bug that everyone else got after camp. No fun for her or us getting up most of the night. By the next evening she was beginning to feel better. So We had a fairly chilled out quite day.

Anne & myself

Our first big day was meeting up with another Homeschooling family and a Lady who always inspires me. We had a lovely day at Marian Valley- once we found it. After Mass, it didn't take long to spot Anne. That was a special meeting. It was lunch time so we shared what we had prepared. Anne and Phil and there children walked us around the valley and we looked at each of the statues and the grottos.
The Children explored and made friends. At the end of the day, the children were making a bridge close to where we were picnicing.
The piety shop was worth the visit. There was a talk being presented on Padre Pio, but we were happy to just chat. The day came to a close much to quickly, but we have lovely memories.

just getting to know the Dolphin

Us at Sea World

Sea World was next on the list. I love Sea World and although it was Brid who chose the place we would go, I secretly hoped she would choose Sea World. We asked  for a homeschool discount and we received one. Wow.. great saving. We have been to this park before when our older children were little- Brid was a baby, and it has grown each time. This time we wanted Brid to have an adventure with the Dolphins. It was a great experience, and apart from the DVD and photo we received, in a package,  we have some very cool photos of her with the Dolphins.

At the boarder

Our all day long excursions to these difference parks we explored, were offset by days of just chilling by the surf, on the beach, or a lovely beach walk during the day or at sunset.

What the Zoo is famous for- its crocs

Africa section- Steve Irwin dreamed of this  

We visited the Wildlife warriors intensive care for wounded annimals- attached to the zoo.

We have been to Australia Zoo as well-again when Brid was very young, but as we particularly like it, we drove the 2 hours north, past Brisbane and into the sunshine coast. We knew it was a long drive making it a big day but it was definitely worthwhile.
We have seen Australia Zoo grow from a very small zoo to its size today. Its message has always been conservation, preservation. It was a great learning day. The wildlife warriors hospital was an interesting experience seeing the animals hurt by human misadventure and the extend of the hospital

So after a week, sunning ourselves, long beach walks, theme parks and catching up with friends it was time to travel south. We dropped in to see Erin on our way home. Thanks for lunch Erin.
And then the long drive South. We were rather surprised at the journey only taking 8 and half hours, once we took our stops out.

A little addit, Brid took most of these photos, thanks to her wonderful photography course she took with some other hunter homeschooling teens