Sunday

We started off the morning with a brisk walk. Where we are staying is about 15 minutes from the coast, but is also at the head of a river. So Anne and I took a walk to the river's mouth. There's a small bird sanctuary there, because birds migrate from Siberia to here every year. From there, we entered the end of Seven Mile Beach and walked up towards the house. I can't get over all the tropical and exotic birds that are here. It is really amazing. I also can't get over the fact that they call it Seven Mile Beach, not Seven Kilo Beach. Weird. Gorgeous, but confusing.

After sitting and watching the surf for quite a while, we finally made it back home. We ate a late breakfast of farm fresh eggs and sausage. The sausage was "Aussie Style BBQ" and was not very good. But the eggs were so fresh and yellow they practically glowed in the dark. Delicious.

After we ate, we went to Skype with the kids. It was good to touch base with them, and they seemed to be having fun. But not as much fun as we are...

From there, Billie took us over to a little pond where we fed ducks...and eels. That's a first. But it was cool, if a bit creepy to see them.



After a cup of tea/coffee, along with Lammingtons, we went into town to do a bit of shopping. Lammingtons were popular in NZ too, but this was our first one. It's a sponge cake coated in chocolate and rolled in coconut flakes. Not too bad. Not too good, either. It goes well with coffee, but I wouldn't want to buy a whole carton of them. We found a few gifts, and then we bought every Tim Tam we could get. Luckily, they were on sale this week. It was weird to shop in a Woolworth's, but they seem to be popular here.

We got back home, regrouped with a cuppa, (and a Tim Tam Slam), and then drove down the road to the local winery. Their port is quite well respected, and is quite rare. It seems that a couple of years ago there was an accident at Hunter's Valley, the place where they send their red grapes to be bottled. The port caused some sort of chemical combination that caused an explosion, so they don't make it any more. Maybe our bottle will be a collector's item someday.

Celia was making us stew for dinner, so we took a leisurely drive home. Billie showed us Gerroa. He said the whales swim by there each year, but we've missed them by a couple of weeks. Still, the views are spectacular, and Anne found some coral to take home.



We tore ourselves away and headed home for dinner. We had a fantastic beef stew with steamed vegetables. Dessert? Cadbury chocolate pieces and Tim Tams.