Hiya! it’s Me and Mister C…

Well hello… We are nearly at the end of the last week of the school hols. I think the girls and Mister C have had a relaxing break; they may have spent too much time in their pyjamas and playing computer games (Widy has been working hard at Maccas though!). It’s now time to go back to school! (Yay! I hear you say, and the kids too?); Monday (tomorrow) is the day, don’t forget there’s no pupil free day this time! I want to send a BIG shout out to all the Mums and Dads (not forgetting Grandparents too) everywhere; who have gone above and beyond, caring and entertaining their children over these past two weeks (we know it’s our job). But we say THANK-YOU for all your effort, patience, time and lack of space (and peace)…

We managed to arrange a short little getaway (not near any Covid hotspots- I can assure you!) to our favourite part of the world ‘Mollybook’ (Burrill Lake) with the girls and Mister C. We were so looking forward to it; but were nervous about going somewhere, other than around our pretty town. It’s been a LONG time since we have travelled anywhere (apart from a quick day trip to Sydney recently); not since our fateful coast trip, in December last year, when the terrible bush fires ravaged the areas around us (so awful). I was trying to feel optimistic about our little trip (goodness knows we all deserved it- like everyone at present). Husband did put more of a shadow of doubt in my mind, when he came back upstairs after booking the bungalow and said, “The tree-top villas we like to stay in, are all booked out! We have to stay in the smaller bungalow instead this time.” Husband smiled and said, “We did, however, get a credit from the last time we stayed, and had to be evacuated out with the fires. So, the booking only cost half as much!”…

I was worried about the bungalow; the kids are older (and bigger) now, they like their own space (Widy definitely does) as so does Husband and I! But I was pleased about the credit we had received (thank-you!); and were grateful for any place and time away (have rarely ever complained), so we hoped for the best. The girls were old enough to sleep on the top bunks in their tiny room; Mister C had to sleep on the bottom bunk, he nodded and seemed okay, after discussing their sleeping arrangements. I was apprehensive about the weather (amongst other things), after Husband commented days before we left; the temperature was going to drop the day we arrived, then days following with rain and strong winds! (could we ever get it right?).

As ‘a comedy of errors’ (think that’s how the saying goes?) here are some of the things that went amiss on our little trip away… I guess we can laugh about it now; but not so much when we were going through it! …

Days before we left to go on our trip, my car was making a ‘funny noise’; it wasn’t running well. We usually took Husbands car away (was larger to fit us all), so that wasn’t much of an issue; just the cost for the repairs (found out later in the week- over eleven hundred dollars has to be spent in order for it to run properly again)…

The weather on Monday down the coast, prior to us leaving Tuesday morning, was thirty-one degrees. When we arrived at our beautiful (usually) destination, it was a cool and windy seventeen degrees! The weather (sadly) worsened, with many showers and strong winds; we didn’t see much sun until the third morning, after we had packed our car to leave…

We arrived at our destination in good time, around two pm; only to be told we couldn’t check-in, due to our bungalow not being ready. We had no courtesy phone call, to let us know about the issue; Husband was told, “Go do something for half an hour to an hour, and the bungalow should be ready.” So, we got back into our crammed car with the kids groaning; all we wanted to do was settle in (thanks for all your driving Husband) …

We finally got to check-in and unpack; only to find several items broken, nearly falling off the ceiling or just plain dirty (sent shivers up my spine, the thought of another group of people had just vacated; leaving behind their dirty footprints!). Mister C called out from the kids’ bedroom, saying, “Daddy, there’s a bug in our room; come see?” Dad went into the kids’ room and saw a big cockroach lying motionless on the carpet in the middle of the room (yuk!). Within minutes of walking on the (still wet) lino floor in bare feet, the kids looked horrified! Mister C yelled, “Look at my black feet, Mummy!” I shook my head, then looked at the soles of my feet and saw the same dirt. I found a broom and swept the floor; it didn’t make much of a difference, with no cleaning agents available…

We had stopped at the local shop, while we were waiting for our bungalow to be ready; and bought a few grocery items. Later that day, I went to open a bag of popcorn for Mister C to have a snack; Mister C took a handful, put one popped-corn in his mouth and spat it back out saying, “It tastes funny”… I checked the use by date, it read April 2020 (well used by its date- I think!). I later went to open the carton of milk for a coffee (well needed) and poured the milk. The coffee tasted off, I checked the milk and it too was expired by four days! (Will remember to check those expiry dates properly next time) …

Later, the rain had decided to ease slightly; (good) Husband took Flossy and Mister C, down to the big ‘Jumping pillow’ (Husband was still hobbling with his bad left knee to also mention). Within minutes, they all came straight back, Flossy grim-faced, cried; “The ‘Jumping pillow’ is closed, and so is the ‘kids game room’! There’s no-one at the pool, it’s too cold to go in. What are we going to do, now?!” The kids were so looking forward to all the activities the park had to offer (my heart sank) …

“Let’s watch some TV?” Dad said cheerfully. He went to turn the TV on, and the remote wouldn’t work properly (was grimy too). Husband tried the side buttons on the TV set and managed to get it working. The reception was poor… “The Wi-Fi isn’t working at all!” Widy had already informed us, a few minutes prior. “No Netflix! What’s ‘Nickelodeon’?” was Mister C’s response. “I’m not watching no ‘Nickelodeon’ TV!” he cried. Husband tried to find any kids channel, “No ‘Nickelodeon’ either, I’m afraid!”…

I had to laugh; Husband texted me, late the second night while he was at the club. He had gone for a quick flutter by himself; it was still raining heavily, and we had decided not to go to the club for tea. We ended up having a washed-out BBQ (thanks for cooking Husband!), with some nasty ‘plover’ birds swooping all of us! (I like most birds, but these ones were very protective of their ground nests!). Husband couldn’t get the shuttle back (as was not operational due to Covid), and a taxi was more than an hour wait. So, I rang husband back and agreed to pick him up, if he gave me ‘something’ in return for my time.

Widy was awake in the bungalow. I told her, Dad couldn’t get a taxi, and I had to go get him; Flossy and Mister C were asleep in their hard beds. I trudged out to the car, in the pouring rain; I managed to find the code to get out of the park boom gate and find my way back to Ulladulla, to the club to get Husband. Husband climbed into the car and looked very pleased (and a little tipsy) with himself; he cheered, saying, “Guess what! I won on Keno; a cool six hundred dollars! I will give you one hundred dollars for picking me up!” Husband ended up sharing a good portion of his winnings with all of us (good Husband); the next day we went on a spending spree at ‘Rivers’ and the local mall (it did cheer us all up immensely!)…

Eventually, we tried to make the most of our trip away (as we always did). The kids were able to go to the pool twice (in the rain) and the girls and I were able to catch up with our dear friend who lives in Burrill lake (Hiya L.S- thanks for catching up). After going to ‘Funland’ twice (the first time was so jammed with people we had to leave); we went back up past Nowra and stopped at the beautiful ‘Fitzroy Falls’ recreation area. Of course, the café was closed (no coffee for me); but, the walk and views of the waterfalls were breath taking. Poor Husband had to sit a while and rest his bung knee, while we trudged up the next eight hundred meters (in our sandals) to the view platform. The gift shop was open (Yay!) and the kids all chose something little, to take home with them in the car (Mister C found some shiny rock stones he had to have); I think we had thirty minutes of semi-bright sunshine, but no rain at least before we made it back to our happy home…

Having written all of this; I did speak to the manager of the park (thank-you!), who did apologise for the state of the bungalow; taking pity on us (very unlike the usual cleanliness of the park). We are a loyal family to the park, who have been going down for over ten years together. Husband’s Dad was in the Navy; his family also went to the park regularly, throughout Husband’s childhood. We will (hopefully) make it up to the kids next time; booking the right bungalow for early in the New Year (2021-wow!) with a discounted rate (thanks heaps- will try one more time?) …

A Word from Mister C…

Mister C was in his most comfortable pyjamas, lying on the lounge, watching TV before dinner. Mister C was moving around (more than usual), looking very uncomfortable. “What’s up, my son?” I said, looking at Mister C… “Oh, my undies are too tight. I think I’m too big, or they are too small!” … “Not sure, my son; maybe you are growing? Have a look at where the tag is, then you’ll know.” … Mister C secretly opened his pyjama shorts to look at his undies. “Oh, whoops; I CAN see the tag, Mummy,” Mister C said, giggling. “They must be on the wrong way. No wonder, I was not right all day!” Both laughed, Mister C ran off to rearrange his clothes…

Stay tuned…

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