Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Day Seventeen of the Selfie Road Trip

We are very bad parents.

Poor Wilbur Herbert has been in the back seat of the car for the entire journey and I think we've taken him out for photos three or four times.

Actually, I'm not even certain that he IS in the back! It's been so long since I've laid eyes on him!

We must attempt to release him for some 'end of road trip' photos.

It's been a long day of driving today. We needed to get over the QLD border so that I could vote!

Each 100km stretch felt like 300km! We travelled from Coffs Harbour to Toowoomba, stopping in Ballandean at a little school where I voted.

The roads we travelled today are very familiar to us, so there was no need to stop except for coffee. We actually wanted a smoothie, but could NOT find a shop anywhere from Tenterfield to Stanthorpe to Warwick to Toowoomba that was open and selling smoothies. Very frustrating.

We weaved our way though some interesting looking weather between Warwick and Toowoomba but managed to only drive through a couple of light sprinkles. Even the storm that brewed above us while we waited for our takeaway restaurant meals, fizzled into a light shower.

I phoned ahead and booked a motel that I found for a great deal. A room with two queen beds in it, usually for $250 night, at the bargain price of $125. No great views and on a busy road (the noise isn't bad), with a restaurant that funnily enough isn't open on a Saturday night (go figure) but luckily had a nice restaurant across the road.

The bed feels divine and it will be an early night for both of us.

Our tummies are full and we've spent the afternoon winding down and chilling.

Tomorrow, we are aiming for Maroochydore. We are thinking of spending our final night in Maroochydore to celebrate the end of another amazing road trip. I can't remember ever laughing as much as we have this time, and over the most ridiculous things. It has been FUN.

It's going to take us a week to wash all of our dirty clothes and sort through everything that we bought and figure out who owns what.

I started out with six pairs of shoes and am returning home with twelve. Four of the new pairs were bought from Op shops and acquired for the bargain prices of $3 and $4. Brand new shoes! Very comfortable too.

We've competed for 'best bargain shopper' status and at this point there is nothing in it. We'll probably end on a tie.

We've worked hard at eating clean healthy food along the way, only straying a couple of times with GF sweets.

We've revisited some spots on the map that have now become tradition and discovered new spots that we never knew existed. Beautiful gems that we will probably revisit in the future.

We've met some strange and interesting people in our travels, almost all of them wanting to share their life story! Some shop owners who were willing to offer some good business advice as well as providing names and phone numbers that will be helpful.

Great experiences and great memories.

Not certain when the next road trip will be, but I'll look forward to it anyway.

Nite all.

Friday, November 24, 2017

Day Sixteen of the Selfie Road Trip

It's late and I'm very tired.

We came over the mountains and stopped at Wallomombi Falls Lookout hoping to capture some looming Wedge Tailed Eagle shots, but unfortunately, the eagle decided to loom on the opposite side of the gorge to where we were. I could see him in the distance, but sadly for me, he never got close enough for me to get a decent shot.

From there we drove to Ebor Falls which was flowing beautifully ...


... then over the mountains to the lovely Dorrigo. We always enjoy that drive and Dorrigo is a lovely little town. We stopped and did some window shopping - well I window shopped, while BGWLBH did some 'actual' shopping.



Bellingen was next and even though we looked forward to stopping there, the store owners have become a bit greedy and the prices have increased somewhat since our last trip. They are taking advantage of the tourist industry I guess, but feeling a bit resentful, I chose NOT to buy the one thing that I wanted, simply because I know what the price was 2 years ago.

We made it to Coffs Harbour by about 3.30pm and I had called ahead and booked a motel room for us so Siri gave us directions and we found it easily. The internet and Siri have been our saviour this trip that's for sure.

Our meal was 'to die for' at the Coffs Exies restaurant tonight. Char grilled lemon grass chicken breast with red wine jus, potato puree and broccolini. The chicken just melted in your mouth. Yum!

It's been another great day and we are worn out.

Time for me to sleep now.

Nite all

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Day Fifteen of the Selfie Road Trip

We have been incredibly lucky with the weather this trip.

I don't know how many times we've watched storms looming on the horizon, in all directions, but our roads seem to take us between the storms or around them.

Today, there were a lot of storms all around us and there were warnings on the BOM website for our area, as well as on the Higgins Storm Chasing Facebook page.

The first storm hit, just as we stopped at Murrurundi for a coffee. There was a little hail in it too, but we got under cover before the hail got us. It was LOUD under the tin roof of the little shop, so we took our time over a coffee and a GF passionfruit cheesecake slice.

The remaining storms formed a wall across the horizon from East to West and we knew that we'd have to drive through them somewhere on our journey. We were so lucky to miss a lot of them, but we caught the edge of one before we reached Tamworth. It wasn't much though.

We drove through about 40 mins of rain between Tamworth and Armidale, but it was rarely heavy and it was giving the ground a good soaking.

We lost some wind turbines today.

After we left Oberon and driving over the mountains, two huge wind turbines appeared in front of us and on the right hand side of the road. They were massive and we were waiting to get closer so that we could take photos with our phones, but we went round a couple of bends and they completely disappeared!

We looked everywhere! But no sign that they were ever there.

We took the back road through the Bylong Valley and roads were dreadful in patches and perfect in other patches. There big patches of multiple potholes but only every second or third patch was poorly repaired with piles of black bitumen/tar. It made for some interesting driving and we wondered how those patches appeared in random stretches of the road.

It was quite a wealthy area and where the United Emirates have their huge horse studs. Everything is oversized and the fencing is top quality, the grass is greener, the stables bigger, the horses all sleek and shiny, the machinery all brand new and the gates into the estates large and ostentatious. There is a LOT of money in that area.

We made up stories about the people who owned each estate...

We had some owned by big Chinese Mining Companies, some by Texas Oil Barons, some by Colombian Gun runners and some by Adani, the Indian Mining Company. We made up stories about who was living there and what they did.

The remaining farmland was dry and brown and unkempt. Some vineyards had died off. Some cattle looked skinny and unhealthy. The ground was dry and dusty. The dams empty. Then suddenly around a bend was the James Estate Winery where everything inside the fences and behind the big gated entrance was lush and green and perfect.

The vines were thick with full green leaves and everything looked incredibly healthy and clean and well maintained. At the end of their property, the land became barren again.

We travelled 556kms today. It was a long day of travel with no reason to stop, except for revive breaks, because we've taken that road so many times before. Tomorrow, we have plans for Wedge Tailed Eagle spotting, so we'll take it easy with the travel and eventually head to the coast.

We arrived in Armidale so late, we decided to grab some take-away for dinner, but as we drove into town, the main streets were blocked off for night markets, so we couldn't get to the cafes and restaurants easily.

We were too tired to park the car and walk the distance to the shops, so we drove to the Servies Club and walked into their bistro wearing the same clothes we'd been driving in all day. No make up. Hair a mess. Comfy travel shoes. Looking exactly like we'd just driven 556kms!

We found ourselves a little corner in the bistro and enjoyed delicious food - Thai Beef Salad and a Honey Glazed Bacon Cutlet with salad.

Our room at the motel feels very comfortable and I think I'm ready for some sleep now as it approaches 11pm.

It's been a long day.
















This spoon and fork clock is in our motel room!

Nite all.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Day Fourteen of the Selfie Road Trip

Here are a heap of photos from the last two days.















We left Sussex Inlet much earlier than our usual departure and were on the road by 9am (usually it's 10 or 11am).

Nowra was busy and bustling and stressful to get through, but we finally made it to the less busy road to take us to Kangaroo Valley.

We found a beautiful lookout near Cambewarra and drove up a very dodgy, windy narrow road to reach an amazing view, most of the photos from that are on my camera, so I'll share them at a later date. Meanwhile there is one selfie that I took with my phone that has the view behind me.

Kangaroo Valley was very disappointing. We love that area ... the mountains, the amazing trees and forest, the old buildings, the hikes, the waterfalls and the views ... but the shopping/tourist part was pretty underwhelming.

Admittedly, it was Wednesday, which is a day when most of the shops are closed, but there were only 3 shops to browse and two of them were closed, the remaining shops were cafes! Half of the cafes were closed too.

Our next stop was Bundanoon, which was lovely and I have fond memories of visiting there with Adoring Husband a few years ago. We even have a few knick knacks on our outside walls from there, but the shop where we purchased them, has since closed down.

We both enjoyed toasted turkey, cranberry and avocado sandwiches for lunch with a coffee and sat outside at the lovely tables on the sidewalk, beside planter boxes full of colourful blooms. It almost felt like Paris!

Because we liked the look of Oberon so much on the way south, we decided to find accommodation there for tonight. Probably a mistake. There were only three motels to choose from.

We chose the best one, but it has no wifi (I remembered tonight that I could use my phone hotspot to do my blog!) and you have to walk a long way from your car to your room, walking up a steep loose gravel driveway, then up a concrete ramp past the reception area to a walkway that takes you past every other room before you reach your own room.

It's also very cold in Oberon!

The RSL Club was nice, but the restaurant has a temporary menu with limited GF options and it took them 40 mins to make nachos and grilled chicken and salad. There were only two other tables of people there, so they couldn't use the 'busy' excuse. The food was very average.

We found a few Op shops and second hand stores today, which were interesting. In these next few photos, you can see some hanging beaded decorations in a shop ... we are going to make some. I have  containers full of beads from when I was making jewellery and today I bought a few inexpensive decorative silver bits and pieces to recreate what you see in the photos.

The crafty person used silver teapots, silver plates and jugs, old lamps and the heart to hang strings of old jewellery and beads. They looked fabulous!







The big teal circle was a 900mm disc of painted resin which was soooooo stunning - the photo just doesn't do it justice - and it cost $500. I took the artist's details so that I could contact her in the future to possibly buy it for the shop. It would look divine on the wall and is very similar to our logo!

Anyway, I'm very tired. Time to sleep.

Nite all.


Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Day Thirteen of the Selfie Road Trip

Thank goodness I needed to pee!

We were headed for Nowra to spend the night, but my bladder made the decision to take a turn towards Sussex Inlet in search of a public toilet!

We liked it so much, we found the perfect accommodation and here we are, feeling so lucky! It's been another amazing day.

I have intermittent reception for internet, so this will be very short and sweet!

We are in a very nice unit at Sussex Inlet tonight, but it seems the town suffers from poor internet coverage!

So I can't share photos.

We took the long way aka the scenic route along the coast today, to avoid the highway and traffic. We also took a lot of side roads that took us to about 6 different beaches, all of them breathtakingly beautiful. It was difficult to drag ourselves away from each and every one of them.

We shopped in Bodalla and found some amazing creations that we are going to attempt to recreate ourselves.

We also spent some quality time in Moruya.

We are exhausted and happy.

Life is good.

Nite all.






Monday, November 20, 2017

Day Twelve of the Selfie Road Trip

Today has been pretty fabulous!

We stayed in Eden last night and this morning decided to walk up the very steep hill to eat breakfast in the healthiest place in town called 'Sprout' where I partook of their green smoothie, coffee and bacon with fresh avocado. It was delicious and their free wifi obviously attracted a lot of people ... some paying customers and some not.

We left Eden at 10am and drove to Merimbula where we needed to find a Westpac bank. Siri gave us some poor directions, so we walked into Sanity and asked the girl who worked there (she was a local)  for directions. She claimed that there was no Westpac Bank!

Quite flustered, we quietly berated Siri and climbed back into the car to drive to the next town. We hadn't gone very far along the street, when we saw the Westpac Bank. It was even in plain view of the  Sanity shop!

So we quietly berated the Sanity girl and found somewhere to park the car while Primrose completed her business.

Meanwhile, I found a shop that had only been open for three months and spent a good 20 minutes chatting with the owner and exchanging information. I wished her the best of luck for the Christmas season as I departed. She was lovely, though right now I can't remember her name.

From Merimbula, we drove to Tathra where Primrose relived some childhood memories ...


Tathra was a lovely little spot with a glorious beach - just stunning in the off-peak season with not a tourist to be seen ... oh except for us of course!

Our next stop was Bermagui, where we stopped for coffee. The coffee was crap, but the view was nice!


We wanted to visit Tilba Tilba because Adoring Husband loves it there and we thought we could make him jealous. We didn't know what to expect and this was the drive there from Bermagui.





Primrose was freaking out about the road with water on either side, as well as the single lane bridge at the end of that road!

The road to Tilba Tilba was surrounded by lush green farmland, giant trees, lovely old houses, blue skies and forest mountains. It was breathtaking and we fell in love with it before we even arrived!







See that bracelet? I tried it on and would have bought it in a heartbeat, had it cost a bit less than the $795 price tag. It had turquoise, amethyst and three other stones. She allowed me to take the photo so that I could show Adoring Husband what I'd like for Christmas ... it costs quite a bit less than a new camera! *insert huge puppy dog eyes here*

TT was very similar to Montville with the main street lined with crafty shops. Woodworking, designer jewellery, clothing, giftware, art, food and so much more. I only got to visit 3 shops because I like to browse slowly, but Primrose must have gone to every shop.

I got myself a beautiful gaspiete pendant from Reva at Tilba which I love! This is what gaspiete looks like, but this is not my pendant ...


We reluctantly left Tilba Tilba because we knew we had to get to Narooma and find some accommodation.

A lady in TT recommended a motel to Primrose, with it's name spelling Narooma backwards - Amooran Motel. I looked online and found that it had a special price on a family room for tonight. Usually $265 for the night at the bargain price of $139!

This is the view from our front porch ...


That is the Golf Club that you can see in the distance and it's where we had dinner, which was divine! I had Potato Bacon & Leek soup and every mouthful was like an explosion of flavour! Primrose had their Thai Beef Salad and then we bought a lemon & lime cheesecake slice to bring home and enjoy with a cup of tea. GF of course.

Here is the view from their dining room...


Narooma is spectacular - especially from the top of the hill. I really love this area and it feels really welcoming and healthy - it makes me feel energised and vibrant! The colours of the area are also very vibrant -the greens of the grass and trees, the blues of the ocean and the sky. The air seems so clear and crisp.

Here we are, about to tick over to midnight. I'm going to snuggle down in my queen sized bed and listen to the sound of waves crashing in the distance.

Nite all.