Well, we're jet lagged, but we're happy to have arrived and settled in to a campsite for two nights near Soldier's Beach, Norah Head.
The kids are the "caravan" with Shannon. I'm sitting in the little kids' section in the Toukley public library. It's raining cats and dogs outside the window and has been since we arrived. Rained about as hard as I've had the pleasure to see or hear last night. It's nice and warm, though. I've been walking around in shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals, despite the rain. It reminds me of late summer back East.
We got here safe and sound, but had a very stressful drive in the rain through central Sydney in a huge camper and with very little sleep in our systems. We got lost twice, cursed a bit, calmed down, and figured it out alright.. The good news is that we ended up accidentally going right through central Sydney and over the Harbour Bridge. What an incredible view of Sydney, including the opera house and the bay. BTW, cup of coffee and a bun was on special at the little cafe near the rental depot. The price? Only $8.90 AUD. What a bargain. Better news were the prices in the Coles department store in Toukley. Most things cost the same or less than in Los Angeles. A few exceptions include lunch meat (sold in tiny packages for about $12 a lb.), nuts (about the same as Aussie lunch meat per lb.), and coffee (sold primarily as freeze-dried in the groceries).
The kids we're great on the plane, no crying at all, but neither Shannon nor I slept for more than an hour at a time. We fell asleep to the pounding of rain on the camper roof last night at 7:30 pm. The kids fell asleep as we were making dinner and didn't even get to eat. We'll nap today and try to stay up later tonight. Personally, I woke at 12:20 am, 2:30 am, and 4:30 am today.
Still, things are good and we're off tomorrow to Seal Rocks, one of the prettiest beaches on the coast. It may rain a bit more, but it's expected to largely clear up by Friday.
I think we'll have Internet there, so I'll send some photos of the family, the camper, and the beach soon.
Off now to buy a knife, dish soap, and kettle - all of which were mistakenly not included in our camper. On the other hand, we got lucky and the woman at the Britz rental counter loves kids. She upgraded us to a better equipped and newer camper which will make our trip much more comfortable. Of course, she must also have noticed that our total bill came to over $4200 dollars for 21 nights! She took pity on us and I don't mind a bit. The upgrade is worth about $850 AUD over the 21 days so that's quite a deal. Moreover, the camper wasn't quite ready to go so we ended up waiting an extra 2 1/2 hours. As a result, Byron, the attendant from, of all places, Venice Beach, California, included a GPS rental for free. That saves us another $100.
Good on ya, Byron! You're a good bloke,
Love,
Michael
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