It started the Wednesday night. I did all the prep for a beef stroganoff. So the beef, mushrooms, bacon, onion and garlic, frying it all up so the only work on the weekend would be plugging it in, filling up the slow cooker, and letting it go all afternoon.
And by the end of it, on a weeknight, I still managed a clean kitchen!
Friday evening we headed down the coast. I snapped a picture of one our new trams.
Drive down was uneventful. We listened to John Williams the entire way that Stu had downloaded on Spotify. Couldn't enjoy the scenery though cause it was dark most of the way.
We'd booked to stay at an Airbnb in Sussex Inlet. Neat little apartment, quite spacious, and a well equipped little kitchen (stovetop but no oven, washing machine/dryer but no dishwasher). Although previous reviews weren't wrong about rock hard pillows (I brought my own), incorrect wifi password (it was correct in the notification Stu got just before we arrived though), and lack of privacy from a useless curtain on the window above the door, with a view straight from the flat above into our bed (but noone was staying there so not really a big deal). Pretty much just collapsed into bed (after Stu had a shower that was barely a trickle).
In the morning I went to have a shower, only to find no water at all. The taps in the sinks were still running slowly, but even they stopped after a flush or two of the toilet. My first stay at an Airbnb and THIS is my experience?? I smsed the number we had but got no response. But Stu used the app a while later and got a response within a few minutes so that was ok. The cleaner said feral kids think it's funny to turn off the water at the street. (I had asked Stu to go check that earlier but he hadn't gone out to the street). So they turned it on again and it was ok. Although a lot of bubbles all through the pipes made for some interesting noises.
I'd been chatting to Kit about it as well, and they weren't doing much better with their water. They have solar hot water, but it had been rainy, and with so many people in the house they were getting slightly warm at best.
Had some breakfast then went for a wander around Sussex Inlet. Just walked down to the inlet, north along the river, then back through the town. It was only 22C, but with the humidity it felt a lot hotter :(
Then we drove to the hall where the party was being held so I could setup the slow cooker. The hall is quite lovely. Poured everything into the slow cooker and asked Pete to stir it every hour or so.
Went back to see Kit and Pete's new house which is pretty cool. Pete has an EPIC shed, and there's heaps of room for all the animals. Although the dogs didn't like being relegated out the back heh.
We didn't actually see Kit - she was out with Mel.
Headed off again. We went into Huskisson to have some lunch. So much fried goodness. Oh and some salad.
Wandered down to the water to have a look.
Drove down to Hyams Beach to have a look. It was full of people. Yuk.
Then we went for a bit of a drive south, and ended up in Booderee National Park, in the Jervis Bay Territory.
Drove around the loop through Jervis Bay Village, and Stu was like - oo look the Federal Police :)
Stopped at Scottish Rocks and wandered down to the beach, then wandered all the way along to Hole in the Wall, then walked back along the road (because it was cooler out of the sun).
We drove to the end of the road at Murray's Beach, but didn't get out, because it was getting quite late. We were going to be late for the party, so did the long drive back to Sussex Inlet. Had a shower, then back to the hall for the party. The stroganoff was still quite liquid which was a bit disappointing. Probably shouldn't have used all the stock that I did. Or at least added a bunch of corn flour. People did seem to like it though. Would have done better with something to soak up the juices.
So not only is there quite a large hall, but there's a huge open area all around the hall, including a playground for kids. People spread out all over the place, meaning the hall was only sparsely populated heh.
And there were some very friendly horsies.
Party food.
And there was some dancing (see what I mean about the hall looking empty!).
I may have called it a night once Bohemian Rhapsody was played and sung along to :)
Came back to crash.
In the morning we dropped by the hall to pick up the spoon I'd left behind, although we didn't stay to help clean up because Stu was anxious to get home to do some uni work. So just drove home, home by lunch time.
Quite a nice weekend, although I did feel a bit grumbly on Sunday afternoon that the weekend was nearly over and I hadn't had any time at home.
Sylvia Johnson
It did all sound like a lovely weekend. Loved the three cute corellas. Pity you didn't see Murray's Beach, we loved it and had a swim there when we were down there many years ago.