The Grand Finale!

After our gorgeous beach getaway, we headed south down the coast to a place called Nambucca Heads, where the Nambucca River meets the ocean. What a beautiful spot! I would love to go back there again, but I'm sure there are many other beautiful communities that we can explore instead.

We had to stop at the big banana and eat frozen chocolate covered bananas.

Jo was super happy about getting his picture taken.

We rented a house for three nights that backed onto the river, and I LOVED it. I kept dreaming of all the diy renovations we could do to it.

I beat the word-game-master at Scrabble!

Our view from the back deck one rainy morning.

All of the rocks along the rock wall had paintings on them done by whoever wanted to make their mark. We thought we should return one day, with paint in hand, to make our mark.

One of my biggest highlights so far was playing in the river and having two dolphins pop up in front of us. Of course, the excitement was mixed with fears of sharks playing in the water as well.

The kids had fun finding tiny crabs in low-tide.

Shelly Beach was a lovely place to play in the waves.

We fished in our backyard, but Rylan was the only one who caught this big guy!

Dad and I had a nice little hike to the beach just down river from us. 

Our drive back was long, but we saw some beautiful places along the way. Again, Kevin does not stop for pictures and dilly-dallying. So I caught a couple from the car. 

We had one more week with my parents in Dubbo. The girls had a fun shopping day downtown.

We had an Aussie themed dinner for my parents. On the menu: Vegemite and regular dampers for an appetizer, roasted veggies and salad, roasted leg of lamb with mint sauce...

...and pavlova for dessert - my new favourite (which we had twice during the week).

After dinner, we watched The Man From Snowy River (a classic Poettcker favourite) and Joey promptly fell asleep. We watched part 2 another night, and I got the pleasure of Joey falling asleep in my lap. (Note Kevin's new style of clothing.)

I love the big eucalyptus trees.

Another highlight with my parents was visiting a cotton gin in Trangie (about an hour drive from Dubbo) and getting an amazing tour and explanation of how cotton is grown, harvested, and processed.

These are cotton modules brought to the gin to be cleaned.

The gin runs for about 14 weeks, from the end of April / beginning of May. They mainly hire backpackers who are on a working holiday. Apparently, the backpackers work 12 hour shifts and make a whopping $30/hr! And, if the backpackers work for the full 14 weeks, they are granted another year-long visa to spend in Australia. A pretty sweet deal, if you ask me! (Just for interest's sake, we were informed that during the number of years they have been hiring backpackers, not one of them has taken a "sickie".)

Here, all the "chaff" is being cleaned out.

Here, the seeds are being separated from the cotton. Apparently, the seeds are quite valuable as well, and used as feed for animals and for growing more cotton.

Bales of pure cotton to be sent to China to be cleaned once more and made into thread and fabric. Check out the guy in the background. This is a classic outfit for anyone working in a trade in Australia - mid-thigh length shorts, work boots, and a fluoro (fluorescent shirt).

We also had a chance to visit the Aboriginal cultural centre in Trangie to learn a bit more about Aboriginal history in Australia (along with the Western Plains Cultural Centre in Dubbo that we visited with my parents). We briefly discussed Canada's horrific history with First Nations people with our guide at the Aboriginal Centre, who stated that she figures every country has its ugly pieces - past and present. I look forward to learning more about this culture that has been in existence for 10's of thousands of years.

We had the pleasure of the kids performing a few fairy tales with twists for us. The innocent ways they play (most of the time) tugs at my heartstrings. Here, Joey is taking our homemade tickets and giving us wristbands to get into the show.

And that brings me to the end of our adventures with my parents. We had a lovely visit, and I am so thankful that they were able to make the trip out to see us.