Robe

After leaving the Grampians (me with my foot having been iced, elevated and wrapped in a bandage, we set off for Robe in the South East of South Australia. I grew up in Naracoorte about an hour and a half from Robe, leaving when I was 12 and moving with the rest of the family to Adelaide.  Mark has memories of holidaying in Robe as a teenager - hate to think what he got up to. And then in 1981 my Dad moved to Robe to be the local GP, and Mum the practice nurse. Then after Dad died, brother David and Ginna moved to Robe to be with Mum and bought a fish and chip shop! Finally we have several friends who have retired or bought beach houses in Robe. There is a lot of connection to this lovely seaside fishing/cray fishing town and the reason we decided that we would scatter Mum's ashes here as we had done with Dad. Only lived there 4 years before Dad sadly died, but in that time made quite an impression on the town, all of who have only lovely things to say about them. And they loved them back- it really was a special time for them too. The first weekend my brothers' David and Stephen,  heir wives Ginna and Sue, and Oliver came down so we could scatter Mum's ashes. We found a beautiful spot -The Outlet with a bridge we could stand on and disperse the ashes on an outgoing tide so they went out out to sea. It really was lovely-low tide with some reef exposed and seagrasses moving as the water moved over them. And a place we can go back to as well as the plaque put up in a niche wall of the cemetery.

We set up Arvi in the caravan park having booked one of the best sites on the cliff overlooking the beach months previously- it was on the excel spreadsheet!! For the first time we put up the annex which gave us more sheltered room outside. With fly screens which are so important in SA- we had forgotten about these pesky insects!! First afternoon lovely and warm so we enjoyed fish and chips and a glass of crisp white wine with our friends on the beach thinking how we would enjoy similar over the next 2 weeks. How wrong were we- a cold change came in that night along with gusty winds which varied from moderate to gale force!! And rain!! The annex flapped and kept us awake at times- friends offered us beds out of these conditions but we soldiered on thinking we had to work out how to deal with a bit of wind. As the van rocked, the flapping increased and then metal brackets scraping we tried extra poles, stakes and other methods to dampen down the noise. One night resorted to sleeping tablets and earplugs!

Despite this we had a wonderful time. Mark managed to use his foil board firstly being towed behind a tinny (small boat) like a skier going over the wake and then the foil rising up over the water. I went as the spotter to yell out instructions about speed etc from Mark's hand movements to Johnny and to let him know when Mark fell off so we could turn around and rescue him- this happened a lot!!  Then he had a chance to try his new found skills with waves at one of the beaches. So he was happy. Meanwhile I hung out with the girls, Jill and Anna having coffee and walks down the street. They took me to their favourite dress shop and viola I was dressed like them!! Just as well as the weather was not conducive to shorts and a T shirt. Anna drove us around to some other local spots and we learned about the "drains, kilometres of drainage channels cut through granite hills to turn the swamps found in this area into useable land. This took years!! Jill cooked us some wonderful meals between ferrying us about the highlights of Robe as well. It has certainly changed since the days I used to visit Mum and Dad.

We then drove to Adelaide and more specifically Aldinga, where we parked Arvi in Sarah and Peter's (Mark's sister and brother in law) driveway. And here we are back at home with less than 24 hours before baby no 2 arrives . Amelia was very happy to see us, flew into Papa's arms and squealed with delight. Nanny got a cuddle too! Just as well she likes us as we have her for the next week while Lucy and Daniel are in luxury in the private hospital. Guess having a newborn somewhat detracts from the morning and afternoon teas, meals brought to you, beds made etc!

Not sure if I will get to Xmas cards this year. Depends how exhausted we are looking after a very busy 2 year old. If not  Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year for 2020!!

Sally and Captain Chaos  xxxx