We arrived at my cousin Marianne (and family)'s home just outside of Lismore Tuesday afternoon. It was a good ride down - we had meat pies and sausage rolls in the car (YUM!) and took a little stop in Surfer's Paradise to find the Hard Rock Cafe (we did!) and briefly visit the ocean. Alex dipped her feet in the water and then we were off again!
Their home is beautiful - an amazing view down to the valley below out of their kitchen and living room windows... and lorikeets that come down to feed outside the kitchen door in the afternoon.
Alexandra and Regina hit it off right away - Regina is twice Alex's age, but the 14 and 7 year olds play wonderfully together. After all, Alex does say constantly that she wants to be a teenager.
I think it took her a little bit longer to warm up to Angus. The fact that he was working the first couple of days we were here may have contributed to that. Actually, I'm fairly certain that his absence was really what made him seem more distant. He's been with us yesterday and today, however, and Alex is really enjoying beating up on him. Regina is teaching her well.
So, what have we done?? Wednesday morning brought us to see "Meet Dave" (thanks Regina for that recommendation) - Regina, Alexandra, myself, my Aunt Dianne, and my dad (oh, and Regina's friends). My aunt loved it. I'll allow it the place of best Eddie Murphy movie I've seen in a while. It was better than I feared it would be.
Afterwards, Aunt Dianne, Dad, Alex, and I went into downtown Lismore, visited Heritage Park (a park with a pretty good playground and a train ride!) and wandered up and down the main street in town. We had quite a day attached to what we thought was just an early trip to the movies.
Thursday brought us back to Heritage Park for the NAIDOC festival (National Aboriginal Islander Day Observance Committee) which was lots of fun. We all got our faces painted (well, Angus didn't, but he walked around with us for a while, so we'll give him that!); I got a platypus; Alex, a kangaroo; my dad, a boomerang; my aunt, a fish; Regina, a yin yang.
It was fun!
We got back to the house and decided to visit the beach ... so off we went to Ballina, my dad, Alex, Regina, and myself, and visited the beach and collected some shells. It was lovely.
Happily, we got back to the house in time to go to the movies once again and see "Mama Mia."
Haven't seen it? GO NOW!
The plan for today was to visit the Big Banana. It's made appearances on the Disney Channel and was the top thing that Alex wanted to visit while in Australia. fyi - the Big Banana is a lot smaller in person than it seems on the television. We had assumed it was a building unto itself. It's not; it's 11 meters long and 2 meters high. Really, it's just a tunnel to walk through with some photos depicting banana growth inside it. We took photos, ate frozen bananas, visited the gift shop and the candy factory, and lamented the over three hour drive it took to see the Big Banana.
Yesterday, on the way to the beach at Ballina, we stopped briefly at the Big Prawn. It wasn't as exciting as what we assumed the Big Banana would be, but it was the size of a building.
The Big Prawn was more impressive.
So, today, after the visit to the Big Banana, we drove into Coff's Harbour and down to the beach - it was gorgeous! We played in the ocean; I found some seashells. Fish and chips for lunch and then a little bit of walking around before we got back into the car and off we went, back to the house.
I'm now curled up in my pajamas and exhausted in the living room... I'll post photos later; dinner's served!
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