Just Another Day in Paradise...

We went down to Lismore to watch Regina play netball this morning - her team didn't win, but I enjoyed watching and learning about a new sport.  It's kind of like basketball; I have been told that it's the game that women used to play in the US as basketball.  It's just different from the basketball I know.  

After the game, we drove over to see where the boys (Angus and Drew) race their go-karts, then up to where all three children go to school.  Their campus is lovely!

When we got back to the house, we relaxed briefly and Alex took a ride with Angus on the riding lawn mower before getting into her swimsuit and taking (or attempting to take) a dip in the pool.  Once she realized how cold the water was, it wasn't too hard to convince her to get out of the water and go to the beach with us at Byron Bay.

Yesterday, as we drove back from Coff's Harbour, we must have passed a million kangaroos.  Okay, maybe not a million, but there were a lot.  It seemed as though every field we passed was filled with them.  Yet for all the 'roos we saw, I couldn't manage to get a photo of any.  That whole moving vehicle thing made photography difficult, to say the least.  I consoled myself with the idea that we'll be going to Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's place) next week and will get good photo opportunities there.  

Today, on the way to Byron Bay, I had my camera out and at the ready.  Kangaroo warning signs, next 10 km, abounded.  Kangaroos, however, did not.  

We stayed at the beach until the sun went down.  Alex played in the water; I collected shells.  We all went for a walk up to the rocks and then we drove up to the lighthouse.  

Things we couldn't get over this afternoon:

1)  how soft the sand is at the beach.  and when you walk in the dry sand, it squeaks.  

2)  the gorgeous black sand just under the white top sand.  I'm kicking myself now that I didn't get a picture of the beautiful contrast in a simple smiley face drawn in the sand.

3)  the moon didn't rise until almost an hour after the sunset.  When it did, it was a huge fireball.  The moon, not the sun.

4)  Alex fell asleep in the car on the drive back to the house.  Unusual.

5)  Alex had a huge meltdown later on (around 8:30 or so) and had to be carried in to bed.

6)  why anyone would have settled in the midwest when there was a place on earth like Byron Bay at sunset.