A new era...

Now that Erin has finished school I find myself in a new and unsettling position, one that I am quickly adjusting to,
After 22 years of figuring school times and events into my lifestyle our focus has shifted. No more school fees is also a lovely reprieve. It has taken some time to change my thinking and even the mood in the house has altered.
Instead of our annual trip to Port Fairy we headed to Echuca for a getaway. While it was nice it wasn't the same. I missed the beach and our regular beach walking, rock scrambling, swimming and relaxed week. As the day approached that we would normally have departed I found myself irritable and in mourning for the trip. I had let the site go last year, not renewing our booking. Chris finally took me away and Echuca/Moama was able to be booked at short notice and not too far away.

the little unit, nice air con but a bit like staying at Nana's

we ventured over the border into NSW

We had a nice time but it showed to us both, and me in particular, that we are beach people and not river people. Plus it was really hot and busy. I was determined to have a run recorded on my Garmin so I headed out from our cabin, while Chris did the dishes from breakfast, and managed a paltry 3k before it became too much (even at 10am). I then jumped in the pool among a lot of children and cooled off.

pit stop at Elmore

we were amazed at the size and number of houseboats and mused over whether we would ever have a holiday in one

'Riverview' is a misnomer, there was no river view and to Chris' enormous frustration no internet access 

We did the touristy thing and visited the Holden museum.

When we pulled into the driveway at home Chris turned to me and said he would rather go to Port Fairy than back to Echuca! It was nice but it wasn't the beach.

I have to remember the things I don't like about camping at Port Fairy like being too hot without air con or too cold huddled in a blanket waiting for fireworks or watching the tent blow sideways worrying if it would stand up in the wind or the tent leaking in the rain. Ideally booking a  house close to the beach will solve those issues.

But we headed back to work feeling like we had had a holiday and as much as we have no school children to plan around Chris' holidays will still be dictated by term breaks where there are drivers available to fill the routes.

 And my next planned break needs to be in the mid year school holidays...more about that later.