Shellharbour Reunion

Waterfront Site at Shellharbour.

From the farm we headed back to Shellharbour. We always enjoy another catch up with Bev & Fred, not to mention the chance of a little fishing, but this time we have another big plan, a reunion with old friends, Wayne & Debbie, and Graeme & Louise. They have booked a cabin at the Caravan Park, to spend the weekend, reminiscing and partying. 
As you can see from the photo, and as I've said many times, this is an amazing location for a caravan park. You are right on the sea shore, just 200 metres from the ocean pool, and a short walk to the cafes and shops of the village.

Our site is crawling distance from the Cowrie Cabin where our friends will be staying. We settle in quickly, after a surprise at check in, when we learned that the caravan park is under new management. The new managers are Darren and Karyn, who also run the Poplar Caravan Park at Camden, another regular haunt of ours, when visiting Cheryl & Chris. They come from Shellharbour and have added a second park to their portfolio, and will share the management with a brother and sister-in-law. The park will be even better, when they apply their polish.

We caught up with Bev & Fred for dinner at their place on the Thursday evening, and from then on we were into planning for the reunion weekend.

With Wayne. Debbie, Louise & Graeme.

I have known Wayne since my first day at school. We were lined up alphabetically, and Anderson and Ayers were seated together. We've been friends through primary school, high school, a host of births deaths and marriages, my divorce and countless fun times. Graeme was Wayne's neighbour and came into my life through school, and ultimately was the man responsible for building our beautiful home at Illawong, which many of you will remember. Debbie and Louise married the guys and they each had three children who are all adults now. Carolyn joined the crew, firstly as my tennis partner, in a team where Wayne & I played together, and then at our wedding where Wayne was best man, and Graeme official photographer.We drifted apart through the '90's and 2000's when they pursued family events, but late last year, I attended a "Boys Reunion" on the Grand Final weekend, and it was as if there had been no separation at all, and the Shellharbour weekend was planned.

The "Piss Ants."

When Graeme & Louise arrived a little late due to car trouble, the party began. We set ourselves up on the huge veranda of their cabin, and we just sat and talked, reminisced, laughed and laughed, took time out for hot and cold nibbles that everyone had pre prepared, and finally had a lovely BBQ'd dinner that Carolyn had worked out, all washed down with plenty of beers and wines. The girls just kept rolling their eyes as they heard stories for the umpteenth time. They are hardened to this frivolity now! The caravan park was quiet, except for us, but no complaints as it seemed as if everyone had sensed that this was a special weekend.

Graeme surprised us when he produced a bag with three T Shirts, all emblazoned with our "Piss Ant" emblem. This was a blast from a forgotten past, when the big group of mates we had gone through school and early manhood with, had become known as the "Piss Ants", probably because were were known to occasionally imbibe! One of the boys, Daff, was a printer, and he had produced the T Shirt for a Boys weekend back in the 70's. Graeme had found out that Daff still had the original screen, so new, larger T Shirts, were printed!

Are we having fun yet??

Graeme landing a big one.

Saturday, three slightly hungover boys walked around to the boat ramp, to meet up with Fred for a days fishing. It was sea sick tablets all around. It was looking highly likely that burly was going to be in plentiful supply!
We quickly trolled around and picked up 4 nice Benito for bait, and headed out in search of fish. We had a successful time, with everyone landing a good fish or two, and the boast to the girls that we would be bringing home the dinner, became a reality. Fred was fantastic, dutifully helping out with tangles and lost gear, and landing the fish. 

The mother of all storms!

It was all going too well! We glanced north to see the mother of all storms brewing on the horizon. The  confident prediction was that it would miss us. WRONG!!!! It hit us with all its stinging force, and we slowly limped back in, soaked to the bone. Graeme was shivering so much that his teeth wouldn't stop chattering. Fred thought the engine was misfiring!! Wayne & I just started shaking in sympathy. Still we got back in one piece, along with boatloads of other drenched fishermen. The one thing that couldn't be taken away was the big bag of fish that would be dinner that night.
While all this was happening, the girls were happily ensconced at a cafe, sipping lattes. The boys found this out, when they got back to the cabin drenched, in search of a hot shower, and found the door locked! More teeth chattering until the door was mercifully opened.

That night we did a re-run of the previous night with heaps of food and drink, culminating in a big fish fry up. It was delicious. Bev & Fred joined us for this night, which was a fantastic, and again pretty late. It was the night that daylight saving ended, so we all got an extra hours sleep. We all wobbled up the street for a late, leisurely breakfast. Graeme and Wayne, of course ordered the weirdest thing on the menu, Bulgarian Pancakes, and once the laughing had subsided when their food arrived, the rest of us enjoyed a delicious breakfast!

Mum visits the new caravan.

Caravan at Wayne & Debbie's.

The weekend was over, but not for long. The reunion continues at Wayne & Debbie's this week. We enjoyed the rest of the week, heading up to Sydney to see my mum on her 89th birthday. She still looks so well. Sister Jenny joined us for a lovely lunch at Brighton. We continued to spend time with Bev and Fred, with the girls off to Bingo and Fred and I got in another day on the water, that ended with a few good fish, but heaps of frustration as the leather jackets kept chewing through our lines! At the end of the week we hooked up and headed to Wayne & Debbie's, as they have kindly allowed us to park and ultimately leave the caravan at their place, while we go on our Hawaiian cruise, with Nancy & Keith.

Workmate Geoff with Partner Mark

Carolyn's ex boss Ian
and his wife Ruth.

Once at Wayne's it was all go. We have heaps to do to get ready for the cruise. Visits to the storage facility to get extra "dress up" clothes, and a busy round of social engagements. Saturday is a another reunion. This time it is Carolyn's turn, with her old boss having arranged a reunion for past employees of PC Henderson, where Carolyn had worked in the 80's and 90's. The event was at the Hunter's Hill Club, and it was a great day catching up with many people we hadn't seen for too many years.

Breakfast at Zimzala Cronulla.

Carolyn with Kerrie.

At Wayne & Debbie's we continued our reunion. Their three children, who are all grown up with successful careers in a variety of fields, all dropped in over the weekend. First Kelly, then Ben and Mel, all took time out to call in and say g'day. We hadn't seen them for more than ten years, so it was wonderful. Sunday morning dawned a beautiful day, so we headed out to Cronulla for breakfast on the beach at Zimzala. It is a bit of a hot spot, right on the beach. It was quite a buzz for us, with the restaurant packed and the beach just outside. It was a delightful breakfast, but sadly for Wayne, no Bulgarian Pancakes!

Our Blow up Champagne
bottle for our 30th Anniversary.

Sunday evening it was off to brother Neil's for an early celebration of our birthdays, as well as my mum's birthday, brother-in-law David's birthday, and a really belated one for nephew-in-law(?) Dan. What a great night it was. Neil and Adrienne had gone to so much trouble, and to top it off, the family had remembered that our 30th Wedding Anniversary would be celebrated whilst we are on our cruise. It was a really special night, catching up with all the family. The only absentee was my sister Jenny and her hubby David, who last week had an operation for his prostate cancer. All went well with the operation, and we wish him a speedy recovery. The really big news at the party though, was the announcement by my niece Tracey, that she and hubby Dan, were expecting their first baby. This is wonderful news, as they have been working through an IVF Program for some time. The new addition will be my sister Jenny's first grandchild, and my mum's first great grandchild, so November will be a big celebration in the family. Congratulations Tracey and Dan.

So there you have it. I'm all caught up to date. Today is Tuesday 16th April, and on Friday we board the Radiance of the Seas to sail out of Sydney Harbour headed for Hawaii via New Zealand and Tahiti. We are going with Nancy & Keith, and will spend the next three nights at their place, getting in the mood. The caravan is all safe and sound at Wayne and Debbie's, though Wayne keeps thanking me for letting him take the van on holidays while we are away! I'm sure that little Mazda won't get the van up the driveway! Will it???

Aloha!!! 

Back on the air when we return from Hawaii mid May.