8th December. South West Rocks was only ever a stop-over so when our alarm clock poked his head around the corner fairly early we packed and were on the road by 9am.

Isaac teaching Charlie to count.

The journey south to Port Stephens was longer than we expected at ~4hrs and we had really torrential rain in parts. Boys were very good in the car and we had our fist aussie meat pies on the way. We reached the Myall lakes national park area on the south side of Port Stephens and then drove about an hour east to Anna Bay. We arrived at our camp site early afternoon and although the villa was slighty shabby it was very large and had 2 sets of bunks so both boys could sleep on the bottom. The weather was still fairly miserable but we went for a swim in the pool anyway. (Great pool with slides and awaterfall and an isalnd). The water felt freezing and swimming in the rain was not as fun as it sounds - luckily there was a hot spa pool which was packed!

9th December. A really beautiful sunny day and we investigated the beach billed as "a gorgeous semicircle of softest white sand and bluest water, favoured by those in the know: surfers, beachcombers, idle romantics." We didn't fit any of the categories but the beach was still the reason we had come and it was worth it. Although not a private beach it could be accessed through the campsite and after the 3 minute walk down Hibiscus Avenue we came on to the beach. It was 9:30 and there were very few people on what is a very large beach. (Al spent a long time trying to estimate the length of the beach for his run later until he realised it might be called One Mile Beach for a reason!)

The lifeguards had not flagged the water yet so we set up near a surfing group having a beginners lesson where there was a sand ledge that meant the water was only waist high 50 yards out. The boys spotted a nearby group's moated castle and asked for a copy which was very hard work with the small spades we had - particularly as Charlie prefers filling in moats to digging them out.

The water felt quite warm and the waves were only a couple of feet high and perfect for Al to dive through and attempt body surfing. Both Al and Rach had long swims and the boys were happy. Isaac became braver and braver with his dune jumping. All in all a perfect morning on the beach.

Isaac and stick 1, Peacock nil

10th December. After having had a fantastic morning on the beach the previous day we went back but the weather wasn't great and it just didn't seem as much fun. The sea was still warmish and the swimming still good. We gave up early and headed into town for a shopping trip to the nearest mall complete with Coles and KMart where we picked up a body board for the boys (ie Al).

Charlie showing us how its done.

One of these 2 has Toretts...

11th December We had changed our plans and drove down to Sydney a day early in order to have a full day with Sandy & girls the next day (friends from Sevenoaks). We had planned to spend the morning on the beach but it was drizzling again so we decided to set off straight away. As we drove west towards the Pacific Highway we could see the southern hemisphere's largest sand dunes in the distance.

It was very noticeable as we got within 200km of Sydney that the driving became faster and more agressive!

The main road into Sydney from the north is surprisingly narrow and windy through the northern suburbs (Wahroonga etc) and it was slightly stressful navigating to the centre to pick up our keys and then onto the flat.
We had been worried about our Sydney flat would be as the agent had been underwhelming in his description. As we drove onto Military Road at Neutral Bay it was very busy and built up and we beginning to fear the worst. However Military road is long and took us through Cremorne, past Spit Junction and into Mosman. Amazingly the flat turned out to be right in the heart of the posh end of Mosman next to all the coffee shops, patisseries and boutiques. It is much more spacious than expected and although not huge there is plenty of room for all of us.