Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Our "not-so-sunny-not-very-beachy" sun and beach holiday weekend

This past weekend, we went on our first "holiday" weekend since Desmond was born. Together with a group of our good friends, we drove up the coast north of Sydney to Umina, a small beach town on the Central Coast. In January, two of our friends celebrated their 40th birthdays and it was decided that the best way to celebrate was for all of the families (7 families in total - 14 adults and 20 children between the ages of 17 months [Desmond] and 7th grade) to rent holiday cottages at the Ocean Beach Holiday Park.

It was a great plan in theory - we would all have cottages in close proximity to each other. The kids all know each other and really enjoy playing together. The holiday park has a great pool complex and some fun play areas. And the beach is a 2-minute walk away.

Of course, the one thing you can't plan for is the weather.

From Friday afternoon until early Sunday morning, it rained. And not just a sprinkle here or there, but full-on, torrential rain. A "pour down" as I used to call it as a kid. The kind of storm where you start to think that building an ark might not be such a bad idea. And it was windy. We could hear the surf pounding from our cottage. There were short breaks in the storm, but the rain did not clear until Sunday morning.

Having said that, we did try to make the best of a wet situation. We went swimming in the pool in the rain. We went for a drive and played cricket under the cover of a pavilion. The kids watch videos and the grown-ups had a chance to catch up. We went out for a good dinner at the local club. And some of us (or so I am told) stayed up into the wee hours of Sunday morning playing cards and having a good time.

All-in-all, it was a good weekend. Having a holiday weekend away with two small children is always a challenge, but it was a lot fun being with our friends. One of the girls put it best when she said, "This is the best and worst holiday ever!"

Here are some photos of our weekend (click on the image to make it larger):

Our cottage
The rainy view from our cottage
We found a protected spot and enjoyed popsicles!


Vincent wasn't very impressed by all the rain
Desmond all tuckered out 



The surf pounding at Pearl Beach


Playing cricket under a pavilion at Patonga
A view from Umina Beach on Sunday
 morning after the storm had cleared
 (looking east)
Another view from Umina Beach
(looking east)



We had a fun time - maybe we will come back again
 (when it's not raining!)