Lake Cathie

Lake Cathie is a little gem in the mid-north coast of NSW.  Our good friends made the ultimate sea-change, swapping a townhouse in Penrith to a beach house in Lake Cathie a few years ago, making it the perfect opportunity for a road-trip after I finished a five-week contract (March).  The lake itself is warm, crystal clear and shallow- the perfect mini-break for toddlers.  Being 12k from Port Macquarie, there is plenty to do while keeping your feet dry!

Our first stop was Rainbow Beach in the late afternoon for starfish hunting!  MissE loved running around on the hard sand and splashing in the shallow pools of water.  Sea-creatures are best looked at and not touched though!

Hunting starfish

Found!

MissE had a stumble into the water while throwing rocks... check out the size of the rocks she was throwing!

Not sure if this one will skip...

Day 2, the weather was perfect to spend the day in the water.  We went from the beach to the lake, with a stop for fish n' chips in between.

Pilot Beach: Rashie, sunnies, tube and bucket- check!

Lake Cathie: I'm on the boat!

Laurieton Riverside Seafoods: feeding seagulls

Day 3, we headed into Port Macquarie to check out the local markets (not much to be desired!) then to the Town Green for a play at the park and ice cream.

Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

Looking for the rehabilitating koalas

Found one, sleeping blissfully!

And we finished the day at Lake Cathie

Unfortunately, all vacations come to an end... with a quick stop to Ricardo's Tomatoes and Strawberry Farm. MissE enjoyed picking strawberries from the vines... and giving them a little squeeze and/or nibble before putting them in her basket.

MissE's pickings!

I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hop, you don't stop... Happy Easter!

Easter is upon us, and lucky for us, in Australia it also coincides with Anzac Day which means we've had an extra long break.  Festivities for us started with MissE's Easter Hat Parade at her daycare.  MissE walked the walk and was visited by the Easter Bunny.

Easter Bonnet made by me (paper flowers, a pink chick (unseen) and beaded butterflies (unseen)

Thank you Easter Bunny!

Good Friday
Our annual trip to the Royal Easter Show is one of the things I look forward to every year.  We started the day with a visit to the Dog Pavilion.  Then we moved onto the agricultural exhibits with a visit to the cattle, sheep, alpaca and horses.  This year, the Royal Easter Show featured, Fonzy, the largest cow in Australia, standing at 1.885metres!  He really is one big cow!

The Fonz

We had a hard time pulling MissE away from a friendly alpaca named Supernova.  He kept coming over to nuzzle MissE's head.

And finally, we spent nearly 2 hours in the Dairy Farmer's Nursery.  It's a favourite of mine, a chance to get upclose and personal with sheep, lambs, goats, calves, donkeys, etc.  She loved the chickens running wild.  See Mama chasing MissE chasing the chickens!  MissE (aka the Goat Whisper) would not leave until each and every goat received a "kiss" and "cuddle".  I see Farm Stays in our near future!

Sheep cuddles!

Me chasing Eloise chasing the chickens!

No show is complete without a visit to the Show Bag Pavilion.  MissE picked a Sesame Street and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse showbag.

The loot: Singing in the rain!

Easter Sunday
We hosted a Toddler Easter Egg Hunt and a brunch for family and friends.  We had 3 very excited toddlers hunting eggs (it seems CJ is missing the 'Y' chromosome that seeks chocolate!) and desperate to eat them all up!  Luckily we had brunch ready to be served.

Shh! Be very quiet!  We're hunting chocolate eggs!

This is how I roll!

How much did you get???

We had the pleasure of attending our first Indian 1st birthday celebration.  The women were gorgeous in their saris, the food was delicious and MissE boogied the night away until 10pm to the latest in Indian pop music.  Oh yes, and it marked a milestone for me!  It was the first time in as I can remember that I was able to be in the same room, in close proximity to a clown without hyperventilating in the corner.  Go me, conquering my fears!

Hand-painting

Itsy bitsy

Umm... not sure if that's the right way to limbo?

Balloon animals

My giraffe

Let them eat cake!

Bollywood, up to no good!