Pages

Friday, January 4, 2013

Back from the Gap.

Our cabin had some funky style


I sometimes worry that people who read my blog, or just a post here or there read something and that is all they know of me. When I write a post about feeling glum I just can't leave it there sitting at the top. It feels just too 'woe is me' and makes me think people don't know that I do, even on my worst days, look for the smiles.

There are good days rubbing shoulders with the cranky ones.

I didn't want to sit in Melbourne with fireworks going and remember the lovely night we had last year. I didn't want misery to be a guest at our picnic rug. So I told Mr H I needed to be in Halls Gap for New Years Eve.






He rang a caravan park and we got the last cabin available.


I love caravan parks, even though camping is not my thing. I love the community that they hold, the shared facilities, the good ones anyway - the pool, the park, the trampolines.



Where we stayed they had a band in the camp kitchen. The band were awful, the main singer kept singing Living Next Door to Alice, over and over but it didn't matter. The girls made instant best friends with a brother and sister from Germany. They ran around for hours, not speaking the same language proved little problem. We sat under the stars and watched the people bring in the New Year. People from all over the world, all wishing and hoping that the new year will bring them good luck.

Another family noticed how I had failed to realise that New Years Eve in a caravan park means it is illegal not to supply your children with glow sticks and sparklers, they walked over and gave both the girls some of their own. Happiest children you ever did see.




Our cabin came complete with a massive spa bath, which I checked was working extremely well and with flocks of kangaroos and emus at our door and one poor old Cocky that had seen better days but happily ate out of the kids hands.


Our days were spent on bush walks, paddling in lakes and chatting with friends and family.




We were so content for three days that I decided we needed to move there. When I mentioned this to my sister she asked if I felt ok, that perhaps I really wasn't quite alright still. I have never wanted to be in a rural setting.



Sometimes a place grabs you and pulls you in and makes you want to stay forever.

Have you got a place that drags you in, begging for you to return?

13 comments:

  1. Funny you should say that. Two places in the world have that effect on me. The ocean and the Grampians. Something about that place just speaks to my soul with peace and strength. Glad to hear you had such a good New Years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Grampians just has something, and generally not too many people. I dont want to be where everyone else is.

      Delete
  2. Your New Years looks perfect. Serene and calm....the perfect start for 2013.
    The beach always drags me in. Every January we holiday on the Sunshine Coast and every.single.time I start dreaming of making the move there. We look at houses and schools and almost always take the plunge...but yet have not :)
    maybe one day!
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. we are the same, down to doing some finance and budget checks, but then we just never do it.

      Delete
  3. Love this post! I'm a bit funny about caravan parks but I really like your perspective of the community there, it's so true. I think the Grampians area is very underrated by Melburnians.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would struggle to camp in a tent, i just need ore privacy and in a park you have tent neighbours...but when we are in a cabin we get everything we need. a caravan might also be ok, but we don't have one of those.

      Delete
  4. What a beautiful way and place to start 2013. We are looking forward to camping this year (I think, I think, I think...) but the place that pulls me in with its beauty is the Northern Rivers (in Northern NSW). Coming from NQ, I just love how green and fresh it feels. One of those places I think I lived in in a former life :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Camping is perfect if you have everything you need and weather is perfect, but I am not a tent camper. I also have never been to Northern NSW - OR North Queensland, I have so much travel to do still.

      Delete
  5. Sounds like a perfect place for you right now Claire - looks gorgeous. We have a caravan that we leave on site near the beach. We go there every Christmas and Easter. It is the kind of getaway that is cheap and simple and sometimes that is just the best.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Still in shock you said you may move to the counrty!! Sure you are feeling alright!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I suspect this week you will be moving to bright

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's a great spot. I have several places I love to go back to that have a special magic to them for me. Glad you had a relaxing time away, it's good for the heart.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am really impressed with your writing skills and also with the
    layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself?
    Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it's rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.
    my web site > six awards from jd power and associates

    ReplyDelete

Commenting brings amazing luck, you must try it and see how you go!