A Week Down The Coast In Winter + The Holiday Photos We Don't Take

So we’re back in Sydney after a week away down the south coast at Jervis Bay. School’s back and I’m flicking through the photos we took.

Now, I don’t know about you, but our family has had some pretty unfortunate family holidays… more like survival expeditions than relaxing breaks. Thank goodness there are less of them as the children have all grown up (and the parents too.)

But still, it’s never all beer and skittles, is it? And it made me laugh to see that there are no photos illustrating all the moments that were less than idyllic.

But let’s not start with the downsides, here’s a list of the fun stuff we got up to last week at Jervis Bay.

The Cool Things We Did Down The Coast This Winter

  • Lots of playing on the beautiful beaches of Jervis Bay
  • Lots of watching sport on TV (World Cup, State of Origin)
  • Whale watching trip from Huskisson
  • Lunches and dinners out, loved trying new places: the Waterhouse, Five Little Pigs, Main Deck, all in Huski
  • Visiting Booderee National Park, the visitors centre and Cape St George Lighthouse
  • The kids and our Intn’l Man of Mystery played heaps of golf at Vincentia Golf Club and at Sussex Inlet Golf Club
  • Running (slowly) along the walkway by the beach then jumping into the sea for a VERY REFRESHING swim afterwards.

This is not me swimming, it’s a humpback whale! The whales are heading north at this time of year, we saw several out at sea, a long way off; this photo has been cropped a lot.  In October and November the whales come south again and are often seen inside Jervis Bay itself.

In the spirit of full disclosure though, I cannot pretend that there weren’t some sticky moments.

The ‘No Fun’ Bits of Our Winter Week Away

  • Kids’ bickering, the twins are experts at it, it does my head in!
  • Teenager boys getting aggro with each other, it’s like the bickering but more physical- take it outside boys.
  • Teenagers not wanting to be there…. actually we got around this. I was quite sympathetic to Teen14 who wasn’t keen to leave the city and his pals. We made a compromise and he went back to Sydney by train on the Friday. Despite himself, he did enjoy the time away.
  • Freezing to death up a tree. Entirely our own fault… we went to Trees Adventure again in Nowra, but didn’t take warm enough clothes. There were lots of people on the section the twins and I were on and they kept getting stuck so we had to stand around on platforms for ages... in a howling gales, without enough clothes. Luckily the teens and dad did have a great time, but twins and I didn’t – our own fault, live and learn.
  • GiantTeen17 does go on and on and on and in a very monotonous tone… ask me anything about heavy metal music and the English Premier League, esepcially about the latest signings at Newcastle United. Sometimes listening to him feels like having a hole drilled into my skull. Yes, I know, holidays are an excellent time to focus on improving our special needs kids social and conversational skills. I know!!

Luckily the weather was sunny most of the time, it’s always windy down there in the afternoons, but the mornings were more still.  I could go and watch the waves to calm down, as necessary.

That large son on the right was once a BABY!!!  Like the pony tail?

You know the holiday is almost over when a shave is needed this badly.

Delighted to report that my beloved and I were very mature, no bickering between us. How cool is it when kids are old enough to take photos? We’ve hardly got any of the two of us together.

Did you enjoy the recent school holidays?

What’s the worst bit about beach house holidays with your family?

And the best?

For loads of activities and expeditions around Jervis Bay, see my post 25 Things To Do At Jervis Bay With Kids