Superhero spotted at Celito

I paddled out behind Batgirl in the surf on the weekend. It was so funny I nearly fell off my board and drowned laughing. There she was, calm as day stroking out to the break like it was the most natural thing in the world. Her black cape flapped out behind her and her bat ears were pricked alert. Her sleek black bodysuit shone with the slippery sheen of a surfer. Board riders parted as she paddled up between them like the Red Sea parted for Moses. Kids looked confused, dads were speechless...and I was having a hiccuping, laughing fit face down on my board, arms flailing uselessly. All you could hear for miles around was the crash of the ocean as it peaked nearby, and my hysterical giggling.


The MOB had a weekend gathering (two nights - count 'em!) of surfing and laughing unemcumbered by children and husbands. On these 'girls weekends' we could recharge our batteries with laughter alone (its been done before), but on this occasion Celito treated us with exceptional MOB conditions and we surfed all weekend long.

On friday ChampagneKate and I had 2 surfs!! She spent most of the time smacking the lip (literally) and carving up a storm on beautiful turquoise A-frames while I just watched in awe. Saturday we took a packed lunch and settled in for the long haul with 5 of our buddies. The Surferwitch scooped some gnarly waves, blue hair hangdoggin' in the breeze! By early afternoon we had worn down all the recreational surfers -they had packed it in and gone home! Only the hard core surfers were left in the water... We had it all to ourselves. ;)

Beebee, Franbaby, Cat, Lor and Jules were all out there pumping the big ones, skimming round the inside of barrels and flying off the lip before paddling over to the peak and doing it all again.

Aah, there ain't nothin like having a laugh with the girls. They will do anything for a giggle.

Surfermums help get the dragon past the line

Surfing seems to have gone temporarily out the window. Today, some surfermums and I were involved in Dragon Boat racing! The beautiful Manning River was host to what looked like an interesting array of water dragons and also some lazy caterpillas demonstrating how ridiculous 20 adults can look when they don't follow the 'Stroke'! Fortunately, we were more of the dragon kind and managed to bring home the dragon sized trophy. Yes, Redhead Roar (once referred to over the PA system as Red whore in a Freudian slip) were the victors on the day just edging out MCW (sorry Jules) in a photo finish. Aah the sweet smell of success... our victory will be one for the ages. For tonight anyway.

Many thanks to Petr, our spunky Czech drummer at the front of the boat who kept our eyes up and our minds wandering... oh yes, and to all those other chaps that helped us out. Good job.

Apparently we missed some nice waves while we were inland. I hate when that happens.

Nevertheless, local surfermums will be looking forward to the coming weekend where we will be letting our hair down and escaping the family for two whole nights! Wine, cheese, chocolate and plenty of laughs are the usual order of proceedings, followed by more of the laughing the next morning when we realise we have been so long out of the water, we have forgotten how to surf. One poor wreck of a surfermum informed me recently she had not had a surf since Australia Day!! Nevermind. Not being very good at surfing has never stopped us from having a damn good (if funny looking) try. We have no shame. Its the only way to live.

SM

P.S. Good on my lovely neighbours for having the vision to assemble the splendid and victorious dragon boat crew. Go the ROAR!

Surfermum gets a dose of culture (dahling!)

Glad to be back on the coast after our kid-free, whirlwind tour to Canberra. Lined up for an hour just to get in the door at the National Art Gallery and see the Masterpieces of Paris but it was well worth it. (Two days later the line up was 3 hours!) "Starry Night" is so much better in real life than on paper. If you have seen it you will know what I am talking about. How did Vincent make it twinkle like that over a hundred years later? That is the question!


Canberra is a strange place - lots of square office buildings but without the shops and the hustle and bustle going on beneath them. Just the odd suited public servant scampering about. Very easy to get lost (as Husband demonstrated), but managed to find a decent pub and Indian restaurant in which to settle down. Live music leaves a bit to be desired though. The same guy and his guitar played at the Irish pub (where the beer was hideously expensive) and then at the cheapskates pub (where we settled in later). There's an opening for anyone who can twang an instrument and take that guy on!


Back on home turf, the girls are getting pumped for the big, surfing, mums only, weekend away. Only 11 sleeps to go surfermums! Watch this space...

SM

Welcome to Autumn

You ain't missing nothing folks! What a miserable day - onshore winds, grey chopped up ocean and suddenly I'm wearing a cardi! My foot is functioning again and I am ready and rearing to go surfing... if only the weather would co-operate. :(

Husband is on holidays for a month and is starting to get underfoot. If the surf dont pick up the garden will be hacked to within an inch of its life and I may find myself being driven up the wall...

Luckily, we are off to Canberra on Thursday to see the 'Masterpieces from Paris' exhibition. (That should keep him occupied for a few days.) Its a long way to go to see some paintings hanging on a wall but apparently these artworks by van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne etc haven't left France before, so since they have come all this way, we thought we'd make the effort and go see them. Plus, its mighty far away from the kids, I don't think we will hear them fighting from Canberra...but you never know.

In the mean time, I hope the weather does the right thing and delivers on the weekend.