Friday, May 18, 2012

The rest of our holiday OR a lesson in why spontaneity is highly over rated.

Here, at last, is the final instalment of our Stories from HolidayCamp which will hopefully get The Other Half off my back for a while. [SIDE SURVEY: Does anyone here have A Other Half that complains when you don't post regularly? Or am I the only lucky one in this respect?]


HEADS UP! If you mean to read the whole thing and not just scroll through, you might like to take a toilet break, and grab a coffee and some bikkies before you start. This is a long post. 
Many of you asked where we went on our doggy holiday. Now that we've left the building, The Paranoid Typist [that would be me] is able to divulge that we were at Culburra on the New South Wales south coast. This tiny town is just 2 and a 1/2 hours away from Sydney [near the word SHOALHAVEN on the map below].
South Coast NSW Map
If you'd like to read more about the towns in the south coast, CLICK HERE for the clickable map.


*


I have to admit, we were pretty slack about going anywhere other than the beach, which was a 30 second walk down a private path accessed from the back garden gate. 
In our defence, nobody goes to Culburra because it's a pretty and interesting town.


But on Friday night, after Uncle D turned up, we finally felt guilty enough to take Georgia for a drive on Saturday. We had no plan whatsoever and no real idea of the area. It turned out to be...


The road trip to nowhere. 
With one more body in the car, Georgia ended up at the back.
"Don't you think Uncle D should have gone to the back and not me? Some humans can be so rude."
This was not to her liking. 


But she soon sorted out the seating arrangement.
We decided to go to Greenwell Point. Uncle D had some fond memories of the place from his childhood days.
Greenwell Point is marked A on the map below. 

If you'd like to see a clearer map of the route we travelled on Saturday, click this: View Larger Map

We saw quite a few people fishing off the pier, which was very exciting because we both love fishing and haven't done much since we lived in Brisbane, more than 20 years ago. But we never got to do any that day. [Surprise.]

Right about then, The Other Half casually mentioned that he'd forgotten to put a collar on Georgia. [Maybe some of you were sharp enough to pick that up in the picture above. I was sitting with her and didn't.]

"Do we have to go back? I promise I won't run away!"


So we all piled back into the car  and drove back to the house. [Because I insisted.]


"I wouldn't mind some fish and chips." Uncle D said when he saw this seafood shack on the way out of town.
Even from the car, it smelt terrific. Too bad someone forgot Georgia's collar or we would have stopped.

*

After we got the collar, we set off again. We thought we'd check out Jervis Bay. 

"Uncle D didn't know how to read the map!"
 
"My Typist says it was a good thing it wasn't HER that said "Turn right!" when he meant "Turn left!" or she would have been in deep poop."

It was an easy pleasant drive, punctuated every 5 minutes or so by Uncle D talking about how there would certainly be good fish and chips at Jervis Bay.
After about an hour and quite suddenly, the road ended here.
This is a bad picture because I was trying to be surreptitious. The little buildings were booths where we had to pay to get in. 


Utter confusion broke out in the car. 


The Other Half couldn't understand why there was a toll booth in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't understand why we had to pay money to get into a town. Uncle D couldn't understand why he couldn't see any fish and chips shops anywhere.

Then, the lady commandant in the booth saw Georgia in the back seat and said, "Dogs. aren't. allowed."

And that was that.


"The Typist took this picture so she could tell everyone I'd been to Jervis Bay, which turned out to be an entire national park and not a town with a bay."
By then, we were all feeling quite bummed about how our spontaneous road trip was turning out. So we were very relieved when we spotted a sign that said Hyams beach 4km! 


Many years ago, on a much better planned holiday, The Other Half and I had gone to Hyams beach with Jordan and Rufus. They'd had a terrific time running and playing with other dogs on the beach. It was a gorgeous spot!


So imagine our surprise when we were greeted by this unfriendly sign.
Which basically said, dogs on leashes only.
We didn't even bother to get out of the car. "How about Huskisson?" Uncle D suggested as we drove aimlessly around the side streets looking for a non-existent fish and chips shop. I suspect the man was quite faint with hunger by then. 





To cut a long story slightly shorter, that's how we ended up in Husky for a very late lunch of very greasy, very soggy but fresh fish and chips.

"After all that, I had to make sure everyone knew I'd been to Husky."


*

On Monday, if you recall, the sun didn't come up so the beach was out of the question. 
We went for another little drive instead...
...and ended up here.


Jim Wild's fresh oysters.
This is Jim Wild who was a world champion at opening oysters in the 90s.
Here's a short video of the man at work.

We sat out back of the shack, by the river where the oyster leases were, and pigged out.
"I wish I could tell you how delicious the oysters were but I wasn't allowed any. [My humans had 36.]"
"I don't get it. I eat roadkill. How could one tiny succulent mollusc have made me sick?"


*


And then, all too soon, it was time to go home.
Tuesday morning, we set off with a plan! We wanted to make a few stops along the way so Georgia could be a well travelled dog! 


Our first stop was Berry, which is as charming a country town as you can hope to find anywhere. 
"I met some of the locals!"
"They're not real, you know."



"I thought my humans would take me to the treat factory, but they didn't."
"Sadly, I didn't get any champion sausages either." 

"The Typist, however, managed to buy a whole bag of stuff for herself  from this shop."
After Berry, we headed straight home. Apparently, it was my fault. I had somehow managed to spend 2 hours shopping in a town smaller than our suburb, so we ran out of time to stop anywhere else. 
Luckily, The Dog didn't really mind.
"Cushion, do you think that cement truck is a little close?"
It was [sort of] good to be home.


*

"Goodbye sea. Thank you for not drowning me. See you again someday soon."




The End.

35 comments:

booahboo said...

Aww.... that's a very very nice trip... are you sure you are done writing it? You do have a thousand+ pics you know.. :) thanks for sharing the hols with us.

If you had my dad in your car.. if he wanted fish and chips.. he will want fish and chips NOW. At the first shop you saw.. *LOL* He cannot be kept waiting for his food else he will sulk.

don't tell my dad...

Unknown said...

Someday you should go back to that fish and chip shop in Greenwell Point it is awesome. We stay in Currarong at a family beach house for a week every summer and make sure to take a trip to there.

georgia little pea said...

Anny - between you and me, Uncle D was sulking. Shhh.

Unknown - thanks for the tip. I suspect we'll be going back, with a little more reading up beforehand next time :) Do I know you, BTW?

verobirdie said...

Here I am after a toilet break and with a coffee.
I loved the trip with you. You sure had a nice holliday.

georgia little pea said...

BOL! thank you Vero :) x

Jean said...

Holidays right on a quiet beach, with the occasional outing to hunt for fish and chips, are the best ever - this sounds exactly like the kinds of vacation my sister and mom and I used to take - before I had quite so many needy dogs.
But as for that park/town that doesn't allow dogs in, even in a vehicle????? That is not a place I'd want to go!
Love the set of photos in which GLP introduces us to the locals at Berry - GLP is such a tease!

www.jodistone.wordpress.com said...

Oooooooh it looks like you had a lovely holiday.

I have to confess if I'd had a private garden path to the beach I'm not sure I would have gone anywhere else. :-)

georgia little pea said...

Jean - I've done a bit more research on travelling with dogs to national parks and the bottomline is ... DON'T! A bit sad.

We would love to take Georgia around a bit more but it wouldn't be practical. I remember when we took Jordan and Rufus up north to Byron Bay, we had the same problem and they were either left behind in the yard or had to stay in the car which made the trip pretty pointless for everyone.

Kirsten (peacefuldog) said...

Wowie, what a trip! An amazing journey, and a very supportive Other Half you have :)

Jan said...

Loved your travelogue, it was so well written and photographed that we felt we were exploring your great country ourselves.

It's too bad that there are so many restrictions on dogs today. So many in the past were allowed to damage ecosystems that now all dogs must suffer.

Declan said...

Blimey bits of your holiday sounds like one of ours. Spent a week following road signs that suddenly stopped and hitting dead ends! Deccy x

Kristine said...

I don't think those were all 16585445 of your photos but I guess they will do.

It sounds like you had a fantastic time, even if you didn't get to see as much as you planned. Sometimes the best parts of a holiday are the ones in which everything goes wrong.

At least the beach was wonderful!

georgia little pea said...

Good morning everyone!

Jan - I know, I know! I understand why pets arent allowed into national parks but at the same time, I wish they'd at least make some (more) treks available to them. I have a hissy fit when I see people with dogs on beaches/reserves who don't keep an eye on them because it only takes a few galahs to spoil it for everyone else.

Considering the amount of garbage that humans leave behind in (not just) national parks, it seems a bit unfair to penalise only 4-leggeds.

Kristine - haha! I think there are only so many sea and cloud shots I can include in a dogblog without looking mental :)

animal lover, quilt lover said...

Wow, that was a long post. I can't believe you could load that many pictures. My computer would have crashed and burned!! You had some great photos too!!!! Thanks so much for taking us along!!!

Sage said...

We're going to the beach next week...of course, it's going to be raining...

AND there's a great fish & chip place there. So, I told Mom that SHE's suppose to eat some fish and chips for your Typist. And maybe a piece for me????? Please, please, please.

Jay J said...

‎"they're not real you know..." yeah you tell em'! lol

Friko said...

Well, what can I say. A bit of a mixed bag for all concerned. I'm not sure that Benno would've enjoyed all that being driven around. And no treats at the end of it.

chandra said...

I can never figure out if it's best to plan or be spontaneous - lately when we travel I try to do half and half. It's hasn't worked too well so far.

Hyams Beach looked so beautiful but that big ugly sign really marred the view! Your outings definitely took a turn for the better when you met Jim Wild. How cool is he?!

-c at ddy.
p.s. my other half holds two official titles at daley's dog years: Director of Off-Leash Development and Husband Who Has No Interest In The Blog.

georgia little pea said...

Sage - of course you're going to have some fish and chips. They're allowed.

Friko - We always thought Georgia's yowling on trips had to do with some bad car memories from before we got her. We now think she's just car sick. Not enough to chuck up or drool, but enough for a bit of a whinge. She's much better these days but will never be a great car traveller.

Chandra - NO interest? I bet he reads it surreptitiously lol. Be careful what you say unless you want him to read it ;)

Rose ~ from Oz said...

When we were travelling Oz with the team it was a bit sad/annoying to have to avoid all of the National Parks. I can't imagine what overwhelming damage our disciplined well managed team could have done during a quick stay (or a longer stay for that matter) but I 'suppose' it has to be one rule for everyone. :(
PS. love a long post and all of your pics were appreciated :)

georgia little pea said...

Thank you Rose! Aren't you supposed to be having the weekend off? Naughty girl! ;) x

houndstooth said...

What a fantastic trip, even with the little snafus. I love undetermined road trips. There's something rather liberating about it, I think!

My husband reads the blog every day, and he asks during the weekend what I'm writing about as I work on the blog. Right now, I post six times a week, and he thinks I should post something on Sundays, too! Perhaps I'll have him start doing his own posts for Sunday! :P

georgia little pea said...

Houndstooth - how cheeky! As I recall, Mr Taleteller has his own blog. How's that coming along? ;)

Jackie Bouchard said...

Hi Georgia, this is my first time finding your blog. Wonderful pics! Your doggie is SO cute. Love the pics of him trying to get back into his rightful seat in the car.

It's the same here in the US - lots of restrictions at the National Parks. You can at least bring your dog along in, but they have to stay around the info centers or camping sites. They can't go on any of the hiking trails anymore. Such a bummer because long ago we loved to hike in the parks with our dogs. We just went on a last min. vaca too and had to hunt to find spots we could hike with the dog!

All the best,
Jackie & pup Rita

georgia little pea said...

Hi BJackie,

Thank you for visiting. It is a sad situation that makes travelling with dogs a bit pointless, unless you're just vegeing out in the house like we were! Hope someone on your vac could read maps ;)

Pamela said...

I loved the story. I loved the pictures. I loved seeing Miss Georgia.

But I'm puzzled. If Mr. Cushion left Georgia's collar behind, why didn't he sacrifice his tighty whities to fashion some kind of ersatz leash in the style of MacGyver. It seems hardly fair.

georgia little pea said...

AHA! Pamela AHA! I never thought of it and neither did he. At least we now have A Plan for the next time he forgets. Hold your nose.

3 doxies said...

Hehehehe...okays dat was likes da road trip from hell! I would has so been pullin' my furs out...my mum would has been laughin. But then I would has been ball headed withs da NO DOGS! Hoomans think dis earth belongs to them.
But I is so happy ya'll is back home safe and sound withs no stalkers. My mum can be paranoid too...hehehe.
I missed ya'll like gobs and oodles. I was skeered ya'll would furgets me...sigh

Puddles
PS: Grody is just a slang word fur nasty.

georgia little pea said...

Puddles - yer right! Dat's exactly what hoomans think. How duh is dat? We dogs know it actually belongs to dem grody cockroaches and kompooter viruses of course!

Thank ya for teaching me yer language. Ah like it gobs!

Anonymous said...

Culburra IS MY GO TO DESTINATION FOR DOGGY HOLIDAYS...

My birthday lunch was fish and chips at Greenwell point where they have trouble spelling "Cuppachinno".

Glad you got oysters anyway.

What Remains Now said...

I think I mentioned before that I think you should be a "paid" travel writer.

My husband does not read my blog. In fact, he once referred to it as "What's Left Now." How sad and desperate does that blog title sound!

animal lover, quilt lover said...

You do a really great travel post!!!

Amy said...

It looks like you all had a good time, and the unexpected incidents didn't put much of a damper on things. Unfortunately, most of our national parks are also not pet friendly. Though in some cases that might be for the best - we did a driving tour of one park and saw 4 grizzly bears and three wolves. I wouldn't want to run into them on a trail with the dogs!

georgia little pea said...

Amy - grizzlies and wolves! I can see why it would be a good idea not to have dogs on those walks! Jordan and Rufus ran into some kangaroos in the bush years back. That was exciting and scary enough for me :)

roughseasinthemed said...

We read all the way through. I would so like to go to husky mind.

Pippa xx