Long weekends are a great tradition in Australia. October Long Weekend is particularly special because the last long weekend was back in June. Also it's spring the the weather is generally pretty good.
So the weekend just gone was no exception. We packed up the Commodore on Friday night and headed to Hindmarsh Island for the weekend. We had a fabulous time. Didn't realise how stressed I was - it's been a busy time getting ready for the start of the Little Athletics season.
Saturday was my birthday. To celebrate we took a surfing lesson at Middleton with Surf & Sun. We've taken a lesson with them a while ago so this was only our third time surfing. This time the group was a bit smaller and Amy, our instructor, was able to spend more time with us. I had an absolute blast. Was able to stand up more times than I can remember and at one point was even managing to steer the board along the waves a bit. My son Daniel stood up twice on his own and my daughter Melanie got pretty close. I'm sure she'll get it next time we go. And next time won't be so long away because it was the most fun I have had in a long time!
We had lunch at Victor Harbor and did a spot of food shopping. On the way back we stopped at the SteamExchange Brewery on the Goolwa wharf. They make a lovely India Pale Ale.
On Saturday night we went out for dinner for my birthday. The night before I had spotted an Irish pub in the main street of Goolwa, Murphy's Irish Inn. Normally Irish pubs are pretty good but I was a bit disappointed with this one. The staff were very friendly and the service pretty good. Nice and clean and good atmosphere. Problem is that it took nearly an hour for our main courses to arrive. Then when it did, my medium steak ($26.90) was burnt on the bottom and cooked dead. I don't like tough steak, a little bit of pink in the middle is best I reckon. I couldn't eat this one. Now I know why it took an hour, they had to crucify it. For the first time in my life I asked to speak to the chef and complained. To their credit they didn't charge me for my meal. That said, I won't be going back there nor recommending it to anyone.
Sunday was the Goolwa Alive festival. The weather was great and they block off the main street, all the shops are open and they have lots of stalls where you can sample local wine and produce. There was a guy there with two electric cars. He had converted a Fiat to electric and called it a Fiarrari. Very interesting to talk to him. Apparently there are only 5 all-electric cars in Adelaide. Thought there would have been a few more than that in these days of high petrol costs. It was surprisingly cheap for him to do the conversion (about $6K he said). The kids enjoyed themselves doing a treasure hunt the local library had organised with the shops. Kept the busy for a while which was great.
Then it was back to Karinga Park where we stayed to chill out for the afternoon and watch my team (Glenelg) get beaten in the SANFL Grand Final. Guess I'll have to wait a bit longer to see them win another flag.... Speaking of Karinga Park, what a great place to stay. We stayed at the Island Lodge which was just terrific. A lovely secluded spot to relax and unwind. Thouroughly recommend it to anyone looking to take a holiday along the Encounter Coast. On Sunday night we had Kangaroo and Goat on the BBQ for tea then we had a camp fire in the grounds (plenty of wood available). Toasted some marshmallows and I got out the guitar for a few songs for the first time in many months.
It was a real shame to have to leave on Monday to head back to town. Normally on a long weekend we would go camping. This was much more civilised and relaxing. No yelling at the kids to help pack up. Consequently we were feeling very relaxed and re-energised come Monday night.
What an aweseome weekend.