Lighthouse Beach and lightning

13 December 2018

When Cornelia called me in to her bedroom, she was already reading her HotDog book, and wanted to read some of it to me. It seems as if all of a sudden, her desire to read has launched itself and there is no stopping her!

We had breakfast then packed our bag for our surf lesson and headed off for Lighthouse Beach, our third new spot in as many days. The wind had changed direction, and the waves were quite different once again. Bill, a new instructor to us, also joined our group, as Loren was otherwise occupied, and he was an older, experienced surfer with a different angle on surfing. I was very lucky, as he gave me loads of one on one tuition, but poor Ian and Jim received virtually none. Bill had me up on the green water, and turning in to stay in front of the wave as it raced to shore, something I have never really known how to do before. It was fantastic and very very tiring!! Cornelia wasn’t as keen to get up on her board as yesterday, so she spent quite a lot of time riding in on her tummy, or digging in the sand, but as we had another family of three join us, it didn’t matter too much, as she didn’t require lots of attention.

We were in the water for nearly two hours! By the time we were back up the van and had rinsed off, it was approaching 14:00 and we were all ready for lunch. Loren had arrived by now, so we asked her and Corey for their recommendation for lunch, and ended up with two options. We chose the Rainforest Cafe (our quest for koalas not yet over!) which was just half a mile away, tucked down in between two beaches. It was very busy and the service was very slow. It was table service, and although I asked Ian if he’d go and get someone to take our order, he didn’t think that was necessary, so after fifteen minutes, I managed to grab a waitress’s attention and order.  Whilst waiting, Cornelia sent Ian to the barber’s and trimmed his beard with her sugar sachet razor blade, then we played the Princess and the Pea, burying a coin under the mattress of sachets…

Ian had Eggs Benedict which, despite the overcooked eggs, was very tasty, as was my Buddha Bowl, which was filled with pumpkin, a pea and corn fritter, spinach, pine nuts and salad leaves.  It was filling, tasty and healthy.  Hurrah! Bugsy, on the other hand, went with her reliable fish & chips, but scoffed the whole lot and managed to squeeze in a chocolate malt ice lolly!

POI’s neck, shoulders, back and knee were all troubling him quite a lot.  He feels as if he is breaking down a bit!  He went off for a walk down to the main stretch of shops, to see if he could get his beard groomed (at a real barber’s!) while I took Cornelia to the main beach for a play in the sand.  Good grief – it was a bit windy!  The sand was so dry and the wind so strong that Bugsy kept getting slapped in the face by the grains, because she kept forgetting to keep her head turned the other way…!  This didn’t deter her from marching up and down to the sea to fill her bucket and make cement, so that we could build a tower of sandcastles, which she subsequently stomped down with glee!  Ian found us easily enough, but had been unsuccessful in his quest for a beard trim.  The first barber was completely full and closing at 17:00 with no slots available, and the second was already closed. So, the neanderthal look survives another day!

Back at the apartment, I prepared supper (sausages, beans and potatoes) and then left Ian in charge while I went out for my run.  I was NOT expecting a huge thunder and lightning storm to hit whilst I was out, and although I tried running fast on the way back, my legs were completely exhausted from thirteen continuous days of running and three days of surfing, and I waddled my way back, hoping that I wouldn’t be struck!  It made me jump on more than one occasion and I may even have let out a loud squeak of surprise (or fright)!

When I returned, tea was ready, and we all enjoyed our meal.  Cornelia spent the rest of her evening dancing to the Wiggles on the enormous TV in our front room, while we hoped that we wouldn’t get a power cut.  One blast of thunder was so loud, it made us all jump and look at each other in horror.  I had been standing near the patio door, which was slightly ajar, and I definitely jumped the furthest!  Thankfully, it didn’t last more than about an hour, and Cornelia was in bed nice and early, although she stayed awake from ages, reading her book again.  It was our last night here, so we packed most of our bags up, ready for another morning of surfing, followed by a trip up to the Gold Coast.