A Little Trip Away

Maya and Riley. Hervey Bay.

Sand balls made by crabs.

This weekend just gone I took Henry and Maya for a visit to my sister and her husband and three children in Maryborough. I always love going there. They have three beautiful acres, a huge ranch style home, chooks, geese, dogs and a cow called Posie. Life there is so much different to life in the city and I am always reminded of my childhood when there. I was born there and grew up there. Some things have changed but the quietness and friendliness of the small town people has not. Things are so easy there compared to the city. There is never a problem finding a park although I must admit I'm not sure that the townspeople understand parking etiquette. I think most people just follow their own road rules. My sister never locks her house, in fact they rarely close the doors at all except at night time to keep out the bugs and other crawly creatures like snakes and goannas.

Henry enjoyed himself immensely. The room to run was overwhelming for him. He was not interested in being inside at all. Not interested in climbing on the furniture as he does here which is obviously a sign of boredom. I had to keep him lathered in sunscreen lotion and insect repellent and keep his hat and shoes on at all times but that was a simple task. He played with the dogs and threw the ball and ran around and around the patio. The only thing he didn't like was the wet, freshly mowed grass sticking to his feet in the morning. He would screw up his face and dance a little dance in the hope that he could shake it off. When that didn't work he tried to brush it away with his hands. This proved fruitless though as wet grass sticks and sticks hard. We had to hose it off and he wasn't happy until it was all gone. We don't have any grass to play on here. We used to but our landlord who lives behind us took our grassed area to add to his own garden so his five children would have more room to play. Now all we have is a paved area which is small and hot because the pavers retain the heat and reflect the sun making it impossible to spend any time outdoors in the middle of the day in summer.

I yearn for a simpler life. Some place to grow vegetables and for the kids to run and play. My sister's three children are never bored. They have animals to be responsible for, they build Bin Laden Bunkers (a huge mound of dirt with a tunnel through it), they build tree houses, they kill cane toads with golf sticks and cricket bats, they take the cow across the road to the paddock full of bulls in the hopes of getting her pregnant with a calf they can sell at the markets to add to their spending money. When they get tired they take time out to read a book. They occasionally play computer games but this is something that takes a back seat to everything else. They are not interested in owning the latest ipod or Sony playstation nor do they care about which fashion stores stock the most sought after clothing items.

I regret making the decision to move to Brisbane all those years ago. I did it for several reasons, all too long to go into here but I would rather be back there even though I hated it as a teenager and couldn't wait to get out.

We took a trip to the Hervey Bay to go to the beach while there. Late afternoon, the tide was out and the sun was low in the sky. What a beautiful afternoon. Henry swam and splashed and tried to eat some sand. We ate fish and chips by the water and had an ice cream before coming home. So relaxing! We used to go here almost every weekend as kids and Dad would build enormous sandcastles. We'd have ice cream at the Nicker Bocker Glory Ice Creamery. Buy some fresh sandcrabs to have on sandwiches when we got home. My father believed the sea would cure any ailment and I think he was right.

Back then Hervey Bay was just a small fishing village, now it's a town thriving and spreading. There is no land for sale and when it does come up it's snatched up in an instant. There are five star resorts and whale watching tours and restaurants and upmarket hotels. Who would have thought.