Dubs by the Pub 2007

We spent all morning at the Ettamogah Pub, looking at Kombis and Bugs at 'Dubs by the Pub 2007', it was fantastic. Such a huge crowd despite the rainy weather, and such fabulous Kombis including our favorite, Splitties (split windows). Spoke to a re-spray guy from the Gold Coast and it looks like Daisy can go in and get sandblasted, a total re-spray with new seals, removing all the rust spots and painted a fabulous metallic bright red......it will take a month in total so we will probably wait until winter, in August maybe, when beach weather isn't so great, and put her in then........but how we will live without her even for just a month??????????

Puppies at Shelly Beach

My favorite 7-year old puppies in the whole wide world, enjoying an afternoon romp at Shelly Beach. Mitchell 'Deep Sea Diver' (can hold his breath for many minutes when concentrating on something like a big rock - too big to pick up but can be rolled underwater) and Kimberley 'Supermodel' (gazing off into the horizon), pondering life.

Kombi Dogs

Finally managed to get a photo of Kimberley in the Kombi, she hates being in there. I am going to start putting peppermint oil on her collar, this seems to help a bit. Mitchell, however, is the true 'Kombi Dog', he loves being up front with his dad, looking out the front windscreen, sometimes even resting his chin on the dashboard. We all went swimming this morning, council regulations on this beach mean that we have to keep the dogs on the lead right until we hit the water, after that, we let them off.

Daily beach run

Went out this morning for our daily drive around the beaches: Bulcock Beach, Happy Valley, Kings Beach, Shelly Beach, Moffat Beach. The ocean was churned up today, it looked a bit angry. Happy Valley is great for surfing on a calmer day. (We call it 'Nappy Valley' as the area is a popular picnic spot for families.) Daisy is fantastic, the dogs quite enjoy the fact that they can walk up to the front between the seats and be reeeeaaaaaaally close to us!

My apologies for having such crappy quality photos - it's me taking the photos now, on my Canon Ixus 400 camera. No skill, no talent, no photoshop. I may have to get Shane to do some nice ones on the beach on a good day....so stay tuned!

Outdoor area...

Our generous neighbours, Chris and Tash, did most of the work on our front yard. The dodgy concrete patchy driveway was ripped out (plenty of junk underneath: bits of wire, chunks of concrete, broken steel rods....). Railway sleeper were used to box around the poinciana trees and paths were put together. Decomposed granite was used for the driveway surface as well as the paths and outdoor area next to the house. We dug the birds nest ferns out from all over the place, and really made a showpiece, and added Liriope and Zanzibar plants to liven the area up. The big rock bowl we dug out of another part of the garden as well, Chris and Shane hoiked it all the way over, it weighed a ton! We still have work to do, put a concrete pad under the BBQ area and fill in the beds near the fence with happy trees.

Daisy comes home!

Well, today we introduced Kimberley and Mitchell to Daisy, our new Kombi. Mitchell was keen straight away, he jumped in, jumped onto the back seat and over the back into the very back and settled in. Kimberley took a bit longer to get settled, but after we took them for a spin 'round the block she was okay. She does seem to get car-sick, so we'll have to be careful. For future reference, Michell has the blue collar, Kimberley has the red collar, and Shane is wearing a T-shirt.

Our new Kombi: 'Daisy'

We have just bought a 1971 low-light, bay window Volkswagen Kombi. Her name is Daisy. The reasons for buying her are many: we need a car to put the surfboards in. We need a car to take Kimberley and Mitchell to the beach. We want to go camping again - and this time, take the dogs. We want to go away occasionally overnight or all weekend. Plus, we have fond memories of our last Kombi, Daffodil, who burned down on that fateful Easter Monday in Darwin so many years ago.....apart from that, Daffodil was a great vehicle, took us around Australia in great Kombi style.

Scott, a friend of my Lee's (my personal trainer) was selling his, he brought it up to the Coast so we could look her over, and we thought she was great! The price was right, so away we go. She arrives tomorrow! I will post some pics then.