06 June 2011

Pies and Hats from Kangaroo Valley

I appear to have a cold. I'm not sure it it's the same cold I had 3 weeks ago, making a second appearance, or if it's my cold that I passed to John, that he managed to pass back just before I left. However I got, I have it. The good news is that I have only the snotty, blocked nose bit and none of the rest. I'm especially pleased since I usually get a sinus infection and all the other guff with it.
Enough about that and on to more interesting things.

It's fairly quiet over here at the beach. I guess that's what happens after you take two very energetic girls back to their parents. Phew! I do enjoy them, but there's something about the quiet that follows that's so endearing.

This morning we asked Jackie if she wanted to come with us to Kangaroo Valley. She was having way to much fun riding her bike around and around the outdoor table and squirting a water mister at the concrete to possibly come with us! Plus, I think she's cottoned on to the fact that coming with us would mean that she'd have to go and brush her hair, wash her face, find shoes and put them on. Much too hard work if you ask me.

So, Wayne drove Mum and I out to Kangaroo Valley. A quaint little town tucked in a beautiful valley west of Nowra. We drove through Kangaroo Valley when I was here in March and I really wanted to stop and have a look at the shops. It was placed on the 'Next Time You're Here' list. And what ya know, it's now the 'next time I'm here'.

The little town had one main road, with very tall trees all turning reds and oranges with the impending winter. We stopped for pastries at the local bakery, but they didn't have eftpost - who doesn't have eftpos these days for goodness sake?! After we managed to get some cash we took our treats to the dam and enjoyed a picnic (or a picmic as Jackie calls it). Delicious, homemade pies. But made in a disposable tin. For two countries to be so close and so linked, it seems so odd that there are all these little things that we do so differently. I don't think I've ever seen a pie come in a little tin shell before. Not that it matters, it's just different ya know.

Back to the shops. Each shop is an old house. The facades are the same and they have cute little steps or ramps up to the doors. Even the insides are gorgeous and 'quaint'. First stop was the lolly store, at which I indulged in my pseudo families tradition of purchasing a few 'never-seen-before' treats. I'm here for a while yet, so hopefully I have some left when I get home!

We made it to the store that I'd seen the first trip over, a cute we store with a large hat stand outside. Most of you will be aware that I've got a new hat obsession - I love them! I loved going through the beautiful hats and of course managed to fnd one that I've never seen before in the style that I've been looking for for ages. It came home with me, I just couldn't bare to leave it behind.

I didn't spot any kangaroos in Kangaroo Valley. And interestingly, the local symbol on the tourist merchandise is not a kangaroo at all, but a very old, medieval looking bridge. Go figure. I'm sure there are kangaroos, but the only place I've seen them so far is in the park by the local club.

The rain clouds followed us back over the hill and we're now settling in for a cool night. I've finished another magazine (yep I bought all my unread mags with me cause I figure I can throw them out once I'm done, making more room in my suitcase for things like new hats), and Mum's making a smoked chicked and leak pie. Mmmmm pie. . . . . Not in a tin shell this time. Second pie of the day, but I'm on holiday and it doesn't count!  

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