Why not? When you get a day off for her birthday , you ought to show your gratitude right.
Funny how two of the states celebrate her birthday in October and the rest on the second monday of June. I really love the fact that they try to keep the public holidays on Fridays/Mondays whenever possible.
As soon as I got back from my blink-and-you-miss-it trip to India , I started planning for the June long weekend. A rather early start for me , but too late by Aussie standards - people here plan a few months in advance!!! So we ended up making a plan for Port Stephens which meant just a 4 hours drive and no flight bookings to worry about.
A beach holiday in the middle of winter? And that too when a 90 % chance of rain was predicted ? - I was pretty much prepared for a disastrous holiday. But luck was on our side .and the rain gods too. While it rained non-stop here in Sydney , we had 2 days of sunshine in Port Stephens which meant we managed to do our whale watching cruise and sand boarding adventure without getting wet :-D
30 minutes of sailing with the whales (they move really slow I have to say) and I was left with one question - Don't they get bored? I mean , all they do is sail around and eat(tons of fish that too) all day. But it was a real relaxing time - being in the middle of the sea for a few hours :-)
Sand boarding - not as exciting as I expected it to be.How many times can you climb up a dune to just come speeding down for a few seconds to end up with sand in your mouth and ears and nose ? I say , 4. Should have gone for the Quad bike tours instead.
Can't really say much about the food - almost all places specialised in seafood and being allergic to seafood , I was left with not many options.
Our accommodation turned out to be a real good choice. When I booked a studio room at 90 AUD/night I wasn't expecting much. But a really spacious room located next to a national park and with a private beach access was what greeted us. And they even provided us with flash lights to go walking in the park in the evening :-)
The best part - beautiful beaches with hardly anyone around :-)
The sad part - didn't get to see any of the ship wrecks because rough seas prevented access :-(
Funny how two of the states celebrate her birthday in October and the rest on the second monday of June. I really love the fact that they try to keep the public holidays on Fridays/Mondays whenever possible.
As soon as I got back from my blink-and-you-miss-it trip to India , I started planning for the June long weekend. A rather early start for me , but too late by Aussie standards - people here plan a few months in advance!!! So we ended up making a plan for Port Stephens which meant just a 4 hours drive and no flight bookings to worry about.
A beach holiday in the middle of winter? And that too when a 90 % chance of rain was predicted ? - I was pretty much prepared for a disastrous holiday. But luck was on our side .and the rain gods too. While it rained non-stop here in Sydney , we had 2 days of sunshine in Port Stephens which meant we managed to do our whale watching cruise and sand boarding adventure without getting wet :-D
30 minutes of sailing with the whales (they move really slow I have to say) and I was left with one question - Don't they get bored? I mean , all they do is sail around and eat(tons of fish that too) all day. But it was a real relaxing time - being in the middle of the sea for a few hours :-)
Sand boarding - not as exciting as I expected it to be.How many times can you climb up a dune to just come speeding down for a few seconds to end up with sand in your mouth and ears and nose ? I say , 4. Should have gone for the Quad bike tours instead.
Can't really say much about the food - almost all places specialised in seafood and being allergic to seafood , I was left with not many options.
Our accommodation turned out to be a real good choice. When I booked a studio room at 90 AUD/night I wasn't expecting much. But a really spacious room located next to a national park and with a private beach access was what greeted us. And they even provided us with flash lights to go walking in the park in the evening :-)
The best part - beautiful beaches with hardly anyone around :-)
The sad part - didn't get to see any of the ship wrecks because rough seas prevented access :-(
