Unexpected joy

I wanted to do boring things yesterday, like shop for groceries and tidy up the house.

My fridge is bare and my floors are filthy.

But DD wanted to take his family on one of his favourite adventures – the ferry from Palm Beach to Ettalong. And he was keen for me to join the gang, which included his mum, four rambunctious little boys and his brother, who’s been visiting from England for six months and heads home on January 2.

I’m so glad he talked me into it. He’s right, that ferry ride is all sorts of awesome.

The first time we did it there were dolphins frolicking around the ferry. This time there were people kite sailing, flying 10 metres into the air in the strong winds, and a trio of pelicans flying alongside the boat.

Not to mention lots of glorious scenery in between and spontaneous bursts of laughter and excitement as the ferry crashed through the high waves and sea spray scattered over us.

I took lots of photos and had a glorious time, though I will admit our lunch at the Ettalong Diggers was a bit intense. Soooooo many people, soooooo much noise, soooo much panic about momentarily losing one of the kids and whether we’d make it back to the ferry in time.

But not a bad porterhouse steak with bernaise sauce.

I love a steak with bernaise sauce.  Mmmmmmm.

I also love posting photographs on Instagram of my travels. I’m quite the fan of funny camera angles. It freaked DD’s cousin out when she was visiting and asked me to take a photo of her. She walked over and straightened the phone for me – I pointed out that I had it on an angle on purpose. Straight photos are such a yawn.

Since I don’t have many followers on Instagram (other than a disturbing number of the nine-year-old’s friends, who keep “liking” my photographs of alcohol and hotel rooms) I thought I’d share some of my favourite snaps from the day. Sorry there aren’t any “people” shots, I know they’re more fun.

Pretty scenery we’re thinking about exploring in a kayak sometime.

The old wharf at at Ettalong.

The kite sailor – unfortunately I was too slow to get a pic of him in the air.

Again, too slow to get a pic of the pelicans flying alongside the boat.

Sea spray as we motored past Barrenjoey Lighthouse.

Sparkling wine on DD’s deck afterwards.

Looking up at the gorgeous sky on DD’s deck.

Hope the holidays are treating you well too.

Song of the day: James Brown “I feel good”