A knit wit does Yamba

Kneecapped by an 8 year old

Our little holiday to Yamba was a success. That is: it didn’t involve camping so I enjoyed it; Matt got to hire a boat so he enjoyed it; the boys got to swim at the beach every day, so they enjoyed it; we seemed to eat hot chips at every meal, so Moo enjoyed it. Luckily for you I forgot to take the camera out with me almost every time we left the cabin, so you are spared endless holiday snaps. I did manage to take a morning, noon and evening shot from the veranda of our cabin. The cabin was one of those prefab jobs with two bedrooms that fit nothing but beds, a sofa that seats 2 in a cabin meant for 6, a bathroom so small that one steps into the shower to close the bathroom door (the toilet was behind the door and Jimmy nearly broke both my kneecaps when he threw open the toilet door while I was ‘indisposed’ in there – imagine trying to explain that at the hospital), but as I said, it wasn’t camping, and it had a great view of the river.

Not fish again… Oh No, no, no…….

We spent a fair bit of time exploring rock pools and platforms (I’ll spare you the extremely interesting discussions on geology and geography to which I subjected the family…yawn), wandering up and down the beaches collecting pebbles, and paddling in the surf. We hired a boat one morning and went fishing. I had suggested that we could have a bbq chicken for dinner that night and was told in no uncertain terms by the boys that we would be having fish, caught by them. The only thing they caught was Moos hat which blew into the water. We did eventually have fish…bought at the fish co-op.

Marvin the Paranoid Android

This is us on the boat. Note the BBQ for cooking your catch on board. We had ‘eels of the paddock’ (sausages). Everyone was secretly relieved that I had decided to buy them (because I had no faith in their fishing abilities), but no one was willing to admit it. Moo was very proud to be driving the boat. Jimmy had first turn at driving, which was when Tom decided he needed a life jacket. Once Moo started driving Jimmy decided he needed a life jacket too. Tom spent the whole time the others were driving with his head on the table saying things like: ‘Jimmy is going to get us all killed’ and ‘oh no……. Moo is worse’. He sounded remarkably like Marvin the Paranoid Android from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The fact the boat could only go about 4 knots and Jimmy and Moo weren’t actually driving the boat did not reassure Marvin….. I mean Tom. Of course he wouldn’t have a go - he wasn’t going to be responsible for killing us all.

Knit wit

And what did I do? I knitted. Now I have said before I don’t like knitting, but I find it is about the only thing I can do in the car. So I took the scarf I started last winter and kept knitting. I also knitted on the boat, (much more productive than fishing). I think my main problem with knitting is how slow I am. I can knit for hours and it looks like I have hardly achieved a thing. And I can’t do anything but garter stitch - I keep forgetting how to purl. However I did finish Matts scarf on the trip, I just had to wait until I got home so my friend J could tell me how to cast off again.

Matt’s scarf and mine. Two down - three to go…it will only take me another 6 years at this rate. The wool is Patons Jet. Mine (the orangey one) is particularly nice I think (the wool not the knitting).

And finally…..

Another holiday snap overlooking Bungalung National Park.