Adelaide Shores - The calm after the storm

Waking up this morning to relatively calm weather and blue skies was a very welcome start to the day after yesterday's wind and sideways rain. The kids couldn't wait to get onto the jumping pillow and then into the pool. We all had breakfast and then off they went. When Tyler and his cousin Ned popped back for a drink an hour later, I took them down to the beach for a walk and to see what damage the pounding water and wind had done to the foreshore. The water was incredibly warm and if I had my bathers and there were a few less early morning walkers, I may have just about slipped my top off and rolled down the sand into the water. I reckon if I had though, the waves would have pretty well pushed me straight back onto the sand dunes and buried me into the sand head first to end up looking like a dis-used bike rack. 

The rest of the day was all about the kids and was spent swapping between the pool, jumping pillow and splash park. 

Finally it came out time to have some cheese and nibbles and a few well earned drinks with the kids playing a bit closer to camp. 

The sudden realisation that it was getting late made us jump up and start cooking tea, which was a huge BBQ spread across 3 cooks to serve 6 adults and 9 kids - 8 of them being 11 years or younger. After eating just about everything that was cooked and then somehow forcing in a cake, we sat back and contemplated the reason we were here .... Tracy's mum and dad have been married for 50 years. A remarkable effort and congratulations to them. 

Adelaide Shores Big 4

Tracy's parents have somehow defeated the odds and reached an amazing milestone of 50 years of Wedded Bliss. That's about the same as the sentence one would expect for a double homicide, but perhaps with a few more benefits. To help them celebrate, we all agreed late last year to go caravanning at Adelaide Shores Caravan Park. It was only 3 days since we returned from our 4 weeks away in Tassie, but that meant packing was actually easier because we didn't have to unpack from our previous adventures.

We left home at 2pm, fully aware that there was some foul weather heading in off Kangaroo Island, but carried on anyway. No sooner had we got out the car, the wind and rain started. Tracy and the kids bolted for her parents van, as they had arrived a couple of hours earlier and we're all settled in, while I laboured on through the storm making sure our temporary home was secured to the ground with no chance of taking off in the 60km/hr winds. 

We basically didn't move for the next 2 hours, other than to mop up the drips from the sideways rain that was penetrating the vents. We also changed our plans and decided that a BBQ wasn't the best choice of meal, given the conditions, so we booked in to the local hotel and went out for tea. 

We got back about 9:30 to find everything was still upright and before I could say "let's have a drink", everyone was in bed. I poured myself a mug of port in protest and stood outside admiring the crystal clear sky watching the stars getting blown away in this ferocious wind. 

It is supposed to calm down overnight - we are certainly hanging out for that.