Meeting the family

Woke early Fathers day to glorious weather, barely a cloud in the sky and beautiful in the sun.

Ray cooked an awesome breakfast of bacon and eggs on the BBQ, before I headed out to the car to fit the new CB ariel. Should have been a simple job, but of course when I bought it I never checked the size of the base, which of course was so much bigger than the other one. Wouldn’t have been a problem at home as I would have simply got a big drill bit and bore it out, but obviously I don’t have all my tools on the road ?

Was about to give up when Ray came out to see what I was doing. While he didn’t have any drill bits big enough, he suggested that his son Craig might as he is a builder. So we jumped in the car and went for a drive.

Craig lived on the other side of town, so I got to see some of the sites of Glenn Innes. Certainly a much bigger town than what I though it was, Ray told me the population was around 5000 odd.

I also got to see the new fishing boat that they took possession of in the last few weeks. Was fantastic, a 6m beauty made of aluminum and decked out for fishing… made me want to head out on to the water!

The real reason we were there though was to get a drill bit, and luckily he had one big enough.

Back at the house once we had bored out the hole, was an easy job to fit the new ariel, a big thick 7.1db job that hopefully won’t rattle off! A quick call for a “Radio check”, got a couple of “yea your working” responses, so all good… no more scratchy CB reception for me!!

I thought about having a shot at replacing the relay for the battery, but it was getting late and I thought I had better have a shower before the family arrived.

The relay might have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Granny Vicki was one of the first to arrive making amazing time driving up from Coffs Harbor after her very last shift… Australia’s latest retiree.

People started arriving around lunchtime and Ray and Mary put on an amazing feast, freshly caught fish, steak and sausages. Zac of course loved the fish and probably ate more of it than anyone. It was so nice that even Jess gave it a go. I had a delicious steak and some Jew fish that just melted in your mouth.

By the time we had finished desert we were all so full that I don’t think we will need to eat for the rest of the trip!

Was great to meet the other side of the family, and finally put faces to some of the names I have heard of over the years. Only been married into the family for the last 14 years!! Anyway, I’m sure Fiona will write up her version of this family reunion, as I can tell she thoroughly enjoyed catching up with family she hadn’t seen in so long.

Big thanks to Ray and Mary for putting on a great day and an awesome feast.

Tomorrow, we are heading out to one of the local attractions in Glenn Innes, the standing stones for a picnic and to let the kids have a play on the playground there.

I would also like to make a trip to the local Bi-Lo, as I have not heard good things about the store, why people prefer to shop at the local Woolworths and being a good company man, I can’t help but drop in for a look even if I am on holidays. Hopefully it isn’t that bad!

PS – will try to start putting some photos up soon…. Bit a bit slack on the camera so far!