Right, next one. Hmm. Well at least we took lots of pics today, so I’ll try and save a few thousand words by posting a couple of pics, how’s that.
Summary: Morning, went to Port Stephens. Shark and Ray centre to feed the sharks and rays (there was also a butterfly room). As you'll see from the pics, you can both get into the water with the sharks and rays and pet and feed them extensively - quite an array of textures there from what lara calls 'biscuit' (a starfish) to 'slimey' (one of the rays. Some of the sharks are surprisingly smooth, like the nurse sharkes and blind sharks - the little Port Jackson ones were reassuringly sandpapery. (Yes, those are all customers in the pool with the sharks. No, we didn't bother going in - mind you the sharks were so stuffed they could barely be induced to accept the morsels of squid and prawn they were being fed so I doubt they'd be interested in Wetsuit vagule stuffed with Human.)
Then it was lunchtime but it was pissing it down so we had a traditional British picnic in the car while we waited for it to clear up (though Polly has just informed me that it’s not properly British unless you have a ground sheet and thermos flasks with lukewarm tea – we did have three drinks bottles, I argued, doesn’t that count? And in the CAR, mind you, I think that’s the key thing). Luckily the strategy paid off and by the time we’d stuffed our faces the rain had stopped and we meandered up and down the beach – rather nice actually. Then we went back home and got our swimming things for actually going into the water. I decided to take the plunge (literally) with my ‘steamer’ wetsuit I’d never actually put into use yet and went in that – can I just say, it’s FANTASTIC and I’m going to get the other two some wetsuits as soon as I can. Only detriment is that the Non will probably never come out of the water again and just become a seal but I guess that’s a minor consideration. No shivering! No cold! A most peculiar feeling when you first get into the water and pins and needles of cold start to come into the suit at totally unexpected angles, also I’m sure it’s more difficult to swim in (how much is due to imagination, how much to restriction, how much to not being able to physically feel the rush of water past your skin so it makes it seem slower, how much to drag on the neoprene, I really don’t know) but certainly, not the slightest tinge of cold even when you stop swimming and lounge in the water. Would have been out of there in ten seconds otherwise. Lovely. I don’t know, might have been just imagination as I still seemed to be making more headway than some of the others but I don’t know. Anyway, if it si more difficult then I guess it’s all good exercise anyway isn’t, not a competition after all just a bit of stretching and exercise.
Sorry, it seems to have indented this paragraph and I can’t be bothered to rectify it. What else. We had yet more to do after that – shopping. Hadn’t planned the meals properly and just went to the shops recklessly and bought stuff on offer .... hmmm LOVELY chunk of pork on special for all of $6.50 per kilo – the Mr has just spent quite a while cutting it up into various servings of slices, roasts and chunk but in the end I’m sure that our $18 worth will serve us for at least meals and plenty of sandwich lunches to boot. Ah, sweet.
That’s about it. Lovely to talk to the whole of the Polly family today (first time caught on Skype, wonderful), all looking fantastic and kids marvellous (hope Elsie feels better very soon), Polly’s got not one but TWO new jobs as of April so great guns going there, marvellous. Many thanks as well for the call from the Pie as well , VERY much appreciated, look forward to much more regular contact on a direct basis there and MANY thanks again for waza waza re-organising your whole telephone system to incorporate our needs, really incredibly thoughtful and again, much appreciated... hope to make FULL use of all 500 minutes per month so clear your calendar! Anyway, I’ll stop typing here and look for some pics instead, lots of love to all, Nancy xxx 
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