A Mother & Daughter Road Trip

A last minute decision to go the Mum Heart Conference in Northern New South Wales turned in to  a mother & daughter road trip. It was a last minute decision because there seemed to be too many obstacles when I initially thought of going but then everything worked out quite quickly, even down to booking a place at the Conference when the bookings had closed.
So here we are heading north out of Sydney around 7 a.m. Happy to be heading up to a slightly warmer spot!

By mid-morning the weather was clearing up nicely and the traffic was great! We've done many 

trips between Sydney and Brisbane and the traffic is usually fairly constant, if not heavy. This was a dream run.

We listened to a couple of chapters of Isaiah on the Bible App & then on to an old favourite,
Mr. Standfast. 

The Big Banana at Coff's Harbour

We took a detour off the main road to got to visit Erin, a fellow blogger. Erin & I first 'met' via a Charlotte Mason Families Sharing Newsletter which dates back to about 2001. We had about 20 to 30 families from all over Australia who each produced their own Newsletter and sent it by post to everyone else on the list. This went of for a few years before the internet took over. It was so good to meet her and some of her children & Moozle enjoyed making some new friends. Two hours later, we thought we better get back on the road!

Back on the main road heading north

We arrived at our destination after a few more stops at 8.07 pm - Miss 13 yr old kept a log of the trip detailing stops, refuels, mileage, etc.
Grandma drove down from Brisbane the next morning and picked Moozle up to take her for the weekend - they visited the art gallery, went on the 'Wheel (eye) of Brisbane' & did some painting back at home, and other bits & pieces, while I stayed with some of my husband's family who live near the Conference area.

This photo of Wheel of Brisbane is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The Mum Heart Conference was excellent and I was thankful I made the effort to go. Mums from as far away as Darwin, Western Australia & Tasmania came along for two days of kindred company & encouragement. I caught up with some old friends and made some new ones. The theme of the conference was 'Be Still & Know God's Heart.' I really enjoyed Annette McCredie's practical & inspiring sessions on 'God's Heart for Your Children' & 'God's Heart for Your Marriage,' - the latter being a much needed focus for homeschooling mothers, I think.
Brooke Pipes gave an excellent talk about the importance of 'Keeping a Soft Heart.' Unforgiveness, disappointment and fear can cause our hearts to become calloused therefore it is necessary that we  guard our hearts. If you have an opportunity I'd recommend getting a copy of these.

Kingscliff Beach

There had been a pod of whales here earlier in the day but we didn't see any, unfortunately:

On the way home we listened to Adrian Praetzellis narrate The Thirty-Nine Steps.

'Peak hour traffic' on the way home. What a pleasant change from Sydney!

We stopped in at Byron Bay which is a short detour off the main highway. I travelled through this area before I was married when it was just a little hippy coastal town. Since then it has become a trendy destination and I was put off by all the restricted meter parking everywhere. The coastline is still beautiful though.

The road up to Cape Byron Lighthouse

 Looking south

Bookshop Alert!! I saw a sign for this bookshop on the way up but it was too late in the day to visit so we made sure we did on the way home. Moozle found four books to add to her Walter Farley collection.

I took my husband's car on this trip as it's cheaper on fuel. I've only ever driven it in the city or during the day and as it became dark I had trouble seeing. I was complaining about how bad the car's lights were & saying 'I don't know how Dad can drive this car with such poor headlights,' etc etc. This went on for a good hour and a half, at least, with me hunched over the steering wheel, peering into the darkness...then I think I must have reached up to push my hair back from my face & found I was still wearing my sunglasses from earlier in the day! Mmm... made a huge difference when I took them off. The funny thing was that Moozle didn't even notice I had them on either.

The trip wouldn't have been complete without me doing something stupid. I have a long history of  doing this sort of thing. Anyhow, we arrived home safely in the end after our 1,600km/1000mile  round trip.

One of my favourite travel songs: