Pfarewell Pfyffer's... Again

Sydney, NSW, Australia

This morning we awoke next to the mammoth Mighty motorhome of our friends. The kids were clearly happy to be together again. Last night they ran around until 10:00 playing tag and this morning the game continued in the now water filled mud flats where the tiny crabs had marched around yesterday.

Quick paddle on some borrowed kayaks

Since we Hoornaert’s were due to turn in our small camper van later in the day, we spent the later part of the morning sorting through the myriad of belongings that had found homes in various pockets, shelves and other locations in the van. By noon, as the day grew progressively hotter, we had everything forced back into our backpacks and were ready to depart.

We agreed to head north towards the van drop-off location, grab lunch, then find a good beach to spend the rest of the day. As we drove out of the Royal National Park, the car thermometer climbed from 35 to 42C (95 to 107F)!  With Meg and I responsible for selecting a lunch spot, we settled on McDonald’s to save money, time and most importantly, get out of the heat.

The rest of the day, we spent in the blissfully cool water avoiding the blazing 100+F heat. Much of the time was spent tossing a food container lid around as a frisbee and enjoying a chance to play together again. Anne pretended to be embarrassed by all the ruckus we were making, but she wasn't very convincing.

Since Meg and I had returned our van after lunch, we all piled into the large Mercedes motorhome for dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant. On the plus side, the motorhome had tons of space inside; on the down side, it is way harder to park than the van we had. Twenty minutes after dropping us off, Anne and Etienne made it to the restaurant having found street parking (and a place to spend the night) on a residential street. It was a delight to be able to meet again -- our third continent of the trip. We joked that we will all need warmer coats if we are ever able to meet on the seventh continent. See you later Pyffer’s -- maybe in New Zealand?

Plenty of room inside