Merimbula

Hi all for the first time in a while,

We set off yesterday morning for Merimbula, NSW by car. If you’re wondering why this trip is on my blog called “Claire Overseas”, it’s because after Merimbula we are headed to Wollongong, and then to Sydney to hop on a cruise to Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

Our daughter Eliza is 17 months old now, so travelling is quite different to our last trip in May to Samoa as she now walks, runs and talks (“mama”, “dada”, “nana”). She’s very busy and into everything. Many snacks were packed, as were a few busy toys to keep her occupied to make the car trip go more smoothly!!

We got ready fairly quickly in the morning and set off at 8.30am having mostly packed the car the night before. We stopped a few times along the way including at the Wooden Park Playground in Morwell where Eliza enjoyed driving the pretend train. We then pushed on to Bruthen where we enjoyed a lunch at the bakery. A salad roll and vanilla slice for me, sausage roll and caramilk slice for Rob, bits of each and a pouch, fruit and salad for Eliza. We ate in the park opposite the bakery and couldn’t believe how loud the traffic was for such a little town. So many trucks and motorbikes passing through, Eliza loved waving to them all. Last time we had been in Bruthen was with our friends Alisha and Shannon and their 14 month old Matilda in January 2024. Now Matilda is 3, Eliza is 17 months and they’re good friends. I was actually pregnant with Eliza at that time but a couple of weeks off knowing I was!

A couple of hours later we stopped at Cann River at another playground to let Eliza stretch her legs. She’s loving steering wheels at the moment and gave those a good workout again. It became more and more remote after this and we eventually crossed the border into New South Wales. I must have really low expectations of Victoria since Covid, but the roads weren’t quite as terrible as I thought they'd be on the Victorian stretch of our drive. They were bad, but not terrible. You could definitely notice the difference once we got into New South Wales though. No more potholes and much smoother!!

We arrived in Merimbula around 6pm. Eliza was such a good girl all day. It was a huge day with so much time in the car but she had a nap, happily accepted snacks and played with some different toys. She danced along to Ms Moni, putting her hands up and down, clapping etc. Her favourite toy by far was a felt farm book with lots of bits to play with, take out etc that my Mum leant us. She got a bit cranky towards the end but even I was a bit over the drive by then too.

We arrived at our accommodation right by the beach in Merimbula, quickly unpacked and then had dinner at the RSL. Rob had a parma and I had garlic prawns. Eliza wasn’t into much of our veggies or sides which was weird as she’s usually a great eater, but a quick trip to Woolies afterwards found some fruit and toddler microwave meals that did the trick. By this time we were all quite tired so we came home and went to bed. Eliza "helped" Rob setup the portacot. She slept 8.5 hours solid, had a drink and then slept another 2.5 hours. At home she’s usually up at about 2am for a cuddle then back to sleep, so it was a nice surprise sleeping until 5!!

This morning we walked to Cranky Cafe, a five minute walk from our apartment right by the beach. We enjoyed breakfast together, Eliza is doing so well using a spoon and ate her cereal like a pro. Then we headed to the beach. It is so beautiful seeing Eliza at the beach, she absolutely loves it. She toddles around on the sand, runs towards the waves laughing like a maniac, and loves a swim. We are lucky she also loves wearing her sun hat. We stayed for two hours and she waved to every plane and dog that she could see.

Next, we headed to the nearby playground. Some cheeky lorikeets wanted Eliza’s snacks and came so close to us, quickly flying off once she had eaten them. She enjoyed the park for about half an hour and then we headed back. We met the owner of the apartment complex, Bev, who was lovely. Then we gave Eliza a shower, some lunch and put her to bed. Our apartment here is fantastic. We have a lounge room and two bedrooms, and we are so close to the pool that while Eliza slept the monitor reached far enough that we could swim and read our books by the pool. In the first photo I’ll include of the pool, our room is the one on the very left at ground level.

Eliza slept for about an hour, I’m trialling a shorter nap to see if it helps overnight again like it did yesterday. Then we set off on a walk into town. It was a bit windy by this point. Rob and I can’t remember Merimbula at all but both came here when we were kids. We headed to the ice cream shop and shared our ice creams with Eliza, who wasn’t impressed with having to get into the pram afterwards!!  We finished our walk at the Boardwalk, seeing some pelicans flying over us. There were no rails along the path, and Rob and I commented in Victoria the path would have to be 5m wide and have ginormous rails along it!

We are back in the room relaxing now and are going to have fish and chips from the shop down the road tonight. Bev gave us a high chair which will make dinner here easier! Eliza is so funny, she keeps running around carrying the recycling basket around and playing with the cardboard I have put in there while I write this.

Love to all,
Claire
Xoxox