It’s the Anzac weekend here in Australia and we’re spending it in Culburra Beach . Booked a 4 bedroom beachfront cottage good for our entire family plus pets. Reminded me of our Lake Conjola weekends until my nephew lost the lake house in a New Year’s Eve bushfire 🥲 The temp’s dropping and this tropical dame started worrying over her inadequate wardrobe. Having arrived here over a month ago with clothing good for only 3 days and hardly any fit for chilly mornings, I had to make do with a borrowed hoodie, fleece coat and puffer jacket. No chance I’d be out there in the sandy beach with the dogs. From end to end, it’s a 5 kilometer stretch and one has many spot options to watch the sun rise or set. I can choose to stay out with the kids and pets while the rest of family preps our meals. A perfect way to shun kitchen duties, but one has to endure the cold. Not exactly a brilliant idea to chill (pardon the pun) 🥶

Culburra Beach in the South Coast

We brought 2 dogs and 2 guinea pigs with us. I wonder if they’re excited to spot a pod of dolphins here or a romp at the beach is enough to make them happy. Maybe we’d all be lucky to even spot whales? Gritting my teeth as the cold wind blows, I remember previous beach weekends in Narooma, Kiama, Jervis Bay and Anna Bay. My OZ family is very outdoorsy and the men are very much into rock climbing and bush walking. Like we can talk the whole evening just talking about hiking shoes and sneakers. As for the women? We talk about the men and their idiosyncrasies 🤣 And between my sister and me, we have a long history to recall.

So you get the drift. This family weekend trip is all we need to chatter endlessly, stroll the beach, walk the dogs and feast on Filipino food like Trump finally managed to start World War III. You’d be shocked to find our food stash being unloaded from the car trunks. A weekend? You’d think we’d be here for 2 weeks! But that’s par for the course. If there’s something we typically overdo, it is in the feeding department. Culburra just happens to be the chosen destination and chilly or not, we’re here to have a fun weekend.

Our crib for the AnZac weekend