DAY 3 - KINKA BEACH...

 This morning Barb was planning to catch up with a good friend whom she hadn't seen for some time.  As I also know Dorothy quite well, I was invited along also, as even though we live in the same town, I also hadn't managed a catch up with her either.  We all follow each other on social media but that is not quite the same as a catch up in person.

I had suggested to Barb that we might meet Dorothy at the Ocean Brew Cafe at Emu Park.  It is a very popular little cafe and I have been there several times myself.  It is always busy, so you know that it is good...

 

Dorothy, Chris and I

Dorothy arrived around the same time as we did, and we were quite surprised to see a table of ladies that we all knew.  A few of these ladies where school Mums with us when our kids were in primary school together, so it was nice to have a chat and hear about where each of our children are at now...

Dorothy, Barb and I.

We must have spent a couple of hours there, first enjoying morning tea together but that soon morphed into lunch as well.  It was good to see Dorothy, I really think she needed the morning out and I really think that catching up with Barb was good for her as she has been doing life pretty tough lately and having a shoulder to lean on was just what she needed.

After we had some lunch, we decided to do a spot of shopping in Emu Park.  Dorothy was keen to go to the little fabric shop and I was also happy to visit there as it where I have bought fabric previously to make my peg aprons.  

We all had a little splurge, with Barb even buying fabric to make herself a dress.  Maybe I need to get back into doing a little sewing for me also...

Choosing fabric..

After we all purchased our fabric we went next door to a great little shop that made clothes from the 50's era.   Sarah would have loved them...  Ideal for work clothes for when she goes teaching... We had fun browsing through the shop.  Barb ended up buying herself a very wide elasticized belt like we all wore in the 70's.  She bought a red one of course....

We all fell in love with the pineapple dress though...

From here we headed back to the caravan park.  Dorothy followed in her car and I left them both then to head back to our van to have a bit of a nanna nap.  It also gave Barb and Dorothy a good chance to really chat.  I would catch up with them a little later in the afternoon. 

Good friends..

It was after 4pm before Dorothy left.  John and Barb with joining in with a few other the Avaners for drinks so Steve and I decided to take a stroll along the beach at sunset.  It was a lovely afternoon but we could see that a storm was brewing again, so we didn't linger too far away from the track back up from the beach.  We didn't want to get caught way up the beach if there was a down pour, especially not if it was a storm with plenty of thunder and lightning...

The sunset this afternoon was quite spectacular with the storm clouds all lit up...

Heading to the beach...

There is even beauty in the weeds...

The beach was pretty empty and we pretty much had it to ourselves.  This is definitely my happy place.  There is nothing more relaxing to be on the beach and listen to the waves breaking in upon the shore...

We wandered along the beach for a shore while and collected a few shells.  I enjoy searching for pretty and unusual shells, and each one of them has a beauty of its own. 

The sunset was just getting prettier and prettier and we spent some time just watching it, and enjoying the quickly changing skyline...

We had been hearing the rumble of thunder for a little while but once we saw the lightning, we knew that it was time to pack up and head back to the safety of our van..  Still it has been nice to get out onto the beach and to just take some time out to appreciate and enjoy the beauty of nature around us...

Our home for the week...

Back home safe and sound.  We didn't have much time spare either before the rain fell.  Fortunately the storm this evening is not as severe as the one we had last night...

More storms are predicted for tomorrow.  In fact the ones predicted for tomorrow are severe with large hail predicted to fall.  We have all been told to baton down.  Our emergency plans tomorrow are to head to Yeppoon where we can take shelter under cover at one of the undercover car parks...