Jindilli

It turned out that a couple of visits to Mason and Joss' macadamia farm weren't enough. We had to camp there for a week to really get a sense of it...

I don't think we were ready to leave the Northern Rivers behind, nor the company of our friends.  We parked our van in front of the big shed and had "school of the farm" for a few days.
There were quite a few highlights, like riding the postie bike, Mason's birthday dinner, and watching a little bit of powered paragliding.  One day for "recess", we loaded into the ute and drove down to the front gate to see a Jabiru! Marvellous to see such a massive bird just hanging around doing it's thing so far south.
We also had the opportunity to share a meal with some other "old" friends of ours from John Hunter days, Marion Tait and Andrew Peart.  The three boys had a spectacular time with their new friends, Ella, Sylvie and Annie, Marion and Andrew's girls.  We loved seeing their sustainable home, eating their yummy food, sharing great conversation and wished we could have spent more time...  Aaah.  Next time!!

Back to the farm - for Mason's birthday, there was an Around the World in 39 Years theme and we enjoyed some pretty special treats from many different cuisines. The thermomix got a workout making choux pastry for a croque-en-bouche. We also made up three sorts of custard to fill them, chocolate, vanilla and coconut. It was foodie heaven! After dinner Mason's friend, Cedar, made a round of fireworks. The boys certainly loved sending their rockets into the night sky.  Shan't put the recipe down here, but it was a fairly simple (and well supervised) affair that yielded only one semi-dud out of quite a few successes.

Our last evening was lovely.  A late afternoon swim at The Pass, followed by some spectacular Japanese food  and chatting late into the night.  Thanks Mason and Joss for a really wonderful few days!