TOURIST TUESDAY: ROAD TRIPPING TO NAMBUCCA

There is a small child under there reading the map. 

Last week-end, Justin was booked to do a wedding in Nambucca Heads. Since the bride paid for two nights accommodation for him, I thought Jarvis and I may as well go along for a mini-getaway.

We knew the drive there, with a toddler was not going to be easy. so we got up at 3am, shifted a sleeping Jarvis in the car, and a sleeping Justin, and hit the road. I know I should appreciate the fact there were basically no other cars on the road, and watching the sunrise was nice. But wow, I was tired. I got us to Ballina where we stopped for breakfast. Jarvis had his first ever Maccas meal, a serving of hot cakes, which he declared "not good", but said the playzone was fun.

Then Justin took over the driving. I settled into the passenger position. Yup, the one where you fall asleep, get a sore neck, drool just enough to show your partner what a great catch you are, and keep head butting the window.

We stopped somewhere at some park, but I opted to still sleep on the window.

We were not going to stop again, but stopped at a vintage shop along the road. The creepy mannequin caught our eye, two really good shops side by side stocked with so many fantastic vintage goodies. I was good, I restrained myself. But I went back into the first one to ask the price of a vintage globe, and ended up having a big chat to the owner.  I forgot to take his portrait, but he gave Jarvis and I gifts.

This is not the owner, but the creepy mannequin. You can also see the globe I wanted behind him.

Our next stop was the Big Banana. Lunch and of course I had to purchase a tacky souvenir. I have a weakness for fridge magnets and globes, both for under $10 I was happy. We all declared the meal "not good".

Lucky the drive was not too far once we left the Banana, as I think we were all over it.

My top tips for road trips with a toddler:

1: Travel to suit their sleep times

2: Small snacks

3: Small toys that can be played with in their car seat (only give one or two at a time)

4: Have the (normally) Mumma squish into the back seat, and sit holding their hand and playing eye spy. I got a few hours out of this. Our favourite, yelling caravan, or bus each time we would see one. Not sure how good this was for Justin's driver concentration.