The Long Drive Picnic. about 1989.

Foxymoron's blog inspired this tale... she was posting about a day she spent with her kids going on a picnic and just following their noses....

It reminded me of a day our family came to call "the long drive picnic." We drove up into the mountains west of Port Macquarie...in mid summer (Que???) and we spent the time looking for a way to get off the road and to the rivers and creeks...okay for us but none were wheelchair accessible. We broke down outside the Long Flat pub and the Bikers all came out and got us going again... after meandering about down gravel roads and in and out the bush, we gave up trying to find a place where we could all get near the water for our picnic. We drove all the way back to Port Macquarie...to the picnic area near the North Shore ferry, only ten mins from home...thats why they called it the long drive picnic... it was great fun and the kids were highly amused...I remember finally turning into the picnic area at Port Macquarie, close to where we had set off from and the old Kombi van was sheer rocking with laughter at our predicament. The kids were great...no way did they want to enjoy their picnic unless don could also get in under the shade or near the water... it was lovely and we all remember it vividly.

The girls were about 14 and 11. Don was 38 and me about 34...so long ago but as i write this it seems like it just happened...in another world.