Sunday 5th December - Mum's birthday!

This morning was a slightly later wake up, Rory slept in a bit (I remembered to fix the blinds) and when she woke up apparently quietly opened the door to outside and slipped out without Lizl or I even knowing.  She went to Pip and Tom's unit and then tried to jail break George out as well, to go play I assume.  It was both impressive and scary.  I did not sleep well this time, was awake until about 1am.  Too hot, and a silent mozzi bit me a couple of times.

This morning's task was to take ownership of a hire car.  The car hire guy turned up at about 9am, Dad wanted me to be the primary driver as he was worried that the premiums would go up for someone of his advanced age.  The car was nice enough but a bit shabby, probably 10 years old.   Old mate wanted us to drive him back to his office to do the paperwork.  Turns out his "office" was some random palm tree with his bike leaning against it, and the paper works was me signing my name in a notepad as old as the car.  He didn't ask to see my drivers' licence or anything, and just hopped on his bike and slowly cycled away.  Dad thought this whole situation was hilarious laughed the whole way home.

Next we split into 2 groups - one filled with ladies went to roam the graveyards of Lord Howe Island, the other filled with men and babies went to Lord Howe's premier play equipment and outdoor gym.  The play equipment was pretty good actually, and the kids had a fun time.  The gym equipment was new too, and in good nick.  Once the ladies finished their ghoulish gallivanting they met us at the play equipment and we went on to the island's museum.  After leaving the museum I realised I spent most of my time entertaining kids and didn't actually learn anything about the island which was a bit disappointing in hindsight.

Then it was time for lunch and naps.  This time due to my poor sleep I napped as well, probably for about an hour.  Managed to catch up on twitter and also started to read my bitcoin book.  First time I've read a book in years.

Once naps were done it was time to prepare for the birthday event.  The plan was to have a fancy picnic on some remote part of the island, fully catered and setup.  We planned to go for a walk nearby first, and then amble over to the picnic location.  The ladies and babies took the hire car, and Dad, Tom, and I rode bikes.  Considering the speed limit is 25km/h and Pip was driving, team: bikes only turned up a few minutes after team: car.  At this point the weather was closing in, and by the time we were 5 mins into the walk it started spitting, and by the time we got back to the cars it was properly raining.  Team: car bundled into the car and breathed sighs of relief, team: bikes huddled under a tree, unsuccessfully.  We decided we needed to get hold of the lady who was setting up the picnic, but with no internet or mobile reception, the best option we had was for team: car to drive back to The Beachcomber for some internet to try and email the lady to see what the backup plan was.  A minute after team: car drove off a big van came down the road which we thought was possibly the picnic lady.  Tom semi waved the van down, but as it got closer we realised it was from Capella lodge, which was very close by.  Even so, she stopped and said "are you John? I have a message from Danielle - she's setting up in Ned's beach lodge".  So now team: bikes had important information, and team: car were completely clueless and had a head start.  I came up with the brilliant idea to stop at the golf club where we thought there would be free internet and send a message/email to team:car upon their Beachcomber arrival.  I was overruled, however, and we just forged on back to town.  By pure dumb luck when we arrived at the town we saw team: car walking down the street, having just tried to use the local free phone to call the lady.  We caught up with them and gave them the news.  Next stop: Ned's beach lodge.  As we arrived the rain started coming down even harder, but we were inside and the picnic lady had set it all up and it looked amazing.  The kids had their own little table with a bunch of toys, vegies, and most importantly - cheese.  The adults had a low table and cushions with crackers and whatnot.  It looked amazing, but the reality was unless you were flexible it wasn't very comfortable.  Team: bikes ended up sitting on a bench table just behind while the ladies stayed at the low table.  After some eating we went for a walk on the beach and saw some fish and crabs in a rock pool, and then packed up to leave.  On the way home it was dark and raining again, and team: bike almost took out some mutton birds that seemed to be roosting right on the road.  We all made it home intact.

Points of notes

• The kids LOVED being in the hire car - no car seats or seatbelts required 
• I drank scotch and coke out of a cocktail glass - twice as wide as it was tall.  Would not recommend