Here we go again! Another wrap up of our time at Pizzeys! It was a shorter stay this time, but we still packed in everything we wanted. The weather was mostly kind to us, with lots of sunshine and only spurts of rain – yes, some of it was torrential, but it never lasted long and didn’t stop us from doing anything.

We had an incredible view of the full moon rising over the river for two of the three nights and it was truly breathtaking. I will never tire of this sight.

The fish were biting and the kids were catching! Lots of keepers and just as many chuckers. Thomas even landed a mudcrab! It wasn’t a keeper but it was a fun catch for sure. Quinn learnt how to cook her bream, and caught and cooked a few for us all to enjoy.

The kids all chipped in on the washing up as per Pizzeys tradition. Chance also cooked us pancakes for breakfast which he does every time! There was a lot of hanging on the pontoons and just relaxing.

We had a fire and marshmallows for two of the three nights which is always fun for the kids. Marty and Thomas were up, though Marty had to work in at the Hervey Bay office on Monday, but joined in when he could. I know I say this every time, but even though it’s quite a bit of work to prepare, we always have the best time! My friend Sian and her partner and his son came for a visit on Sunday which was lovely as always. So nice to share this place with friends!

Out of the four kids, Darby is the least keen on Pizzeys, but he still finds enough to fill his days. He loves reading and we play Scrabble, and he decided to get creative with the Jenga blocks, telling us “I’m going fishing!” and showing us his creation! And Julius caught a keeper, landing it all on his own, then learning how to humanely kill the fish and scale and clean it. These are very important parts of the fishing process, and I’m so glad that Grumpy has taught them these valuable lessons.

Chance and Julius were in charge of the crab pots this trip. They checked them at least twice a day and Chance learnt how to get the crabs out, letting the Jennys (females) go, as well as the undersized Bucks (males) and getting the keepers in the bucket. He also had to re-bait them and throw them back in. He was really great at it, and I really marveled at how much responsibility he takes on, all in his stride. He has been coming here regularly since he was seven, so he knows his way around. We caught two keeper-crabs and as always, Gran made the most amazing crab and camembert quiche. Yum!!

Marty brought up a DND type game called Hero Kids that he set up and played with Darby, Julius and Thomas and they had a great time! One of our country cousins also caught a massive fish the last night we were there and it was the biggest fish I’ve seen caught up there in ages!

Before we even left, Chance, Quinn and Julius were asking if we can come up again in the September school holidays! So hard to say no to this request! So yeah, we will look into it for sure. We only got over to a sandbar once this trip, as the tide times weren’t in our favour. The river was actually very murky and muddy and the sandbars have shifted so much in the last few years. Hopefully we can get the boat in a bit earlier next time so we can have a few more trips out.

As always, we are so incredibly grateful to have this place to have our holidays at each year. It takes a lot of work to maintain and we really appreciate all of our family members who work so hard to keep it going for us all to enjoy. Until next time!