FORBES & DUBBO NSW

Forbes...this town is always going to be my most special place because it is where I have the best memories of our family holidays with dad. Every second christmas we would pack up our trailer and drive across the nullabor. I was still very young but the memories I have are of happiness and fun. It is also the place that my dad grew up in and where all dad's family live. My Grandma, my Pappy (who I miss so much) Uncle Lindsay, Aunty Arlene, Rob, Kerri, Aunty Rachael, Uncle Bill, Uncle Porky, Rick & Pete were always so excited to see us and we would have family get togethers at every chance we could. Most often we would have family reunions with Grandma's family the Ellis's in Dubbo at the zoo and then Pappy's family the Sargent's in Bathurst at the park (I have new pictures of this beautiful park)

So each time I arrive in Forbes my heart beats with excitement as I become that excited little girl that cant wait to see her much loved family. This time was even more special because I got to share it with Clint, Slade, Shelby & Isla. And, when I left there as hard as it was to say goodbye I knew that I was taking away another memory of happiness and fun!!

We stayed at the Forbes Big 4 for most of the time which was on the road out to Pappy's place, a small park but it had a pool, bouncy pillow and playground for the kids. It was also safe enough for the kids to ride happily around on their bikes. There was the whipper snipper incident where the owner wanted to do around our van and Clint told him in few words to rack off and come back tomorrow. After the last snipper man snipped out hoses in Darwin we werent to fond of this one repeating the hassle.

We stayed at the park for 3 weeks we werent sure about staying out at Aunty Arlene's and Uncle Lindsay's as Arlene was diagnosed with bowel cancer late last year and was just recovering from having it all cut out successfully, so we didnt want to burden her. As it turned out they both invited us to bring the van up to their house to spend the last week which was really great.

Slade loved being the farmer with Uncle Lindsay going out in the ute and feeding the sheep. We had many nights up at the farm talking to after midnight which was really special although I think Uncle Lindsay was feeling it the next morning ha ha. Uncle Lindsay had about 7 black working dogs and Shelby had a special relationship with Bunny and she loved seeing her everyday. Isla loved swinging the days away on Aunty Arlene's old hills swing set, it was a little squeeky when we got there but Clint found some oil and it was quiet as a mouse.

Back at the park on the first week Aunty Rachael and Uncle Bill also stopped with us for a week in their van and they parked next to us. They were on their way back to Renmark but wanted to spend a bit more time with us. At night we were back to watching satellite's and even got Kerri, Holly, Wally and Laura hooked on it too. And speaking of Wally, Slade and him instantly formed a special friendship (as Slade usually does with people) and about an hour into meeting each other were inseparable saying they were 'best cousins' instead of best friends!! Laura and Shelby hit it off as girls do and Holly took a shine to Isla. Peta which is Rob and Lou's little girl with her cute little curls loved all the kids and they loved her back just the same.

We went up to Redhill which is Rob and Lou place one night for Pizza and see their extensions. They should be very proud of their work, their house was fantastic huge rooms and a large usuable living area. The outside was just as nice with a covered verandah all the way around. They had a cubby on stilts out the back which the kids loved and played into the night. I really loved their place at the top of hill it was so peacefull looking out at the paddocks. Peace didnt last long though that night as the bourbons kept coming out and I must say that Rob was the pissiest of us all. As the night went on and he got drunker he spilled the beans on his AC/DC tickets telling us he had a spare and would we like to come. We said Yeah of course but he started to get a little protective of his precious tickets and started to think we were conspiring to steal them, so we went along with that for awhile just for a laugh. The funniest was when we caught up with Dawsey the next night and told him that we bought all of 4 tickets from Rob and that he wasnt going!!! That was priceless because for a minute he did believe us. But you couldnt fool Rob he could of been in a coma and you wouldn't of got his tickets!!

We caught up with Kerri and Matt quite a few times but Matt works out at the mines and does shift work so he needed to sleep, but we caught up when we could. He took us for a drive to where he works at the gold mine and it was very interesting to see. Kerri was my best cousine when we were growing up she would never leave my side when we came to Forbes and I remember one time when I had to leave and was parking my bag when she dived onto it and protested that I could not go!! Now she is the mother of 3 beaut kids and she should be proud of how special they are. There was a little friction with Uncle Lindsay and Kerri when we first arrived but a little whisper to the gentle giant and he became the grandad of all grandads. I was asked for help and I hope I made a difference to them both. My only speech to them is that Life is too short, so if the world gets on your shoulders get it off as quick as possible because the happiness makes life last a lot longer. I love them both!!

We went out to Uncle Porky's house at Gareema this was on my to do list. his place was an old Post Office in a 4 house town it was old and run down but with its own character. Uncle Porky is not a fussy man just one who gets on with his day to day business. He let us wander through the house and I loved it, not for its look but just for knowing he had a place he called home. It was great to see him and he was equally excited to see all of us he came out to the caravan park and had dinner and drinks with us too. As I write this though now he is not very well and we are awaiting tests on how he is doing.

We went to Dubbo for a night to catch up with Don and Kerrie and also saw Daphne and Norm. Daphne is Dad's cousin and she was wrapped to see us all. The next day Kerrie and Don took us around Dubbo to all the kids playground and the kids absolutely loved it!!

We went out for a couple of days with everyone to the surroundings towns of Forbes. A lot of little tiny towns with pubs, I guess you know whats important...Beer and counter lunches. We went to this really neat place called Albert to a pub called 'The Rabbit Trap', excellent lunch and a kids section...priceless.

Rob and Lou showed us 'The Utes in the Paddock' which is a whole lot of artists doing their art on old holden utes (good choice of make too). See my pics on this link
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052692&id=1178196973&l=dff551d553

Soemthing special to me was to visit a childhood memory of mine which was 'The Cottage' this is where Pappy and Grandma lived and where I spent most of my christmas holidays. When I was really little I remembered a place called 'Oak Park' another family home which was built by my great great great grandfather(Ellis). A whole lot of history here which I managed to get from another of my Dads cousins Dawn and her husband Ron Welsh. She was so happy to meet the kids and she told Slade;

I am so happy to have met you because, I loved your grandfather he was my cousin and he was very special to me and I miss him very much. To have met his grandkids means so very much, thank you.


I can tell you that I was holding back the tears because it meant so much to me for her to meet the kids too. She said they were a pleasure to have had over and so very polite and kind.

Thank you Aunty Arlene for making the call to Dawn and by giving me that family history. We both had a lot of fun looking at old pictures.

We went out to Dawes place which is Rob's best mate and a "Farmer needing a Wife". I hope he meets someone eventually he's not a bad sort. WE had a drive around his farm and out on one of his property's was another house of the Sargent's where all the kids grew up. It was old and run down as are all the others but still have that something special...memories. On the way out of his place we managed to get a flat tyre from a sharp piece of stick in the paddock. We werent far out of town and had to pull over and fix it. Luckily Uncle Lindsay had stopped in town and he saw us on his way home and helped Clint change the tyre.

Anyway I had the best time here and I could rabbit on for ages but I still have more blogging to catch up on.

So check out the pics Oh and we visited the Dish in Parkes so theres pics of that too...Enjoy


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052697&id=1178196973&l=
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051649&id=1178196973&l=3aabd88c35