There’s no such thing as bad weather, just not the right clothing. 

This saying was repeating around my head as Jack and I headed towards the beautiful Bournda National Park on Sunday as the rain patted down on the car. We could have stayed home and sat in front of the TV all afternoon, but I had better plans.

Bournda National Park, just north of Tura is like a nature theme park. Great surf, a range of challenging and mellow walking trails, fire trails to take on with your mountain bike, and Wallagoot Lake and Bournda Lagoon for other watery fun. But this theme park is no Disney Land, with kilometre long lines and overpriced fairy floss. No, Bournda is like finding Disney Land in the middle of somewhere like Dakota, with no waiting in lines for the rides and spectacular views replacing sugary confectionary.

We were dodging raindrops to try a little ‘father-son’ duatholon. Stand Up Paddle Boarding (SUP) on Bournda Lagoon followed by a short walk to enjoy snacks and the views. 

The calm waters of the lagoon are perfect pretty much anytime for a paddle. It only occasionally opens to the ocean and the trip out towards Sandy Creek is a special one. Our SUP is big enough so that both Jack and I can be on it. The outward journey had Jack paddling, with me kneeling behind him, enjoying looking at the rocky outcrops and tea trees and trying not to move around too much for fear of being reprimanded by the skipper.

As it usually goes, the tag team came in to play with the young man needing a break. “You can have a go now dad. Take us all the way back.” It was then I noticed that after a morning of rain, we hadn’t had a drop since we got out of the car. We paddled on, trying to find glimpses of the Sandy Creek walking track and chatting about important things in life, like Mario Kart video games and AFL player cards.

Dropping the SUP by the car, we changed and picked up my backpack to do some walking. The 6 km Sandy Creek track is a must do, with a coastal stretch and landscape ranging from rainforest to coastal heath. There’s even a cool water crossing. The full loop wasn't on the cards today, instead we did a short out and back, making sure we stopped at the lookout with views across the lagoon and out towards Bournda Island. 

We enjoyed some chips. No that’s not right, I enjoyed one chip and then obviously took too many photos because when I got back they had all been devoured by my 7 year old chip monster. Just a rookie mistake when it comes to father/son adventures.

We made our way back to the car, and I silently congratulated myself for risking the rain to get out there with my boy, and enjoy a great couple of ‘nature hours’ instead of staying home and sitting in front of the TV. As we drove away from the car park, the rain came down with force. I asked Jack how he enjoyed our adventure.

“It was cool... dad... can I play Mario on the computer when I get home?”

It’s Sunday night and I just got up from watching 30 minutes of TV. Nothing unusual there, but I just realised that I had no interest whatsoever in the program I sat through. It was just there. SIt down, click the remote and away you go.

Now this isn’t an anti TV rant. I like TV. Some of my most cherished childhood memories consist of watching ‘Monkey Magic’ with my brothers and then going outside and reenacting all the fighting scenes using mum and dads gardening equipment. No, it has just got me thinking about those snippets of time; 30 minutes here, an hour there, where, it’s easy to think there isn’t enough time to enjoy getting outside.

It’s especially relevant during those weeks like the one I’ve had. Away for work during the week and then things to get done over the weekend. There was definitely no chance of getting away for an extended period of adventure time.

I had an hour spare this morning so I quickly grabbed the board and ran down to the surf. The waves were pretty small, but the relative warmth of the water and beauty of the awakening sun made up for it. I love my local break. Rarely crowded, apart from when the dolphins come and make it be known who the real locals are, and when the waves are good, they are really good.

Having a spare 30 minutes is an opportunity for a quick run to the end of the headland, past the 30 odd kangaroos that in some parts of Australia, would see tourists lining by the dozen to take photos. Some mornings the wildlife experience can continue as the whales make their way along our coast.

A little more time and you can have fun rock hopping along the same headland. There are even a few safe places to climb.

End of a busy day can mean having the kids staying up a little later and going for an evening stroll through the bush tracks that surround us.

I’m looking forward to the summer, when we can again take dinner down to what we have declared as ‘our’grassy patch, overlooking a million dollar view and enjoy the late evening air.

From the couch, it can be easy to forget just what amazing places we have just outside, here on the Sapphire Coast.

And all those 30 minutes, those snippets of time, where you actively decide to ‘get out there’, add up. They clear the mind, connect you with family, friends, even yourself.

I’d go as far as to say it’s even better than watching the latest cooking reality TV show. Although, a reality show combining cooking and martial arts, well, that may be a different story.

You can learn a lot in 24 hours. Anyone who has crammed for an exam will tell you that. You can also have quite an adventure, especially where we live.

This 24 hours was spent on the Postman’s Track. Inland from Candelo, this track makes up some of the once used postal route from the hinterland to Kameruka in the 1800s. Back then they must have bred tough posties riding on horseback, especially when they would be fined if the mail was late. Today it makes for a great 4WD trail, with the odd creek crossing, some steep sections and hundreds of water bars, all through some beautiful parts of the South East Forest National Park.

The campground is located on the banks of the Tantawangalo Creek, and we, along with great friends, had it to ourselves. It’s a perfect setting, and the improvements to the campsite that National Parks are undertaking now will only make it better.

It’s a place we had never been to before, off the radar so to speak. But like most camping trips, there is always something new to experience and to learn. Here's ten.

1. An ‘upside down’ fire actually does work. It seems like voodoo science but you should give it a go.

2. Roasts cooked on a camp oven are pretty spectacular, but do take  a fair amount of preparation... big fire, coals     ready, moving the oven, more fire, more coals, repeat.

3. Given the opportunity, kids don’t need much to be entertained. Part of the campground soon became a mountain bike track, carefully made by dirty hands. The bikes went round and round and round.

4. Kids can paddle in freezing cold water for ages without feeling at all cold. Even when it begins to rain. Even when it begins to hail.

5. Hail stones are great entertainment for kids. Running around, they try to catch them with their mouths wide open, constantly asking “can you eat these?” as if they are some delicacy from above.

6. Our new camping mattress absolutely rocks! It’s like sleeping on air. Technically , it IS sleeping on air, but you get what I mean.

7. The 4WD out to Alexanders Hut is a must do. Great driving and finishing off at the old graziers hut, set on the hill overlooking treeless fields is a real treat.

8. The kids are getting really good at taking on longer bush walks. We walked the beautiful circular trail from Alexanders Hut (all 4.8km) with only our little one needing the odd carry from dad up hills and her mum almost needing a carry after spotting a red-belly black snake. This trail links on to the trails around Nannock Swamp, ready for another visit.

9. Our 4WD goes pretty well. It was only as we were towing the trailer back out from the campground towards Cathcart that we had a ‘mmm, we may have to be camping for another night’ kind of moment as a particularly steep section of track had the car working hard.

10.And finally, I learnt that when a leech attaches itself to one of my toes, I let out a particularly high pitched screech and wave my arms around frantically. I guess that’s just the kind of outdoor guy I am!

Yep. You certainly can fit a lot of learning into 24 hours.

Thanks to Geoff, Jo, Wyatt and Bronte for a great time!

I forgot I owned a washing machine once. There, I said it. 

I’d moved out of a shared house and spent the next 6 months walking to a Laundromat to do my washing while my washing machine sat in my old house, being used by others. To add insult to injury, I actually walked past this house, complete with washing machine, on the way to the Laundromat. Still didn’t remember.

I mention this because it’s easy to forget what may be right in front of you. It can be like that here. The Sapphire Coast is awash with amazing places to visit, some close, some a little further a field. Some, just down the road.

So on the weekend we had a morning free, so took the kids on the wonderful Rotary Park walk to Bar Beach. We haven’t done this walk for over a year now! It begins at the Rotary Park and skirts along the edge of the lake, out towards the Bar. Usually when we walk the kids lead, apart from on those hot, dry days when dad goes ahead as bait for any red belly black snake that may cross our path. 

Our two fearless leaders

It wasn’t long before we spotted our first lizard, which quickly led to a game where we counted how many lizards we could see. The kids would walk ahead, calling out ‘Lizard! That’s 7!’ as the reptile would scurry off into the protection of the bush. Their speed drew an adaptation to the game, where you only had to hear a lizard to add it to your tally. I think the final results were kids- 215, mum and dad- 7. 

   There are some special views to enjoy with information boards about the Djiringanj people and Merimbula of past

The path meanders along, ferns and boardwalks giving the impression you are wandering somewhere closer to far north Queensland. As you walk along, you are constantly rewarded with glimpses back towards town and out over the bar towards Pambula Beach.  On a low tide there are a few options to walk down to the lake and find your own secluded beach, but for us, the beach and coffee at the Bar were calling! 

Grumpy Trolls blocking the way! 

Apart from the occasional hold up from some grumpy old trolls who need you to answer a question to pass over the bridges, the 1 km walk flies by, leaving us plenty of time to grab some food and drink from the Bar Kiosk, and have a swim in the sheltered waters. Tired, sandy and wet kids meant that it was decided that I walk back to pick up the car. As I walked back there were already subtle differences in the light along the trail and on the water. It’s the kind of walk that you could happily do most days and never get bored.

And it’s certainly more memorable than any washing machine I’ve seen.

For more info, check out http://www.sapphirecoast.com.au/point-of-interest/merimbula-walks/?t=1729