On the last day in Ballina, we had a bit of free time, and Mum took us to her favourite beach, Shelly Beach. We crunched in the sand, paddled in the waves, and clambered over rocks.
I announced the "Best Creature" competition - find a good creature in the rocks to enter. You know, crabs, starfish, lobsters...
The entries came thick and fast.
There were these anemones.
Jonathan found a tiny live crab.
Mum found a huge not-live crab, who agreed to pose very nicely.
Then mum entered again with a cool jellyfish.
And I took the time to enjoy watching the birds. The terns were doing that thing where they flutter into the wind, then dive for a fish, and come back up again.
I pointed this out to Jeff, and I assumed he'd join me in enjoying the pretty sight. Instead, he called Jonathan and Thomas over. "Watch this, guys". He made a gun out of his hand, trained it on a tern, and watched for the moment when it folds its wings back. Then he shouted "BANG!" as the bird plunged.
And the three of them spent the next fifteen minutes "shooting" birds. Sigh.
