Magic with Merlin
Bateau Bay, Central Coast, NSW
1-27 November 2017
Dear Jacky and Gerry,
I told my Mum and Dad that I had a wonderful time while you were looking after me and our house. I loved the walks by the Lake and my favourite runs on the beach. My Mum and Dad were pleased with your care of their house and hope you might be able to do it again in 2019 when I think they are looking at leaving me again. It was nice to be well groomed when Mum and Dad returned. Thanks, I loved your company.
Merlin.
Yes, Bateau Bay gave us a very special gift. The gift of Merlin!
Jacky
I could write a book on our adventures in Central Coast. Gerry had built homes and lived in the area donkey’s years ago but the visit was a first for me.
And I loved it!
We were in a 4 level house with the cutest little Jack Russell called Merlin. I could not have wished for a cuter, funnier, more loving little fella than this bundle of excitement, mischief and complete adorability!
Like all little dogs, he thought he was a Great Dane – until we met one on the beach and he looked up, way up, at this massive dog and then took flight! He chased every bird he saw whether on the lead or not. Being under two years old he is still a pup and so full of beans. While Gerry was out at work each day, Merlin was my constant companion. Upstairs, downstairs, inside, outside. Curled around my feet while I spent endless hours working on the website. The first day when Gerry came home, he stood between us and barked his little head off, already my protector.
In bed in the mornings, he would hop on the bed and come right up and rest his front paws on my chest. Then he’d look across at Gerry as if to say, “She’s mine!” When we sat in the lounge room in the evenings his basket was between the two armchairs and when he slumped down in his basket, that was the cue to cover him right over with a sheet. He loved tunnelling in bed too. Such a comical little mate.
Merlin was just the icing on the cake of a house sit that was super fun. We both worked hard. Gerry as a courier and myself spending hour after hour working on the website ready for the launch of our new business. But there was never a shortage of things to do during our downtime. Of course, we found a yoga studio but we did quite a lot of yoga and filming at home as the light and space were really suited to filming. The owners’ daughter did a couple of sessions with us which we were really happy about. We caught up with some old friends of mine a few times. I was missing my friends and social life in Melbourne so I had set an intention for more social fun. We found it! The Lakes festival was happening while we were there and we could not have timed it better. Events were on at all sorts of locations and we also had Gerry’s birthday to celebrate.
I wanted to give him a one-off experience that he would never forget. Enter an old Tigermoth and he was Biggles for an hour, complete with leather jacket supplied!
We saw Winterbourne by default and the Potbellies astounded with their dj sync style and crazy beats. We won tickets to the Lighthouse Festival. A very special event right on the point by the Lighthouse. An older, calmer audience until Busby Marou came on. Even though the sound was not the greatest, we were in the mosh pit boogying with everyone else. We lay in a bed to watch an outdoor movie on a blow-up screen but they had technical issues so we never got to see the movie whose name I can’t even remember!
