Sometimes it’s the simple act of getting away that does the job. It doesn’t need to be a fancy and/or expensive holiday, just a change of scenery, a change of routine. All that’s needed to clear the brain and recharge the depleted batteries.

These last three days in Port Macquarie with our dear friends the Gs, staying with our dear friends the (other) Gs, who very conveniently purchased a beautiful, spacious home big enough to holiday house us all, has been just such a getaway.

A few days of chatting, walking, eating, drinking coffee and heckling The Voice (judges and contestants alike). There is something so wonderfully comfortable about hanging out with good friends; people who know and love you despite your annoying eccentricities…and you them. The silences are as comfortable and as warm as the conversation.

Our six children have known and played with each other since they were all babies and toddlers and watching their friendships continue and mature is so incredibly pleasurable and rewarding. They are each such different little people yet they are intrinsically bonded through a shared life history and through friendships forged in the sandpit. As I look at our beautiful children together I wish for them the special comfort and happiness of long term friendship.

I am grateful for such friendship in my life. It means so much.

This afternoon we will return to normal life, routine, responsibility. Which is just fine because I have been restored by our little getaway and by some peaceful time with some of my wonderful “besties”. Who could ask for more?