Port Macquarie Running festival March 9 2014

The long weekend arrives, and we stay out at the airport for a quicker departure in the morning. We have a runway view room, and are like little kids as we watch the planes take off and land. This trip is especially special to us, as we are catching up with friends that we haven't seen since 2008. 

We are in awe at the amount of people that are constantly in and out at Melbourne

We board our QANTAS flight and head to Sydney. It's my birthday on Sunday, and it may be 6.30 in the morning, but the air steward wishes me happy birthday and offers me some bubbles! Wow! I decline of course, it's a bit early for champagne and I don't drink 'bubbles'. The gesture is not wasted though, I am feeling pretty special.

We disembark at Sydney and head to the next gate to catch our connecting flight to Port Macquarie. Our friends are waiting for us at the arrival area, and our amazing weekend continues.

We head to collect our luggage, only to find that it has not arrived. OH NO!!! Our running gear is somewhere between Melbourne and Port Macquarie. The Qantas customer service men reassure us that they will arrive that day, and we head off to see the sights.

It's a beautiful sunny day in Port Macquarie and we are wowed by the beautiful coastline. We really do live in a beautiful country.

We spend the day checking the sights, have a leisurely lunch, and then enjoy a beautiful home cooked meal by Janine; pasta of course! It's delicious, and we spend the rest of the night catching up and sharing photos of years gone by. We rest easy, our suitcases arrived, race gear is out ready, it's been a wonderful start to our long weekend.

The alarm goes off a wee bit too early for a long weekend holiday, but we get up and get ready. 21.1km to run before we can enjoy the afternoon seeing more of Port Macquarie. It's a beautiful sunny morning, and Janine has woken early to drive us to the start line. 

The course is 7km long which means 3 laps. We find this type of course tougher than 1 lap courses. At the start line we say good bye to each other, and I know the next time I see Darren he will be on the opposite side of the course. 

After the run, we swap stories and feel the same about this course; very tough. The headwind, the sun beating down on us and 3 laps, I burst into tears at the finish line. Still can't decide on any one reason why this happens, maybe by the end of the year I will.

Janine and Michael pick us up with Letisha, their youngest daughter, and we head home for a shower, and food. We spend the afternoon exploring Laurieton Lookout near North brother Mountain, and then the boys have a fish (Darren has never caught a fish), and Darren catches a fish THIS big!!!

Darren's BIG catch 😊

We head out for a birthday dinner and soon it's time to pack our suitcases ready for the morning departure. We had a fabulous weekend and ticked NSW off our half marathon calendar. The following morning we wake a little sore, and enjoy the beautiful morning weather. We don't want to leave, but in reality we have no choice. We hug our friends tightly and say goodbye for now. The flight home is uneventful and soon we land in Melbourne and drive the hour home. So good to arrive home with more special memories created.