Laurnie for Mum’s 60th

After months of debate, Mum decided that a weekend away with all her girls, and a little footy, was what she wanted for her milestone birthday. So for the first weekend of the month Katie and myself, Jessie and Heath, and Melissa and Greg took Mum down to Launceston to mark her 60th, and spend some quality time together.

Getting into Launceston on the Friday night, we made a snap decision to get a mini-bus for the weekend, and we all instantly got Vengabus stuck in our heads. We then drove towards town, and found a supermarket to get supplies for the whole weekend, before discovering our amazing apartment for the 3 nights.

41 On York was somewhere Melissa had stayed before, and was pretty central for all we wanted. A three bedroom modern apartment, the lounge had bizarre blue mood lighting and Grecian white columns, plus a balcony overlooking downtown Laurnie. Comfy, ridiculously roomy, and fully heated, it was perfect.

Saturday was Mum’s actual birthday, and started with an amazing cooked breakfast by Jess and Health and Katie. We then loaded into the bus to check out the Cataract Gorge, before getting down to the dock for a cruise under the bridge and along the three rivers of Launceston. The cruise promised ‘fascinating commentary’, and it actually was. We learnt things about Laurnie!

For lunch we drove out towards the Tamar Valley, taking in the mountains and river views, before deciding on the Elmslie Winery for lunch. A gorgeous meal, and wines, and then dessert, in this dreamy setting allowed us to toast Mum’s day, and have a great meal all together.

Back to our apartment for more wine and cheese, we soon made our way out to the Country Club Tasmania, so Mum could go to the casino, as was her wish. Tonic was the bar we found, and we grabbed a table and wine, and possibly terrorised the two piece acoustic band with our enthusiastic singalong participation, who happened to play an impressive and complete range of tunes. When they finished, the DJ caved to our persistent request for Sonja Dada’s Lover Lover, and our night was complete! It has been sometime since the 4 Reid girls have been out drinking and dancing together, and we had a great night! We did try to carry on once back in town, but one of us was rejected for being, shall we say, a little untidy, and so we just kicked on back at the apartment.



The footy at Aurora Stadium was Hawthorn verses North Melbourne on the Sunday, and we walked down to the ground ready for the match. Sitting in the Northern Stand, this day was one of the coldest I have been to the footy in a long time, reminding us all of those arctic days at Waverley Park! Huddling in from sideways rain, and the freezing temperature, we all breathed a foggy sigh of relief as the Hawks managed to overcome a fightback from the Roos, to win comfortably in the end. Thawing out back at the apartment with a home cooked roast dinner and wine, to finish of the cullinary weekend.

Monday morning we took it easy before leaving the apartment, and then took a drive out to Evandale, just out past the airport, based on Jessie and Heath’s recommendation. A cute, historic town, we stopped at the tearooms for morning tea, before checking in back at the airport for our flight home to Victoria.

Mum had such a lovely weekend with her girls, and the boys, to celebrate her birthday, something she's been raving about to anyone who asks! Mission completed! Ha!