Make It Perfect

On Saturday we attended the annual Billy Cart Challenge that is put on by leaders in our Church. This event has been going for quite a few years now and seems to get crazier every year! It is always heaps of fun and seems to draw a decent crowd! If you want to read more about it, head over to my cousin Lisa’s blog. I took my camera but was tied up nursing Tommy and watching the other two so didn’t get many good snaps.
This year the challenge had a new location…at Pop’s river. It isn’t Pop’s river anymore, but was for many years (I’m guessing over 30?) and I think I was more excited to spend the day there than I was to watch the racing! It was a HOT day too, we kept the sunscreen up and managed to avoid getting burned, but by the end of the activity we were all so hot that a group of us decided to head to the old swimming hole and test the water. The water was cold, but very refreshing and so nice to reminisce and spend some time with family and friends down there again.
Triffitt Grandchildren…do you remember this:

On hot days Nan and Pop would drive the ute to Uncle Nick’s house and pick up his kids and then stop at Uncle Kim’s house and pick up his kids and then at our house and we would all jump on.

We would be in our bathers, with a towels draped over our shoulder. We took our positions on the back of the ute and they would drive us all (at least 10 kids and 1 dog) down to the river. This is about a 10 minute drive and not at all uncommon…if we tried to do it today I’m sure there would be more than one complaint that it is totally irresponsible and dangerous! Back then it was pure love and fun.

Nan and Pop would ride in the front of the ute, singing out every now and then:
“You kids alright back there?”
“Sit down Sandy!” (dog)
“Hold on tight, its going to get bumpy!”
“Is somebody holding onto Ty?”

The drive down to the river was just as fun as the time we spent swimming and playing. The gravel road is bumpy and windy and steep! We had names for different parts of the road:
“The Tunnel of Love”
“The Never Ending Hill”
“The Sacred Grove”

When we arrived at the river, sweaty and hot, we would jump from the back of the ute and run as fast as we could to the swimming hole. The bigger kids would jump right into the rapids and the smaller ones would play in the shallow water over the rocks. Nan and Pop would swim along side us. It was carefree and fun.

Nan would usually have a few snacks to share with us – fresh tomatoes from the garden sprinkled with a bit of salt, sultanas, nuts and if we were really lucky her famous little meringues.

We would arrive home feeling refreshed and tired from swimming and all that fresh air, I can still hear Nan and Pop call their goodbyes as we jumped off the ute and headed inside:
“See ya Midget”
“Bye Toni-Dear”

Pop’s river has been a huge part of my life and I think I can say the same for every Triffitt grandchild. I was really sad when it was sold a few years ago but knew that it had to be. Spending some time there on the weekend was good for the soul.

Do you have any memories of Pop’s river? Feel free to leave a comment and share…I would love to read them!!