Thinking Allowed: 59 x 30

Our return from Norfolk Island was smooth; with plenty of space on the plane, I stretched out and read Alias Grace while Tamar enjoyed a movie. An hour later, joyful reunion with the girls and Tamar's parents. Everyone was delighted to be together again, and we started heading up the coast of Queensland.

First stop, Woombye: an adorable little town on the Sunshine Coast where Tamar, Aurora and I had coffee in a restaurant run by 15-year olds; then we climbed at Flow Bouldering one last time (well, I made it 3 feet up once. Tamar and Aurora did rather better.) Next stop, Childers: a rather less charming highway town where an arsonist killed 15 backpackers a few years ago. The pub was remarkably full for 11:30am on a Sunday; I had coffee with Tamar and Aurora again, in an ancient wooden theatre in whose bathroom we became entranced by the dark space, fairy lights, and exciting happenings just outside the window. One of us ate rather too much gelato while the others peed.

Third stop, Agnes Water and 1770. These are twin towns just a few minutes apart, and 1770 must be one of the only towns in the world not to have any letters in its name. It's a tiny place - just four or five people lazing on the perfect beach with their scary-looking dogs, a grocery store, a surf school and a few cafes. A newly-formed lagoon around an uprooted 'No Stopping' sign recalls the recent flooding, but otherwise Agnes Water feels a million miles away from the worries of the world.

We're staying at the Pavillions, a misspelled but gorgeous resort right at the beach. We've only been here a couple of days, but are having a grand time: the girls swim endlessly in the pool (we did Water Safety such as having to walk the plank and then swim halfway across the pool with your hands joined behind your back). We've done a couple of nice hikes with Avi and Rona, along the beach and out to the point of 1770 where Captain Cook landed in, yep, 1770. We had a crazy lightning storm where the sky was more light than dark for about 20 minutes, just constant crackles like the world was ending. Avi's teaching backgammon to Sophia and Tova, Rona has long chats with Aurora, I did a seminar about drumming today and Tamar does one on mapmaking tomorrow. Homeschooling is down a bit but going well, Tova got really into still life drawing today, Sophia practiced the shortcuts for knowing if a number is divisible by 7 or 11 (they're weird!), Aurora's dictee was from Poe's Murders on the Rue Morgue, and Zadie remains an excellent reader but an indifferent writer. Never a dull moment.

Although it would be nice to stay in this groove forever, tomorrow is already our last day here. Then the girls and their grandparents will continue north to Yeppoon, while Tamar and I flit await for a whirlwind 24h trip to Canberra for a rather expensive and stressful citizenship appointment. Fingers crossed!