No Charlie its not a DOG its a Kangeroo!

Foster / Wilsons Promentary

2009-02-12T00:57:00.001-08:00

20th January When we first left the flat at 9am the temperature had already hit 30C and we were very glad that today was a travel day. After the tiresome routine of packing up we wacked up the aircon and headed west. We stopped at the first town we came to due an odour from the back of the car and as we opened the car doors the heat was unbelieveable. We now had a new record for the trip at 41C but it felt even hotter than that - so hot it was hard to breath. After changing Charlie's nappy, throwing away his shorts and washing his shoes in MacDonalds' loos we hid from the heat in KMart for an hour. Isaac bought a pair of Redback style jackeroo boots that he is very proud of.

We wound our way along Princes Highway to Sale feeling adventurous with the Sav Nav switched off and then turned southwest on the South Gippsland Highway to Foster. Foster is a small town but looks as though it will be interesting to browse. We picked up some basic provisions including a new book for Al (for Robin: Nevin Shute, So Disdained) and then found the sign for Stockyard Creek Cottages.

Wattle Cottage was exactly what we had hoped; a slightly ramshackle old house reminscent of childhood visits to grandparents. On a smallholding and quite a long way from anywhere it is beautifully quiet and very very dark at night.

We had a walk around the land and there was a moment of excitment when Charlie spotted an elephant but it turned out to be an alpacca.

Everything is on a very steep slope which actually makes walking quite difficult.

The boys found a playhouse while Al went to see if Stockyard Creek was fishable, which it wasn't.

In the evening we jumped back into to try and drive the kids to sleep. This proved to be a long journey but we saw some great scenery a lot of which reminded us of the West Country.

There are so few cars (and people) out here that when you did see one they always wave which makes the place seem very friendly.

21th We woke to a very pleasant morning that had none of the previous day's vicious heat. There was a fairly slow getaway as were all feeling very relaxed in our country hideaway and the horse needed some grass etc etc. After a quick game of "Pants on Ya Head" we were on our way.

The Prom (Wilson's Promonade) was a 45 min driving away and after a brief stop for ham sandwiches we paid our 10 bucks and entered. It is not your common or garden variety national park but a full on 50,000 hectares of rainforest covered mountains and dramatic coastline and as we drove to the visitors' centre it was hard to know which way to look. We picked up the walking guides and an iridescent beetle that looked like it would make good fishing bait which was carefully wrapped in loo paper and stuffed in Isaac's pocket for safe keeping.

Lilly Pilly Gully Nature Walk did not start well as Charlie was hysterically tired and refusing to go in the buggy but we eventually managed to force him in and with sobs echoing off the world's most southerly rainforest we walked for about 3km into gradually darker and cooler vegetation. At the end was a boardwalk loop that took us over some protected marshland and serious mosquito habitat. Rachel was doing a good job of keeping them off the rest of us until a motherly type took pity and lent her some spray.

On the return leg we stopped to view a hideyhole that Isaac had found that was actually quite spooky inside.

At this point we noticed that the iridescent beetle was now riding on Isaac's shoulder and closer inspection showed that he had eaten a neat hole through his wrapping to escape. He was re-captured and secured in a raison box.

Further up the path we were warned of a large snake that was lying near the track at which point Isaac hopped in the buggy and told Mummy and Daddy that they had to be brave! (but we didnt see it).

Norman Beach is the only one recommended for swimming within the park and immediately went near the top of our all time favourites. A crescent shaped beach about a mile long and, as we arrived at low tide, a good breadth of sand. The best bit though were the "swimming pools" left behind by the outgoing tide which the sun had warmed to bath temperature - and the boys loved them. Happily in the water up to their necks they would have stayed for hours if we hadn't dragged them away. After steak sandwiches (with a fried egg on top of course) we headed home and on route saw our first wild wombat. It looked like an over grown guinea pig and trotted spritely across the road - quite unlike the fat, comatose ones we had seen in the zoo.

22nd Al put his favorite Bruce Sprinsteen album on and we all had a major air guitar session before breakfast.

We had passed the turn off for Agnes Falls on the way in to Foster and decided to investigate hoping that it would be a little less oppressively hot up in the hills. We stopped in Foster on route and as what got out of the car an older man shouted out "You must be Poms!" which we conceded. It turns out that you are only allowed to park on your own side of the road. There is such a lot of Australia to park on but so many restrictions - often in the middle of nowhere the only visible sign of humanity is a No Parking sign. The man and his wife were very pleasant and he had come out from Tunbridge Wells 40 years before.

We drove through some beautiful countryside and saw very few cars. We had a brief picnic during which we were beset with flies which have really been a problem in the last few days and are driving us nuts. Isaac and Charlie then settled down to some fishing but Charlie was a little impatient and took Rachel off to find the falls.

At this point a major dry thunderstorm errupted right on top of us with earsplitting lightening strikes very nearby. Al reckoned that the very worst place to be during lightening was standing on top of a hill, amongst very tall gum trees holding a 8' fishing rod and it was fairly hairy for a few minutes as there really was nowhere to go. Al & Isaac ran to find the others and then got within 50 metres of the car when the rain started and by the time we reached it we were absolutely drenched through.

As drove out of the hills the level of destruction that the storm had left was impressive. There were trees and branches down everywere and our road was down to one carriageway in several places. We passed 2 fire engines that were on their way to lightening fires.

Bright sunshine had followed the storm and the air was much clearer now so we went for a swim. Isaac is now quite happy paddling around on his own with various bouyancy aids and Charlie went solo for the first time.

In the evening we went to a local pantomime titled Bush Magic. The queuing in its self was a performance and seems to have developed into a local artform to test ones cunning and aggression. The show was based around some city kids who were left on their own on a farm, went walkabout and got lost. They discovered that the bush animals could talk and would help them. The best bit was a couple of big hairy graziers dressed up as cows singing about the inadequecy of their once a year relationship with the bull. Lines like "My poor fresian heart, I wonder if I'll hiefer see him again!"

It was good fun but suffice to say we left at the interval.

23rd January. We had a great cooked breakfast to start the day. Australia has mastered bacon with rashers that are twice the size of ours and cover both the back and belly streaky sections and they cook without heamoraging indeterminate white gunk.

The 3 boys gathered the scraps and went in search of the farm chooks but unfortunately they'd had an encounter with a well dressed gentlemen with sandy coloured whiskers and were now ex-chooks. Charlie is currently fascinated by what different animals eat but could not persuade the dog to eat our left-over brocolli.

Rachel had heard that Walkerville beach was excellent which was clarified by our host to South Walkerville and so was chosen for todays adventures. Half way there we noticed that we were low on fuel so we had to turn off to Tarwin Lower which proved to be a long detour and we arrived with only 7km showing left in the tank. Eventually arriving, the beach did not quite live up to the billing but we found a quiet corner and ate our picnic. Before long the boys had befriended an 18 month girl and were playing ball with her quite sweetly. Soon afterwards the mother appeared and said that she had 3 boys and had never seen young boys sharing so well - fortunately she was facing Al and not able to see Charlie garotting her daughter with his hat string in order to retreive the ball.

The 3 boys had great fun running sprint races across the beach. By modifying the levels of head start given to Charlie and then Isaac we managed to make them very competitive. "Do you know why I am faster than you Dad? Because I have got more puff!" Indesputable.

Both Wattle cottage and this corner of Victoria were lovely and we could have spent a lot more time here.

Lakes Entrance

2009-02-11T23:35:00.001-08:00

17th We had a quiet day pottering around the shops in Lakes Entrance, mostly shopping for presents and birthday things for Isaac. We stopped in a very friendly coffee/banana milkshake shop and got some local news. Al managed to book the flights to Tasmania which is slightly a leap of faith as we have nowhere to stay, no hire car etc etc. The town itself is very naff and touristy but the surrounds are pretty. Lakes Entrance is the main holiday spot in the Lakes National Park which is a vast area of saltwater lakes and lagoons running along the Victoria coast.

Rachel and the boys had a dip in the Motel pool and then we settled down to Toy Story 2.

18th Isaac's Birthday! The boys found the balloons and party hooters and brought them into bed with us which woke us up very effectively. Isaac had forgotten about presents and didn't mention them at all until Charlie started to hand them out. They all went down well despite being from the $2 shop.

We went to the local Anglican church which was a fairly traditional service but they were very welcoming to the boys who were the only young children. The vicar invited them to the front and gave them pens and paper to draw things that they shared as this was the theme for the day. At the end of the service they went back up to show off their artwork and both performed very well. There was slight confusion as the vicar didn't know what a croissant was but the lollipop, ball and book were readily identified. The only other child, an 11 year old, had drawn a man being fired from a cannon onto a target with knifes sticking out of it so our 2 were comparative angels.

We had lunch at the playground

and then went out to hire a motorboat on the saltwater lake system as a birthday treat. Isaac assumed the controls and we were soon zigzagging our way up the North Arm. There were some beautiful houses along the shores no doubt Melbourner's holiday homes.

We were trolling a small spinner from Isaac's rod and Rachel had a bite but lost it. At our northern boundary limit we pulled into shore and sat and watched the small fish leaping out of the water.

Looking at this photo its hard to see how anyone might fall out!

On the return journey Charlie started throwing the hats out of the water which, fortuitously, gave us Man Over Board practise. Shortly afterwards a powerboat went past creating a large wake which caused Charlie to fall out of the back of our boat. Al immediately dived in after him and swam over to where he was bobbing in his life jacket. Charlie looked across and said " 'Cuse me Daddy, I want to get out!"

Meanwhile Rachel and Isaac were rapidly dissapearing into the distance as they did not know how to slow down. Eventually they came about and headed back at full speed. Charlie and Al managed to avoid being run down and caught the trailing mooring rope. Charlie was easily passed back in but it took some time to heave Al in, mainly due to Rachel's hysterical laughter - Al was not quite so amused.

Back at the jetty the boat-hire girls had seen the whole incident and were swooning over Al's bravery and speed of action (Editor: No they weren't). Isaac was given a can of bright pink creaming soda as a birthday present.

After a long eventful day Isaac was put to bed and asked "Is it Boxing Day tomorrow?"

19th We were slightly underwhelmed with Lakes Entrance and ready to move on but we thought we had better check out ninety mile beach whose western edge started in town. We picked some fish and chips and headed over the lagoon to the surf beach. The area was quite reminiscent of Camber with sand dunes to climb over before a wide coarse yellow sand beach. We had come barefoot and had to run between the patches of shade as it was red hot.

It was slightly bizarre sitting on ninety miles of beach were everyone was crammed into a 30yd stretch however just dipping a leg in was enough to show there was a vicious sideways rip and that staying between the flags was a good idea. There was a strange phenomenum where the water washing back out was going fast enough to create waves, one of which knocked Al over just in time for a shore bound 8 footer to tag team him.

We saw a dad and ~8 year old boy swept out and then across by the rip. They were completely stuck with relentless large waves dunking them until the lifesaver reached them.

Victorians are far less conscious of the skin cancer issues than Sydneysiders and despite being a stinking hot day there was a fine collection of deep purple tans getting more sun. Al was again approached about his Mahommed Ali t-shirt!

Poor photo but gives an idea of the night sky here

Snowy Mountains

2009-01-14T00:10:00.000-08:00

13th We woke to beautiful morning and thought it would be a good day to explore a little of the lake. We hired a motor boat and chugged out of our inlet onto the lake.

Isaac took charge of the throttle which he kept firmly at warp speed apart from the occasional flip to full reverse.

It was great fun speeding around in our very noisy boat. There was a large island that we went to investigate. It was hot and rocky and felt very snakey but was deserted and exciting to explore.

There was a memorial for a 10yo boy made from skate boards.

The bed of the lake seemed to be granite so it was very clean and clear and ideal for cooling off - especially as we had hit 35C by mid morning.

We had a very enjoyable hour just splashing around and the boating experience went straight into our "best bits of the trip"list.

After a brief lunchtime rest we went west into the Koziosco National park. This area is famous (in Australia) for its skiing but actually a small percentage is given over to piste with the rest being forested mountians with some great bush walks. We stopped at Thredbo - the premier resort - and went for a short walk to a swimming hole in a stream. It was very picturesque and impressively cold being melt water from the mountain top ice. We all paddled but Rach was the only one brave enough to get in fully.

Afterwards we went for a walk through the forests to dry.

As we drove out of Thredbo the buildings were mostly Alpine styled.

14th After the success of yesterday's boat trip we decided to take out a canoe today. It was a triple and with the boys installed in the middle seat we headed off to the other side of our island. We quickly learnt that it was not very stable and that Al couldn't get his head around the steering. Nonetheless we made it to the island and made boats from sticks and discarded fishing line and threw stones into the water. We happily passed an hour or so and then needed to head home. Paddling away from the island was fine until we came out from its lee to find that the wind had really got up. The water was very rough and we couldnt make any forward progress at all into the head wind - the boys started screaming and general panic ensued. Luckily a nearby motorboat came to give us a tow but the spray and waves made it quite an intense 15minutes. The boys we really screaming so we passed them into the boat which didnt help much.

After that relaxing start to the day we drove out on the road to Threado for our riding session. Al had been wanting to ride in Australia and the home of The Man from Snowy River seemed the appropriate spot. The temperature had risen into the high thirties and as we arrived at the stockyard it felt hot and dusty and very authentically Australian.

Nav was a great guy and clearly very fond of his horses all of which were either saved from the knackers yard or were Brumbies saved from a cull. We had a brief reminder of the controls and then set off into the 300 hectares of farm.

It was mostly gum forest with occasional large clearing with a few scattered cattle. Al rode alongside Nav and chatted most of the way and learnt a lot about the local farmland and wildlife. A major bush fire had been through this area a few years ago and burnt out several hundred thousand hectares and the damage was evident all around. Nav was unimpressed with the treatment of the Brumbies in the national parks which, because they are not indigenous, are regularly culled often being shot from helicopters.

Bella was pretty steady and we had no problems going up and down the step inclines or through the creeks but there was a bit of excitment when she bit Strawberry on the bottom.

It was a great ride for a couple of hours through the bush and was exactly what Al had hoped it would be - although he did have a sore bum later.

Isaac then insisted on having a go and luckily there was a suitable pony. Lincoln was 26 years old and had to be regularly "encouraged" to keep moving but Isaac absolutely loved it and insisted on walking around and around the field. We think it is pretty clear who Banjo Paterson was talking about:

And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home,
Where the river runs those giant hills between;
I have seen full many horsemen since I first commenced to roam,
But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seen.
Banjo Paterson 1890

Charlie wanted to try the hat on but that was as far as it went...

15th It was another hot day and we were forced to spend most of the morning looking for accomodation on the internet. We had not really planned this section of the journey and combined with sleep deprivation, heat and restless kids it was a very stressfull morning. After lunch we went back to the Lake Crakenback resort to make further use of their (ahem) private facilities. There was a good walk through the bush with various low ropes courses, balancing poles and monkey bars along the way which the boys enjoyed. Rachel did not enjoy falling off the hamster wheel as much though. We were politely declined entry to the swimming pool and having got used to our lakes being at least 10km long we didnt fancy Lake (duck pond) Crakenback for a dip. Back in Jindabayne we swam and played catch in our own lake.

16th We had 330km to do today so we were on the road before 9. It had been impossible to find any accomodation on our chosen route between Jindabyne and coast so we were forced to go all the way to Lakes Entrance in one go. Heading south along Barry Way the scenerary alternated between heavilly wooded areas and cleared grazing areas and fairly soon we started to slowly drop out of the mountains. As we were coming round a tight bend a very large red kangeroo landed right in front of the car forcing an emergency stop and then in one bound cleared the opposite lane and up an 8' bank. The thing was huge and was within inches of coming in through our windscreen - this photo gives some idea of the size.

We stayed parked in the middle of the road for a minute or two speechless.

Shortly after this the sealed road ended and became dust and gravel - this was not part of the plan but a quick check of the map and the "Sav Nav" confirmed we were in the right place and on an A road. As it turned out we had 100kms of this dirt road to cover and when we got into the Paris - Dakar rally spirit of it, it was good fun. Every so often we would pass a homestead and although this was only the "bush" rather than "outback" it seemed a very lonely place to be. The views were stunning but despite several attempts we couldnt get photos that captured the scale of the landscapes.

Most of the way there was stock fencing running parallel to the road 5 metres or so in and at one point a pair of grey roo's hopped along side us, hemmed in by the fence. It was a great to see them bounding along effortlessly keeping up with the car for several miles.

On the 120km since leaving the Jindabyne road we had only passed 2 cars. We then hit the Monaro Highway which despite its title and being one of the main road south from Canberra to Melbourne was twisty and single laned. We stopped for a quick break in "Bombala - A timber town" which - of course - had a great playground including a vintage tractor and plough. (Having said vintage it looked significantly more modern than the photos of Pip's first tractor).

We accidently drove through a logging yard which was clearly the biggest operation in town with some impressive sawdust heaps.

Not long afterwards were passed from NSW into Victoria and the landscape changed almost immediately. As we dropped from 700m to almost sea level everything became greener and the woodland was more like rainforest with dense ferny undergrowth. Eventually we turned west onto the Princes Highway at Cann River and stopped at Orbost for lunch. Not a very exciting town but we managed to buy some secondhand Redbacks (boots) for Charlie for 50cents and post birthday presents for Ollie and Angus.

We reached Tambo Lodge at 4ish and it turned out to more of a motel on the highway rather than a campsite but the rooms are large and we have a 5 acre garden to explore.

Travelling inland from Batemans Bay, through Canberra and the Snowy Mountains had taken us to some amazing places and we will remember the landscapes for ever.

Canberra

2009-01-11T02:56:00.001-08:00

9th January - After being beaten up all night by boys (Al slept with I and Rach with C) we packed car, jumped on the jumping pillow and played on playground before heading off to Canberra (south to Batemens Bay and then turning inland). We stopped pretty soon to pick up some caffeine and the cafe shack was full of great Aussie photos including the one below of a wild pig shot after it ate all the farm dogs. (Any one remember the film Razorbacks??)

After 50km we saw a sign for Pebbly Beach and as it is legendary for its sunbathing and surfing kangeroos we thought we would investigate. The road soon turned into a dirt track and was 8km long with eucalyptus trees and palms lining each side. On the the walking track from the car park there was a huge Iguana chilling out under bush which Rachel and Isaac were told off for getting to close to "He may be old but he's aggressive and bites." I & R were unphased and carried on snapping photos.

The beach was so lovely that we ditched our lunch plans at the wildlife centre and decided to stay here.

I & R were popping the beautiful blue seaweed bubbles until they realised they were dried up bluebottles (very painful stinging jellyfish). I & C played trucks with Daddy and then it was time for lunch. R,I & C sat at picnic table whilst A got food from car and by the time he'd joined us, the boys had heated up both BBQ plates so we had cheese toasties and cooked tomatoes, whilst boys dipped rice crackers in a jar of peanut butter.

Winnie the Pooh

An Italian Australian family pitched up to picnic next to us we were slightly embarresed by our absense of plates and our stick knives but the boys had soon scrounged a drink and packet of crips.

The road to Canberra was a real treat with a windy single lane with 180 degree bends up through rainforest. It then opened to grassy plains strewn with round granite rocks and plenty of dead wombats on side of road. We stopped to refuel in Braidwood which felt like the back of beyond despite being on the main road from the East Coast to the Capital. 'Braidwood FM bought to you by the Livestock and Pest Control Authority! Playing the best of 50's & 60's music, "Yee Haa!"" Its worth noting at this point that Australian radio is hilarious. A lot of it is amateur community radio based on phone-ins on the most obscure topics or just "Tell us what yur up to". All sorts of people phone in - mostly just for a chat with the DJ, who they often appear to know. It is very entertaining and bizarre although the music played is invariably on the Country side of Easy Listening which does get a little wearing. We arrived in Canberra having been just bowled over by landscapes we had driven through.

We are becoming experts on cabins and the Canberra Motor Village served up the best to date - a Jayco Deluxe 2 bedroom model with reverse cycle heating and cooling - really top of the range!

10th We had been cold during the night and Rachel had woken up with a very stiff neck which would last for several days. Having been on the coast since arriving in Australia we were not used to the drop in temperature at night and forgotten to switch the heating on.

The Questacon National Science and Technology Museum had been recommended to Al in Sydney, was our main excuse for coming to Canberra and on the agenda for today. It was the best exhibiton for kids that we have ever been to.

Driving in Canberra is very easy as it is planned city with wide and well signed roads and the city has a feeling of being deserted as it is overly large for its population so we had soon arrived at the (enormous) car park.

Before we even got inside and bought tickets there were numerous hands-on displays - a large marble ball floating on a jet of water, a hand print heat sensor etc etc. Isaac and AL even went in for a 30min presentation on rockets were Prof Yuri Blashtov launched 30 rockets in 30mins. These ranged from pumped up air toys to impressive hydrogen powered explosions and multistage rockets. Al & Isaac reckoned with a little time in the garage we could get Charlie airborne - although the presentation did not cover landings.

The main Museum was split into 6 galleries each covering a scientific field such as Size and Measurement. Everything was hands on and Al had the unpleasant experience of jumping off a 7 metre high tower (the height of a 2 story house) onto a curved slide that caught him and broke the fall. The video captures well the guttural groan associated with the decelleration.

Charlie is 8 hands high and Isaac can throw a tennis ball at 37kmph.

Who eats who?

How hard does a python squeeze?

We had arrived midmorning and they kicked us out at closing timing which is an indication of just how much there was to see and do for the kids.

Surprisingly after such a busy day the kids were an absolute nightmare to get to bed and finally settled at 6am!!!

11th After the previous disasterous night we had a quiet morning in the swimming pool chatting with a very pleasant but rather rural South Australian couple who had driven the 13 hours to Canberra for a wedding. The boy were quite happy "surfing" and splashing.

In the afternoon we drove to the Australian War Memorial which turned out to be only 5 minutes away and an extensive museum. The parkland and steps leading to the museum were, as everything appears to be in Canberra, unnecessarily large. This did give room for several enourmous naval guns and bronze status.

This is John Simpson Kirkpatrick who became famous amongst the troops at Galipoli for bring water in and casulties out on his donkey during the heaviest fire but he only survived four weeks.

The view to Parliament House.

The main part of the museum was split into sections on the WWI, WWII and Vietnam with the most interesting items being scale models of the important battles. The photo below shows a small section of a 6 foot square model of the battle at Mont St Quentin 1918.

The most striking thing of this part of the museum is the importantance of Galipoli in Australian history. The anti-British sentiment in the Mel Gibson film was not evident in any of the displays.
In the large ANZAC hall there was a great light and sound show of a bombing running over Germany in 1943.

A Kittyhawk.

The best bit without doubt was the discovery zone where the kids could get hands on and in a WWI submarine, a Vietnam helicopter and a WWI trench. This was fantastic fun for everyone!

Daddy, what did you do in the war?

Not many submariners suck their fingers....

In the end we were kicked out at 5 and listened to a short reading by the memorial and then a piper played a Scottish lament which was quite a dramatic (and atonal) ending to the visit. On the way back to the car Isaac managed to trip over and hurt himself on the statue of Australia's most famous Red Cross worker which seemed slightly ironic. The piper then appeared and confirmed our feeling the Canberra is very under populated and a well kept secret.

The view from parliament house

We then over indulged at an Italian restaurant and tried to drive the children to sleep. The parks around the lake which divides the cities north and south are beautiful and contirubute to a the feeling that the city is deserted. We came across this memorial to refugees that drowned attempting to get Australia when their boat sank. Each post represents one of the 146 children, 142 women and 65 men that drowned.

12th Today was a travel day to the Snowy Mountains but we called in at the Australian National Museum before leaving Canberra. This museum seemed a little low key after the last few and was predominately to do with the Aborignal and Torres Strait Island peoples. Sometimes the Australian attitude to the indigenous peoples seems a little confused with the public/political stance on how to demonstrate respect for The Dreamtime and rights at conflict with the views of most Australians. Anyway when you're knackered there are only so many boomerangs and stone implements that you can look at so we didnt stay too long. The museum shop was excellent and unlike such shops in the UK full of interesting and well price memorabilia.

The journey to Jindabyne was another epic drive and quite hard to describe.

Jindabyne is in the Snowy Mountains and is mainly a ski resort servicing the nearby Koziosko mountain and is next to a very large (~14km) man made lake created for hydro-electric power.

Another excellent Jayco cabin but after a long afternoon in the car the boys were again very hard to get to sleep. Charlie ended up sleeping with us and he is not a good bed pal.

Sydney to Jervis Bay

2009-01-07T20:22:00.001-08:00

2nd January Rach took the boys to the playground while Al completed packing up, loading car and scrapping the final layer of vegemite and crayon from the white sofa. The new car's boot is not that big so it was a real squeeze to fit our luggage plus acculumated junk in but we finally left and headed over the bridge through Sydney proper.

The Sav Nav (as the boys call it) was completely confused by all the the tall buildings of the CBD and giving wrong instructions which Isaac felt obliged to then repeat ("it said go RIGHT Daddy"), so it was a fairly stressful start to the journey. Eventually free of the city we played I Spy most of the way to Kiama. Isaac is getting very good at his letter sounds but the highlight was Charlie's contributions - "I 'py little eye, something 'gining........GOAT!"

We stopped for a break at the Bulli Lookout which had a 1000ft sheer drop from the railings and was really uncomfortable to stand on. The smart cafe did not look as though they were quite ready for the boys so we moved straight on.

The scenary was markedly different to north of Sydney with open green grassland and stands of gum trees, very like The Man from Snowy River. Al and Rach hatched plans to create an Australian garden in a future residense.

Kiama was our chosen rest stop on route to Myola and is famous for its blow hole and whaling history. By chance we had arrived at just the right time to see the blow hole in action and we joined the crowds at the railings. All 3 boys involuntarily joined in the Ooohs and Aahhs as it spouted but Rachel was unimpressed. We didn't have time for the whaling museum which has the skeleton of a famous killer named Old Tom. He lead a gang that used to herd other whales into the bay and then thrash their tails in the water to attract the whalers. Once it had been harpooned they would lie on top of its blowhole to drown it and then eat its tongue and lips and leave the remainder for the whalers.

The traffic out of Kiama was terrible and we were late arriving at Myola Tourist Park on Calalla Beach but fortunately we managed to the get the keys for our cabin. It is relief to be back in a wipe clean cabin and although there are lots of teenagers around it appears to be a suitable place to stay for the next 4 nights. Rach really tired and sad thinking about her Granny so Al took the boys to the playground to give her some peace. Before bed Al managed 60 lengths of the (quite small) pool.

3rd We woke to slightly ropey weather and decied to investigate the town of Huskisson which seemed to be a local landmark. It was not very exciting but we had a day pottering around the shops, playing on the playground and sleeping on the grass.

4th Berry is a small town north on the Princes Highway from Jervis Bay and holds a monthly country fair. Having (again) pitched up too late for the local church service we drove straight on to Berry. The weather was perfect, completely cloud free and a very pleasant 45 minutes driving through the beautful countryside.

The fair proved to be very large and a cross between a market and a boot fair - no terrier racing or hay bale tossing so not really what we would call a fair but still a traditional event. Rachel got lost for the first hour but managed to make the most of this misfortune by purchasing large quantities of beauty products while searching for Al & the boys. Al meanwhile was sorely tempted by a complete set of farrier's tools. We found some old copper pennies with the King on one side and a kangeroo on the other so we bought some for I & C and Ollie and Sophie. The day had turned into a real scorcher so we found some shade next to a busker playing classical guitar music and ate Dutch pancakes for lunch. The fair was a good change of scenary and we had really enjoyed browsing the stalls.

Jervis Bay is a national park area of forest and is named after its very large bay with smaller bays within it and is renowned for forest running right to edge of white sand beaches. Hyams beach had been recommended by several people in Sydney and we travelled there in the afternoon. It was a beautiful beach but quite small in the context of the surrounding area where most run to several miles long. It was also incredibly windy - windy enough to blow all the water out of the boys buckets. The sand was quite steeply shelving so the waves, although small, were breaking quite close to shore and were great for body surfing. It was very rough so we didn't last long on the beach and headed home for an evening swim in the pool.

2009-01-07T19:38:00.000-08:00

5th In the morning we were straight back into the pool and had a relaxing time split between there and the playground. Late morning we decided to drive to our nearest small town, Calalla Bay, to try and get some news from home as we had no internet access or phone reception within the national park. We picked up the very sad news that Rachel's granny had died. We had been expecting to hear this soon but it was very upsetting and particularly as we were not able to be with the rest of Rachel's family. Rachel had sensed that this news would be waiting for us and had been really down for the last few days. It was nice to remember the visit we had had with Barbara shortly before leaving for Australia.

A local resident had recommended North Beach to us which proved quite difficult to find. We missed the turnoff as it was the entrance to a military firing range but some 'boys from the hood' put us straight. At the main road we had to stop at a boom gate where a guard ensured that we had sufficient water and we were aware of the dangers of the area. His list included the Eastern Death Adder, Easter Brown snake, Red-bellied black snake, funnel web spider, white tailed spider, red-back spider, blue-ringed octopus, bluebottles, sting rays, paralysis ticks and unexploded ordinance! As we drove down the several kilometres of unmade and heavily corrugated road we were wondering what we had let ourselves in for - we were only trying to go to the beach.

On route a wallaby shot out of the bush right in front of the car but somehow we didnt hit it.

The beach was incredibly beautiful with truely white sand and turquoise water and all the more special as it was well off the beaten track with the few people there having come in by boat. There were no waves to speak of so the boys were able to enjoy being in the water.

Armed and dangerous

Rach and the boys making a rainforest

Back at the cabin, boys tuckered out.

Have you cleaned your teeth?

6th

After packing up we drove towards Ulladulla which was to be our next stop for 3 nights although we couldn't remember exactly where we had booked in to stay. The short journey was uneventful and we stopped in at Milton for our lunch and to pass the time before we could check in. It was another really hot sunny day and we didnt fancy the beach at noon but we did stop to look at Mollymook which was the reccommended stretch of sand.

Views of Uludulla harbour:

Our cabin this time is actually very large and more of a cottage although slightly shabby. After unloading we investigated the pool which the boys enjoyed but it was small and very busy so slightly dissapointing but the playground next to it was empty and very enjoyable.

After a fairly inactive day the kids were a nightmare to put to bed and didnt go to sleep until 10.

7th In the morning we went for a walk along the One Trail for All which we heard about from the guides. It was a ~3km loop through scrubland in a historically important Aboriginal area with carvings along the way commentating on the old way of life vs the new. Rachel found it particularly interesting as she is ready the diary of a young Aborigine girl in the 1930's:

" I didn't want to ask Miss Foster what a dying race was but I did ask her how someone could discover a country that already had people in it......but Miss Foster said that Captain Cook discovered Australia, and all the books said that, so I should just listen properly and not be so bad mannered."

It felt like major snake territory especially as it was a hot day (35C) but we didnt see any although this chap had us wondering for a while:

The return leg was along the cliffs and gave some great views:

We popped home for lunch and a "rest" which involved lying in bed together while the boys experimented in ways to cause Al as much pain as possible - Charlie in particular has a future career in Guantanamo Bay.

Al then went for a haircut in the historic town of Milton about 10km away - this proved to be a mistake as it was the worst haircut ever. When the hairdresser held up the mirror Al expected Jeremy Beadle to appear but unfortunately he didn't (Rach later explained that this was now, sadly, extremely unlikey). After a few suggestions she had another go but without much improvement.

The heavens then opened on us in spectular fashion and the only thing we could think of to do was to go for a swim the sea pool. The pool was supposed to close for lightening but luckily didnt and we had it to ourselves. Isaac did some great swimming on his own using a "noodle" for the first time and Al got some good lengths in. At water level you couldnt see from one end of the pool to the other due to the rain splash.

Rach cooked chilli prawns for supper which were accidentally flambayed but tasted all the better for it.

Sydney 12th December to 1st January

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12th December to 1st January We have got really behind on our updates so we are going to skip this time in order to catch up. We had a fantastic time in Sydney and some great times with Jeremy & Denise and Yvonne & Dick.

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8th December. South West Rocks was only ever a stop-over so when our alarm clock poked his head around the corner fairly early we packed and were on the road by 9am.

Isaac teaching Charlie to count.

The journey south to Port Stephens was longer than we expected at ~4hrs and we had really torrential rain in parts. Boys were very good in the car and we had our fist aussie meat pies on the way. We reached the Myall lakes national park area on the south side of Port Stephens and then drove about an hour east to Anna Bay. We arrived at our camp site early afternoon and although the villa was slighty shabby it was very large and had 2 sets of bunks so both boys could sleep on the bottom. The weather was still fairly miserable but we went for a swim in the pool anyway. (Great pool with slides and awaterfall and an isalnd). The water felt freezing and swimming in the rain was not as fun as it sounds - luckily there was a hot spa pool which was packed!

9th December. A really beautiful sunny day and we investigated the beach billed as "a gorgeous semicircle of softest white sand and bluest water, favoured by those in the know: surfers, beachcombers, idle romantics." We didn't fit any of the categories but the beach was still the reason we had come and it was worth it. Although not a private beach it could be accessed through the campsite and after the 3 minute walk down Hibiscus Avenue we came on to the beach. It was 9:30 and there were very few people on what is a very large beach. (Al spent a long time trying to estimate the length of the beach for his run later until he realised it might be called One Mile Beach for a reason!)

The lifeguards had not flagged the water yet so we set up near a surfing group having a beginners lesson where there was a sand ledge that meant the water was only waist high 50 yards out. The boys spotted a nearby group's moated castle and asked for a copy which was very hard work with the small spades we had - particularly as Charlie prefers filling in moats to digging them out.

The water felt quite warm and the waves were only a couple of feet high and perfect for Al to dive through and attempt body surfing. Both Al and Rach had long swims and the boys were happy. Isaac became braver and braver with his dune jumping. All in all a perfect morning on the beach.

Isaac and stick 1, Peacock nil

10th December. After having had a fantastic morning on the beach the previous day we went back but the weather wasn't great and it just didn't seem as much fun. The sea was still warmish and the swimming still good. We gave up early and headed into town for a shopping trip to the nearest mall complete with Coles and KMart where we picked up a body board for the boys (ie Al).

Charlie showing us how its done.

One of these 2 has Toretts...

11th December We had changed our plans and drove down to Sydney a day early in order to have a full day with Sandy & girls the next day (friends from Sevenoaks). We had planned to spend the morning on the beach but it was drizzling again so we decided to set off straight away. As we drove west towards the Pacific Highway we could see the southern hemisphere's largest sand dunes in the distance.

It was very noticeable as we got within 200km of Sydney that the driving became faster and more agressive!

The main road into Sydney from the north is surprisingly narrow and windy through the northern suburbs (Wahroonga etc) and it was slightly stressful navigating to the centre to pick up our keys and then onto the flat.
We had been worried about our Sydney flat would be as the agent had been underwhelming in his description. As we drove onto Military Road at Neutral Bay it was very busy and built up and we beginning to fear the worst. However Military road is long and took us through Cremorne, past Spit Junction and into Mosman. Amazingly the flat turned out to be right in the heart of the posh end of Mosman next to all the coffee shops, patisseries and boutiques. It is much more spacious than expected and although not huge there is plenty of room for all of us.

Leaving Sawtell for South West Rocks

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Ruben came to look after the boys while we packed up and checked out which made the process at lot less stressful. However come 10am Ruben had gone awol with the boys and we had an interesting 30 mins looking for them - we were justing discussing that Ruben had said he wanted more children ......... when we found them.

Our Sawtell cabin

Having loaded up we headed over to R,C&J's house one more time. The weather was now incredibly hot and humid so we ditched the plans to go for walk in the hills and decided to leave the boys helping Jason with the aviary and head out to lunch.

Ruben took us into town via the beach route and it was great to cool our feet and we saw a group (pod?) of 4 dolphins in the sea.

We had lunch and our first ever Affogato (expresso with ice cream in it). Rachel needed some new sunnies so we popper over the road to Sawtell's finest pound shop and she joined the rich and famous with some eighties style oversize glasses.

Back at the house we said our goodbyes - it had been a fantastic week getting to know Ruben and family and it is hard to believe that we had only been there for 6 days. Wereally hope to see them all again, either here or in the UK.

The journey to South West Rocks was uneventful and we arrived in time for a dip in the pool before (attempting) to put the kids to bed. The cabin had bunks again but with better safety bars so we let Isaac sleep in the top but Charlie was not allowed up there. However Charlie would not stay put and everytime we closed the door we could hear his feet on the ladder. When we had put him back for the fiftieth time Rachel managed to stay in the room unnoticed to see what was happening and Isaac was caught redhanded persuading Charlie not to worry about Mummy and Daddy and climb up!

7th December After the previous night's problems we were extremely worried when we couldnt see Charlie in his bed.......until we spotted him.

Where's Wally?

Our campsite folder told us that the Anglican Church service was at 9:00am so we headed just in time to see them all leaving church - it actually started at 8. The next possibility on the list was the Baptist church but we also found them leaving church which might have been lucky as "John" told us that there were only 5 of them and he was the youngest - he was at least 75. All that was left on our list was the New Life Christian Centre which Al was slightly suspicous of but John assurred him they were not nutters.

It was actually a very welcoming evangelical church in an industrial unit behind a tyre depot. We had a good sermon from a visitor lay preacher on living to have Romans 12:12 ("Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer") as your epitaph. He started with some supposedly real headstone inscriptions including:

The children of Israel wanted bread,

And the Lord sent them manna,

Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife,

And the Devil sent him Anna.

There were only about 20 in the congregation so we managed to chat to most people after the service and it was quite interesting getting a glimpse into the locals lives in small town Australia. Isaac and Charlie conned several people into reading stories and they were very happy until Isaac managed to skin both knees quite impressively - time to leave.

There was a country club nearby so we headed over for lunch. It was a fascinating place with about 200 Alf Stewarts drinking heavily while keeping an eye on their meat raffle tickets. We later found a large side room filled with pokies (slot machines) where all the Ailsa Stewarts were desperately trying to line up their pineapples. We had a standard meal out i.e. the boys redecorated the dining room with cheese and ham croissant and Rachel decided she preferred what Al had ordered.

Back at camp we had a swim in the pool and the spa which were made out of an effective looking fake rock3 and discovered that the park was full of wild(ish) kangeroos. Isaac pushed his luck but got away with it.

After supper we went for a walked towards town and on the way passed a interesting triangular house that we stopped to photograph but there was a terrible stench.

Al thought this might be from Harlequin beatles in a nearby lime tree until Rachel pointed out the enourmous dead kangeroo. The boys were, of course, fascinated and now whenever they won't put their seltbelts on are threatened with "Do you want to end up like the kangeroo?".

A great evening walk on the road to South West Rocks.

A special message from Isaac to Grandpa Rob:

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30th November - Part II We called in on Ruben, Cheri & Jason's house as soon as we arrived - and they made us feel very welcome. They have a lovely informal home with Scampi the dog and chooks in the yard (mostly to be seen worn on Emmy's head) and the boys revelled in having some grown up boys to play with. Jason has some Zebra Finches in a tea chest cage which have had 4 chicks and is now making a large aviary in the yard for them all.

We stayed for hot dogs and then headed off to check in at our camp site. Our cabin is great (cabins seem to be the way to go) and we are about 100yds from the river beach again. The river runs parallell to the sea this point and immediately across the river is the back of the sea beach.

The campsite playground

The path behind our cabin leads to the beach

Our river beach

The view from our balcony

1st December. Hard to believe its December as we put on the suncream!

Breakfast in the cabin.

Walked into Sawtell village in the morning which is about 1/2 a mile and wandered around the shops. Isaace and Al met some russian wolfhounds which looked like a cross between an Irish wolfhound and a greyhound and were friendly with very long thin faces.

Al had a very artistic coffee and Isaac loved his first spider drink.

We popped in for lunch at R,C & J's house which was a great Greek salad and it was to good to catch up with what they are all doing.

Evan explained about his Kung Fu and Karate in which he has a blue belt; he knows about all the world martial arts and is studying Japanese as well. Cheri showed us how to draw out silk thread from a silk worm's cocoon - its one of those houses where there is always something interesting going on! Cheri home shools Evan and Emmy and a large part of this seems to be experimenting at home.

In the afternoon Isaac and Rachel walked across the river at low tide to the beach on the other side which Isaac loved.

The river follows the same pattern as all the others we seen in the last few weeks - quite wide but only knee deep for most of the width with a chest deep channel only a few yards wide. Issac has been given Emmy's old life vest which is great for helping to learn the swim. In the evening Ruben & Emmy came round, took the boys to playground, told them a story about "Nipper the Crab" and helped put them to bed and Al went to do the blog which took a very long time!

2nd December. Al's birthday! Unfortunately it started rather early when Charlie arrived for a very wriggley snuggle and to tell us that he wanted to play with Emmy.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Ruben took Isaac and Al off in his canoes to go fishing on Boambee Creek which was a very easy float upstream with the incoming tide.

On route Isaac trailed a hand line behind the canoe said that he wished the Baker boys had a boat! Ruben and Al discussed what a great place Oz is for bringing up kids - the weather just means so much more outdoors lifestyle than in UK. After a while we found a likely spot where the deep channel came near the bank under a big tree and got ashore. Ruben had brought some mullett fillets as bait and there were lots of small fish taking the bait but nothing big enough to take the hook. There was a big rope swing into the river which Ruben enjoyed (Al's stomach not up to hanging from things yet) and Isaac was very impressed by this. After about an hours fishing we had caught 1 deck chair, 2 trees and managed to cast the fishing bag and Als glasses into the river - slightly frustrating as there is a huge quantity of fish in these rivers - Al might need to have a fishing lesson! Isaac & Al had a really good morning with Ruben and Isaac is really getting into the water activities.

The paddle home was a lot more strenous into the tide and we were a little late for leaving for our lunch at the hippy community. After collecting the girls we drove for 15mins southwest and then left the paved road and went another 1 or 2 miles into the bush on a gravel road and then arrived at the community. This is a large area of land where people can build homes and live with some communial facilities, including a large meeting building where we had lunch.

It was a great cheap meal (vegetable chilli with guacamole, salad and bread) and Isaac ran off and played barefoot on the grass which had us worrying about snakes and spiders - but he survived. The community seemed a very welcoming and relaxed place but the composting toilets would take some getting used to. It was significantly hotter slightly inland too with very little breeze which has made us question our plans for next week. On the way home Isaac said that lunch was fun but he preferred the boats.

Rach went for a swim in the pool with Ruben & Emmy while Al looked after a supposedly sleeping Charlie. We had a birthday cake:

Charlie didnt understand the instruction to pretend to eat the cake, note the bitten off corner!

In the evening we walked down the 100yards to the river and issac and charlie stripped off and splashed about in the river. It is really lovely to see them enjoying the water. When Isaac threw some sand on Charlie's face he ran into the river and stuck his head under water! It was a beautiful evening on the small river beach and a great place to be for your birthday. Isaac took Al across the river to the beach on the other side and they had a long walk along the perfect and empty beach. The sand has a crunchy crust like walking on snow.

3rd December. After getting up early again (what is it about Australians and a lack of curtains???) we decided to go to the Pet Porpoise Pool which was a small sea life centre based on a series of demonstrations/shows rather than just wandering around. Straight in through the gate and Al had to kiss a 31 stone sealion which was very whiskery experience (for them both!).

Feeding the dolphins

The combined dolphin, sealion and seal show was fun as it was quite small so we were close to the action. The dolphins were fairly unruly and only followed half the instructions - this was blamed on the warm weather effecting their testorone levels which was a better excuse than Australian dolphins not being quite as intelligent as those in the rest of the world.

Isaac was selected from the crowd to help with the seal show and had to come to the front and throw frisbees for "Mindy" to catch. He did 3 really good throws each of which was progressinevly harder but the seal caught them all and got great cheers from the crowd.

Isaac was less pleased when the dolphin swam past afterwards and soaked him. 3 other children were chosen to go and sing Happy Birthday to Al while the dolphins danced to the "music" - the children carried on straight into a full rendition of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" which confused the dolphins and amused the crowd.

Feeding the fairy penguins was good fun although Charlie persisted in trying to stroke them to the annoyance of the keepers.

The turtles which were about to be released back into the wild seem to have little chance of survival as they couldn't find a dead fish thrown to within 6 inches of them. We then had a stressful hour while Al had to battle with Westpac to get money out and the kids went wild in Subway.

Another sunny late afternoon at our river beach - 4 to 6pm seems to be the best weather for being outside. Isaac keeps singing "What shall we do with a drunken sailor" etc etc - this has later been traced back to Emmy...

A BBQ for supper:

Cheers!

and then round to R,C & J's house for evening chat and drinks. Lots of discussions about families (!) and where we should go for the next week before Sydney. Boys didnt get to bed until 10pm.

4th December Slightly chilly morning (22C) so we walked into the village to get a few things. A, I & C sat on a bench and literally every passerby stopped to talk to the boys - each was informed that Isaac is nearly four and wants a talking dinosaur for his birthday and that Charlie had chocolate cake at his party. We bought a few books at a charity shop and Charlie then smashed their glass bells decoration. Despite the weather Isaac and Rach were keen to go to the beach anyway. Not much swimming going on as the tide was in and therefore the water was a bit deeper and colder but we sank a bucket into the sand and found some "pets" which were unfortunate hermit crabs. Rach then made some great sand car and motorbike sculptures for the boys to sit on. Then back to the cabin for hot showers.

After the ironically named sleep time we went over to R,C & J's house where the kids had a great time playing on Jason's ute:

Charlie has Scampi the dog held hostage under the truck canopy!

R&A left the kids and went out for dinner to the local indian restaurant. The food was fairly average but it was great to get some time on our own.

A fig tree in Sawtell High Street at night.

Back at the house the kids were still awake and were having a fun time playing with Emmy and Ruben and watch the Swallows and Amazons film. R is fantastic with the kids and is always entertaining them and they seem very happy to have been left.

5th Another slightly iffy weather day and we decided to go for a swim in a pool. The pool attached to the camp site is not much good in that it is always booked out for lessons so we asked Cheri & reception for recommendations - both pointed us to the Coffs Harbour Caravan park which we managed to blag our way into. It was fairly cold water and raining so A & R weren't that enthusiatic but the boys loved it. Charlie shot down the slide when we werent looking but bobbed to the surface shortly afterwards and hung on to the bottom of the slide until rescued. Anytime Charlie gets a few inches of altitude we get "I'm the king of the castle!"

Our little pearls!

We met Ruben for lunch at the Education Campus where he works in the IT unit. This is a combined campus for Coffs Harbour Uni, a technical college and a secondary school which seems like a very practical idea. We had lunch in the canteen which was full of studenty reminders, including vomit in the water fountain, and then walked up a hill at the back of campus.
There were great views of the hills to the west of Coffs and Ruben told us the story of how he ended up in Sawtell on the way back to the car.

Ruben disappearing with the boys.

Back at the cabin the sun came out so R & I went for a swim in the river while C slept (hurray!). In the evening we met R, C & E at Boambee Creek Reserve for a BBQ and the kids (including Ruben!) had great fun in the boats and splashing about. Charlie was seen practising looking though his legs while standing in the river which involved getting a wet head - somehow reminiscent of Eeyore. Jason & Evan turned up in time for food which was a nice surprise so we had the whole gang together for our last night in Sawtell. Steak & prawns - a good Aussie BBQ.

Australian Wildlife Sucks..........literaly

2008-12-01T00:10:00.000-08:00

23rd
As it was Sunday we did think it would be fun to go to an Aussie Church but ended up having Sunday School in the cabin! It was a lovely warm and sunny day so Rachel, Isaac & Charlie spent the morning at the playground whilst the washing was on, followed by a long walk to see the boats. Charlie was fascinated by the 'beaky birdies' we saw, including pelicans, ibis' and rainbow lory's.

After lunch, both boys helped hang the washing on the line, whilst Al did food shopping...what well trained boys! Lydia popped in to say Hi and we then went over to their house later to meet Byron & Trixie, who were both adorable.

Once Dunstan was home (we won't mention what time!) we had a good catch up and the children played really well together. Isaac thought he was in heaven given free rein to play with all Byron's toys and Charlie & Trixie hit it off straight away.

"Do you come here often?"

L&D have a great house with an enormous covered deck and a large garden full of paddling pools and trampolines. Dunstan has a fully-rigged double garage with his music composing computer set up - a much better bolthole than Al's shed.

As we left the fruit bats were coming out and flying over the house. They were incredibly big - similar to a rook but with fatter bodies.

24th
Dunstan took the next two days off as holiday so we could hang out together and we spent Monday morning playing by the river, digging up sand and paddling. Lots of other little kids around including Harry whose father had caught a large mud crab which fascinated the boys. Harry only had 9 fingers due to an axe wielding friend called Tiger. Charlie & Trixie teamed up and without any help managed to carry the dingy all the way down the sand bank and into the water! In the afternoon we went over to Lydia's parents home in Mullumbimby and jumped into their swimming pool within minutes of arriving and Alastair got to show off his scar, whilst I told his story to Gabriel & Brian. Mullumbimby appears to be a farming community and the town stores had a long line of cars outside - every one was a ute. G&B are great hosts and we had a very relaxed afternoon, with kanga(roo) sausages for supper!

In the evening Al & Dunstan went out for few beers in the Brunswick hotel - pretty much the only pub in town. Good to catch up on the news and relive a few memories. Interesting to note that you get better highlights of the premiership in Australia than the UK.

Katie CB has emailed to say that Ces and Rob have had a baby boy called Jake Buster Robert!

25th

Al & Dunstan load themselves and 4 kids onto a 2 man canoe and go for a paddle up the river. Everyone sat very still and no-one fell in which was quite surprising as it felt fairly unstable and we went up past the bridge and landed briefly on "snake island". We looked out for sting rays which are regularly seen here but didn't see anything.

In the afternoon we headed over to D&L's for a bbq and play time.

We've had an email from William and he has been made a partner at the law firm - way to go Will!

26th

A rainy day so we decided to drive to Byron Bay. Both Al & Rach stayed here on their last trip - Rach for much longer. It is world renowned for its surfing and hippy communities.

We started off by visiting the Arts Factory Lodge where Rach stayed and she had a good poke around again but it didnt evoke any backpacking urges.

We then drove up to the lighthouse which gave some great views down over the beaches - supposedly you can regularly see sharks in the surf from here but it was too murky for that.

We then parked in town, did some banking and posting and ate pizza in the Byron Bay hotel. As it was raining everyone was in town rather than on the beach and it was packed with all sorts of strange hairstyles. There is either a very large gay community or "camp" is the current look. There were a lot of leafleters out but we noticed that none of them gave any to us - we either looked liked locals or like a middle aged couple who would never go to the surf school/ nightclub / strip club. Al blamed this on Rach's cagoule.

The beach looked amazingly long and sandy but the rain got heavier and drove us back to the shopping malls where we reviewed an endless selection of boardies and t-shirts.

All in all Byron Bay was a dissapointment both in terms of its reputation and our memories of it but that may have been due to the weather.

In the evening Al went fishing from the rocks near the cabin. He was feeling very superior to all the spinners around him as he was fly fishing, right up until he feel off his rock! Later on 2 large (~1.5m) spotted rays came right into the shore about a metre away from Al - quite scary at night but very beautiful. Later fishing while standing in the shallow water they were swimming round his feet.

We heard lots of chatting from the boys in their bedroom late into the evening and when we checked on them, Isaac had gone to sleep in Charlie's bed.

27th

Another forecasted rainy day so we decided to go for a walk in a rainforest. Minyon falls was about an hours drive away through beautiful rolling countryside which seemed very English only greener and hillier.

Arriving at the national park map we decided to attempt the 4 mile walk to the base of the water falls.

I suspect this is the first time that a double buggy has done the trail.

It was a great walk with incredible bird noises all around us although we didnt actually see much wildlife.

About half way in Charlie pointed into the forest with his finger and gave a "wot dat?" - its a bird Charlie - "NO wot dat?" - its just a bird Charlie - "NO wot DAT?" then we noticed he wasn't pointing, he had a leech attached to the end of this finger.

We then noticed that he had several on his legs as well and so did we. So I stopped taking photos and started trying to get them off but they were very difficult to grip and we didnt have any salt or cigarettes. They were moving very quickly with a cartwheel motion like an uphill Slinky and they were actually coming up our legs more quickly than we could remove them. Suffice to say that we had a fairly traumatic 30 minutes until we got back to the car.

We then had a strip check and found that our feet were covered in them - most of of them very fat on our blood. Love is...... putting your hand in your wifes shoe to tempt out the leeches!

Isaac remained completely unscathed which we later learnt was because he was always in front (waking them up).

Once de-leeched we found a picnic spot at the top of the falls and a couple from Melbourne who gave us lots of tips for later in our trip. During the conversation a Cookaburra dived down and stole the tomato from her sandwich which evoked an impressive level of hysteria. They then admitted that they were real townies.

The falls, and particularly the rainforest below, was dramatic in a way which doesn't really show in the photos.

On the drive home we saw some barefoot buddist monks walking along repentance creek road which seemed poignant (not sure why!).

In the afternoon we went to the local playground and Al fell over on route with Charlie on his shoulders. Luckily Charlie cushioned the fall and Al was fine, although impressively covered in mud from head to toe.

Dunstan called in to the cabin after his shift at the hospital to look at Isaac's ears and diagnosed Glue Ear which hopefully will be cleared up with antibiotics, but if not could need grommets. Fingers crossed.

The evening BBQ on our terrace was interrupted by a thieving Ibis who entertained the boys but, surprisingly, stank - we've never come across a smelly bird before, at least not the feathered variety. Forever onward to be known as "the naughty beaky bird".

28th

It was a beautiful sunny morning when we had been told to expect rain so we decided to go to the sea beach. We took one look at the sea beach and changed our minds as it was very windy with enormous waves and went to Torikina Safety Beach instead which was sheltered behind the sea wall. The "safety" element was caviated by "don't let children in the water beyond their knees - strong rip" and "watch out for brown snakes around the rocks" - everything is relative! The atmosphere was a bit like Hollybush but with bikinis - lots of mums who all knew each other calling in briefly between playgroups. Dunstan seemed to know most of the mums too.

The water was very clear and with a mask we could see a very large group of fry and a variety of silver stripy fish eating them.

We all had calamari for lunch which Isaac particularly enjoyed and then went to Byron & Trixie's house for an afternoon play and a few drinks.

Granny Gabrielle came round to babysit in the evening and the boys were too excited to sleep so we left with snuggles still going on - all 3 seemed quite happy about this. We walked to the RICE Indonesian Restaurant with D&L and after much debate decided to sit outside - this was based on Dunstan's "blink" theory; your first instinct is always right. The rain started almost immediately. There was a band playing sixties rock in the hotel next door and we had a great meal with some juicy conversation.

We said our slightly drunken goodbyes at the entrance to Massey Greene - hopefully it won't be another 4 years before we meet up. It has been really great seeing D, L, B & T and we are very sad to leave them.

29th

The early morning packing up and checking out is quite stressful, especially with a hangover. As we drive out of Brunswick Heads there is a feeling that we may already have finished the best bit of our trip and the journey down to Yamba is longer than expected. On route Al discovered that "The Works Burger" is not as good as it sounds.

We are only staying in Dolphin Bay Resort (recommended by a friend of Ruben's) for 1 night but we have had a great afternoon. Much larger than Massey Greene it has 2 swimming pools and several playgrounds and I know that Isaac will be dissapointed to leave in the morning. Both boys enjoyed the water slides. Again we are on a river beach but this time the river is really enormous, perhaps 1/4 of mile across.

The mosquitoes are quite bad here even during the day - bad enough that Rach & Al will be happy to move on.

Surprise call from Judith tonight was great - Granny B doing well.

30th

Another roasting day. Al took the kids out for a morning session on the playground (and got eaten alive by the mossies) while Rach packed up and then we headed south towards Sawtell.

We decided to stop on route at Grafton as it sounded interesting in Lonely Planet. "Grafton with its wide streets, big verandas and spectacular jacarandas feels like the border post for the subtropics".

Sending Charlie for coconuts

The bits that we saw appeared to be fairly ordinary but Isaac did find somewhere to spend his $1 from Lydia which was a relief as it had been lost approximately 47 times in the last 24 hours (in the car head rest, down the back of his trousers etc etc). 2 lollipops later we headed to "Healthy Bites" for sandwiches.

Back on the road and just after Bald Knob Road we turned off to Red Rock to answer a call of nature (Rachel enevitably). Red Rock was an incredibly beautiful coastal town with a river estuary. Isaac wanted to be swam across river to the beach the other side but an old lady came and told us it was too dangerous so we had to go round the corner where she couldn't see us.

Floating down the river was great fun but swimming across holiding Isaac was actually very difficult. We were right on the point where the river met the sea so we swam in both and the water was very warm. There were only a few other people on the beach who were catching small bream and we chatted and flashed at them. Red Rock was fantastic and a really highlight of the trip so far.

A little further down the Pacific Highway we took a chance on Kangeroo Trail Lane and after only half a mile saw a mob of reds. Amazing to see them bounding across the paddocks.

Coffs Harbour is just north of Sawtell and the major town of the area - as we passed through it seemed much bigger than we remembered. Shortly afterwards we turned for Sawtell and stopped at a lookout point as you come into the town. These photos show the view on 3 sides - looks like another good beach town

We are having an amazing time - keep in touch!!!!

The First Few Days

2008-11-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

Well we've arrived and first impression is ....... oh my word its hot.

The flight was split into three eightish hour sections with brief stops in Dubai and Singapore and all in all could not have been easier. Emirates were brilliant and the trolley dollies seemed to genuinely like the kids - Isaac was slightly stunned by the whole experience and couldn't believe his luck: personal tv with 100s of channels, an endless supply of pineapple juice, a special "backpacket" with toys and every few hours an exciting parcel with chocolate pudding in it. Charlie was happy with all the sticker books, toy horses and gurning at the people in the seats behind. The highlight was when Charlie managed to frisbee a red hot food container into the face of an elderly lady sleeping several rows away - she took it very well.

Both the kids were brilliant and made us wonder why we had been so worried about the flight (there is always the return journey...).

On arrival in Brisbane we stepped out of the 'plane into a wall of heat - at 06:30 am!!! We had a slight tangle with customs over some dried fruit but they released Charlie after only a few hours of interrogation. We then had to pick up our hire car and luckily Victor on the Europcar desk spotted Al for the fair-dinkum Aussie that he is and wangled us a deal which was a relief as we were due to have to take a taxi into town to pick up a car. In the mean time Charlie had walked up to the largest most tattoo'd baggage handler in sight, stuck his finger out to within 12 inches of his face and asked in a loud voice "Who dat man?" Luckily Shane (no joke) was a great guy.

We killed most of the morning sorting out the car and then headed off to our Forest Lodge apartment in Indooroopilly. We didn't have very high expectation for the accomodation which was fortunate as it was very basic and the pool had been flooded by the recent tropical storms. We had forgotten how tropical Brisbane is and the heat, humidity and colourful birds were all greater than we remembered - a very distinctive smell of hot damp earth took as both back 14 years immediately.

Day 2 started slightly earlier than we would have liked due to the wildlife outside our bedroom, however once we had quietened the boys the birds soon started up. There was a danger that Isaac would become disillusioned with the whole trip due to the lack of kangeroos in Dubai, Singapore AND Brisbane airports so we decided to deal with this quickly and headed for the local sanctuary, which turned out to be brilliant.

A brief stop at one of the many public playgrounds on route:

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:

Three of the most familiar Australian species, although we hadn't expected the wombat to look quite so much like Charlie:

Rach demonstrates that although kangeroos are marsupials they are still mammals.....!

The "dogsheep" demonstration was brilliant. Below is the yard dog which is no good at herding but runs along the sheep's backs to "stir 'em up". Highlight was Al demonstrating his extensive knowledge of sheep by asking why some of them had horns!!! Although he did make amends later when one of them escaped by wrestling it to the ground and returning it to the pen all whilst carrying Charlie.

Day 3 was a travelling day south to Brunswick Heads (just north of Byron Bay) but started with a trip to K-Mart; everybody happy - new shorts for Rach, fishing rods for Al and Isaac and a ball for Charlie. Then a four hour drive which turned into a 3 hour drive and then a 2 hour drive as we gradually corrected the timezone on the sat nav - felt like a real bonus!

Brunswick Heads is a bonza place (as Nevil Shute would say) and our beachside cabin really exceeded expectations. The beach is on the river and is beautiful although the water is amazing cold given that it must have been flowing through stinking hot land for x thousand miles...

We have yet to make contact with Dunstan and Lydia due to having misplaced our phone but they do seem to have chosen a great place to live.

16,532 km from work!!!

All in all our first 3 days have been great and there is a wonderful feeling of not having to rush.

Ohhh the preparation

2008-09-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

Well here we are first post on the new blog. This is just a test really - nobody wants to know how long it took to find a car rental that wasnt going to cost more than our mortgage or a hotel in Brisbane that didn't object to Isaac's criminal record. The real news will start when we land sunny side......

Here's the team (and yes, Charlie, that one is a DOG) - ready to rumble.