IT'S COMING TO AN END ......

Well hello, no we haven't dropped off the face of the earth, just been busy living!!!!  We are all battling the flu at the moment so I will try my best to make some sense.

We left you in beautiful Melbourne catching up with family and on all the kids wish lists for the trip was to see snow. So we took a day trip to Lake Mountain about 2hrs north of Melbourne, what a great day trip. You can hire everything you need here including toboggans and all the snow gear you need to tackle the mountain. Now it's not full on skiing here just a good introduction to us newbies on the snow.What a great day lots of snow fights and frost bitten fingers and lots of laughter. The kids faces were grinning from ear to ear!!!

 

On the way back we went through Marysville where all the fires were and it was really eerie with the fog and all the burnt trees, this area is still struggling to recover, you really get a feel for this lovely little town and how devastating it would have been.

 

 

So on from Melbourne to be blown away by the cyclonic winds at Wilson Prom, a gorgeous part of the world and one of those places to go back to when the weather is fine.  We were meant to stay here for 2 nights but after 1 night of severe winds we decided to move on.  We did brave the cold wind and rain to go spotlighting and were rewarded with seeing our first wild wombats strolling around the campsite.  The kids were very excited.

After a couple of hours we arrived in Sale, where we stayed for a few days and caught up with our friends the Malones which we met up in Qld, so the kids were so excited about playing with the kids. It was lovely to see them again and Sale is a cute little place.I think our livers were glad to leave and have a break!!!

 

 

We had one of those moments where we were going to miss Canberra and go up the coast, but after hearing the weather report, more cyclonic winds we thought what the heck lets hit the capital. Yes it was one of those times where we really weren't looking forward to being back in a city, but I have to say we loved Canberra. First stop was to the War Memorial, which I think every Aussie should come and see. You can't feel but incredibly patriotic and touched by this place and especially seeing the unknown soldier, all the kids really got into meaning of this place which I was a little surprised at considering their age, but they all felt the emotion.  So just 2 days in Canberra and we packed in as much as we could, a central place to stay is the show grounds and at $25 a night for water and power it was a real bargain for a city stop.

You can't go to Canberra without seeing Parliament House, pity we weren't there this week amongst all the excitement of the new government, but still it was a very interesting place. Free tours run all the time and you get a real insight on how it all works, and it is huge those new politicians are going to get lost for months. Anybody can go and sit in and you generally have to book for special question time, considering how close this years election was, we found it really informative, not quite sure whether the kids took it all in but I can now say when I see those green and red rooms on the news I can say we've been there! To see all the former prime ministers of the country and to see the apology and other indigenous milestones such as being able to vote it was great to see. The mint was a little disappointing as we didn't get to see any of that glorious money pumping out and of course the paper money is made in Melbourne but it was still interesting. Alot goes into those little coins from just a plain bit of metal to being stamped 8 times to make our money. It was good seeing how our coins have evolved.

 

Fun kids stuff here we come... Questacon is the place where all kids big and small can have fun, the 3 floors of science fun madness from little kid dress ups to free falling and lots in between, we were all tuckered out that day!!! Canberra is so easy to get around and we had great weather to view it and there's nothing like sitting on the front yard of Parliament house having a picnic overlooking the capital!!!

Making our way to Sydney from Canberra was the winding death trap.... KINGS HIGHWAY. This road has the sharpest corners on a mountain we have come across so far, with rain and limited visibility it was a scary drive. To the point where it was nearly all over, we hit a sharp corner only going 20k and skidded around the road with the hand brake on, the caravan brake on and the car brake on, with a sheer drop off the cliff if there was a car coming up the other lane it would have been all over. The scariest moments of the trip, I don't think the kids even noticed watching a movie in the back, but Michael and I didn't breath for for a while after that one. We actually stopped at the next rest area just to compose ourselves!!!!!

 

 

After that heart stopper we got to a place called Nowra where there is a Navy, Airforce, Army museum (The Australian Museum of Flight), where Michael took Spencer to see the sights. The girls were fast asleep so I missed out on that one, but it looks very impressive.

Ahh Sydney, and they have turned the sunshine on, we found the best caravan sight at Lane Cove Tourist Park, which is situated in a national park, central to everything and only $37 a night, no kids charges here and we have power and water and close to the train. We decided to take a break from the car and buy a $120 transport family pass for the week which covers you for everything.

 

Friday night we hit Luna Park which Scarlett calls Luny Park!!It was nice to just let go and be a big kid again and go crazy on all the rides, I don't think I've screamed that much for a while. That Scarlett is a dare devil, Spencer said it was the best night of the trip and Phoebe was hanging on for dear life on all the high rides. FUN, FUN, FUN. So after the kiddie fun we had some Tamara fun and went to the Paddington Markets the next day for some retail action. You all know by now Michael just loves the markets, not, so the day was a long one for him. Michael's Aunty Ann and Uncle George live in Cronulla and it was really nice to catch up with them and see Kate, Mitch and Lauren and be part of a lovely family gathering on the Sunday.

 

With sore heads the next day we headed off to Taronga Zoo which we all loved. The new baby elephants there are very cute!!!! We got a chance to see Bondi on a windy, freezing day so we didn't go for a Bondi swim. Michael and I had been to Sydney alot with relatives on both sides of our family so we thought we'd just do the main touristy things with the kids.

Which included having lunch at the Opera House overlooking the harbour and having some adult beverages. It would have been nice to catch up with Uncle Colin, but we all hope you get better soon.

It's sad to say we are nearing the end of our trip.  We head off to Mudgee for 2 weeks for Michael to do his Permaculture Course on the farm Milkwood to learn how to live sustainably and then we will slowly weave our way back to Brisbane. I have no idea what the future brings, but I will keep you posted. The great thing is I suppose that anything could happen, and we are ready to take on life with a new and enthusiastic view on our lives and how we want to bring up the kids. Hopefully be a little more patient in life and much more open minded and to actually stop once and awhile and know that there's more to life!!!! Thank you so much to all of you that have taken an interest in our big adventure. Something that was going to be a little blog to keep in touch with family and friends and turned into over 80 people tuning in. Some I have never met but hopefully inspired to go on their own adventure and to all those people that posted their own experiences and helped us out about some great places thank you. It's also been really lovely to hear from all those family and friends that have kept in contact, I know you all have your own lives but being away for more than 6 months can be a little lonely.  We have been very lucky to tour this incredible country and to have met the most amazing people. Love to all. xxxx