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

FAMILY & A COMFY BED

Woo Hoo! We hit beautiful Melbourne and haul the caravan through the city which was a bit of a challenge in the traffic. I must admit we get a bit freaked out now when we hit traffic,how are we going to cope when we get home??????

We arrived to a big smiley face and warm open arms of Aunty Jenny, so nice to see family, we are really missing everyone at the moment and we were so excited to catch up with familiar faces. I can't tell you how lovely it is after nearly 6 months to stay in a warm house and sleep in a proper bed!!!!

For us Melbourne is about catching up with family but we did manage to fit in some shopping time at the amazing Chadstone. If you are a shopper this is the place to be, even Michael liked it here. We thought we better do some touristy stuff and went into town for the day and hit the Melbourne Museum. Wow, what an incredible museum and we have been to a few but this one by far was the best.  Phar Lap was so much bigger than what I thought!! The kids got a kick out of catching the tram and it was a really nice day.

We were so lucky, Jenny and Peter gave us the day off, the first day off in 6 months, you didn't have to ask us twice. We had the best day and wondered through Sorrento and had lunch at Portsea and got back after dinner. We hit the Brighton bathing boxes at sunset and had a great day out. I think the kids had a great day as well, Jenny took them to a wave pool and the park and they had so much fun, I think they needed a break as well from mum and dad.

I just wanted to quickly mention some great places before we got to Melbourne, I think Michael had a few drinks on the last blog!!!!!

Apollo Bay is worth a mention we managed to go to the Surf Museum and loved it, check out the photos!!! And Geelong, what a great town much bigger than what I thought. There are these lovely statues dotted all around the city along the foreshore. They were created by a great local lady whos name escapes me but had cancer a few years a go and they were made in her honour.

There is so much to see and do in Victoria and we did plan to go to Ballarat but with the recent floods that kind of put our plans out. It is just so nice to actually stop for awhile and be with Michael's lovely family and see all the kids with their cousins and meet all the little bubs that were born this year.So we thank Jenny and Peter so much for our stay which we will always remember.

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

Well Tam has piked out again so you are stuck with my ramblings for another blog.

After our fantastic trip to Uluru and Kings Canyon we headed for Adelaide with a renewed excitement for the trip. Unfortunately the weather soon took care of that. We arrived in Clare to pouring rain and a -1 deg night, not happy. It was great to have the chance to catch up with old work friends that I haven't seen for 9 years but unfortunately due to the weather we didn't get to see as much of Adelaide and South Australia as we had planned.

On one of the better days we took the kids into the Adelaide Zoo to see the Pandas Wang Wang and Funi. The Zoo was fantastic and was the first big Zoo the kids and I have ever been to.

After spending 4 days in Adelaide we started off to via McLaren Vale and the Fleurieu Peninsula. Again due to the bad weather we didn't have much of a chance to look at McLaren Vale but did find the time to stock up on a bit of Red from our favourite wineries to keep us warm for the days ahead.

The drive down the Fleurieu Peninsula was great and we decided to pull off and stay at a little place called Rapid Bay. For $10 a night you can stay in the community park right on the water, I have to say this was one of the best cheap/free campsites we have stay at on our trip. I can imagine that this place would be busy in summer. The next day we visited beautiful seaside towns like Victor Harbour, Port Elliot, Robe and others on the way to Victoria.

Unfortunately because of the weather all we could do was sample the local coffee and various treats from the Bakeries on the way through to keep the kids happy.

By this time we were wet, cold and had enough of the long drives. We were looking forward to getting to Lorne as this has great memories for Tam and I from our time before kids. We had an idea that we could try and stay in the cottages behind Lorne that we had stayed at 10 years ago. We gave them a call and not only did they have a cottage but it was the one we stayed in last time! Everyone was so excited to be staying in a house with beds for the first time in 6 months. The weather held up a bit for us to experience the Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles.

I even got a chance to go up in a helicopter with the big kids for Father's Day which was a great experience.

We stayed in beautiful Lorne for 3 nights and had the rest we were all in desperate need of. We had the fire going all weekend, the kids watched TV and movies and recharged our batteries.

We can't wait to get to Melbourne and catch up with family so until next time, we pray for some sunshine and will see you then!