Brisbane Trip Day 27: Newcastle

I woke early and went for a walk along Blacksmiths Beach. The sky was quite dark and made the ocean a steely grey metallic colour, with the sun shining through the clouds on the horizon. There was a coal ship silhouetted in the rising sun and it was gorgeous. I considered going for a swim - the waves were pretty big, there was a lot of seaweed, and there was a layer of some sort of muck just beyond the break, so I decided to give it a miss. I walked up to the break wall and a little way out - the waves at times were crashing onto the wall so I didn't walk any further, just stood and admired the view for a while. On my way back to the house it started raining - not heavily, but enough to get fairly wet. It was refreshing though, not cold.

I had a quick chat to Tony while I got ready to go out, and at 10 we headed off. I drove via Eleebana to show the kids the house that my grandparents used to own - it's changed a little and I would have like to take photos but there was a lady glaring down at me from the top balcony so I did the very difficult multi-point turn to turn around at the end of the road (and I did use the driveway a little, which my grandparents didn't ever like people doing) and didn't linger there. I got a bit confused in Warners Bay, trying to figure out which road I needed to take to get me up to the bypass - I ended up on Warners Bay Rd and came out just before Charlestown which worked OK. Driving down into Merewether was exciting as always, so many familiar places and the view of the beach as I came down Scenic Dr is always amazing.

We met 2 of my uncles in the carpark at Dixon Park beach (easier to park there than at Merewether). It was warm and sunny by now, we took a while to all get sunscreen on and find our hats, then we were ready to walk down to Merewether Beach. I was surprised at how many people were there, walking, swimming, sunbathing, surfing or at the cafes, for the middle of a weekday. It was great to chat to my uncles about music and their recent travels and sport and Newcastle. We had gelato at the surf club and once we'd finished eating we walked down to the baths. The kids changed into their swimmers and went for a swim (Amelie was reluctant at first, I think the size and ocean water put her off a bit) and I took a heap of photos of one of my favourite places in Newcastle. The baths have recently been refurbished so many things were different, like the ramps into them and the walls and the seats around them. The lap markers were the same and the fences looked similar - it was fun to explore and just soak up the atmosphere. I sat and talked with my uncles and Amelie got out and lay in the sun for a while, the others swam to the far side of the baths and climbed out and explored the rock pools, finding a sea slug and some fish. The waves were big although not big enough to break over onto the rocks there - they were splashing against the edge and making quite an impressive spray.

The kids got out of the pool and went to play in the rock pools along the edge of the beach, and Amelie joined them. We sat in the shade and watched them and chatted some more. When the kids came back to get changed I realised I didn't want to leave without swimming in the baths myself, so I ran down and dived in and swam across and back. It felt fantastic, so refreshing, good to be swimming laps again, and great to be swimming in such a familiar place. I'm really glad I did a quick swim.

As we were about to leave a massive school group (from St Paul's, Booragul) arrived so we were happy to be on our way. We walked back to the cars and said goodbye to my uncles. From there I showed the kids the unit I lived in in Merewether, then drove in to Nobbys Beach, past lots of places that I pointed out to the kids. We drove around past Newcastle Beach and then through Cooks Hill, Hamilton South and Adamstown, then past the house I lived in when I was a baby, then back home to Blacksmiths.

We relaxed at the house for a while and I popped out to get some groceries so I could cook dinner. Once the girls were home from school I took Caitlin and her 13yo cousin out for coffee - we looked in Swansea first (and had to wait at the bridge to let a yacht go into the lake) but everything was closed, then tried Belmont and found nothing, so went to Belmont 16 footers - which is where we ended up going last time we were up here and I took the girls out. We ordered hot chocolates and chai, and a piece of chocolate mousse torte to share, and sat overlooking the lake and the sailboats while we ate and drank. The girls played cards (Spit) while we waited for our drinks to arrive and while we chatted after finishing them. It was a lovely afternoon out with 2 gorgeous young women.

Back home my BIL took all the kids down to the beach (he had the bus from school so could fit them all in) while I cooked spag bol. The kids came home happy and wet, changed their clothes and watched TV together. I dished up dinner and sat out the back chatted to my BIL. Liam joined us after a while and we saw possums coming down out of the trees - the kids fed them some fruit and enjoyed hanging out with them. They noticed one of the possums didn't have a tail and we discussed how that might have happened. The cousins went off to bed and I followed soon after and wrote and read for a while, and the kids came in to the tent as they were ready.

Half-lap Day 98: Perth

There was lots of wind and rain overnight and we were quite grateful to be inside and not in the tent. Once everyone was awake our hosts cooked breakfast for everyone, bacon, eggs, baked beans, tomato, toast, tea and coffee, it was very tasty and a nice leisurely meal.

We had the Olympics on and watched the swimming finals, seeing 2 Australian Gold Medals which was very very exciting. The kids played in the activity room and popped out to see some of the Olympics from time to time. Tony’s cousin showed us some old photos of the family and offered to share them with us later. It was a quite morning, chatting with our friends and drinking cups of tea.

After 11 (when the shops open on Sundays in Perth), Tony’s cousin took me up to the local Aldi – it only opened a couple of weeks ago and he hadn’t been yet so was fascinated by the prices and how it all works. I was excited to be back in an Aldi again and did a big stock up for our trip back home, I shouldn’t need to shop again for anything apart from bread, milk and meat for dinner.

Back home we had ham bread rolls and soup and leftovers for lunch, and they kids kept playing in the activity room. Caitlin practiced her gymnastics a bit and they made several more musical.ly videos. I talked to a friend on the phone then went for a walk with Tony’s cousin’s wife when she walked the dog. I came back and sorted out all our food – it took a little bit of organising to get it all in the trailer, and the wind and rain started up again so I got fairly wet. Most of our stuff stayed dry though, and I was able to bring the sleeping bags inside to dry. I finished sorting out our washing and we had a nice relaxing afternoon. Tony cooked some more sausage rolls which everyone loved, then he cooked his chicken and tarragon dish for dinner, it was delicious and another enjoyable meal with great company.

We watched more Olympics and Tony and his cousin went through the old family photos and transferred the relevant ones to our computer. They found a photo of Tony’s mum at her sister’s wedding, she would have been about Caitlin’s age and looked exactly like Caitlin does in photos, it was incredible.

We watched Olympics until everyone was very tired, Caitlin was really enjoying the gymnastics and it was hard to tear ourselves away. I read a couple of very exciting chapters of Inheritance then we all went to bed and listened to the even stronger wind and heavier rain outside.

Half-lap Day 94: Kalbarri

I woke before sunrise and sat outside with the computer, gradually watching it get lighter. I’ve been having trouble with the keyboard again, since the first day at Shark Bay, so typing anything can take a while sometimes – I know how to temporarily fix it now, but it can start playing up again at irregular intervals and it is a little frustrating. Having the beautiful bush and river around me though helped me feel quite calm and peaceful even when the computer wasn’t working easily.

Millie came out and went to pat the goats. I mentioned that we were allowed to go in the goat pen, as long as an adult was with any kids – she was keen to go straight away, I suggested she have breakfast first, and wait for the other kids. She decided she wanted French Toast, cooked up in the camp kitchen – the idea of sitting on a couch, or around a large table, with real (non-folding up) chairs, really appealed to her. Tony took the food he’d need up to the kitchen – it is really well equipped (like staying at a backpacker hostel) so he didn’t need to take any cooking utensils. He made French Toast with bacon, and the other kids wandered up there too as they woke up. I sorted out our washing and had a good chat to the guy in the tent across the road from us – again getting a few tips about places to see, and sharing our love of these remoter, less populated campsites.

Breakfast was delicious, and the kids enjoyed playing in the communal area. They got out a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle from the cupboard and started working on that. We considered just hanging around at the station all day – we haven’t had a rest day for nearly 2 weeks and it is more tiring when we are really active every day. There was one thing at least that I wanted to see in the National Park so we decided to still do that, but not stay long in the Park, so we could come back and have a quiet afternoon. The kids had agreed to meet up with the kids from the station this afternoon as well, so they were keen to be back before 4pm.

I took the kids in to see the goats – there was a small goat kid lying in the sleeping area, and when we looked closer we realised that it had died. The kids were very sad, and we went to look at the rest of the goats a bit more somberly than when we’d first entered. The other goat kids were sleeping, some of the mother goats came over to us for a pat. After a while some of the kids woke up as well and everyone had a great time playing together.

We got ready to go out and headed for the National Park. We stopped at the entry station to get a new tag for our National Parks pass – ours appears to have blown out the door at Cape Range. (We had the receipt with the details on it from when we paid for the pass, so we didn’t have to pay again, just get a new tag.) This is our fourth National Park since buying the pass, so now we’ve saved money by buying it rather than paying day entry each time). Driving in was quiet pretty, there were wildflowers everywhere, purple, red, yellow and white. The road was sealed for about half the way, then dirt – it was a little corrugated in parts, and sandy occasionally, but the car handled it fine. We did unplug our fridge cord in case it was the bouncing around of the corrugations that blew the fuse last time (at Karajini).

Our first stop was Nature’s Window, which was the one thing I really really wanted to see in this area. As we approached the carpark we were amazed at the view – wide, deep gorges with sloping cliffsides leading down to the bottom. The rock layers were horizontal and obvious and the gorge sides looked like large cakes. The scale of the gorges was quite overwhelming. The walk down to the window was quite easy – and very pretty. We were up close to the wildflowers now, with the gorges and river in the background. At this point the Murchison River does a massive loop, as well as doing a hairpin turn on either end of the loop – so walking out to the lookout, we had a U-bend in the river on either side of us, and we were walking on a narrow isthmus (high up on top of the cliff, which dropped down to the river on either side. Except around the area of Nature’s Window the cliff top wasn’t so narrow that it was scary. Beyond the window the high land widened out again and filled the whole circle of land within the loop.

View of the gorge as we approached it

We reached Nature’s Window and clambered around to get a good view – it is a natural hole in the rocks, large enough to stand in, and it frames the view of the river quite nicely. I was excited to see it and to take photos through it – I always love framing my shots with something like a tree branch or a rock, so having a ready-made frame on all 4 sides of the shot was quite cool. The kids loved it there too, looking at the river and the cliff faces and the birds and the flowers. We saw 6 emus down on the grass next to the river, and several bushes that also looked like emus – again, the natural features of an area often imitate the shape of the local animals (or perhaps the other way around). There was a walk that went right around the loop, 9km and at least 5 hours – we’d decided not to do it but once I was there I really wished we had the time and the energy to attempt it, it would have been amazing.

At Nature's Window

The layers in the rocks were quite obvious up close as well as from a distance – like some of the other places we’ve walked (Karajini, Kings Canyon) the vertical layers wear away so the layers themselves make natural steps. The layers here were very thin, only a couple of centimetres high, so the steps were quite shallow. We hung around at the lookout for ages, then wandered back along the path. The kids and Tony raced back, and I took my time, enjoying the wildflowers and the view from different perspectives.

We had lunch at the picnic area back at the carpark, then everyone was happy to go back to camp. Driving into the station we could see the river winding through the land towards the coast (we were only 13km from the ocean here), large sloping cliffs that were whiter as they got closer to the sea. There was also a large green grassy area that looked like a natural ampitheatre in among the high river banks – it was a long way away and we weren’t sure if it was grass or crops or what, but we loved looking at it.

Back at camp Tony took the kids in to see the goats again, while I got a few things organised. One of  the kids kept ‘hugging’ Caitlin, and then tried to eat her hair. The little ones are so cute, its great watching them play. Tony went in to town to get some food for dinner and to organise our accommodation in Perth. The kids and I had a bit of a play with the totem tennis and Caitlin practiced walking on the rolling barrel, as well as showing Millie how to do it – she was pretty good!  Caitlin told one of the station managers about the little dead goat, and the lady took Caitlin and LiAM in with her so they could show here where it was, then she organised for someone to remove it. The station children arrived home and I left the 5 kids all playing together with the totem tennis and the barrel, everyone looked very happy. I had a bit of time at the tent by myself which was nice and relaxing.

Tony decided to take advantage of having an oven in the camp kitchen, and made sausage rolls. LiAM and I went to the kitchen with him,  I played cards and he worked some more on the 1000 piece puzzle. A couple of horses walked past the window – they walked all the way down past our tent and LiAM and I ran around trying to find Caitlin so she could see them. She was playing with the girl from the station, who started to call the horses so they’d come back up – Caitlin did get to see them when they wandered back past. She and Millie played with the girl for a while longer on the ipad and with the tennis pole. Once she went inside they joined us in the kitchen and helped LiAM with the puzzle and Tony with cooking tea.

The sausage rolls were delicious – Tony hasn’t made them for ages and he’s so good at it. While we were eating, the lady from the family who had just set up next to us came into the kitchen. We’d seen them out at Nature’s Window today, they looked like a relaxed and fun family, with 2 little boys. We chatted to her for a while and discovered they lived not far from us (Park Orchards) and she knew some people in Healesville – she listed them and we know some of them as well.  Tony offered to bring down any leftover sausage rolls to them, and she said we were welcome to join them at their campfire. Tony had cooked apple pie for dessert – we ate it with ice cream and it was magnificent. We did a bit more of the jigsaw puzzle, then cleaned up in the kitchen and Millie and I went to have a shower. Caitlin joined us after a while and we also ran into our neighbour again. We walked back down to the campsite with her and she invited us to their campfire again, we offered to bring marshmallows.

We had a very pleasant evening chatting to our new friends. We have a fair bit in common (similar interests and lifestyles and beliefs) so had lots to talk about apart from comparing trip details. As we talked we discovered even more people who we know in common – the guy used to play cricket with some of the guys from Tony’s baseball club. Their littlest boy was asleep, and their 5 year old stayed up chatted and played with our kids. The kids all roasted marshmallows, then LiAM talked to him a lot about Star Wars and they played with his toy light saber. Caitlin played with them and talked to the adults, Millie played with them then snuggled up on Tony’s lap once she got tired. Our friends shared a bottle of scotch with us, it was really lovely sitting and drinking and chatting and laughing around the fire, even when it sprinkled rain occasionally. It was a much warmer evening than the night before and sitting outside felt really comfortable. We could see the goats in their pen and they were often awake and walking around, even the kids – we weren’t sure if that was usual nighttime behaviour for goats or if they were up because we were up. Eventually everyone was very tired and we decided to call it a night – back at our tent we discovered it was 12.30! Definitely our latest night on the trip so far! No reading tonight, Millie was already asleep and everyone else bundled into bed pretty quickly and went straight to sleep.

Sydney Trip - > Day 5 to Day 10

Over the rest of our time in Sydney, we spent a lot of time hanging out at the house, as well as a few outings, which made it feel more like a holiday (less like being at home). On the Friday afternoon we took all the kids to Sydney Aquatic Centre at Homebush - Millie's favourite pool and somewhere she's been wanting to go back to for months. We were there for about 4 hours, swimming in the kids pool and going in and out of the fountains and tipping buckets and showers, going around and around and around in the rapids, hanging out in the spa, going on the big slide (Millie is still not tall enough, but there were plenty of other things to do to keep her happy), and running over to be dumped on by the massive bucket of water. Millie and I usually keep well away from it, by the end of this visit though she was running over with everyone else to be there for the massive wave of water. I did it once and was happy to not do it again.

On Saturday the other kids had karate and a rehearsal and other things on, and we went to Lizard Log park which has a great adventure playground, and spent 3 hours hanging out with my friend K. Her kids weren't around this weekend, so my kids played and K and I had a great chat in between helping my kids. LiAM wasn't feeling well so he didn't enjoy the playground as much as he'd hoped. It was a wonderful catch up. And warm - the first time I've been able to be outside without a jacket for many months now! On the way home we had an early dinner at Red Rooster, then home for a quiet evening with the others.

K and I at Lizard Log Park, Caitlin on the flying fox (taken by LiAM)

Sunday we headed in to Balmain to see my brother and his wife. We had a BBQ lunch sitting on their balcony overlooking the harbour, it was another beautiful sunny day and a great setting. After lunch we walked to the ferry and they took us over to Cockatoo Island - somewhere I'd never been and was very excited to visit. We wandered through one of the tunnels, examined the old cranes and railway tracks and docks, sat in the sun and ate ice cream, climbed up to the top part of the island and looked at the old sandstone buildings. On the way back to the ferry Millie fell and hurt her knee, but the ferry ride home calmed her down and we enjoyed looking at the harbour from the ferry and checking out all the gardens on the walk back to the apartment. We stayed with my brother for a cuppa, watching photos and videos of their recent trip to Thailand and Burma where they rode on elephants. They had great presents for the kids from their trip too, fans and soap for the girls and Burmese money for LiAM.

Lunch on my brother's balcony

Millie learning about sandstone on Cockatoo Island (and carrying her gift bag from her uncle and aunt)

Cockatoo Island

Monday, and the times either side of our outings on the other days, we spent at the house, playing with the kittens, playing on iPads, playing on the swings and trampoline, watching TV, sewing, dressing up in costumes (the girls did a photo shoot), making up dances and performing them for everyone, cooking (there were 2 batches of cupcakes made), playing Scrabble, and chatting and laughing.

Millie asleep with the kittens and mummy cat

Cupcake creation

Millie dancing her ballet dance

Tuesday we all went to the zoo - it only took just over an hour to drive there (boys and Millie in my car, girls in the other car). We got there just after 10 and left when it closed at 4.30. We started the day with a round trip ride on the cable car - very cool seeing the animals from above, and looking at the view over the harbour. We saw most of the animals, and stopped to watch the bird show and the seal show, both of which were excellent. We sat in the splash zone for the seal show (front row) and got quite wet, which Millie was upset about - she snuggled on my lap under my jacket for the rest of the show and was happy then. We played in the playground next to the lemurs, and then in the playground at the farm part. Millie had another 2 bad falls and hurt her knee again - luckily this time I had my sling with me so she could snuggle on my back and it wasn't so hard for me to carry her. We ended the day with a ride up on the cable car, then had ice cream and my kids bought souvenirs (a snow globe type thing with penguins in it for Caitlin, a small plush lemur (so cute!) for LiAM, and a Schleich seal for Millie, to partner the one she got a few years ago). Back to the car and LiAM and Millie and I were exhausted and still not well and wanted to go straight home, so the boys and Millie and I did that, only hitting a small pocket of slow traffic. L and the girls went down to the beach near the zoo and had a wonderful evening before heading home and missing the traffic entirely.

After checking out the zebras, Millie consulted her map to see where to go next

NSW Trip Day 12 - Newcastle

I got up early and left with P when he took the girls to school and went to work. He lent me his car for the day so I could have some time to myself, and Tony and the kids stayed at the house and played, and Caitlin made a cake with K (a dairy and gluten free carrot cake).

P works just near where Mum and Dad used to live (and me too when I was younger) so I went and had a look at the house – apart from a satellite dish on the roof and a basketball hoop in the front yard it looked exactly the same. I went down to the shopping centre that I know as Garden City but I’m not sure if its still called that, and it is definitely not exactly the same. It has gradually been expanding and extending over the 30 years since we first moved to the area and I’d seen a lot of the changes, but hadn’t seen the final stage. The carpark was big and confusing, and once inside, at the end where I always used to enter, it was quite similar – when I got to the point where the centre used to end though – it continued on for just as far again and it felt somewhat overwhelming! Anyway, I did a bit of shopping – birthday presents for Millie and LiAM, clothes for me and the kids, a new book for me.

Once I’d had enough I bought a frozen yoghurt (from a cool make-your-own kiosk) and drove in, via the coastal route, to Nobbys Beach. I always enjoy that drive, and it was extra exciting having not done it, and having not seen those beaches, for several years. I sat on a bench and ate my yoghurt and read my book and soaked in the view and the atmosphere. It was a gloriously sunny day, lots of people out walking and running and surfing. I walked out to the end of the breakwater – something I have done hundreds of times before, it felt exciting and familiar. There was a shoal of fish in the water at the end, I’ve never seen that there before, and it was interesting watching a larger fish jumping through them to get its dinner. I hung out at the end for a while, watching the waves and the boats, then headed back, watching a container ship leaving the harbour. It became quite warm as I walked, I hadn’t expected to feel so hot, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment and the walk and the location really helped me to relax and feel great.

Ship being taken out of harbour by tugs

Nobbys Lighthouse

View from breakwater

Breakwater, and ship free of tugs, leaving harbour

Tony had hoped to catch up with a friend of mine, T, who has recently opened the Reserve Wine Bar in Newcastle, but I didn’t have current contact details for him. I thought since I was in the area I could call in to the Reserve and see if I could get a phone number or something – when I opened the door the first person I saw was T’s wife – she and T were having lunch there with her parents. I hadn’t seen them for about 7 years so it was a very pleasant surprise for everyone. I had a quick catch up and grabbed T’s details then left them to their lunch, hopefully we’ll catch up again later this week.

I drove down Hunter St, through the mall which is now open to one lane of one way traffic, and could see that the shops are actually doing business now and there were people everyone, unlike the last few times I’d been there when this end of town was dying. All of Hunter St looked in a better condition than last I’d seen it. I went to Hamilton and had lunch in another wine bar, Fortunate Son, recently opened by a friend of my sister’s. I had a fantastic pancetta, kale and pumpkin salad in a cosy and modern bar, I was quite impressed.

From there I picked P up from work and we came home. The kids were watching TV together, then they iced the cake and we all had a piece – it was delicious. The kids played for a couple of hours, then Tony and our kids left to go out for dinner. We met our friends R & K at Paul’s Asian Affair – Tony’s favourite restaurant in the world. The food is fantastic, and they provide generous serves. It was great catching up with our friends and eating wonderful food. The highlight for LiAM was the Lemon Meringue Pie for dessert which he ate single handedly. It wasn’t too late when we got home but everyone was tired (and Caitlin had been feeling unwell all day) so straight to bed.