Brisbane Trip Day 31: Blue Mountains -> Bathurst

It was a bit of a windy night, and the noise from the trains slowly heaving up the mountain could be loud - they didn't ever wake me up, but a couple of times I was already awake and heard them go past. The morning was beautiful and fresh, with the sun rising and lighting up the trees across the grass from us.

There wasn't a lot to do to pack up and it went pretty smoothly (although the wind made it slightly difficult at times and I also had trouble with the zip on the trailer cover). My friend from the night before came past at one point, she was walking to Springwood and it was cool to see her one more time.

We continued to drive through the Blue Mountains, and saw the new Hydro Majestic Hotel and it's majestic view. We stopped for petrol in Medlow Bath, and then approached Victoria Pass, which I had been anxious about for almost a week. The grade here is 14% in some parts, and I knew it was a tricky, steep road. My friend's husband had given me some tips the night before, so I put the car in 2nd gear and just took it very slow. The speed limit for trucks was 40, and I went slower than that - it was fine, I didn't feel the trailer pushing me at all at that speed. There were a few tight bends in between the 2 steep parts, and I managed them fine and got to the bottom feeling very relieved and a great sense of achievement!

I would have liked to stop in Hartley and have a look around but we already had enough stops planned for these last few days of driving. Tony rang us when we were near Lithgow so I pulled over and we all had a chat to him on his birthday. We kept going and turned off to find my friend's place - a friend from my BHP days. We parked the trailer in front of her shed, and then drove in to Bathurst to meet her at her daughter's school, which was having a Highland Gathering.

We found her watching the bagpipe display (her daughter was competing) and sat on the grass and watched that and the strong man competition. We were all hot and exhausted and I sent the kids to get themselves an ice block. Amelie accidentally got the wrong one so I sent her to get a 2nd one - it was hot and windy and it was much more bearable if we all felt happy. After their ice blocks the kids went for a walk to look at the games and rides. I stayed and talked with my friend for a while, it was so good to see her. She and her youngest son decided to go home for a while, so I went and found the kids and saw Caitlin and Liam competing by running attached to a bungee cord and trying to put blocks as far away from their starting point as they could. Caitlin's long arms and legs and speed made this a lot easier for her. Amelie got her face painted (a cat on one side of her face, it was really well done) and the others played some skill games (throwing or shooting balls at things). We had a bit more of a wander around and then discovered that the meat pies were half price as it was nearly the end of the day, so we had one each.

We headed back to my friend's place. I hadn't been to her house before, it was huge and spacious - she and her husband had designed and built it 15 years ago and I loved it. We had a bit of a look around, and went down to feed bread to the sheep and the very old (30 years) horse. Her boys were riding their motorbikes, and the 15 year old took Liam then Caitlin on a ride - they loved it. The kids played on the trampoline and the swing, and Caitlin helped feed the horse, then we went inside while my friend cooked dinner. We chatted and the kids played and we had a delicious lamb roast with her and her kids. We had ice cream and blueberries for dessert and then sat in the lounge for a cup of tea. It was relaxing and easy to be there and I'm so glad we detoured inland to see her.

The girls slept in the bunk beds in the youngest son's room (he slept in my friend's room) and Liam and I slept in single beds in the spare room. It was really dark once all the lights went out - no street lights this far out of town and they turned all the lights off before they went to bed.

Brisbane Trip Day 20: Brisbane

None of us had any plans for today, nowhere to be at any particular time, and it was quite pleasant to know we could take our time over getting up or doing whatever we wanted to do. I spent a while on the computer and chatting to my friend and the kids. As the big girls got up they decided they wanted to go shopping, so in the late morning my friend dropped them at the shopping centre in Ipswich. She came back and we kept chatting, she was dehydrating a heap of food so we sat in the kitchen while she did that. The other kids played Roblox and Minecraft and Amelie played Pokemon a bit on her DS. As usual there was also playing with kittens when they were in sight. The girls rang and asked if they could catch the train to Redbank, which we said was fine. I did a little bit of organising of our stuff so that it won't be too hard to pack up when we leave, and started to think about how much longer we'll stay. My friend and I spent some more time laying on the bed and watching TV, and we both ended up having a nap in the late afternoon. Another friend of hers called around for a little while. I'd just woken from my nap when the girls surprised us by walking in the door - they'd caught the train and bus home themselves - we were pretty impressed that they navigated the public transport system on their own, the other girls had never done it before and Caitlin doesn't know Brisbane at all. They were pretty proud of themselves, although very very tired.

The boys and Amelie spent some time outside playing on the trampoline and with water balloons. The big girls decided to put up the roof top tent on the bus, but it had lots of ants in it so they decided not to sleep there. The boys played in it and on the bus for a while. My friend and I moved out to the lounge room to watch the big TV while the kids were all busy. We ate dinner and the boys played xbox in the bedroom for a while, and the big girls watched netflix in another room - by the end of the evening all the kids were on the lounge with us. Another very relaxing and very fun day - we're all feeling good and really loving spending time with this wonderful family.

Brisbane Trip Day 3: Newcastle

I was up first and headed out for a walk. I ended up alongside the Swansea Channel, which was looking hazy and glowy in the early morning sunlight. I sat at a table near the water and did some writing then took some photos, and walked home feeling very happy and refreshed.

Swansea Channel

We had a very lovely lazy morning at the house. The older girls chatted and watched Netflix, Liam watched Dr Who, the younger two played on the trampoline and in the pool in the back yard and with their stuffed toys. The adults pottered around and did bits and pieces and spent time reading and playing games. We had bacon and eggs for breakfast and BLTs and party pies for lunch, it was all very relaxing and enjoyable.

After lunch I took the 3 oldest girls back down to Blacksmiths beach. We swam in the corner near the breakwall where the currents are not as strong. The waves were big, but not rough, they weren’t dumping at all. We swam for nearly 2 hours and it was a lot of fun. I haven’t swum in surf like that for a very long time and it was perfect.

Cousins at the beach

When we got back I jumped in the pool with the little girls, it was a great way to wash off all the salt and feel refreshed. The bigger girls joined us after a while and then everyone went back to hanging out and relaxing in their own way.

After dinner I took the 2 older cousins and my 3 kids down to the jetty at Pelican. The 4 older kids immediately headed out on to the jetty and jumped in – they jumped from the jetty itself and from the top of the pylons. It wasn’t a big jump – only a couple of metres from the top of the pylons, but it was fun. I decided to give it a go (just from the jetty) and it took me a long time to work up the courage. I eventually jumped and I did find it quite scary. Amelie jumped in after me – I was so impressed because she was obviously very scared but had decided she wanted to do it. She took way less time than me to work up to it. The current was quite strong so once in the water we had to swim hard to the shore to avoid being taken under the jetty. Amelie and I both jumped a second time then she’d had enough. I wanted to do it a 3^rd because it usually takes 3 times before I stop being terrified – I was still nervous but this time I managed to keep my eyes open as I jumped! After that I was happy to just take photos of the big kids as they jumped in various combinations.

Back at the house we said goodbye to the youngest cousin as she was going back to her Mum’s. I popped down to the shops to get a few urgent supplies and we watched the Winter Olympics for a while. The girls were allowed to stay up a little later than usual as we were here, once they went to bed Caitlin and Liam watched a couple of shows on Netflix then joined Amelie and I in the tent.

Sydney Trip -> Day 2

We woke to a very cold frosty morning. Everyone was keen to get going so we could get to Sydney earlier, so we ate breakfast, the kids helped to pack and to tidy up the cabin, then went to play on the jumping pillow and playground while I finished packing the car.

We were on the road before 9.30, something I can’t remember happening before when we’ve been staying in paid accommodation. (I think everyone having their own bag makes packing much easier, rather than one bag with everyone’s clothes in it). It was still cold and frosty but a beautiful sunny morning and lovely to be driving. We listened to some They Might Be Giants, and then started an Audio Book ‘Atticus Claw Settles the Score’ – another book about a cat and it was hilarious and engaging.

By the time we approached Gundagai I needed petrol so we stopped at the Dog on the Tuckerbox to fill the car and stretch our legs. We had a play and bought some hot chips (and a hot drink for me) and ate them in the sun near the dog. We also bought a couple of bags of Batlow apples which were delicious.

We drove the last 3 hours to Sydney with only one extremely brief stop (I pulled over, ran around to the door where the food bags were, found the food that people wanted to eat, handed it out and then we kept going and ate in transit). We reached our friends’ house at around 3.45, which was 2-3 hours before they were expecting us, so a very pleasant surprise for them, and such a relief for my kids to finally be there. Even I had been not quite believing we were going to actually get away on this holiday, so it was so great to be with our friends and realize we’d made it.

I had a cup of tea with L, and the kids played inside and out – on the trampoline and swings and bikes, in the bedrooms, dressing up, on their iPads, with the kittens (5 kittens only 4 weeks old – so incredibly small and cute!!!). After a couple of hours the girls had to go out to a dancing/singing class. Caitlin went with them and was able to join in the class which she loved. Millie and the boys and I stayed home and they continued playing as they had before. We had Chinese for dinner once everyone was home, then negotiated who was going to sleep where. L and I went to bed before any of the kids, eventually they all took themselves off and fell asleep.