Brisbane Trip Day 4: Newcastle -> Crowdy Bay National Park

The girls and I were up early enough to say goodbye to their cousins and uncle. I spent a bit of time organising things on the computer, then started packing up while the kids took advantage of having access to the internet and the Netflix. It was hot and steamy and I was sweating a LOT by the time I was halfway through packing. I’d taken a lot of stuff out of the trailer so that we could put the beach things close to the tailgate in case we wanted to grab snorkels or boogie boards at a beach while travelling – so it was a big job putting everything back in.

Eventually I had it all sorted and we drove up to see Tony’s Dad (near Raymond Terrace) for lunch. The kids played with the dog and the girls and I had a swim, we made our sandwiches and hung out for a while.

The next part of the drive was familiar to me as I used to come this way on my way to Uni at Armidale. After the Buckets Way it was less familiar although I have driven up this way several times. We saw nets that had been strung up high across the road between trees on either side, for animals to safely cross the highway - we'd never seen that before. Both sides of the highway were fenced so that animals couldn't run onto the road. At one place we saw a sign warning of wild horses and a bit further on we saw 3 or 4 grazing near the fence, it was pretty cool. It was a fairly easy drive up to Crowdy Bay National Park – I went in the northern entrance, near Laurieton, so that there was less unsealed road to drive on. The 6km in to Diamond Head Camping Ground was fairly corrugated at times, although not a problem to drive over, just very slow and uncomfortable. We arrived at the campground around 5, but the office had closed at 4.30, so we decided to head on to Kylie’s campground and come back in the morning to pay. The campground at Diamond Head looked like a caravan park, with gutters on the roads and designated sites; I wanted to go somewhere with more bush camping.

As I was checking out the office Liam saw a goanna walking through the campground – we watched it for a while (I saw it doing a poo) and laughed at the way the kangaroos seemed quite wary of it. We also got a glimpse of the ocean – the surf looked rough.

We drove over to Kylie’s Campground – more corrugations but not as many as on the main road in. The campground looked inviting and peaceful, and there weren’t many people there. We drove in to an area with no other campers, and debated about the best place to set up – there was a very inviting area under several trees, so I put the trailer in there. We decided to go and check out the beach before we did any more setting up – I was feeling quite tired and felt like a beach visit would rejuvenate me.

The beach here was gorgeous – a colourful headland at the northern end, then several rock formations in and along the edge of the water with the waves breaking over and around them. The surf was rough here too, it didn’t look safe at all for swimming. Some of the rocks were out of the waves at this point, so we clambered over them and looked for shapes in the rocks, watched the waves, and found a colony of crabs.

Back at the trailer we realised that there were huge numbers of mosquitoes under the trees, so I moved out into a cleared area. We set the tent up fairly quickly and easily. Amelie wasn’t happy, she didn’t like the bush camping area or the drop toilets or the beach and she really wanted to go somewhere else. After she’d had some food she cheered up and happily helped with the rest of the set up. Caitlin and Liam went for a bike ride and Liam came back finding it hard to breathe. It was extremely humid and I think that contributed to his asthma attack. He was quite worried by it, as he’s rarely had one off attacks – usually when he’s found it that hard to breathe nothing has helped until we have gone to the hospital. This time however he was able to alleviate it with ventolin and he gradually calmed down.

We had sandwiches for tea and headed to bed. I was feeling a bit apprehensive about whether this really was a good place to stay for a couple of nights, but figured I was tired and I often felt that way after a day of travel. We headed in to bed to read for a while, and just before I fell asleep it started pouring – we’d opened all the windows to cool the tent down a little so luckily I was still awake and could jump out and close them all.

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.

Brisbane Trip Day 2: Yerrinbool -> Newcastle

It rained a bit overnight so everything was a bit damp when I woke up. It was a beautiful morning and I enjoyed a bit of time to myself outside. I started packing up then as the kids woke up we had fresh eggs for breakfast (and discovered most of the bread I’d bought with us was old so I’ll need to go shopping earlier than I’d expected). We packed up and played in the back yard a bit, then popped inside to have a cuppa and hot cross buns with our hosts.

We left just after 11 and drove through to Thornleigh to see a very good friend of mine. The traffic was a bit heavy, being Saturday morning in Sydney, but it wasn’t too stressful. We had a wonderful half an hour with my friend – always so wonderful to see her, even if it’s brief.

The next part of the drive was very enjoyable – driving from Sydney to Newcastle is so familiar and I love seeing all the things I know and remembering other trips. The kids were excited to see the Hawkesbury River and the bridges and remember our houseboat trip. We listened to the rest of ‘Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians’ which was a lot of fun.

We arrived at Tony’s brother’s house just after 3. I had a cup of tea and the kids played with their cousins – we had 6 pretty excited children in the house. Although being the only boy, Liam soon wandered out and sat and chatted with the adults. Tone’s brother helped me back the trailer in – down the driveway and through the garage, it was a bit tricky but with a bit of forward and back and trying again I got it into the backyard – I’d been nervous about it ever since we decided to stay here and felt great once I’d achieved it.

I took the kids down to the beach while P cooked dinner, then he met us down there. The surf was much bigger than what we’d been swimming in so far this summer – more like the ocean that I am used to, while the kids have mainly swum at Victorian beaches. Caitlin and Liam coped fine though, they were happy out in the deep, big waves with their cousins. I stayed close to the shore with Amelie and the little cousin, we jumped waves and ran away from them. P came down and he and the girls built a pool for the girls to sit in, I went out for a proper swim in the waves, it was great. Liam came in after a while and he and I competed to see who could stand still in the knee deep water for longest – it was fun and he was much better than I was.

We came home and the kids played some more while I set up the tent, then we ate a delicious chicken curry. Liam watched some Dr Who, the big girls did each other’s hair and then jumped on the trampoline, the younger girls played with their stuffed animals. I was extremely tired and headed to bed to read about 9pm – it was great to lie down and rest and not have to think about anything much at all.

Brisbane Trip Day 1: Home -> Yerrinbool

I was up at 5 and the kids around 5.30, to finish putting the last things in the car and try to get an early start. I was already hitched up which made things easier and quicker. Tony got home from night shift around 6am, which was fantastic as we all got to say a proper good bye, and we were on our way by 6.40. Everyone was very excited to finally be on our road trip that we’d been talking about and altering the plan for months.

Just past Tony’s work (so about 8 minutes into the trip) we were stopped at a road closure – there’d been a bad (fatal) accident further along the Melba Hwy so we had to detour. We went the back way to Healesville (we didn’t want to drive back past our house!) and then up Chum Creek Rd – which is windy and tricky to drive at the best of times, so I was quite nervous attempting it in the trailer. I drove slowly and carefully and it was fine. We got to the top of the slide an hour after we left home – usually it would take us 15 minutes. Everyone was in a good mood and it had felt like an adventure – I was a bit worried that adding an extra hour driving to my already huge driving load for the day would mean we couldn’t get as far as we wanted to – but I figured I’d just stop whenever we needed to and I’d see how we went.

Caitlin controlled the music play list and all the kids had a nap in the first couple of hours. It was a fairly easy drive up to the Hume Fwy. At some point I realised I hadn’t brought along our Camps Australia Wide book, which I was looking forward to using to map out our trip and help find cheap campsites – I’ll just need to use my regular map book and wiki camps, it will be fine (though not as fun or easy).

I was getting tired as we got to the Hume so we stopped at Mokoan rest stop and had some breakfast (yoghurt, granola and hot cross buns). We explored the area (there’s a (very) little walking trail) and looked at the maps and I did a bit of yoga. I made myself a cup of tea and after about an hour and a quarter we hit the road again.

We started listening to ‘Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians’ and discovered that it is hilarious and very entertaining, so that made the time pass much more quickly. We drove through to Gundagai and stopped at the Dog on the Tuckerbox. The kids got a frozen coke when I got petrol, and I got a cornetto from the gift store at the Dog – I always forget that the toilets down there are not public toilets, you need to be using the store to use them. We had a picnic lunch on the lawn near the Dog, and the kids were keen to get back into the car and keep driving (thank you audio books) but I was too tired so I had a lie down for 10 minutes or so – it was beautiful lying under gum trees and listening to galahs. It was really hot thought, hot and dry.

Eventually I felt awake enough to drive. I enjoy driving the Hume past Yass, lots of memories of all the times we drove it from Griffith, and when I used to go to Canberra a lot. After about 90 minutes I stopped again at a rest stop and made another cup of tea. From there it was an easy drive to Yerrinbool and we arrived almost exactly 12 hours after we’d left home.

It was 8 ½ hours of driving altogether (with the detour) – I don’t think I’ve ever driven that far in a day when I was the only driver. So I was feeling pretty exhausted and also very proud that I had managed it.

The friends we are going to see in Brisbane used to live in a great place in Yerrinbool (near Mittagong) with lots of room in the backyard for camping. Friends of theirs now live there and said we could camp for the night on our way through. The kids played on the trampoline and helped set up, surrounded by chickens and a couple of ducks. We did a very basic set up – I didn’t unhitch and I didn’t set up the bunk beds, Caitlin slept with me. When our hosts arrived home the kids helped them put all the chickens away and they gave us 6 eggs – so I cooked carbonara for dinner. It was great to eat something substantial after snacking all day. Our hosts helped the kids set up a campfire and we sat there for a while before heading to bed – everyone was exhausted.

Lorne Camp 2018

Homeschool Camp at Lorne, February 2018
Including a stay at Portarlington and Not Back To School Party at the Adventure Water Park Geelong

Pt Lonsdale December 2017

Quick trip to Pt Lonsdale with my sister and family

Grampians Camp 2017

Homeschool Camp to the Grampians, November 2017