Brisbane Trip Day 30: Sydney -> Blue Mountains

This was the most urban place we'd stayed in for a while - I was woken up by people on their morning walk going past the front of the house and talking loudly. It wasn't early though, probably around 7.30. We had a relaxed morning, hanging out in the kitchen/family room, eating breakfast and chatting and playing games. The kids spent some time on iPads and all the boys and Amelie played Minecraft for a while (although Amelie's world wasn't working properly) and we played Love Letters again, with people swapping in and out of the game as other things were happening. Our friend's daughter had dancing so she went off to that, and the boys all went with her mum to pick her up, bringing back a big box of delicious donuts from Grumpy Donuts. I was in the shower when they got back out, and returned to the kitchen to a very yummy treat.

Our hosts were going out around 11.30, so we organised to leave at the same time. I got everything in the car and locked the front door and just as I drove off remembered that I'd left my water bottle in the bed - I figured it wasn't worth the hassle of organising to go back inside to get it, so we gifted it to our friends.

We drove around and over the Harbour Bridge which was quite exciting, then I chose the wrong lane as I exited the bridge but still easily found my way to my brother's house in Greenwich. We parked on Greenwich Rd, finding a lengthy parking space fairly easily, and walked around the block to my brother's. His son was a little unsure about all these people coming in to his house, although he eventually played with Caitlin for a little while. When he wanted his Maman and Caitlin offered to go with him to find her though, he wasn't interested, he wanted Papa to take him. He went down for a nap before lunch.

My brother cooked the most magnificent steaks and sausages on the bbq, as well as some awesome chips and his wife made a salad, and we sat on the balcony to eat lunch. They had a friend over as well and she was fun and interesting to talk to. I had a great time catching up with all their day to day news and the kids joined in at times, and looked at the view or retreated with their iPods for a while. Their cousin woke up after a while and still wasn't keen on playing or talking with the kids, but did give them all a high-5 when we were saying goodbye.

We left a bit before 4 and the drive up to the Blue Mountains was quite easy. We pulled into a free camp at Woodford and discovered that all the vehicle camping is on the road, only tents can go on the grassed area (there are large rocks around the edge of the grass). At first I wasn't sure where we'd be able to set up, and we were thinking of getting out our little tents, then I decided I could probably manage to get the tent up in the one bay that was available (everywhere else I felt like the tent would be in the way of through traffic).

The bay was definitely big enough and I had no trouble backing in. I wanted to set up quickly so we could go to my friend's house (I'd said I'd be there around 6 and it was 5.30 when I unhitched). I had a moment of worry when I unhitched and the trailer rolled backwards - I caught it and managed to unlock the toolbox with one hand and get around to the wheels to chock them before it rolled any further. We did a very quick (38 minutes, including the beds) setup in hot, late afternoon sun. I was covered in sweat and very red in the face. The set up was a bit tricky too because half of the bay was asphalt so we couldn't peg all the corners down, so I used ropes on a couple of the corners. The slope was a bit inconvenient too so the tent looks a bit wonky - but for a short overnight stop it was fine. The zip decided to play up just as we were about to leave - I zipped up the fly door instead and we went to my friends.

We were greeted at my friend's house by her 3 legged dog who wasn't sure about these strangers in her house - she settled down after a while and spent a lot of the night licking Amelie and Liam's legs. We sat out the back and had nibbles and drinks and then a BBQ with sausages and chicken skewers. Great food and fantastic conversation. Both my friend's adult daughters were home and I loved catching up with them (I've known them both since they were born). It was a very relaxing and funny night. The kids spent some time looking at the birds and talking to one of the girls about them, and Amelie watched Beauty and the Beast (the new one). I remember watching the original Disney version with my friend in this same house, about 25 years ago! They had recently renovated their kitchen and changed some other things in the house so I was happy to see all the changes and we reminisced about what the house originally looked like.

We didn't leave until after 11 - Amelie was already asleep and everyone was pretty tired. It had been a very enjoyable evening. We drove back to camp and pretty much went straight to bed, all three kids were asleep within minutes.

Brisbane Trip Day 29: Newcastle -> Sydney

I wanted to make sure that I saw the girls and their Dad before they left for school and work so that I could say goodbye, so when I woke quite early I didn’t try to go back to sleep. I had enough time to go for a walk and this time went straight to the granny pool for a swim. The sky was grey and there was a light breeze blowing in from the ocean – the feel and smell of the air reminded me so much of swimming at Merewether Baths on a cloudy morning. The water was cool and refreshing and got to about chest deep near the gap in the wall, where the water flows in from the channel. I swam around for about 10 minutes then went back to the house to say goodbye and thanks for letting us stay.

After I’d had some breakfast I chatted to Tony for a while, then Caitlin said that the oldest cousin had missed her bus. I drove her to school (which also gave the girls a bit more time together) and then stopped at Woolworths on the way back to get some more bread and milk. The bridge was up again as we left Swansea. At home I was just about to start packing when Tony rang again, it was great to have a chat of more than a few minutes with him.

I didn’t start packing until 9.40, then had everything done, ready to go by 11.40 which I was very happy with.  I was hot and sweaty so had a cold shower and got changed, we checked that we had all our stuff and were on our way by just after 12.

We stopped for petrol at Doyalson – last year I’d bought a Pokemon DVD at this petrol station so Amelie wanted to see if they had more. There weren’t any DVDs that interested her, she and Liam bought some chocolate. The drive down to Sydney was fairly easy, there was a lot of traffic but it mainly kept moving. Getting through to Leichhardt had a few moments of tricky traffic with the trailer on, but we made it fine. As I approached our friends’ house I saw a parking spot about 2 ½ cars long, in front of a boat. It was long enough for me to drive into it, then reverse back at bit and wiggle back and forth to get the trailer fairly straight (and mainly off the cycle lane). It was only a few houses away from where we were staying so I was very pleased with the spot.

Our friends weren’t home until after work, so we had some lunch at the car, then walked down to the Light Rail station at Lilyfield. We stopped on the way to buy Opal cards, and I bought a scratchie as well which we did at the station – we didn’t win anything but the kids enjoyed scratching it. The train was very crowded and took a long time to get to Central. Once there we caught a regular train to Circular Quay – we sat upstairs which was exciting for kids used to Melbourne, single level, trains (and I always love catching Sydney trains). Getting off the train at Circular Quay we had a great view over the Quay, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. We stood at the edge of the platform and looked at the view, and noticed a street artist down on the path below – he was completely dressed and painted in gold, and appeared to be hovering in mid air – he had one hand resting on top of a pole, and was sitting cross legged about a metre off the ground. We headed downstairs to see if we could see how he was doing it, but he was packing up by the time we got there. From what we could see, the pole was firmly anchored in a base plate, but there was no other support – so we think he was balancing just on the strength of his arm on the pole.

We wandered around to the Opera House, looking at the markers showing the 1788 waterline. We admired a street artist’s painting of the harbour and gave him some money. At the Opera House we sat on the ledge around the edge of the point and looked at the Bridge, the boats and ferries going past, and the sails of the Opera House. We walked across the base of the steps and went down to the pontoon at Man-of-war steps, Amelie didn’t like being on the moving pontoon, so she played with some soft, sparkly sand on the path back on dry land. Caitlin and Liam had a look around, then we walked back up the Opera Houses steps and sat on one of the sloping parts in front of a window. It was tempting to run up to the top of the slope but there was a sign saying not to, so we sat at the bottom and looked at all the different aspects of the sails that we could see from there. We went over and touched some of the tiles and looked at the different patterns and how different they looked from a distance compared to up close.

Amelie wanted to see the Botanic Gardens so we wandered over there and the kids played around a sculpture of mother earth, Caitlin climbed a fig tree, and we went to look at gazebo that was installed recently, which had lots of symbolism about the colonial impact of Governor Macquarie and his wife. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon so the backdrop was incredible, with the harbour and boats and bridge always in sight.

We wandered back towards the station, stopping briefly to share a cup of delicious lemon sorbet. We got to the platform just in time to jump on a train – one of the newer ones that I don’t think I’ve been on before. We admired the old fashioned style of Museum station as we went through, then got off the train at Central. The light rail train was just pulling in as we arrived at the platform, we were able to get on and get seats this time. The trip back seemed much quicker, and we wandered up the hill in much cooler temperatures, just before sunset.

Our friends were sitting on the front steps waiting for us when we arrived. We had a drink of water then sat out the back for a while and the kids played tennis with small plastic rackets, until the mozzies got too bad. We had delicious pizza for dinner and all the kids got on well. (Our friends’ 2 kids and another friend of theirs who was sleeping over). The younger kids played with loom bands for a while and did some puzzles, Caitlin sat with the adults and we played a game called Love Letters. The boys played Uno then started to watch our game, and we switched out players so that everyone had a turn. My host and I had a cocktail and it was a fun night, full of laughter and catching up.

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.

Sydney Trip -> Day 3

Despite having 13 different beds/mattresses for people to sleep on, the 7 kids managed to use only 2 single beds for the night! The 3 older girls slept in one bed, and Millie and the 3 boys in another. They all seemed pretty happy (although a bit uncomfortable) and we thought it was quite funny.

During the day the kids continued playing in and outside. They watched a movie and L and I sat out the front and had a cup of tea and a good chat. The older girls did a lot of sewing, making bags and pillows and doll’s clothes. Millie had been given a teddy by the girls, and they made clothes for it out of scraps – it looks amazing. The girls also curled each other’s hair and did make up on each other.

In the afternoon the 3 boys went in to the city as one of them has been cast in a commercial and needed to get fitted for his outfit. They took the scooters and rode for a while in Centennial park and climbed the fig trees, then called in to see a friend before going to the wardrobe call. In the meantime the girls kept sewing and played the Wii for a while, and curled my hair (which looked a bit ridiculous but was fun for all of us). I took one of the girls to dancing, and then the 3 remaining girls and I went shopping for more groceries (7 kids are eating a fair amount of food between them!). We took our time shopping which Millie liked, she could play on the rides and look at things in windows etc. We came home and did more sewing and played on iPads etc. The others got home around 9, and we organized the mattresses so that everyone could sleep in the one room without all having to sleep in the same bed. We two mums again went to bed before everyone else, but they settled down pretty quickly.