Half-lap Day 87: Cape Range National Park

The wind became very strong through the night, the strongest night time wind we’ve had on the trip. Tony and I were awake several times, and for a long time each occasion. Tony got up 3 times and went out to tie down things that were flapping or knocking, and to make sure that everything that might blow away was put away. The wind was slamming into the tent behind our head and slapping the canvas against the pole, I felt like it was a constant punching right behind me and it really wore me out. The kids each woke up, worried, once or twice, but we reassured them and they went back to sleep, and the tent and all our stuff survived the night without any damage or loss.

We eventually fell back to sleep at some point in the early morning, then I woke up around 6.30, as it was getting light. We had to be up and out early today to go on a glass-bottomed boat tour, so I decided not to go back to sleep despite feeling exhausted, and went up to the beach instead. I sat at the tables and drank my cup of tea and watched the waves and the whales, and the sun coming over the ranges and slowly lighting up the ocean. It was windy up there too and my travel mug got blown off the table, so I lost half of my cuppa.

Back to the tent and I woke the others up around 7.30 – we wanted to leave at 8 so we could call in and see our friends at Neds, they were packing up today and I wanted to see them before they left. The kids got out of bed fairly quickly, and had some breakfast. I made sure we had swimmers and snorkels and food for the day, so that we didn’t have to come back to camp until we were ready, and we were in the car by about 8.10, one of our quickest getaways on the trip.

It was a beautiful sunny morning, although still quite windy. The swell didn’t look very big though, so we hoped the wind wouldn’t impact on our boat tour. We got to Neds and walked up to see our friends, who were happy to see us. The girls played in the car and we caught up on our news of the past few days. They’d gone to Oyster Stacks on the day we did Turquoise Bay, so we’d missed them there. It was great to see them again and to share our plans for the next few days to see if we could catch up again somewhere soon. I mentioned that we couldn’t find Millie’s thongs (missing since Karajini – they could be in the car somewhere, or they could be with Tony’s missing hat and sunglasses…) and my friend said someone had given her a pair that they thought were her daughters (same pattern) but were a size too small – they just fit Millie, so she has thongs again, that look exactly the same as her friend’s thongs. Perfect.

We had about 15 minutes there, and then headed back to the car and drove to the Tantabiddi Boat Ramp. We got there just as the boat driver was reading off the names to make sure everyone had arrived. He introduced himself, Alec, the owner of the company, then we headed out along the jetty to the boat. He suggested that kids go in last as there is more room at that end of the boat, so we let everyone else get on and then we climbed in and sat on the bench seat to the left. The boat had a bench seat along either side, then 4 glass panels covering the entire middle section of the boat – so everyone was sitting facing the glass and could look down and see whatever was underneath. There was another family across from us – a young couple with a 2yo boy.

Sitting at the jetty, LiAM and the girls spotted a sting ray on the sand under the boat – a very exciting start to our tour. We motored out to the Tantabiddi Sanctuary Zone, a rectangular area of the reef where this tour operates. Alec told us about himself and his company and the boat, and made lots of jokes, he was fun to listen to. He then asked where each of us was from, and I was surprised that everyone on the boat was Australian. There was another couple from Melbourne, and he said ‘ooh, you’re not Collingwood supporters are you?’ – they said no, but when he got to us, Tony’s Collingwood hat gave him away. Alec offered to throw him overboard for a free snorkel…

On the way out to the reef some people saw a turtle – it was under our side of the boat and we missed it. Once we got to the reef, we saw amazing amounts of coral and fish, and it was great having a commentary about what each thing was, and interesting facts about behavior, diet, fragility and so on. We saw staghorn coral with blue tips – they looked like fairy lights (so we call it fairy light coral now) and large rock like coral formations which are called bommies. All the fish that we’d been seeing over the last few days were here, and we learnt more names. A very long, thin yellow fish that Millie and I had seen was a Spanish flutemouth, then LiAM spotted a silver one that looked the same – he pointed it out to Alec who said it was also a flutemouth. The most exciting thing was seeing a green turtle, feeding on the bottom. Alec turned the boat around 5 times so we could all see it properly. Very exciting and what I’d been hoping to see on this tour. We also saw a crayfish, and a large reef shark. I managed to get a fair few decent photos, as long as I remembered to hold the camera very close to the glass, and not on an angle. The 2 yo boy was so excited about seeing all the fish, it was very cool to listen to him talk about them.

Staghorn, or Fairy Light, coral

More coral

Green turtle

As we headed back to shore Alec handed out a DVD to each couple or family, filled with underwater photos of the reef that he has taken when diving or snorkeling here himself. I love going on tours when the operator is so passionate and knowledgeable about the area we are seeing, we always learn so much.

Once we were back at the car we looked at the map for a while to figure out what we wanted to do with the rest of our day (it was only 10.30 at this stage). We decided to drive all the way down to the southern end to check out Yardie Creek and the gorge there. We drove down then had a bit of a snack, then set out for the short walk along the creek. It was quite pretty, and we could see the gorge walls up ahead, the permanent water of the creek next to us, low scrubby land in either direction, and the ocean and reef behind us. The walk to the lookout at the start of the gorge was very quick and easy, so we continued up along the gorge walk, which was slightly more difficult but not hard. We saw some tenacious little yellow flowers growing out of holes in the rock, there was much less vegetation up here. We walked to the first lookout, where we could see down into the gorge. We watched some people float past on what I said were kayaks, but were actually stand up paddle boards. One guy was doing yoga on his, head stands and chimneys and so on – fairly impressive. The view was great in all directions from here, seeing the gorge, the ranges, the creek, the ocean and the land between the shore and the range. We could see whales way out in the distance. We walked back down, looking at the tough trees that live here – all bent over quite significantly, with very hardy looking branches and leaves.

Yardie Gorge

Yardie Creek

I wanted to snorkel at North Mandu (our original campsite) at high tide, which was just after 3pm today. We drove back up there, arriving a little after 1.30. Everyone was exhausted after our disruptive night’s sleep, and we considered just going back to the tent for a nap. The wind was still quite strong and was also wearing us out. We decided to stay though and just have a quick try at a snorkel once the water was high enough, then go back and rest. The kids and I wandered down to the beach, and walked towards the creek bed. We sat on the side of the creek bed and watched the ospreys – one was sitting on a dead branch on the other side of the creek bed, the other was in the nest. When seagulls started swooping the nest again, the osprey returned to the nest to help its mate scare them off. We didn’t ever go close to the nest so don’t know if they had eggs or chicks in there, but both adult birds kept looking down into the nest, so we’re sure that the nest was occupied by something. LiAM and Millie made rock cairns out of some of the flatter rocks, and we looked at shells and all the other things on the beach. There were huge white clam shells here, and more of the pink and brown shells, bits of coral, lots of driftwood, and rocks of a whole range of colours. Mainly white, pink and brown, and some were stripey. More whales were going past and I finally got some photos of one breaching – and all the kids saw it too, they have mainly only been breaching a long way out so it’s hard to show people, but these whales were just beyond the reef and one whale went up 4 times in a row, incredible to watch. We wandered back to Tony and sat at the table in the middle of the campground and had some lunch. By the time we’d finished eating it was after 2.30 and a good enough time to go in the water.

Humpback Whale

I went in first with LiAM and Millie. We went in pretty much from the end of the path to the beach, over the rocks and then into the deeper water (it’s not very deep here anyway). I wore my reef shoes so that it was easier to walk on the rocky shore and then over the rocks into the water. The swell was higher than we’d snorkeled in before, and the current seemed to be running strongly to the south, so I tried to go straight out then swim a bit north then head back in. We saw lots of fish again, and it was quite beautiful once we got out past the rocks. Millie coped well with the swell, and both kids could swim easily out there as long as they were holding my hand. Heading back in to shore I was really missing my flippers as I had to do all the work with my legs.

Tony decided to walk further north along the beach and go in at a less rocky part, then drift back down towards us. We walked along the beach near the shore, and saw a little reef shark darting in and out. He kept swimming quite close to us, then shooting back into the water. We followed him along the shore for ages, and later found out that juvenile reef sharks are very inquisitive and often come up to check people out and will swim near them along the shoreline. Tony swam way out and back towards the point, he saw a fair bit of coral and fish and said it was a good way to do it. At one point he was out pretty far and directly in the sunlight and I couldn’t see him – I was starting to wonder what I should do if he’d disappeared when I saw his orange snorkel come out of the shiny sun reflections – a big relief. I went and got my flippers and headed back in with LiAM. We were debating how far out we should walk before submerging, when Caitlin (still on the shore getting ready) shouted ‘Oh my God!’ and pointed in front of us – there was a turtle, right in front of us, only about 10m away. We both dived into the water and shot straight out there, Caitlin was not far behind us – but it had disappeared by the time we got there. We swam out beyond the rocks, and LiAM and I saw a blue-spotted ray hiding in under a ledge (my first ray of the trip, I was very excited). Back along the coral towards where Tony was on the shore, and saw lots more – every time we go out it’s as good as the last time, there’s so much going on under the water, fish eating and chasing each other and swimming around, interacting at times or going about their own business as if no one else was there. It was much easier swimming with my flippers, even though the blisters hurt a fair bit when I put them on. Once I was in the water though I didn’t notice them at all.

Millie came in for one more quick snorkel, then I took the others out again for a lap, and then we’d all had enough. Feeling very happy that we’d seen lots of cool things again, we headed back to the car. We stopped off at Bloodwood Creek on the way back to camp and walked up to the small lookout there. There was a bit of water in the creek although it wasn’t flowing, and there were a few birds around. We walked over to the beach and the kids and I decided to walk back, our beach was really not far. So Tony drove the car and the rest of us wandered back along the beach and rocks. The shoreline here was a series of low rocky outcrops, with small crescents of white sandy beaches in between. There were lotts more of the moss covered rocks on the edge of the larger rocks, interesting rockpools and holes in the rocks that we walked over, beautiful white sand with shells and fascinating driftwood in between each rocky part. The dunes to our left were covered in low bushes – great for LiAM to hide behind when he ran ahead, then jump out of as we came past.

Back at camp Tony was using up some leftovers for dinner – bread and eggs and bacon and maple syrup for some delicious French Toast. Caitlin and Millie went and talked to the guy with the guitar again, and they offered the girls a Harry Potter book that they didn’t want (The Deathly Hallows). Millie eagerly accepted it and then sat looking at the words while we ate our tea, she was very excited to have her own copy of a Harry Potter book. We finished eating then grabbed our drinks again and headed up to the tables for sunset. The sunset itself wasn’t as spectacular tonight, but the company was great once again. Caitlin took my camera up and asked the camp hosts about our nocturnal visitor from the night before – it was a Western Antichenus – I’ve always wanted to see one in the wild so was very pleased that it had chosen to visit us. We chatted with the camp hosts and some of the other couples, then with the other homeschooling family again. All the kids played on the beach again, having races and exploring the rocks until it was dark. The wind had died down by now and it was quite pleasant. We weren’t the only ones who had had a disturbed night, everyone was commenting on the wind and the lack of sleep that had resulted.

We gradually drifted back down to our sites and we got ready for bed. The stars were amazing again and I got my tripod out and took some photos – more successfully than last time I tried (at Devils Marbles) – I still need more practice though. Millie and I went to bed first and started reading her Harry Potter book, she asked me to show her where I was reading and she read the words that she knows (that’s how Caitlin started reading too, with the first Harry Potter book). We did that for a while, then the others came in and we read Inheritance for a short while before everyone crashed.

Half-lap Day 58: Kununurra

Our plan was to leave for our Lake Argyle Cruise at 6.30am – with the sun coming up around 6, that wasn’t a problem. We all had a quick breakfast, and packed swimmers and sunscreen and snacks, and drove out to the lake, about 70km from Kununurra. The road in from the highway wound between tall rocky hills with scrubby brush. As we got closer we caught a glimpse of the Ord River down in a valley, then spots of blue as we saw the lake.

We pulled up at the Resort/Caravan Park and they said to wait outside for the bus. We had a bit of a wander and looked out over the lake – so big and blue! – and at the infinity pool at the resort – the water flows over the edge so it feels like you are actually swimming right up to the mountains and the lake. The kids browsed the gift shop and Millie bought a curly straw with a crocodile on it.

The bus came (with people already on it from Kununurra – that would have cost extra) and took us down to the boat ramp. We had a view of the dam wall as we drove, then the bus went down a steep (13% grade) road to the boat, we all got out of the bus and onto the boat while the driver reversed back up part of the road, turned around, and reversed down again so the bus was ready to go when we got back.

After a quick safety talk and letting us know that there was a toilet, as well as tea, coffee, biscuits and water available at all times on the cruise, we set off and went around the first point to see some wallabies. They were quite small and extremely agile, leaping around on the rocks in huge bounds. The driver threw some food onto the rocks and a couple of them came down close to the boat – the kids were so excited and the wallabies were very cute.

From there we went around closer to the dam wall – a very impressive structure, made of a clay core and then rocks (no concrete). The dam was built in the late 1960s to give a permanent water supply to the farmers in the Ord Irrigation Area – the Ord River before that would dry up a lot in the dry season. Now it is at a constant level year round and provides enough water for everyone in the region. The lake is 21 times the volume of Sydney Harbour – really massive. The islands throught the lake are the tops of more of the hills like the ones we drove through coming in. Some are just little rocks sticking out of the water, some are still massive hills in their own right.

We went to the deepest part of the lake (42m at this point), seeing a freshwater crocodile on the shore along the way, and heard a bit about how they’d decided where to put the dam wall. Then we moved on to some of the islands, where we saw several crocodiles and the boat was able to get quite close to the shore where they were sunning themselves. A couple of times one of the crocodiles slid into the water – so silently and gracefully we wouldn’t have noticed it move if we hadn’t been looking at it. The boat moved around into a little bay where we are able to feed the fish – holding out bread above the water so that the archer fish could shoot it with their little jets of water (lots of fun and something I’d been so keen to do ever since I heard about it) and dropping bread into the water for the archer fish, catfish and black bream. At one point I was standing and taking a photo of a freshwater crocodile and the driver sneaked up behind me and grabbed my leg. I shrieked and fell onto the seat – everyone thought it was pretty funny.

We continued further into the lake, and soon came to places where we couldn’t see any land in a couple of directions. During the tour we covered a quarter of the lake’s distance and we didn’t ever see the ends even on the horizon – it is massive. We cruised past a male jabiru standing on his nest up on top of a little rocky island, and saw lots of pelicans, cormorants, kites and other birds. We saw a wallaroo on one of the islands, much bigger than any wallaby we’ve seen anywhere up in this northern part of Australia. Before the dam was flooded, people came up and removed as many of the animals from the hills as possible, with some of the bigger hills that would become big islands, they left the animals as their island would be big enough to sustain a population.

The lake was so massive we couldn't see the end of it

Cruising to a few more parts of dam we learnt more about the history of the area and the farms that were here before the dam. People made cups of tea as they felt like it, and the kids had several biscuits from the tin. LiAM also had a cup of tea. Millie got her fingers jammed in the toilet door – she had indents in both sides of her fingers and they swelled up quite quickly – luckily I had my first aid kit with me and a bit of arnica and strapping helped them to feel a bit better.

Caitlin had been worried about the idea of a swim as part of the cruise – on the shore of one of the islands would feel risky because of the crocodiles, but swimming out in the deep part of the lake would feel scary because of the unknown nature of all that water below us. This cruise stopped in a deep part – around 22m deep – for us to swim in an area safe from crocodiles –they don’t come out that deep. Tony was the first person in off the back of the boat. Caitlin was still unsure and I suggested she just jump in and climb straight back out. Once she’d done that she felt more comfortable and was able to go back in. They provided pool noodles so we could hang on to them and feel even safer, not having to worry about the depth of the water. About half the boatload went in for a swim (there were only 10-12 other people on the cruise). LiAM went in and loved it and I joined them – the water was beautiful temperature and it was amazing to be swimming in this large lake with all the rocky mountains around. Millie was unsure about whether she wanted to swim or not. She ended up sitting on the top step of the ladder and putting her feet in, and she was happy with that. LiAM was the last one out of the water when it was time to get back in the boat, he really loved the experience.

We heard a bit more history of the area then headed back to the boat ramp and back onto the bus, which took us to the resort again. We all loved the cruise and were happy that we’d chosen this one instead of paying more for the sunset one. The driver was funny and friendly and so knowledgeable about the area (and the owner of the cruise company).

Back at the resort we wandered around and looked at the views a bit more. We enquired about the day use fees – they were $25 for the family, which felt like a bit much to pay just to use the pool, as cool as it would have been. Millie was extremely disappointed when we decided not to swim there – I forgot that she hadn’t swum in the lake and so was really wanting a swim, and it was such an incredible location. I do wish that we’d just spent the money and let at least Millie use the pool.

Looking at the Infinity Pool and Lake Argyle

After we looked at the view and explored the grounds for a while – and saw a helicopter take off on a scenic flight, and dip excitingly down into the valley immediately after takeoff – we drove down and over the dam wall, which was pretty incredible. There was a picnic area alongside the Ord River on the far side of the wall, so we sat in the shade at a table there and had some lunch, then the kids and I went for a wander down to the river where some people were fishing. They soon left and we had the area to ourselves. There was a great view of the base of the dam wall and the outlet pipes, and along the river between the very tall cliffs. We watched the river and the fish in it for ages, then LiAM discovered lots of tiny little frogs jumping around on the edge of the water, which kept us fascinated for a while. Eventually the sun got too much for us and we headed back up to the car. On the way out we drove back down to the river’s edge so Tony could see the view and the frogs – LiAM caught one and as he was showing me it jumped into the car, it took us a little while to get it out.

We drove back into town and went to the op shop, catching it just before it closed. LiAM bought a water bomb set – with a bottle and spray nozzle to fill up the water bombs, and the girls and I found a t-shirt each. Tony checked at the post office but his wine still isn’t there. We went around to Target because LiAM wanted to get more of the cheap Skylanders – he and Millie bought some each, Tony found a t-shirt, I bought more swimmers for myself and LiAM as ours are starting to disintegrate, and we bought more of the cheap bags of lollies, great for in car snacks. We also went to the discount store next door and got some paints (Caitlin wants to do more dot painting), snorkels and masks to replace the 2 of ours that have been broken, and a box of cup-a-noodles at a third of the price we can get them, on special, at Coles.

After our very satisfying shopping trip we went back to the caravan park, and I asked if anyone wanted to head in to the National Park to see if we could get up to the top of the rocks and see the views. Millie wasn’t keen, and I’d been a little way in the day before, so Tony went with Caitlin and LiAM. Millie and I went for a swim, then went back to the tent to play some games. The others were gone until after dark, then went straight to the pool to cool off. They had made it up to the lookout and seen a cool view across Kununurra – the path to the lookout was a long walk through the National Park from our tent, so it had taken them quite a while and they were pretty tired.

 Back at the tent the kids played on the computer for a while. We had pasta, bacon and pesto for dinner, and Caitlin was very keen to get to bed quickly as she was getting up early for a horse ride in the morning. We went to bed and started to read Inheritance, until Caitlin fell asleep in her tent.

Houseboat/Wedding Trip Day 3: Hawkesbury River

We had an unsettled night (it was hot on the boat) which involved lots of bed swapping and me sitting out the back of the boat watching the stars when I couldn't sleep. We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning which became warm then hot very quickly. Tony took LiAM and Caitlin for a row around the bay, and then to shore where they climbed up the rocks and explored the echoes of the surrounding cliffs. Once they came back I had a swim off the back of the boat - I was a bit nervous and it took me a while to jump in, then it was amazing to be in the water, so glad I made the effort. Caitlin joined me briefly and Tony had a quick dip after us, then we set off on our way.

We made our way slowly back up the creek and past the opening to the ocean, under the railway bridge (nearly managed to go under as a train was passing) and across to under the road bridges - going under 2 bridges next to each other was pretty exciting and looked spectacular. On our way we saw lots more jellyfish, other boats, Caitlin had a turn at driving, the kids watched 'How to Train Your Dragon', we drank cups of tea and snacked, sat out the front and watched the river pass by - very enjoyable morning. As we headed down towards and into Berowra Creek the weather got hotter and hotter - it was hard to be inside the boat for very long, even with the windows open. After a while Tony had the idea of using the fire bucket and filling it up with water from the river and tipping it over himself and the kids - helped everyone cool down somewhat.

We reached Berowra Waters in the early afternoon and circled around for a while until my brother met us with a tinny - a little motor boat that was being lent to us by the Marina (as our family was renting the Penthouse at the marina) and that would make it easier for us to get back and forwards to wedding events. We sent all our wedding clothes ashore as we grabbed the boat too, as I had been worried about carrying them in a little boat and losing them all overboard. I felt much better once the clothes were safely where they needed to be.

We motored back down river a bit and moored in Deep Bay (easily this time, just approached the mooring and attached the boat to it). It was low tide and there was a little beach at the end of the bay, so we all got into the rowboat and headed ashore. We played in the water - I just lay down in the shallow water for a while which cooled me off nicely - and on the little sand bar, and had a picnic lunch on the rocks. We went exploring into the exposed land at the end of the bay - lots of crabs (different ones this time, they were orange and black, and went into pre-dug burrows rather than burrowing under the sand - I haven't yet looked up what type they were), lots of mangrove trees and plants, lots and lots of mud - I nearly lost my river shoes a few times until we found a more solid area to walk on. Beyond the mud and mangroves there were rocks to clamber over, and a natural cave right at the end of the cove which was amazingly cool on this hot day. It was weird to think that in a few hours this whole area would be underwater when the tide came back in.

After another swim we rowed back to the houseboat, then got ready and jumped in the tinny to go back to the marina and see all the family before the wedding. We spent a lovely couple of hours in the penthouse, getting to know C's family a bit more, playing with baby T, chatting with mum and dad and my sister and one of my brother's friends. I took the opportunity to have a shower as well. Around 7pm we motored back to the houseboat and cooked dinner as the sun set. We ate sitting in various spots around the boat, admiring the darkening sky and cliffs, and headed to bed soon afterwards

Houseboat/Wedding Trip Day 2: Sydney -> Hawkesbury River

We had an early start on Thursday - luckily the girls woke up themselves at 5.45am, so it wasn't too difficult to get everyone ready and out the door by 7.30. We walked back down to the Light Rail - much easier downhill, and in the early morning, compared to yesterday afternoon. We got to Central Station in plenty of time to transfer to our train to take us up to Hawkesbury River, where we were picked up at the station by one of the houseboat company employees.

Our boat was called Josephine, and we spent about an hour getting everything on board (I'd ordered our groceries via Coles Online, so they were there waiting for us - much easier than carrying them all with us!), watching the safety video, being shown how to use everything on board (especially the toilet), organising life jackets etc, then we were piloted out into the river and left to our own devices! It was a beautiful sunny day, pleasantly warm, and the boat was very easy to drive.

We motored under the rail bridge (so exciting) then past the opening to the ocean (in the distance) and  past an increasing number (and variety of colours) of jellyfish. We reached Jerusalem Creek at low tide and it looked magnificent, exposed sand banks and mangroves between high cliffs. All of the public moorings were taken and we tried to anchor but it was much trickier than the instructions made it seem, so we decided to move on. There was a bay with a beach just to the south of the creek, with 3 available public moorings, so we pulled in there. Our first attempt at mooring took us a while, especially with the swell and the tide, but we got it eventually.

We all jumped into the row boat and rowed to shore. The girls were a bit nervous. I hadn't rowed for many years and the life jacket made it trickier (Tony and I ditched the life jackets for subsequent trips) - it came back to me quickly and I enjoyed it. On the beach we discovered a huge colony of soldier crabs - whenever we went close it looked like the ground was moving, there were so many of them. Watching them burrow into the sand when we got too close was fascinating too. We played in the water and went for a walk up into the mangroves, tried snorkelling a little and saw lots of little fish. As Tony was pulling the row boat back into the water he saw a Port Jackson Shark, and Caitlin stepped on something (possibly another little shark) that bit her.

Back to the houseboat and we got moving again. One of the cool things about being on the boat was that we could eat (and prepare food) while we were on the move. We ate and sat out the front or back of the boat, or chatted inside, took lots of photos, listened to music, surrounded by a magnificent view. A very very pleasant way to travel.

We headed down to the far end of Smiths Creek, where we'd hoped to go snorkelling. It was higher tide by now so not so much shallow water and we weren't sure if there would even be beaches as such this far from the ocean. We moored (much more easily this time) and spent an hour or so sitting on the boat enjoying the tranquility of the bay, watching the birds, dangling our feet in the water etc. Caitlin was a bit spooked after being bitten earlier and decided not to go in the water here, and after a while we moved to Stingray Bay, a bit closer to the entrance to the creek. Tony took the big kids for a row - Amelie didn't want to get back in the rowboat so she and I stayed on board and played with her sticker book. The others rowed to the end of the bay and climbed up on the rocks, and went snorkelling. Tony cut his foot on the rocks and Caitlin saw a stingray which freaked her out, so they came back fairly quickly. We had sausages in bread for tea, sitting up on top of the boat, then watched the sun set over the high cliffs. Once it was dark we went to bed fairly quickly rather than using up battery power on lights for too long.

(I don't have photos available of today at the moment - will include some when I get access to them)

Tasmania Trip: Ferry -> Home

We woke up at 5:30 (this holiday has involved a lot of early mornings) and got dressed and packed then went out to the eatery to have some breakfast. Liam had a lovely feast, the rest of us ate a bit and then the girls and I headed to the gift shop for one last holiday purchase - Millie bought an oven mitt styled as a Tasmanian Devil, which she uses as a puppet - it is very cool.

Then we gathered up our bags and headed down to the car, we were one of the first cars off. We drove off the ramp into a large puddle of water - one of those flash floods we'd heard warning of on the weather the night before. It was just after 6:30 when we came off the boat into a rainy Melbourne morning. We dropped Tony off at his car (he'd left it at a friend's house) and were home by 8am.

It was great to be home, the kids in particular felt very happy to be back even though they'd enjoyed the holiday. It was weird to be here without animals. We spent the morning eating, unpacking a little bit, Tony sorted out the dishwasher which had stopped working just before we left, we cut some wood and stocked our woodpile, watched TV, set up Caitlin's new iPad Mini, and just settled back into home nicely.

In the afternoon our friends came over and bought Stripey back - a very happy reunion for all, and especially for Caitlin and her friend S.

Now to get on with organising Liam's birthday party (Sunday), finish unpacking, sort out the trip photos, and get on with our every day lives.

It was such a wonderful holiday and I'm glad we went in winter this time, it let us have experiences we wouldn't otherwise have had, and places were not as crowded or hectic as they sometimes are in summer.

Over the next couple of days I'll be adding photos to those posts which are currently just text, and the kids want to write a few more blog posts as well - so keep checking back for a few more days.

Tasmania Day 13: Cradle Mountain -> Devonport

Our big day yesterday took its toll on everyone. Caitlin had a very restless night's sleep and woke up with a fever. Millie had fallen asleep without eating dinner, woke up in the middle of the night and had some juice, and woke up in the morning and threw it all up. I was particularly worried because we had to drive out along a very windy road and I thought having 2 sick girls was going to make it much harder.

Millie picked up after a while though and ate a huge breakfast. Caitlin was extremely tired and I wasn't really surprised after her big climb yesterday. The kids watched TV while Tony and I packed and cleaned. As the kids were getting in the car to wait for us to finish, a pademelon came and hung around the car which was an exciting end to our time in this caravan park. A currawong also hopped in the open door and started to peck up crumbs - we shooed him off and closed the doors.

As we left we headed down the road towards Cradle Mountain for one last peek, then turned around and set off for Devonport. We had considered doing a few things on the way seeing as we had all day to get there, but with the girls feeling off colour we decided to get there as soon as possible and take it easy for the afternoon. The trip through the bends wasn't too bad - we were well equipped with lollies to suck on, water to drink, windows down when necessary, and Tony took it quite slowly. We stopped for a couple of quick photos of Mt Roland, then up to Devonport.

Our plan was to go back to the playground where we'd played on our first day - when we arrived however it was windy and freezing cold and no one felt like getting out of the car. We ate some lunch in the car overlooking the ocean, then went for some indoor activities - we found a play centre which had indoor rock climbing, a science centre, and a jungle gym play area (also laser tag but we skipped it). Caitlin started with the rock climbing, the women were very impressed with how quickly she picked it up, and she made it nearly to the top on a couple of walls. In the meantime I took Liam and Millie into the science centre, where we played with balls, air, pendulums, bugs, microscopes, a train set, an igloo made from foam blocks, and a few other activities which were all quite entertaining. Then the 5 of us went into the play area where Millie and Liam played happily for about 2 hours, while Caitlin sat exhausted with Tony and I - she had revived for the rock climbing then crashed once it was done. Liam made a friend and it was a lovely relaxing and fun way to spend our last afternoon.

Once they closed (after a couple of games of air hockey on the way out) we went and found a quick snack and got some cash, then off to line up for the boat. We sat in the queue for almost an hour before we were able to drive on to the boat, then up to our cabins and then to the eatery for dinner. The kids knew what to expect this time so picked the food that they wanted to eat and it worked much better than on the way over. The movie tonight wasn't of interest, so we watched The Block and House Rules on a couple of the various TVs around the boat, and Liam and Millie and I played Uno. Liam popped into the gift shop and the lady remembered him from the trip over and asked how his holiday had been. Caitlin crashed early, the kids and I went back to the cabin to read Anne of Green Gables and Liam and Millie played with their animals, when Tony returned I went to bed too and he stayed up (not long) with the others. The trip seemed less rough this time and everyone (even me) got to sleep quite easily.

Tasmania Day 1: Home -> Spirit of Tasmania

We spent the morning and early afternoon finishing the packing, squeezing it all in the car, tidying the house (a bit), doing the dishes and finishing off all the other things I wanted to get done before we left. We were in the car by 3pm and made a few stops on the way – dropping of the last of the library books, buying some last minute snow gear from Aldi (I got boots, socks and pants, Caitlin got boots, the kids all got thermal underwear) and picking Tony up from baseball (probably the most important task really…) Then off to Port Melbourne to line up and finally drive on to the Spirit of Tasmania with 3 very excited, squealing very loudly, kids in the middle row of the car.

We had spied the boat as we approached from the side and it looked quite impressive and exciting and even more so up close. We went straight to our cabin which had 2 lots of bunks in an L-shape.

Tony’s cabin was just around the corner but he stayed in with us. We had a quick explore of the ship, found the ATM to get cash before we sailed, looked at the kids playroom which was not particularly exciting, so checked out the games room which had racing games and a couple of skill games to keep the kids and Tony amused. Then downstairs for dinner at the serve-yourself eatery, after watching a bit of Harry Potter 5 on one of the TVs, and off to the theatrette to watch Life of Pi. It was a bit challenging to find seats where the kids could see without blocking anyone else’s view, we managed it after a bit of shuffling around. The movie was great, although perhaps not the best choice to watch while on a large boat, seeing is it about the sole survivor of a shipwreck… Liam loved the tiger and the other animals, although was then a bit nervous about being on the boat. Right towards the end of the movie the boat started rolling noticeably which upset Caitlin’s stomach. Millie was asleep by then so the girls went to bed and the boys went upstairs to check out the waves which apparently was a cold and slightly scary trip.  Everyone slept well except for me – I wasn’t feeling sick but just couldn’t fall asleep with the motion. Oh and those beds are rather small to share, even with someone as little as Millie!