Brisbane Trip Day 26: Newcastle

It was the eldest cousin's 13th birthday today, so Caitlin and I made sure we were up early enough to say Happy Birthday before she went to school. I spent the rest of the morning sorting out my photos and emails etc, while the kids watched Netflix and YouTube videos (and chased the chickens out of the house anytime one of us left the back door open). In the afternoon I walked over to the hardware store to see if they had a new fuse for my fridge cord - we thought we'd fixed it in Brisbane (the fuse had slipped out of place) but the fridge still wasn't working. I plugged it in to 240v power here and it worked fine, so I knew it was the cord. The hardware store didn't have the fuse so suggested I try the automotive place. He looked at the fuse and said it was fine, and said he'd have another go at getting the fuse to stay in the right place. He tested the cord and said the fuse was working but the power wasn't getting to the other end - so I came home and opened up the new cord I'd bought, and that works fine. I spent a bit of time organising to see people during the rest of our trip.

The girls came home from school and their dad from work, and the kids all hung out in the front room for a while. Amelie and I made a birthday card. The youngest cousin and her mum and brother came over, and we had chocolate mud cake for birthday cake. The kids all moved out into the back yard and played on the trampoline and the adults sat and chatted for a while. The other mum and I went down the street to get fish and chips for dinner (we walked to the closest one, which was closed, so we came back and drove into Swansea. On our walk we met a scared, scruffy looking dog, who wouldn't let us get close enough to pat him - he didn't have a collar on and he looked lost, I hope he is ok).

When we got back the girls were dancing to the Moana soundtrack in between jumping on the trampoline. We ate our dinner and hung out in the backyard until the mozzies got too bad. The boys had moved inside earlier and were playing on the iPad. Once the visitors left everyone wound down pretty quickly. I sat out the back for a while and chatted to my BIL, mainly about the Uni cricket club days, and some of his memories of Tony as a kid, then I went to bed and read my book. The kids all came in soon afterwards. A very relaxed day before a week of seeing different people every day!

Half-lap Day 97: Perth

We had a very warm night’s sleep in the house, and the kids were all comfortable in their cousin’s room. When we got up the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics was on, so we sat and started to watch some of that. I did a bit of work on the computer, and came back out to watch the athletes enter the stadium. By this stage all the kids were awake, and we discussed why some of the countries seemed to be coming out in the wrong order – they were using the Portuguese names so for example Germany came out with the ‘A’ countries.

We had breakfast, which went fairly smoothly considering there were 8 people in the house. The rest of the morning was spent watching and talking about the Opening Ceremony, playing outside with a basketball or badminton or the dog, and just hanging around enjoying having nothing much to do.  I had a lovely hot shower and then we all had hot chips and dimsims for lunch – their regular Saturday lunch and they were happy to include us. (It’s worked out quite nicely that we are here over a weekend, so we can all hang out together. It wasn’t planned, just the way our timing worked).

In the afternoon I tried to catch up a bit more on my blogging and my photos, a fairly big job. We haven’t really had a rest day over the past couple of weeks and it means I haven’t had much time to spend on anything other than getting us to places, making sure everyone is fed and happy, and enjoying the amazing things we’ve been seeing.

It rained for most of the early afternoon. The kids played Cluedo and Monopoly and other games, and the adults chatted and watched the football and drank cups of tea and coffee. I caught up on my washing. Tony’s cousin’s wife made cupcakes, and we had them for afternoon tea – very tasty. The rain had eased a bit so everyone except for me went down to the park with the dog. They took a football and had a play and enjoyed their afternoon. I enjoyed some time by myself. 

In the evening we watched Olympics and the kids played more games. We had curried sausages for dinner which were very tasty. The kids made some Music.ly videos after dinner, some of them were hilarious. It was raining again, quite heavily now, and we were very grateful to be inside a warm, dry house rather than somewhere in our tent.

The kids went to bed when their cousin did, and I read a few chapters of Inheritance to them. LiAM wasn’t very sleepy so got back up and watched the cycling road race with us for a while, then we all eventually headed to bed. I think all the tea and coffee I had drunk throughout the day, and possibly having a quiet day where I wasn’t rushing around, meant that I wasn’t sleepy either, so it was late before I went to bed, although I felt quite relaxed and rested. 

Half-lap Day 46: Darwin and LiAM's 10th Birthday

The kids had asked if they could wake everyone up for LiAM’s birthday as soon as anyone woke up – we said that was OK as long as it was light. LiAM and Millie woke when it was still dark, and chatted excitedly to each other until it was light enough for them to be a bit louder and wake Caitlin up.

Once we were all out of bed Tony started cooking the bacon LiAM had requested, and we gave him his presents. Millie gave him a couple of little Minecraft figurines (a rabbit, and Steve in a minecart), Caitlin a watergun that can shot continuously when it’s in a pool or attached to a bottle, and a little plush crocodile, he got a card and money from Grandma and Grandad, and a shirt and an interactive Skylanders colouring book from my sister (there’s an app to download and the coloured pictures move on the iPad when you scan them). I had one more present for him and could not find it anywhere, which upset me a little but I figured that it would turn up when I did a clean out of the car and he could have an extended birthday.

He loved all his presents and spent most of the morning colouring in his Skylanders book. Millie received her presents from my sister as well – a watermelon swimming top and a metallic colouring book. She had so much fun colouring that she didn’t want to stop, ever, when we asked her to get ready for our day out.

After bacon and eggs for breakfast and a couple of hours spent colouring and hanging out at the tent, we drove in to Darwin to Crocosaurus Cove, a crocodile place right in the centre of town. LiAM and I had booked in for VIP Croc Feeding Tour, and Tony and the girls paid for regular entry. We walked through the entrance hallway and came out near some crocodile enclosures with glass (actually acrylic) sides, we were at the base of the enclosures and in one the croc was lying on the roof of a dome we could walk under – he was massive, it was incredible to stand right underneath him and get an idea of how big these big old saltwater crocs can get. We saw a few other crocodiles and some fish then went upstairs where we saw some people getting lowered into the water in the ‘cage of death’ – a glass cage which goes into the water with the crocodiles and they swim around it. LiAM had really wanted to do this but he needed to be 15 so we settled for the VIP Tour. We watched them for a few minutes then popped in to the reptile house where they were feeding the reptiles, it was cool to see lizards chasing insects, and pythons starting to work on eating rats and mice. There was a talk as well, and as usual our kids were up the front and answering lots of the questions.

LiAM and I left to go down and wait for our tour to start. There were 8 people in the group, including 2 other kids. We started by going upstairs and looking at all the saltwater crocodiles and our tour guide told us their histories, which were quite varied. From there we went to a little balcony above the enclosure that housed Burt – the saltwater crocodile who was in Crocodile Dundee. We each had a turn at holding out a stick with a large piece of chicken tied on to it, for him to reach up and snap the chicken off the end of the string. LiAM volunteered to go first – everyone else was a bit nervous. He held his pole out confidently and Burt snapped it 2 or 3 times but the chicken was still on there, then he closed his mouth on it and wouldn’t let go of the string. LiAM and the tour guide held on to the pole and pulled it back, and eventually got it free of his mouth. It was pretty exciting to watch. A few other people had a turn then it was my go. I hadn’t been scared at all until I stepped forward and grabbed the pole and really thought about the fact I was about to lean towards a very large saltwater crocodile (the glass railing we were behind was quite high and it really was quite safe, but even the thought of interacting with him at all got some adrenaline flowing). I held the pole out and he snapped the chicken and again wouldn’t let go – his bite force was strong (not surprisingly) and it took us some time to pull the string free. I wasn’t scared once he started trying to eat it, I was just really excited, it was a great experience. A couple of the poles snapped a bit as people tried to pull them back and the pole got pushed against the railing. The 2 men on the tour were able to pull the string free more easily, I think their extra height meant they could get a better angle. It was amazing to watch him eating even when the others were feeding him, he easily came up out of the water, to snap the food, and he moved so quietly and quickly. He wasn’t jumping up, just lifting his head, then he’d go back to lying in the water on the ledge. Caitlin wandered past just before I fed Burt so she went and got the others and they were able to watch me feed him.

From there we went to feed the juvenile freshwater crocodiles, there were over 100 crocs in there, of varying sizes (all the same approximate age though – the dominant ones get more food and grow faster). Again we held bits of meat over the edge on a pole and string and the crocs jumped or reached up to grab them. Not quite as thrilling as the salty but still quite exciting to watch and to do.

Next we held a baby crocodile – he had his mouth taped shut and everyone got to hold and pat him and take photos. He was surprisingly soft, his scales didn’t feel rough at all. He was pretty cute. Our guide chatted to us during the whole of the tour, sharing lots of information about crocodiles in general and about the ones who lived there in particular. She was impressed with LiAM’s enthusiasm and asked if was going to work with animals when he grew up – she said she’d worked with dolphins, and something else, and now crocodiles, and it was a great job to have.

The tour guide then took us to the reptile house and handed us over to a reptile guide, Nicole. We were given cold bottles of water, Nicole introduced herself to all of us and then asked what kind of reptiles we’d like to hold. She started with a sand goanna called Blaze – it was a beautiful reptile with yellow markings all over it. LiAM went first again, and everyone had a hold then Blaze went back to LiAM. Nicole let him hold on to it and he walked around for the next 20 minutes or so with a goanna climbing all over him – up his arms, around his neck, over his shoulders and sometimes sitting on his head. He loved it. Nicole talked to us about all the different types of reptiles they had there, then we held a frill-necked lizard which was pretty exciting. She put it away after a while, and Blaze as well, and bought out a baby frill-necked lizard. She handed it around, then pulled a Stimson’s Python out of her pocket – very cool to see a snake casually get pulled from a pocket. He was fun to hold, he coiled himself around our hands and was quite comfortable being passed around (he wasn’t very big). Putting them away, she bought out a white (not albino) blue-tongued lizard, and a black-headed python. Most people had a turn of the python, and LiAM and the other 2 girls loved holding him, they shared him around and at one point had the python draped across the shoulders of the 3 of them.

Nicole was great to listen to and again LiAM impressed her with his knowledge and interest. She said that most of the staff at Crocosaurus did work experience there, then got a job while they were at school, then stayed on and have learnt everything just by working there – sounds perfect for the kind of thing LiAM would like to do.

Tony and the girls came in towards the end of the tour and were able to pat the python. LiAM got a bite from the white lizard as he was handing her back – that’s 4 reptile bites he’s had this trip and he was thrilled. Tony went to move the car and the girls stayed with us – eventually the reptiles had to go away and we went outside to have a bit to eat. We sat where we could watch the fish feeding and Tony was back in time to see it too. They had barramundi, whip rays, saratogas and archer fish – watching the rays come up to be feed was really cool, and the other fish where interesting too. The barramundi were huge, I’d only seen smaller ones so far on this trip.

The girls and Tony had had fun while we were on the tour – they’d watched the biggest crocodile being fed, seen a demonstration of the croc’s bite force, fed the freshwater crocs and held the baby crocodile. The difference between the tour and regular entry in that case is that we were able to take our own photos of the baby crocodile, generally they take professional photos which you can choose to buy. LiAM was a bit disappointed that the girls had been able to do so much of what he’d done on the tour, it made it feel a bit less special – but having had Blaze on his head for so long was a bonus that he thought did make the tour worthwhile. For me, feeding the salty was the big deal, but he wasn’t as excited about that.

Tony left again to go and meet up with an old friend – a guy he went to school with in Malaysia, 30 years ago. The kids and I got into our swimmers and went to swim ‘with’ the freshwater crocodiles – there’s a pool right up next to the juvenile freshies, with the nice thick (14.5cm) acrylic wall in between the 2 bodies of water, so when we were swimming we could see the crocodiles seemingly right next to us. The glass was a bit clouded and scratched so it wasn’t super clear, but we could still see them right there, and with goggles on under the water it did feel like they were right next to us and they were much clearer. There were some cracks in the wall on the crocodile side which alarmed Caitlin at first, but the wall was solid on our side so it was fine.

We swam for a while then got out to do another feeding of the juvenile freshwater crocodiles. There was no one else there so we were able to each feed a few crocodiles. The lady was impressed that the kids were happy to bait their own hooks with the meat. LiAM said that he’d done this earlier on the VIP Tour and she said ‘Oh, so it’s your birthday!’ – they’d obviously been talking about him. She said ‘I’m glad you’re here, I have a present for you’ – and gave him a crocodile tooth, which she’d picked up earlier – a fresh tooth from one of the freshies. LiAM was thrilled as he’d been thinking about buying a crocodile tooth. He now felt that being on the tour was completely worth it, as it had indirectly lead him to getting the tooth.

The kids went back in the water once we’d finished and I took some photos of them, then had another quick swim myself, it was quite exciting to be looking at them from in the water and really seeing them move around. We got out and the kids got changed then rushed off to hold the baby crocodile again. They got heaps of photos taken, and I was in a few as well. We looked at them on the computer and most of them were fantastic – but so expensive and everyone was happy just scrolling through them and enjoying the photos, then leaving. We wandered through the display of different types of crocodilians, amazing to see the different jaw and skull shapes of them all. We went to look at all the crocodiles for one last time, including standing up under some little domes where we could look at baby freshwater crocs at ground level, that was pretty cool. Then into the gift shop, where Millie bought a magnet and everyone bought a squeezy tube with pictures of crocodiles on it. I thought about buying some things as well, then decided to save my money til we got to the markets later.

We went across the road to Shenanigans (an Irish Pub) and found Tony and his friend and chatted to them. The guys finished their beers and the friend suggested we leave our car at his place and walk to the markets from there rather than try to find parking at the market. We headed back to the car and then to his place, and realised that sunset was fast approaching and we might miss it. I was a bit disappointed (especially on Tony’s behalf, he’d missed the sunset on Monday night too as he was buying the chips) but everyone else was relaxed – if we see it, we see it, otherwise we’ll just enjoy the markets.

We parked the car, met Tony’s friend’s son, and the 7 of us walked down to Mindil Beach. When we arrived the sun had set, but the sky was still orange and blue and reflecting amazing colours in the water. We hung out on the beach for a little while, watching the sky, and then LiAM talked to my parents for a while for his birthday. The V8 Supercars are on in Darwin this weekend, so there was lots of V8 stuff happening at the markets – we’d missed the drivers signing autographs, but the V8 girls were still around and Caitlin and Tony got their photo taken with them. We wandered along the food corridor – there was SO much choice it was very hard to decide. Tony and Caitlin chose Indian (and Millie shared with them). I had Indonesian – beef rendang, vegetable curry, chili eggplant, chili anchovies, coconut rice and peanut sauce – so delicious! LiAM had a crocodile burger. It was very crowded, hard to keep track of each other as we walked along, it was nice to sit in front of the stage and eat and listen to the music being played. The kids had a bit of a play in the playground in between eating their dinner.

The kids bought some little helicopters that were launched by rubber band and lit up in the air, they were pretty cool. Everyone was hot so we went back to the food aisle to get ice cream or smoothies. LiAM and I had pina coladas (so tasty) and Caitlin and Millie had ice cream – Caitlin’s was home made and magnificent, Millie’s was quite tasty too. Tony shared a bit of everyone’s. We wandered through the market stalls after we’d eaten, and looked at so many amazing things. Lots of clothes and lights and bags and decorations and pictures, people playing music and fire twirling, and so many other things. I finally found some indigenous art that I liked and could afford. I spent ages deciding between a painting of a crocodile or a turtle – I bought the crocodile. I bought it from the artist himself and had a good chat to him about his art and name and country. Tony found a stall selling cream to help with cracked skin – he’s always looking for something to help his hands as they get so dry when he’s working. This stuff starts with a sea salt scrub and then a moisturiser, and he liked the way it worked so he bought some. Millie found a dolphin necklace that she loved – it was at a stall where the lady writes things on grains of rice then puts them in pendants. Millie took a long time to decide exactly what she wanted, and eventually bought the dolphin pendant on a pink chain, with ‘Amelie’ written on the rice. It’s really gorgeous.

We were all pretty tired by now, so Tony went to get the car and bring it closer now that the carpark was emptying out. We kept wandering and LiAM found a duck whistle that he loved and bought, and Caitlin a lovely necklace. LiAM also bought a little amethyst, which is his birthstone. We met Tony in the carpark, where LiAM surprised him with his duck whistle, then headed home.

Millie was nearly asleep when we got back (after 10.30) but woke up enough to have birthday cake. LiAM loved his R2D2 cake, and we all had a piece (it was quite tasty and not stale which I had been worried about – the box was damaged so I got a discount but I didn’t know if the quality of the cake would be reduced) and went to bed to read Brisingr until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.

Day 39: Batchelor and Millie's Birthday

Millie’s 7^th birthday!!!!!

Millie woke quite early and came up to our bed, we chatted and giggled about it being her birthday until the others woke up, then we got up to do presents. She had already received her back pack and the crocodile from us, we gave them to her again, and also a ‘camel crossing’ sign to hang on her window, and a jeweled gecko. Caitlin gave her a bubble wand and a Barbie fairy, LiAM gave her a pack of Frozen snap cards, and there was a card with money in it from Grandma and Grandad. She was thrilled with all her presents and had a lot of fun opening them, then playing with them. The kids played Go Fish with the cards for a while, then we went to the reception area for the 7.30am bird feeding.

The owner put out bird food in several places, and over time birds started to appear to feed (they were easily spooked though and kept flying away then slowly coming back). We saw cockatiels, galahs, lorikeets and blue-faced honey eaters. I enjoyed watching them for ages, the kids wandered off after a while and went to play mini-golf. Tony headed back to the tent to make pancakes as a birthday breakfast.

We hung around the tent eating and playing with Millie’s presents for most of the morning, and Caitlin rode into town to buy a birthday cake and some candles for Millie. She wanted to eat the cake after dinner, but really wanted to used the candles now – so I put a candle in a chocolate bar for her and we sang ‘There’s a cat licking your birthday cake’ and she blew the candle out and ate the chocolate.

When we were ready we went down the road to a butterfly farm. Our friends from Katherine were there when we arrived but we only got to wave hello, they’d left before we had a chance to talk to them. We saw butterflies in all their various stages of development, then spent ages in a large enclosure with the fully grown butterflies – including a huge green one that Millie named Emerald, who flapped and hovered more like a bird than any butterfly I’ve ever seen.  From there we went into a little farm area where we could feed carrots to rabbits, and pat ducklings and chicks. There were several rabbit enclosures and the kids got lots of cuddles. The last section of the farm had pigs and goats, 3 or 4 pigs and maybe 8 goats – these ones were much friendlier than the ones in Katherine, and they were mainly nannies or kids. The pigs and goats enthusiastically ate the rest of our carrots, and kept looking for more. It was fun to be right in there with them.  After we’d finished with the animals we were allowed to have a swim in their pool – the water was cool and so amazing to swim in on such a hot day. More than half of the pool was only knee deep, with a deeper channel around 2 sides of it, so it was easy for all of us to swim in and feel comfortable. There was a man-made waterfall running into the shelf next to the pool, so Millie stood under that and was excited at having a shower under a waterfall – one of her birthday wishes! She’d also wanted to swim in a pool, play with puppies (she was happy enough with ducklings, rabbits and kids), see a real waterful and be able to talk to relatives on the phone.

I made some sandwiches in the car then everyone got out of the pool and we ate on the way out to Litchfield National Park. We saw plenty of huge termite mounds, and drove through a few areas where they are burning off, so we turned the fan off – LiAM finds it so hard to breathe when there is smoke around. We went to Florence Falls – there’s a short walk from the carpark to a lookout where we could see 2 waterfalls falling down into a pool below. Then the walk continued down about 150 steps to the valley floor, where it was lovely and cool. It was only 400m and then we were at the pool at the base of the falls. It was so peaceful and green and an amazing place to be.

Caitlin arrived before me and came back to tell me there was a python in the rocks – a crevice not far from the pool had a large (about 7 feet long) olive python – he was lying there when Caitlin saw him, and moved from one side of the rocks to the other while I watched, coiling himself up and possibly going to sleep. He didn’t seem bothered by all the people standing around taking photos of him – it was so cool to watch.

We made our way into the plunge pool – the water was a great temperature and we’d taken our snorkels so could look under and see an incredible number of fish. There were rocks of various sizes on the bottom which meant there were lots of places that Millie could stand up and still be in the main pool. I hung out with her for ages, swimming around a bit and watching the waterfalls. Tony and LiAM and Caitlin went a bit deeper and came back and forth. A guy climbed up the rocks and jumped in from progressively higher points – he was a good climber and at one point everyone in the pool was watching him. Caitlin and Tony swam towards the falls but Caitlin found it hard going so they came back, then Tony went over by himself. He was able to go in behind one waterfall and be right at the base of the other. When he came back I went over – I had a couple of moments of feeling scared as the water got choppy close to the falls, but it was easy enough to keep going. Swimming in behind the water was pretty cool, it looked amazing and felt exciting. The other falls were more of a cascade, and looking straight up at them from the bottom was an incredible view.

After I swam back, Caitlin went over with Tony and was even able to sit up on one of the rocks right next to the falls. LiAM went over next, on Tony’s back, and everyone was glad they’d made the effort. Millie didn’t want to get that close, but was thrilled swimming in this pool with the waterfalls there, and said she was having the ‘most awesomest birthday ever’. I moved with her into a shallower part of the creek where she could sit in a tiny little waterfall, (just water flowing between two rocks, about a quarter of her height) which was pretty cool too.

Tony said it was the most amazing place he’d ever swum, and we all had a fantastic afternoon there. The kids tried to catch some fish, and we all spent ages watching the fish swim around under the water. There were a couple of rocks that were easy to climb on and jump into a deep part of the pool, and lots of rocks to just sit or lie on and watch the water. Eventually we headed out of the pool and back up the stairs – it was weird to feel the temperature get hotter as we climbed, down in the valley it felt impossible to believe it was a 36 degree day!

We drove back to the caravan park (with more Harry Potter) – the car was fine, no overheating, even with the air conditioner on. We think the trick is to wait until we get up to highway speed before we turn AC on and then it seems to be fine… We got changed into dry clothes, then went to the tavern for Millie’s birthday dinner. I had wild caught local Barramundi, which I’d been wanting ever since we got into Barra territory, Tony had a rack of lamb, Caitlin a schnitzel, LiAM had nuggets and chips and Millie steak and chips – the food was all delicious. We ordered a jug of lemonade, and played a few games of Keno (we didn’t win anything) and had a really lovely evening.

We got back to camp and I realised I’d left my handbag at the tavern – luckily it was still hanging on my chair when I got back there, everything still in it. And the driving back and forth didn’t cause the car to heat up either, so it was a car-trouble free day – just adding to the mystery really! Once I got back again we set up Millie’s cake – all they had was fruit cake, so we put red frogs and smarties on that to make it pretty, lit 7 candles and sang happy birthday, then ate fruit cake and lollies for dessert. She’d spoken to Grandma and Grandad while at the tavern, and had a few texts from friends and family, and felt like she’d gotten everything she wanted from her birthday.

Everyone was so tired that we didn’t read when we went to bed, Caitlin fell asleep immediately and everyone else was not far behind.

NSW Trip Day 21: Holbrook -> Home

LiAM and Millie and I were up first and we went outside to sit at the table in front of our room and write in our diaries/blog. The guy from the next room came out with his toddler son to go and look at the birds, LiAM and Millie were interested too and LiAM had a good chat with him. The kids and I popped down the street to get milk and bread for breakfast, then we ate and packed up. We were ready to go by 10 but I couldn’t see Millie’s iPod Touch anywhere – she doesn’t think she took it inside but it wasn’t anywhere obvious in the car. We spent about 45 minutes looking in the car and the room for it, with no luck. I imagine its in the car somewhere, underneath stuff that we weren’t easily able to move without unpacking the whole car…

The motel people said they’d send it if they found it and we left to go and see the submarine (stopping at the Foodworks on the way to see if we’d left it there – no). From a distance the submarine looks simply yellow, up close it looks amazing – every imaginable shade of yellow, in knitted, crocheted or woven pieces of every size, all joined together to form a giant cover for the sub. Some of the pieces had knitted animals attached to them, or woven in as part of the pattern, some had words (including one that said Liam), others had plastic sea creatures attached – it was fun exploring all the detail, even in the rain. The yellow wool is a yarn bombing exercise that has been done in time for some wool festival. It had only been installed the day that we arrived and will only be there for a month, so it felt like good timing to be in Holbrook!

Approaching the Submarine

Close up with sea animals

From there we went to the Holbrook bakery where they sell the best pies in Australia, according to my brother (when I asked at the info centre the girl there confirmed that they were the best). Tony, Caitlin and I had pies (mine was satay chicken, theirs were plain pies) and yes, they were magnificent. LiAM and Millie had sweet pastries which were also delicious.

We left Holbrook in the rain for almost the last leg home. Again we had a pleasant drive, listened to Harry Potter and talked about where we were, what we’d do when we got home, and played iPads/Pods. Just after I drove past the last roadhouse before we turn of the Hume Freeway, I realized we needed petrol, so we went into Benalla to get some. While Tony was putting the petrol in I realised we were opposite a McDonalds, and I’d promised Tony that at some point on our trip we could have soft serve cones from Maccas – so I popped over and got one each for the kids and Tony which was a nice little treat for the way home.

Mum and Dad had suggested we could call into their place in Yea on our way through, as they had a birthday present for Millie, so we did that. Great to see them and also Buckley our dog and all of our chickens (our chicks are now almost fully grown and the ‘baby’ roosters are crowing). Millie loved her presents – a fold up camp chair (pink) and a great hot pink and black dress, with black leggings. Everyone had lots to tell and show everyone else, then we had some cakes and sang Happy Birthday to Millie again, then had a bit of a play, and Caitlin watched some of Dance Academy – very exciting to see all the places we had been on Wednesday!. We were getting ready to head home as it was approaching tea time, so decided it was easier to stay there for tea and come home fed. It was a pleasant evening and then I got very tired before the kids were quite ready to leave, so I had a shower and that refreshed me enough.

Blowing out more candles in her new outfit

We got home about 8.45 and unpacked the necessary things from the car. Caitlin watched some more Dance Academy, LiAM played on his iPod, Tony watched the football, Millie went to bed. I pottered around a bit, settling back into home and feeling good to be here. Weird though to have no animals here – we’ll get the cat tomorrow and the other animals in a few days.

It was a great trip and I am feeling so much more relaxed and re-energised after it. Looking forward to whatever comes next and hoping I can carry my current state of mind into non-holiday activities. To keep up with what we’re doing day-to-day you can check out my other blog at seekingjoyeveryday.blogspot.com.au