Lorne Homeschool Camp 2016 - Day 3

Once again LiAM and Caitlin were up early, and went down to the beach to see the early sunlight on the water. They found another homeschooler down there practicing her violin, and they sat on a rock and listened to her while they watched the waves. I had a cup of tea and read my book. Amelie slept for a while longer, and got herself up and dressed before she came out of the tent. While I was eating my breakfast a lady walked past who I wanted to introduce myself to, so I abandoned my toast and ran out to meet her - Asphyxia, who has created the online Auslan course the kids and I are doing. I knew she'd arrived at camp the night before so I'd been practicing my signing so that I could introduce myself and tell her we loved her course. She was really lovely and came and met the kids, the girls both signed to her as well, Caitlin introduced herself and Amelie said 'pink' so they talked about Amelie's pink flamingo towel and she showed us the sign for flamingo. We chatted for a little while and it wasn't as hard as I was worried it might be, I was so glad I'd gone to say hello. When she left I turned around to see my toast being stolen by a cockatoo - he sat up in the tree above our site and fought off all his friends who wanted to share it with him...

Sunrise

After breakfast LiAM went over to K's tent and I hung around and read my book some more. I also introduced myself to a few more of the families who were camping near us, we were all feeling more comfortable after a few days in the area. Caitlin went for a walk with M, and after a while Amelie's new friend A came past and said they were going to the playground, so we joined them there. K and his other friends were going up to the main playground in town, so LiAM went with them. After a while Amelie and I, and A and her family decided to join them - we got there just as they were about to leave. They stayed for a little while and chatted with us, then LiAM went back with them and Amelie and I headed home soon after - and everyone agreed to head back up to the flagged beach for a swim after lunch.

We had some lunch and then one by one (or in groups) basically the whole homeschool camp moved up to the main beach. It was cool all being together, without everyone having to get there at the same time (so it wasn't stressful to organise). The waves were bigger today, but LiAM and Caitlin had no problem with them. Amelie mainly played on the beach with A and her brother, and I spent some time talking to A's Mum, and some time in the water with LiAM and K. K had a boogie board, and his Mum had one for a while which I then borrowed - it's been 25 years or so since I rode a boogie board, and I thought I'd be too scared to drop down the face of a wave that was about to break. I was right, at first I was trying the waves that had already broken, and was able to occasionally go a little way - eventually I did try one (not a big one) that was about to break, and did have a little tiny drop down the front of it, and made it all the way in to shore!!! It was very exciting, and extremely tiring. I handed the board over to one of the dads at that point, I was happy to go out on a successful ride. I took Millie in to the surf for a little while, she was OK with me carrying her in and holding her very tight. She got splashed a bit and was a little scared but enjoyed it for a while. I was worried that her extra weight might push me over with a bigger wave, so I was pretty careful and it was fun. She was happy to go back and play in the edge of the waves after that, and went out a little further than she had been. Caitlin and M were way out near the back of the break again, and LiAM was happy to go further than he had been before - it was exciting for me to see them all becoming more comfortable with beach/surf swimming, as it's something that I've always loved so much and I'm happy to be able to share it with them.

Amelie and A buried their mother's feet in the wet sand again - not as high as the bigger girls the day before, and a bit closer to the edge of the water so it kept getting washed away - they had fun and we were happy standing there chatting. I talked to Asphyxia again and her son helped me a bit with the boogie boarding. It was an incredibly beautiful and enjoyable afternoon. We had to keep moving our stuff further up the beach as the tide came in, which created a bit of amusement and panic at times. I think we were there for a few hours, the kids had so much fun in the water and really didn't want to leave until they were completely exhausted. One by one families headed back to the campsite. LiAM and Amelie and I eventually wandered back, and Caitlin came later with M.

We got changed and I left the kids playing in the tent and went over to the shops to get more milk, and some noodles for Caitlin's tea, and a couple of other things. I kept running into people to chat to on the way, and I did get there eventually. I walked home in the other direction, down the side of the river and over the bridge, which I hadn't done before - at this evening hour the water was clear and reflecting perfectly, it was so beautiful (and I didn't have my camera with me!). For tea Amelie had an egg and ham omelette, Caitlin had noodles in a cup, I had fried eggplant and LiAM had a ham sandwich - everyone was happy and it was all easy to prepare. E and M came and sat with us and we talked about Maths and books and camping and all sorts of things. Caitlin by this stage had also met some of the other 11 year girls at camp, so they decided to try and join the teens party that was happening that night, I said that was OK if they stayed around the campsite, so they happily went off with M to do that.

Our tent and associated swimming gear

Amelie and LiAM played on the computer for a while and E and I talked until we were tired enough to call it a night, so we went to bed. Amelie and LiAM went to bed quickly, I waited up for Caitlin who came in a bit after 11 having had an awesome time at the party. She wanted to go back for a little while so I said another half an hour, and she came in very happily just before midnight.

King Valley Trip -> Day 3

We slept a little better the 2nd night even though it was still very cold. No one slept in for very long in the morning and we had crumpets and porridge and hot chocolate around the fire. Caitlin and LiAM and I went for a walk back along the river, as the light was better today - it had been cloudy all day Monday and this morning the sun was out - so Caitlin got to explore the river as well, and I took some better photos.

Morning on the river

Autumn colours

Once the air started to warm up a bit Caitlin was back in the water. I had been thinking about it the day before, and seeing as it was sunny and the fire was raging I decided to give it a try - I knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't get in the water at least once. Caitlin was very excited when she saw me coming in and happily gave me her kayak. The water was painfully cold, but sitting on the kayak wasn't too bad - until I got the shakes from cold and from fear of falling in, and I was wobbling a lot which increased my chances of falling in... I managed to calm down and stop wobbling and kayaked up and down our little area - I love kayaking and it's been a long time since I had a go, so it was very exciting and a lot of fun.

I didn't stay in long, and happily dried out in front of the fire. Millie wanted to go in again although in the end decided not to. LiAM and Caitlin were in and out all morning. Caitlin also did a bit of bike riding. The kids played on the river bank and around the fire and Tony and I played with them or relaxed or pottered around.

We put our bike rack on the car, then tried to put Tony's bike on but it was a bit tricky, and he didn't have a helmet with him, so we decided to leave the bikes home for today. We wanted to visit Bright (we'd driven through before, but not spent any time there). We set off in the early afternoon, and listened to a combination of Frozen and Saddle Club on the way. It was a clear afternoon so I suggested going up Mount Buffalo on the way - something I had wanted to do when we were in the area 6 years ago but the mountain was covered in smoke from burning off fires. Everyone agreed to the mountain detour, so I happily headed up the mountain once we got to Porepunkah. It was a 35km drive to the top of the mountain, and it was windy and a little scary at times - driving up we had the mountain rising steeply to our left, and dropping away sharply on the right. Even though it was across the other side of the road, knowing that drop was there had my heart rate elevated and my breathing quite shallow. LiAM didn't like it either. Thinking about driving back down made it worse! It was a long drive and Caitlin started to feel a little unwell, so we had windows down and everyone snuggled under their jackets for warmth, so that Caitlin could get a little fresh air. The views on the way up were impressive - some out across the valley, and others of rock formations on the mountain itself, or waterfalls, as well as a lake and some plains - it is a beautiful mountain. The last little bit of road (3km) was gravel with very tight hair pin bends - and we finally made it to the carpark at The Horn - the top of the mountain.

I had one strong moment of vertigo when I walked to the (well fenced) edge - I stepped back a bit and let my head adjust and then I was fine. Looking across the top of the mountain range was pretty cool. LiAM was happy to look at the view then wanted to go back - he wasn't a big fan of the height either. We wandered around at the end of the carpark for a while, then headed up the 1.5km track to the The Horn. It was steep in places and all up hill, Caitlin and LiAM and Tony charged ahead and Millie and I took our time. Great views on the way up as well as cool trees and rocks to check out in close up. The view from the top was a 360 degree view across the top of mountains. Definitely worth the drive and the climb. We could even see Mt Kosciuszko across in NSW. There was a distance marker there showing where all the mountains were and how far away they were - made everything seem much closer compared to the distance it would take to drive to them!

View from the carpark

View from the top of The Horn (showing the windy road we'd come up)

At the top of Mount Buffalo

As we were ready to go back down we noticed some cloud coming in over the next ridge to the north west. By the time we were halfway down we were completely in the cloud - I love bushwalking in cloud and really concentrating on the details of the trees and rocks close to the path, it's just as spectacular as being able to see the view. The carpark was a bit spooky - looking over the edge into complete whiteness - very cool. We sat and had a picnic at the picnic table - and by the time we'd finished, the cloud had moved on, although was still in the valleys so we could see the tops of the mountains, and were looking down on the top of the cloud. Also very cool.

Cloud rolling in

View from the carpark in the cloud

View from the carpark once cloud moved on

I decided to drive back down - I knew in theory that I would be able to do it, even though it scared me, and I wanted to tackle that fear. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, even the bits next to the drop off. I took it very slowly and felt much better once we were back on flat land, I'm pleased that I did it though.

We got to Bright around 4pm and went for a walk along the main street. We popped into the lolly shop at the end of the street and the kids each picked something to buy, we also got some mini marshmallows to use with bananas and chocolate in the fire. We walked down the other side of the street and stopped in the other lolly shop, the kids had ice creams and Tony and I had a coffee. Nice to sit in the warmth and have a treat all together. From there we walked down to the river where we found a great playground. It was dusk by this time, however the playground was well lit and there was enough light for us to see the river for a while. I left the others to finish playing and walked up to the supermarket to get some more supplies, Tony and the kids picked me up on the way through after getting some hot chips to eat on the way home (in case anyone fell asleep in the car before we had dinner).

We had run out of gas in the morning and hadn't been able to refill it in Bright (we were there too late in the day) so cooked our dinner on the fire - potatoes in foil in the coals, and some bacon and vegetables in the frypan. Delicious. Millie had fallen asleep in the car so we put her to bed in the tent. Caitlin and LiAM filled bananas will mini marshmallows and chocolate pieces and roasted them in foil in the coals - also delicious.

A very pleasant evening around the fire, then into the tent to read some more Eldest. It was cloudy by this stage and although it was still cold it wasn't quite so freezing. I'd also rearranged the bedding a little - Millie was no longer interested in sleeping in her sleeping bag on the floor, so I added her mattress to LiAM's bed, and I put a large piece of carpet (that we use to cover the trailer) under LiAM and Caitlin's beds which created quite a bit more warmth.