Half-lap Day 21: Uluru -> Kings Canyon

When I woke up I heard dingoes howling from various spots around the campground. Later in the morning as we were getting ready to leave we heard a howl and then saw a dingo at the base of the sand dunes right near us. There was much excitement all round and he disappeared into the bushes before anyone could get a photo.

We packed up, which was a pretty big job after 4 days, and were ready to leave by 11. We waved goodbye to Uluru and set off back East. We stopped at Curtin Springs to get fuel and the kids and wandered around to see the emu (1 emu by himself, standing in his little food shelter and looking like he wanted to escape) and the native bird aviary (lots of budgies and other colourful birds). We continued the drive east and then turned to go up to Kings Canyon. We arrived at Kings Canyon resort around 2pm, after watching the ranges rise up from the flat ground for a while before we arrived.

The unpowered area was unassigned, so we looked around for a bit and found a spot near the fence with a partial view across to the ranges. There were ant holes everywhere, but they didn’t ever bother us. We camped next to a couple that Caitlin had met a few times (at Marla and at Uluru) so chatted to them on and off. While we were setting up a dingo wandered over to check us out – the first of many. The dingoes wander the campground constantly, and keeping food away from them is quite tricky. They aren’t aggressive, and they aren’t scared. The information around the park says not to chase them or lunge at them – it’s hard to know what to do when they are trying to steal things off our table.

Once we were set up I took the kids to the pool for a swim while Tony checked out the general store. Milk was $3 for 1L of UHT and the white bread was $5.50, meat was very expensive so we decided to use our current supplies of food while we were here. As we were getting ready to go Millie and I had a collision through the tent door (we both went to open it at once, from either side, and her hand collided with my ear, and as I stood up in pain my elbow collected her chin). I quickly opened the door and scooped her out of the tent, and as I crouched down to cuddle her and make sure she was ok, my pants split, from just above the knee to half way up my leg! I had a brief swim – the water was not quite as cold as at Yulara, still pretty cold though. A couple of other kids came to swim as well, a 14 year old boy and 6 year old girl. Caitlin and LiAM swam and played with the boy for ages, Millie and the girl played on the grass near the pool and in the playground. They were very similar and got on really well. The mum came over and we chatted for a while, and the girls went back to Millie’s friend’s caravan to do some drawing. After the swim everyone had a shower and Millie talked a bit more to her friend. We sat at the tent doing puzzles and reading and enjoying some quiet time.

I went up to the sunset viewing platform with LiAM – it was too cloudy for an impressive sunset, but we did chat to our friends from the sunrise platform at Yulara. There was a drinks bar at the viewing platform and LiAM was briefly excited – it was $5 for a can of soft drink, and between $9 and $11 for a beer, so we decided to leave those drinks where they were.

Caitlin was sitting and reading at the table before dinner and looked up to see a dingo standing on the table – gave her a bit of a shock! Millie and I met one in the dark as we walked between 2 caravans – it seemed a bit scared of us and we were a little nervous too, we edged past each other without incident, it was the first time I’d seen one that wasn’t fully confident. We had tuna and rice for dinner and then packed up our tubs so that nothing was exposed for the dingoes. We put stuff in the trailer or tent and stacked the rest. I sewed up my pants, and Caitlin’s leggings which had also split along the leg seam that day. LiAM left his window open so that he could see if any dingoes came – and just after I’d finished reading he saw a dingo climb up to the top of our stack of tubs and knocked the two lighter ones off the top. We scared him off before he took anything, and put more stuff in the tent and trailer and made sure that everything that was left was very securely fastened.

Sydney Trip - > Day 5 to Day 10

Over the rest of our time in Sydney, we spent a lot of time hanging out at the house, as well as a few outings, which made it feel more like a holiday (less like being at home). On the Friday afternoon we took all the kids to Sydney Aquatic Centre at Homebush - Millie's favourite pool and somewhere she's been wanting to go back to for months. We were there for about 4 hours, swimming in the kids pool and going in and out of the fountains and tipping buckets and showers, going around and around and around in the rapids, hanging out in the spa, going on the big slide (Millie is still not tall enough, but there were plenty of other things to do to keep her happy), and running over to be dumped on by the massive bucket of water. Millie and I usually keep well away from it, by the end of this visit though she was running over with everyone else to be there for the massive wave of water. I did it once and was happy to not do it again.

On Saturday the other kids had karate and a rehearsal and other things on, and we went to Lizard Log park which has a great adventure playground, and spent 3 hours hanging out with my friend K. Her kids weren't around this weekend, so my kids played and K and I had a great chat in between helping my kids. LiAM wasn't feeling well so he didn't enjoy the playground as much as he'd hoped. It was a wonderful catch up. And warm - the first time I've been able to be outside without a jacket for many months now! On the way home we had an early dinner at Red Rooster, then home for a quiet evening with the others.

K and I at Lizard Log Park, Caitlin on the flying fox (taken by LiAM)

Sunday we headed in to Balmain to see my brother and his wife. We had a BBQ lunch sitting on their balcony overlooking the harbour, it was another beautiful sunny day and a great setting. After lunch we walked to the ferry and they took us over to Cockatoo Island - somewhere I'd never been and was very excited to visit. We wandered through one of the tunnels, examined the old cranes and railway tracks and docks, sat in the sun and ate ice cream, climbed up to the top part of the island and looked at the old sandstone buildings. On the way back to the ferry Millie fell and hurt her knee, but the ferry ride home calmed her down and we enjoyed looking at the harbour from the ferry and checking out all the gardens on the walk back to the apartment. We stayed with my brother for a cuppa, watching photos and videos of their recent trip to Thailand and Burma where they rode on elephants. They had great presents for the kids from their trip too, fans and soap for the girls and Burmese money for LiAM.

Lunch on my brother's balcony

Millie learning about sandstone on Cockatoo Island (and carrying her gift bag from her uncle and aunt)

Cockatoo Island

Monday, and the times either side of our outings on the other days, we spent at the house, playing with the kittens, playing on iPads, playing on the swings and trampoline, watching TV, sewing, dressing up in costumes (the girls did a photo shoot), making up dances and performing them for everyone, cooking (there were 2 batches of cupcakes made), playing Scrabble, and chatting and laughing.

Millie asleep with the kittens and mummy cat

Cupcake creation

Millie dancing her ballet dance

Tuesday we all went to the zoo - it only took just over an hour to drive there (boys and Millie in my car, girls in the other car). We got there just after 10 and left when it closed at 4.30. We started the day with a round trip ride on the cable car - very cool seeing the animals from above, and looking at the view over the harbour. We saw most of the animals, and stopped to watch the bird show and the seal show, both of which were excellent. We sat in the splash zone for the seal show (front row) and got quite wet, which Millie was upset about - she snuggled on my lap under my jacket for the rest of the show and was happy then. We played in the playground next to the lemurs, and then in the playground at the farm part. Millie had another 2 bad falls and hurt her knee again - luckily this time I had my sling with me so she could snuggle on my back and it wasn't so hard for me to carry her. We ended the day with a ride up on the cable car, then had ice cream and my kids bought souvenirs (a snow globe type thing with penguins in it for Caitlin, a small plush lemur (so cute!) for LiAM, and a Schleich seal for Millie, to partner the one she got a few years ago). Back to the car and LiAM and Millie and I were exhausted and still not well and wanted to go straight home, so the boys and Millie and I did that, only hitting a small pocket of slow traffic. L and the girls went down to the beach near the zoo and had a wonderful evening before heading home and missing the traffic entirely.

After checking out the zebras, Millie consulted her map to see where to go next

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.