None of us had any plans for today, nowhere to be at any particular time, and it was quite pleasant to know we could take our time over getting up or doing whatever we wanted to do. I spent a while on the computer and chatting to my friend and the kids. As the big girls got up they decided they wanted to go shopping, so in the late morning my friend dropped them at the shopping centre in Ipswich. She came back and we kept chatting, she was dehydrating a heap of food so we sat in the kitchen while she did that. The other kids played Roblox and Minecraft and Amelie played Pokemon a bit on her DS. As usual there was also playing with kittens when they were in sight. The girls rang and asked if they could catch the train to Redbank, which we said was fine. I did a little bit of organising of our stuff so that it won't be too hard to pack up when we leave, and started to think about how much longer we'll stay. My friend and I spent some more time laying on the bed and watching TV, and we both ended up having a nap in the late afternoon. Another friend of hers called around for a little while. I'd just woken from my nap when the girls surprised us by walking in the door - they'd caught the train and bus home themselves - we were pretty impressed that they navigated the public transport system on their own, the other girls had never done it before and Caitlin doesn't know Brisbane at all. They were pretty proud of themselves, although very very tired.
The boys and Amelie spent some time outside playing on the trampoline and with water balloons. The big girls decided to put up the roof top tent on the bus, but it had lots of ants in it so they decided not to sleep there. The boys played in it and on the bus for a while. My friend and I moved out to the lounge room to watch the big TV while the kids were all busy. We ate dinner and the boys played xbox in the bedroom for a while, and the big girls watched netflix in another room - by the end of the evening all the kids were on the lounge with us. Another very relaxing and very fun day - we're all feeling good and really loving spending time with this wonderful family.
Showing posts with label train. Show all posts
Showing posts with label train. Show all posts
Thursday, 8 March 2018
Monday, 16 May 2016
Half-lap Day 13: Flinders Ranges -> Pimba
We woke to another sunny day and began
packing up our campsite. We didn’t rush, enjoyed the scenery and the morning
and got things done as we could. I went for a walk with Caitlin and LiAM to see
the things they’d discovered in their explorations – a tyre in the dry creekbed
they’d named Wombat Tyre (as it looked like a wombat from a distance), Sun
Fence Hill, and Magpie Mountain. It was very pleasant wandering through the
trees and rocks of the hills surrounding our campsite, and we came across
several wallabies as we walked.
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| Exploring near our campsite |
We left in the late morning, and enjoyed
the views of the Flinders Ranges as we drove away. Even in the light of the
middle of the day they were impressive. As we drove south again we saw many
more ruins of stone houses and barns – I’m guessing the droughts of the early
years of farming out here meant that most people left and their buildings fell
apart.
We stopped in Quorn when we saw the steam
train from the Pichi Richi railway was in town. We ran over to the station in
time to see it reverse out of the yard, heading down the line to get water. It
wouldn’t be back to leave for it’s trip to Port Augusta for another hour or so,
so we didn’t wait around for it. Millie and I had a browse in a little art
gallery/homewares store, and saw some beautiful paintings and photos of the
surrounding area.
Driving from Quorn to Port Augusta
(listening to Harry Potter) we crossed the railway line several times, seeing
some cool bridges and driving windy roads through the hills. It was exciting to
see the gulf as we approached Port Augusta – we haven’t seen much water at all
on the trip so far, and won’t see much more until we get to Darwin (although
the 2nd part of our trip will involve much more ocean). We stopped
in Port Augusta to get fuel and groceries, and the kids played along the
foreshore for a little while.
Heading out was exciting, especially once
we passed through the intersection where we could head to Darwin or to Perth –
we’ll come back to that spot in a few months time. For now though we were
heading up the middle to the outback. The terrain became very flat, and there
were large areas without any trees. Suddenly the land dropped away to our left
and there was a large lagoon (with some water in it) and a couple of large
hills poking out of it like islands (it’s called Island Lagoon). It was
unexpected and quite breathtaking. We also started to see road trains – huge trucks
with 3 trailers.
We stopped at Spuds roadhouse at Pimba – a
free camp, where we set up in the large parking area with lots of caravans. The
ground was too hard for our pegs, so we tied the guy ropes to the fence, and
put LiAM’s bed across the bottom end of the tent to hold those corners down.
The girls were happy to just sleep on the thermorests and not get their beds
out.
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| Train at Spuds roadhouse, Pimba |
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
Houseboat/Wedding Trip Day 5: Hawkesbury River -> Home
We awoke with no rush to another sunny morning and pottered about the houseboat. Tony cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast and we ate them up on the roof. Afterwards we went for a swim off the back of the houseboat - Caitlin and I were much more confident this time and stayed in for ages, and Amelie and LiAM came in with their life jackets on - at first for very quick dips then back on the boat, then becoming more confident and staying in for longer. The water felt amazing and it was a beautiful place to be swimming. Tony and I were in and out depending on what the kids were doing (so that there was always someone either in the water or on the boat if that's where the kids were).
We had seen a few sea eagles during our time on the boat, including a couple circling straight overhead when we were onshore on Friday. This morning an eagle came and landed in a tree on the shore closest to our boat - then circled round and around, low, in our bay. Very exciting. My aunt and uncle came to visit us in their tinny, pretty cool to get visitors whilst on the water!
We decided to get moving fairly early as the forecast was for 41 degrees and we knew from Friday that it felt much hotter down in the gorges of the creek than in the more open river closer to Brooklyn. So after our wonderful swim we set off - the cool thing about travelling in a houseboat is that we can do the dishes and cleaning up while en route - Tony drove and I sorted out the kitchen. I had planned to pack our bags while we were moving but it was more interesting talking to Tony, looking at the scenery, helping LiAM with his lego sticker book. We had music playing on Caitlin's iPad mini so there was dancing happening as well.
We made good time up the creek and went the long way around an island rather than the shortcut we'd taken last time, then under the bridges again and around to near Hawkesbury River marina where there were more public moorings. We moored here and I started to pack - there were so many other boats going past, on a hot Sunday morning, that the boat was constantly rocking in the wake, and with my head down packing bags I was feeling more and more nauseous and kept wandering outside to breathe. We decided to move somewhere quieter and just float around rather than mooring, so we went around the far side of Dangar Island and looked at a little waterfall there, then after a while headed back under the railway bridge and just cruised up and down in the large area of the river between the bridges. Eventually we were packed, Tony made lunch and cleaned up the kitchen, then we were ready to head back in to the marina so called for a boat to come out and pilot us in (around 2pm).
We were taken back in, got our stuff of the boat, left some bags at the desk for Mum and Dad to pick up on their way to Newcastle, and the guy dropped us at the station just in time for the 2.37 train. It was pleasant to be in the air conditioning of the train after the heat of the day. It looked like a storm was coming too, so while it was sad to be off the boat, we were glad not to have to face any bad weather while onboard.
From Central Station we caught the rail-replacement bus out to the airport, where we had plenty of time to check in carefully and slowly (no rush this time), then go and have a leisurely dinner in the food court, and watch the low clouds racing across the airport outside. We had a few hours at the airport and it felt like just the right amount of time - then our plane was delayed as the crew had been delayed on their trip up from Melbourne - the storm had prevented planes from landing for a while - so we left about half an hour late and the kids were really ready to go by then. It was a bit of a bumpy trip, but uneventful. The kids and Tony all watched movies and I did puzzles in my book. We arrived in Melbourne after 10, went and picked up our car, then home at 11.30pm with 3 sleeping kids, moved them and our bags inside, fed the animals, then went to bed ourselves.
We had seen a few sea eagles during our time on the boat, including a couple circling straight overhead when we were onshore on Friday. This morning an eagle came and landed in a tree on the shore closest to our boat - then circled round and around, low, in our bay. Very exciting. My aunt and uncle came to visit us in their tinny, pretty cool to get visitors whilst on the water!
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| The view from our houseboat in Deep Bay |
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| Sea Eagle |
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| Swimming |
We decided to get moving fairly early as the forecast was for 41 degrees and we knew from Friday that it felt much hotter down in the gorges of the creek than in the more open river closer to Brooklyn. So after our wonderful swim we set off - the cool thing about travelling in a houseboat is that we can do the dishes and cleaning up while en route - Tony drove and I sorted out the kitchen. I had planned to pack our bags while we were moving but it was more interesting talking to Tony, looking at the scenery, helping LiAM with his lego sticker book. We had music playing on Caitlin's iPad mini so there was dancing happening as well.
 |
| The view as we left Berowra Creek and headed up the Hawkesbury River |
We made good time up the creek and went the long way around an island rather than the shortcut we'd taken last time, then under the bridges again and around to near Hawkesbury River marina where there were more public moorings. We moored here and I started to pack - there were so many other boats going past, on a hot Sunday morning, that the boat was constantly rocking in the wake, and with my head down packing bags I was feeling more and more nauseous and kept wandering outside to breathe. We decided to move somewhere quieter and just float around rather than mooring, so we went around the far side of Dangar Island and looked at a little waterfall there, then after a while headed back under the railway bridge and just cruised up and down in the large area of the river between the bridges. Eventually we were packed, Tony made lunch and cleaned up the kitchen, then we were ready to head back in to the marina so called for a boat to come out and pilot us in (around 2pm).
We were taken back in, got our stuff of the boat, left some bags at the desk for Mum and Dad to pick up on their way to Newcastle, and the guy dropped us at the station just in time for the 2.37 train. It was pleasant to be in the air conditioning of the train after the heat of the day. It looked like a storm was coming too, so while it was sad to be off the boat, we were glad not to have to face any bad weather while onboard.
From Central Station we caught the rail-replacement bus out to the airport, where we had plenty of time to check in carefully and slowly (no rush this time), then go and have a leisurely dinner in the food court, and watch the low clouds racing across the airport outside. We had a few hours at the airport and it felt like just the right amount of time - then our plane was delayed as the crew had been delayed on their trip up from Melbourne - the storm had prevented planes from landing for a while - so we left about half an hour late and the kids were really ready to go by then. It was a bit of a bumpy trip, but uneventful. The kids and Tony all watched movies and I did puzzles in my book. We arrived in Melbourne after 10, went and picked up our car, then home at 11.30pm with 3 sleeping kids, moved them and our bags inside, fed the animals, then went to bed ourselves.
Thursday, 27 November 2014
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)
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)
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Houseboat /Wedding Trip Day 1: Home -> Sydney
We were up fairly early to finish getting ready and out of the house before 9am. Running a little later than I would have liked, we then had a slow trip to the airport, and by the time we arrived to drop our car off it was getting pretty tight. I had already checked in (as weird as that seems, checking in before we arrive) and we raced to drop our bags off but everything took longer than expected and bag drop off closed before we had them all in. A Qantas guy came to help us and checked our bags in for us, we got to the gate and they were already boarding - so a crazy rush to get started but we did happily make it on to the plane.
The kids were given little activity packs and there were iPads to watch TV shows on so the kids were quite well occupied, and I took the chance to do some of my own puzzle book. Arriving in Sydney we caught the train to Central Station (I haven't been there for a long time, it was partially very familiar and also different as some things have changed in the intervening years). We had Hungry Jacks for lunch, as everyone was tired and hot and hungry, then caught the Light Rail out to Leichhardt to our friend's P & S where we were staying the first night.
It was a hot walk up from the station to their house, then the kids and I quickly got changed into cooler clothes, had a drink then set off again to catch the bus to my brother's house. Tony went shopping for suitable 'Garden Party' attire for the wedding. The kids tried on their wedding clothes, which all needed slight altering, so C, her sister E, and the kids and I walked up to her tailor. It was the first time I had met E and she was lovely. She has been to Afghanistan so I was looking forward to talking to her about that, which I did, and then the tailor himself was from Kabul so we both chatted to him a bit about life there and here. The kids tried their clothes on again and had them marked for alteration, then back to the flat for a cool drink and a bit of a rest, my brother turned up while we were there.
We caught the bus back to Leichhardt and played in the park for a while, then back to P&S's for Indian takeaway. The kids all played really well (they have a 5yo boy and 3yo girl), playing with a football, on the iPad, making hama bead designs, and watching a Barbie movie. It was great catching up as always.
The kids were given little activity packs and there were iPads to watch TV shows on so the kids were quite well occupied, and I took the chance to do some of my own puzzle book. Arriving in Sydney we caught the train to Central Station (I haven't been there for a long time, it was partially very familiar and also different as some things have changed in the intervening years). We had Hungry Jacks for lunch, as everyone was tired and hot and hungry, then caught the Light Rail out to Leichhardt to our friend's P & S where we were staying the first night.
It was a hot walk up from the station to their house, then the kids and I quickly got changed into cooler clothes, had a drink then set off again to catch the bus to my brother's house. Tony went shopping for suitable 'Garden Party' attire for the wedding. The kids tried on their wedding clothes, which all needed slight altering, so C, her sister E, and the kids and I walked up to her tailor. It was the first time I had met E and she was lovely. She has been to Afghanistan so I was looking forward to talking to her about that, which I did, and then the tailor himself was from Kabul so we both chatted to him a bit about life there and here. The kids tried their clothes on again and had them marked for alteration, then back to the flat for a cool drink and a bit of a rest, my brother turned up while we were there.
We caught the bus back to Leichhardt and played in the park for a while, then back to P&S's for Indian takeaway. The kids all played really well (they have a 5yo boy and 3yo girl), playing with a football, on the iPad, making hama bead designs, and watching a Barbie movie. It was great catching up as always.
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