Day 30 -34 Canberra

Days 30-34 Canberra

We stayed at the Epic Caravan Park which is also the local trots field. It was a highlight for Emma being able to watch the trots from the caravan.

Simpson and his donkey

Fighter pilot clothing

Fighter pilot clothing

We visited the Police Memorial and Jade noted too many people he knew and then off to the War Memorial. Even though it has list of names on the walls. Underneath is a never ending tunnel of displays and interactive sections. The place was huge! We spent quite a few hours there. It was really impressive and a must see for anyone going to Canberra. There are iron crafted dioramas of battlefields, huge planes, movies, clothing the girls could try on to feel what it was like to be a pilot in the second war. Each war had its own section. The artefacts were endless from each war and soldiers, right up until present day. We still didn't see it all.

How can you go to Canberra and not visit Parliament House. The girls got bored very quickly although it is very interesting to see where all the decisions are made about legislation..... oh wait now I see why they were bored. So we went to the top and had a look over Canberra. It was a lovely view. We also visited the Mint and the girls got to make their own coin and watch how money is made. They have viewing windows all around the factory!

So excited about Parliament

A bit windy!

We finally found the winding road that took us to the telstra tower. It was a very windy night and even windier at the top. Emma found this out when she could only walk in one direction (away from the wind) really fast and all her hair stood on end. You can see all of Canberra and it was magical at night.






Getting a feel for future occupation

Next stop was the Deep Space Station. We were hoping to hear the whispers from space, but we weren't allowed in that section :-(. We learnt all about space travel and saw a rock from the moon, we learned how planets were formed and how endless the universe is.

So,I always thought Canberra had a coast, ha, no wonder I didn't do well in Geography. Even I have learnt something on this trip!





Next stop is Sydney!

Day 25-30 Mansfield, Mt Buller, Bonnie Doon, Glenrowan and Wodonga (17-22 September 2012)

Day 25-30 Mansfield, Mt Buller, Bonnie Doon, Glenrowan and Wodonga (17-22 September 2012)

We stayed at the Mansfield Holiday Park and loved the serene farm surrounding. There were huge draught horses, cows, sheep, swans (who even had 1 egg hatch before we left), rabbits and water hens.

The SNOW!!! We went to Mt Buller on our first full day and went tobogganing. Such a great time was had that Jade and the girls decided to try snowboarding the next day. So the next day it was back up the winding road to the top of the hill. A 2 hour lesson and they were off. The girls seemed to be naturals at it, with Lily showing us how it was done with ease. Emma picked it up quick and wanted to tackle the big slopes. Chloe managed to learn how to do it backwards (she thought it was easier!). Jade managed to snow board down the hill without too much effort as well. I played it safe and watched and carried, better to have one of us unbroken to drive to the hospital!

On our moving on day, we visited Bonnie Doon, made famous by the Australian movie The Castle. We took a photo of the actual house used and agreed with Darryl Kerrigan– “Hows the serenity? So much serenity”. LOL!

Next stop was Glenrowan, famous for Ned Kelly’s last stand against the police. The town has definitely monopolised on it, everything is named after the Kelly family. We saw the authentically copied house of Kate Kelly who was Ned’s sister, a gun carried by Ned (we also saw some firearms at the Library from the actual stand off), the site where it happened (where the Inn used to be, before being burnt down by the police to draw out the remaining gang members) and the still standing train station where the Police Special came in. It all happened at close range.

Off to Wodonga, right on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. First thing, Jade jump on his bike and rode to NSW. Too easy! Of course mountain biking in the bush would mean you don’t see a lot of people, but two men came over a hill in the middle of nowhere and asked Jade if he had a phone as there was a car on fire, hmm I wonder who lit it!???!!. Of course he said no and called the police and firefighters straight after (when they disappeared, no need to get mugged in the bush) to report it! He attracts this stuff!!! 
In Wodonga/Albury we checked out the Doll Museum, Beechworth Honey, massive playgrounds, the weir and travelled across the border a few times.

Next off to Canberra!



 

Day 17-25 Melbourne

Day 17-25 Melbourne

Wow! What can’t I say about Melbourne, we squeezed so much into a week and still didn’t see everything we wanted to.

We stayed at Dandenong Caravan Park which was 30minutes out of Melbourne. So we chalked up some Toll fees. It was nothing flash but enough to just base ourselves as we spent a lot of time travelling, visiting and sight seeing. Our first visit was to a DFO and went shopping. The girls enjoyed it and started to get into looking for bargains and things they would love to have. But after a few hours they ran out of steam. I think I could have kept going for a few more! Jade was over it before we started, but ended up finding some shoes to add to his already large (excuse the pun) collection.

Next we visited Jade’s sister Lilly, her boyfriend Clinton and friend Lakita. It was so good to see them and the girls were wrapped they finally got to catch up with their Aunty.



The huge whale skeleton at the entrance to the Museum

The next day we went to the Museum. It was impressive, Perth Museum has nothing on Melbourne, so many displays and interactive stations, Emma had to stop and look and read everything! Chloe loved the rocks and crystals and learning about how they were formed. Once Emma saw Pharlap (yes the actual taxidermy one) she was in love. Lily was thoroughly impressed by the huge whale skeleton in the entrance. We then had lunch and walked down Bourke Street Mall. We also had our first Melbourne tram ride on the free city circle.



The girls in front of 'The Block' 2012 

The next day we caught up with my sister Kealy, first stop was 'The Block' 2012, we have watched it every year and here was our chance to see it. We went to lunch in St Kilda and discovered the hidden St Kilda Adventure Playground. It was amazing and huge! The playground was started more than 30 years ago in the vacant lot with refuse and items from home. Over time the Council adopted it and helped fund bigger and better improvements but always with the help from local children. The playground is an ever changing space with kids given free will to create and imagine, including craft activities and school holiday programs, a must see for anyone in the area.  We then went to find the penguins that come into the groyne to nest for the night along with the water rats. Both are protected species. It’s been too long between catch ups with my sister so this was a great day!


Friday! The girls spent the afternoon with Aunty Lilly and Clinton at the Melbourne Zoo. They had a great time. The favourites were the seals, emus, peacock, bears, lions and tigers. Jade and I spent the afternoon exploring Melbourne city and doing a bit of shopping.



Ned Kelly's actual armour at National Library

Saturday! Food shopping in the morning in Dandenong - Jade was shoved and elbowed by older Italian women vying for the best fruit and veg at the market. We visited the Victoria State Library so we could see first hand the Ned Kelly armour and read and see all the interesting facts about what happened to him. (We visit Glenrowan where it all happened too but that's another story for next week!) Then off to Aunty Lilly’s again for babysitting and we were off to dinner and the football (West Coast Eagles vs Collingwood Magpies – Semi Final). It took a bit to find a bar along the way that didn’t serve exotic tapas such as lamb brains, jellyfish and other unusual dishes. We finally find one that served Turkish bread with dip and salt and pepper squid. We found most places in Melbourne serve alcohol including bars, pubs, cafés and IGA’s. You couldn’t take more than a couple of steps before you came to another café or bar, they were everywhere! Next off to the footy, my second AFL footy game ever! I consider myself quite sport illiterate but even I thought it was a great game and that it was a shame West Coast lost. We had seats behind the goal posts and the man next was an avid Eagles fan because he made sure I was leaving with only 50% of my hearing every time the players didn’t follow his very loud instructions. He was nearly in a fetal position by the end of it, it affected him so much!

Footy game and my bad photo of Eagles warming up

Sunday was a rest day to relax and play. Monday is moving on day. We are off to Mansfield (Man from Snowy River country) and the snow!

Days 14-17



Days 14 -17 – Port Fairy



Koala!

Emma getting a close up look

Whale watching and very cold

We have thoroughly enjoyed out stay in this coastal town. It is picturesque where ever you go. I was previously known as Belfast and it gives the impression that the real Belfast would look very similar. The town is surrounded by farms and stone fences and small Irish pubs in surrounding towns. You can easily see whales frolicking and playing close to shore along the coastal. The Big 4 caravan park has been very rewarding. The girls had a couple of visits to the heated pool and played table tennis for ages. The staff have been extremely kind and generous with us, given free DVD’s to watch and free activities to keep the girls entertained when it rained and they even cooked everyone at the park free pancakes for breakfast on Sunday! Port Fairy is 30 minutes from Warnambool which we also visited. The weather was the worst on that day and really made it hard to go anywhere. But we still got to see it and watch the wild ocean. On the way there we stopped at Tower Hill and climbed to the top, a very steep walk, on the way we saw a lot of wallabies. We then stopped at the Worn Gundidj Visitor Centre, which had koalas walking around and climbing eucalypts, rabbits and many emus which were a highlight for Emma, our resident animal lover. In between it all the girls have enjoyed milkshakes and lollies and hot chocolates, all the good things small towns have to offer. We even attended the local Saturday market here which had the best macaroons and other treats and trinkets. Yum!

 

Loch Ard Gorge

Next we were off to Apollo Bay. We started along the Great Ocean Road and got about half way before deciding to go straight to Dandenong as our caravan suffered a blown tyre which we changed for the spare which was bald so we didn’t want to risk any further journey away from repair places. We stopped in Colac which was a lot larger than what I thought and had 1 tyre replaced. We have now arrived in Dandenong and will be staying for a week and enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Melbourne and its surrounds.

Days 13-14 Mt Gambier

Days 13-14 - Mt Gambier



The Jumping Pillow!

The Blue Lake

What a beautiful place! We stayed at a caravan park right across from The Blue Lake. Unfortunately the stormed had kicked in the day before and continued the whole time we were at Mt Gambier, very blowy and wet. The Blue Lake was once an active volcano thousands of years ago. You can see the whole circumference from the lookout and the water is an amazing blue!



Wombat/Koala bigger than Jade

Cave exploration

We visited the Naracoorte caves (about 1hr from Mt Gambier) and had a personal tour (we were the only ones there because of the weather) of the Alexandra cave and learnt how the caves, stalactites and stalagmites were formed. The girls seemed to know a lot about them already. We visited their active (robotic) display which showed the animals that were found in the caves. They had excavated the bones and recreated how the animal looked when alive. One animal which looked like a wombat crossed with a koala and was taller than Jade.

The really bad weather kept us in the caravan for the rest of the time and when at its windiest felt like it was going to blow away at night.

Days 7-9 and Days 9-13

Days 7-9



Port Pirie



We arrived at Port Pirie. I didn’t like it, but the girls loved the playground! We tried fishing but didn’t get any nibbles or fish. Jade tried to go for a mountain bike ride (a 125km round trip to get there) and then have his chain snap 2 pedal strokes into it. He tells me he had a big tantrum and threw stuff around, then got over it and came home defeated. His back is finally on the road to recovery and now he is trying to get rid of the headaches and migraines that came with it. Two nights were spent here and I wished them over quickly.

Days 9-13

The first day at the beach

Then we were on our way to Adelaide. I precariously drove the caravan through peak hour through Adelaide’s skinny streets. Phew! We made it to Brighton Caravan Park (17km out of the City) and stayed 3 nights, right on the beach. The weather was so glorious on Sunday the kids donned their bathers and jumped into the ocean. They played in the ocean and the playground till dinner time (every afternoon), glad to be out of the car. The next day we went to Haigh’s chocolate factory near the City. The yummy smell of chocolate was distracting, you couldn’t stand there and not have some. We did the tour and were able to try some of their yummy treats.

 



Tram ride



The next day we went into the City via the tram from Glenelg which was just up the road from Brighton and spent time sorting medical bills from Emma’s surgery the day before we left and Jade’s op a few weeks before. Then we shopped in Rundle Mall, the Adelaide Central markets and The Myer Centre. The girls were very satisfied with their purchases and couldn’t wait to get back to play with them and of course jump back in the ocean!





POST IT NOTE art in a cafe in Adelaide



Our last night was wild and woolly! The storm came on quickly and the wind tried to blow the caravan over. We have been using the rubber jigsaw mats outside the door of the caravan to step on and wipe feet but they were missing when I got up. The rain didn’t let up all night and by the morning, we decided to pack quickly, our tent neighbours advised they had “checked the radar” and it was going to get worse. Jade did all the outside packing in the rain and I did the inside. Done within an hour! The best time yet! Only to have the sun shining about 30 minutes later!!!! Back to the jigsaw mats, when I did get up I looked outside to discover 2 of the mats over near the rocks just before the beach. Three more were scattered on the grass area and 1 missing and just before we left I decided to do one last check on the rocks at the waters edge, because there was no beach anymore thanks to the stormy weather. To my surprise the last mat had been blown out and back in further down the beach. Phew, all mats safely back and we are now on our way to Mt Gambier before heading to Warnambool and then Melbourne.





Not your average flutist. Busker in Adelaide

We really enjoyed our stay in Adelaide and surrounds, the caravan park was great, a little more expensive than others, but worth it, one downside was the toilet block close to us was closed “for winter maintenance”. I pointed out it was no longer winter and could they be opened but advised they were supposed to have been inspected while the owners were away but no one had bothered to organise it. So we walked to the other side of the park, we all got a workout!