As we say goodbye to the month of October, we are climbing into the higher temps of late spring and early summer here. We topped 90 for the first time last weekend, which we celebrated by going to the beach for the afternoon. Of course, the water temperatures are still chilly at around 65-68. We enjoyed the afternoon and carved a pumpkin on Sunday in honor of Halloween. Halloween is really not celebrated here. A few people do parties and some areas do trick o treating, but no one that I know was really doing anything to celebrate it. Sam was very excited about carving the pumpkin but was horribly dismayed to hear that we weren't "doing Halloween." Aleeya and her family had us over for a barbeque, but we didn't do anything Halloweenish. Sam this morning was still asking to "do Halloween." I think I will buy some face paint this afternoon and we'll do a little dress up this evening. Nowhere to go and a day late, but it will hopefully help out a bit.
The next big event for us will be Joe's birthday and the lack of Thanksgiving. Joe's birthday actually falls on Thanksgiving this year.
I went to a scrapbooking retreat last weekend. Parts of it were lots of fun and good times, but I didn't like my roommate. Her personality just grated on my nerves. I was also stuck sitting next to her the entire time. I do really well to get along with almost everyone, but I was getting a headache from her. I almost left a day early just to get away from her. (Sorry to complain, but that just happens sometimes!)
In truth, not much is happening here. I just thought I'd write something since it's been awhile.
Cheers!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
A dinner and a lunch
So, on Saturday night, we met Selena, her hubby and their kids for dinner at Solider's Point Bowling Club for dinner. This was my first trip to this bowling club, which is about 10 minutes away by car. The dining room has large glass windows along one side that open into a large fenced area. Inside the fenced area, there is a playground and a grassy area. The bowling club also has a kids' club that is available to members so I joined for $7.
We got there at 6 and let the kids play outside while we chatted and enjoyed some wine. Then we ordered kids' food and let them eat. After eating, we hustled them down to the kids' club where a lady babysits them for members for free. It seemed a little dodgy as it is a room with a tv, some video games, craft supplies and some toys. Selena and I decided to come back and check on the kiddos in about 15-20 minutes. We ordered our food and then right before it showed up, we checked on the kids. They were so busy that they didn't even notice we were there. Okay, no problem, we'll go back to grown up time. We got to eat dinner with NO kids with other grown ups! Yea! That is the one fantastic thing about many Aussie restaurants. If they are family friendly, then they tend to have some sort of play area set aside. This went a step further with the kids' room. We stayed way late and finally collected the kids at 9! Our boys raved about the kids' club and can't wait to go back. Love it! Best $7 I've spent all month!
This morning I had a doctor's appointment. It was a 10:00 am appointment so I had time to walk the boys to school and then walk back home again. I then got in the car and drove to the doctor. The medical centre is right next to the school, but I had some errands so I wanted the car for after the doctor. I didn't get done until after 11. After the doctor, Selena wanted to head to Raymond Terrace to look for some school uniform pants. Mondays are the only days were both she and I have no kids. There is a chain of stores called Best & Less that sells uniform bottoms for much cheaper than the uniform shop. So we went there. It was her first trip to RT and there's not much in it. She got what she wanted and I got what I needed. Of course, then we had the rest of the afternoon. How about lunch? Okay, hmmmm, lets' go to hubby's place. Okay.
You see, Selena's hubby is a chef and is the general manager of a trio of restaurants at a local resort. The resort is a very nice place, very new and feels pretty posh. The resort has one of the largest pools in the country. If you look at their website here, you will see a picture of where we ate. The picture of people eating outside by the giant pool...that's where we sat, right by the pool!
The only time that Selena has eaten there is with the hubby when he wasn't working. He was working today, but wasn't busy at all. We ordered our lunch. I had the chicken, avacado and lettuce wrap and she had the smoked salmon, cream chesse and lettuce wrap. Her hubby also brought out some fries and a seafood sample platter and some wine. I've never been a big seafood eater as we just didn't have it growing up and I haven't been exposed to a lot of different stuff. On the platter was prawns, fish, octopus, smoked salmon, mussels, and oysters. Well, I've had prawns and fish before... I was very proud of myself because I tried everything! I even like most of it. It was all very fresh and nicely cooked, nothing was battered and fried. Oysters were weird and a bit slimey. Mussels were okay, but I really liked the smoked salmon and the octopus. Lunch was so wonderful. The weather was the best, the atmosphere was great and it was just two ladies having a good time. No kids, no worries. And at the end, we only paid for our wraps and that was even at a 20% discount. We won't do it very often as I'm sure her hubby wouldn't like it, but it was good fun. Next Monday, we plan to do some walking somewhere. We just have to figure out where.
We got there at 6 and let the kids play outside while we chatted and enjoyed some wine. Then we ordered kids' food and let them eat. After eating, we hustled them down to the kids' club where a lady babysits them for members for free. It seemed a little dodgy as it is a room with a tv, some video games, craft supplies and some toys. Selena and I decided to come back and check on the kiddos in about 15-20 minutes. We ordered our food and then right before it showed up, we checked on the kids. They were so busy that they didn't even notice we were there. Okay, no problem, we'll go back to grown up time. We got to eat dinner with NO kids with other grown ups! Yea! That is the one fantastic thing about many Aussie restaurants. If they are family friendly, then they tend to have some sort of play area set aside. This went a step further with the kids' room. We stayed way late and finally collected the kids at 9! Our boys raved about the kids' club and can't wait to go back. Love it! Best $7 I've spent all month!
This morning I had a doctor's appointment. It was a 10:00 am appointment so I had time to walk the boys to school and then walk back home again. I then got in the car and drove to the doctor. The medical centre is right next to the school, but I had some errands so I wanted the car for after the doctor. I didn't get done until after 11. After the doctor, Selena wanted to head to Raymond Terrace to look for some school uniform pants. Mondays are the only days were both she and I have no kids. There is a chain of stores called Best & Less that sells uniform bottoms for much cheaper than the uniform shop. So we went there. It was her first trip to RT and there's not much in it. She got what she wanted and I got what I needed. Of course, then we had the rest of the afternoon. How about lunch? Okay, hmmmm, lets' go to hubby's place. Okay.
You see, Selena's hubby is a chef and is the general manager of a trio of restaurants at a local resort. The resort is a very nice place, very new and feels pretty posh. The resort has one of the largest pools in the country. If you look at their website here, you will see a picture of where we ate. The picture of people eating outside by the giant pool...that's where we sat, right by the pool!
The only time that Selena has eaten there is with the hubby when he wasn't working. He was working today, but wasn't busy at all. We ordered our lunch. I had the chicken, avacado and lettuce wrap and she had the smoked salmon, cream chesse and lettuce wrap. Her hubby also brought out some fries and a seafood sample platter and some wine. I've never been a big seafood eater as we just didn't have it growing up and I haven't been exposed to a lot of different stuff. On the platter was prawns, fish, octopus, smoked salmon, mussels, and oysters. Well, I've had prawns and fish before... I was very proud of myself because I tried everything! I even like most of it. It was all very fresh and nicely cooked, nothing was battered and fried. Oysters were weird and a bit slimey. Mussels were okay, but I really liked the smoked salmon and the octopus. Lunch was so wonderful. The weather was the best, the atmosphere was great and it was just two ladies having a good time. No kids, no worries. And at the end, we only paid for our wraps and that was even at a 20% discount. We won't do it very often as I'm sure her hubby wouldn't like it, but it was good fun. Next Monday, we plan to do some walking somewhere. We just have to figure out where.
Little loves
Some little loves that I have right now:
- Sam's new laugh: All kid laughter is great, but Sam has this laugh that only has come about in the last few days. It is almost the manic laugh of a super villain, and it is great. The sound is just awesome.
- Tom's friendship: Tom makes friends very easily and has made a very good friend with a little boy in the special ed class. Tom visits him everyday at lunch time and plays on the playground with him. Tom knows that his friend is in the special class, but doesn't care. When teased by someone, Tom said he's my friend and it doesn't matter. How awesome is that!
- Joe's love of girls: Joe has found himself very interested in girls lately. He says that they look better and smell better than boys. Joe is just a wee bit girl crazy right now. It is so very cute.
- Lemon water: Here in Australia, they sell a product in grocery stores that is basically lemon juice and carbonated water mixed together. No extra sugar, just lemon flavored bubbly goodness. No clue why I like it, but I do!
- Beautiful weather: The weather that we've been having (for the most part) is fantastic. Clear blue skies, warm (but not hot), breezy and wonderful!
- Friends: While I really miss my friends in the States, I am so loving making new friends. This is completely foreign to me as I am not a person who makes friends easily, but I am doing alright.
- Today: I loved today which I will post more about it later.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
My poor car, part 2?
Seriously, I have always considered myself to be a decent driver. Not fast, not flashy, but very safe and reliable. Of course, 30 days after we purchased our car, I had that little accident in the driveway. A claim was filed with our insurance and we paid the excess (deductible for us Americans) and all was fixed and good.
Remember our driveway from this post.
Well, I seem to have had some trouble with it again. I backed down this morning and got too close to the last retaining wall on the left side. By too close, I mean that I felt my wheels hit the top part of it. So, I knew what had happened last time I tried to drive off of the stones. I decided that this time, we'd just park, get out and call for help. I put the handbrake on, but it didn't hold the car on the steep hill and down we went. Thankfully, we were all buckled up and Joe, Tom and I are just fine. My car...well, again...it's not so nice. I don't think that it is as bad as last time, but it will need to be fixed in order to sell the car when we move back to the States.
I think that we won't turn it into the insurance this time. 2 claims in less than 60 days of each other will cause them to drop me. I really don't want to be dropped as it will be hard to get insurance somewhere else, once you've been dropped. I have been asking for years to some diamond earrings to replace the one I'd lost. We now have the money for it, but I will just have to wait some more. I think I will use that money to repair the two doors that I damaged and I won't worry about the hubcap or the bottom of the back bumper.
Not the way I really wanted to start my day.
Remember our driveway from this post.
Well, I seem to have had some trouble with it again. I backed down this morning and got too close to the last retaining wall on the left side. By too close, I mean that I felt my wheels hit the top part of it. So, I knew what had happened last time I tried to drive off of the stones. I decided that this time, we'd just park, get out and call for help. I put the handbrake on, but it didn't hold the car on the steep hill and down we went. Thankfully, we were all buckled up and Joe, Tom and I are just fine. My car...well, again...it's not so nice. I don't think that it is as bad as last time, but it will need to be fixed in order to sell the car when we move back to the States.
I think that we won't turn it into the insurance this time. 2 claims in less than 60 days of each other will cause them to drop me. I really don't want to be dropped as it will be hard to get insurance somewhere else, once you've been dropped. I have been asking for years to some diamond earrings to replace the one I'd lost. We now have the money for it, but I will just have to wait some more. I think I will use that money to repair the two doors that I damaged and I won't worry about the hubcap or the bottom of the back bumper.
Not the way I really wanted to start my day.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
A little greener living
So by living here in OZ, we've managed a greener lifestyle. I thought I'd share some of it with you all.
Our house:
No heating or air conditioning. It's all done with the windows and shades. Being up on the hill, we get plenty of wind and breeze so we just open the windows and it's cooler. Close them, and it's warmer. So far it has worked.
We have solar panels on the roof that run the hot water tank. There are laws in place that are requiring all Aussies to have either solar panels or gas for their hot water heaters by the year 2012. No electric hot water heaters are allowed after that. (the government has lots of programs to help home owners switch over to this). All newer homes (4 years or younger) have the solar panels and the rain tanks as it is required by law.
We hang almost all of our clothes out to dry. With lower humidity than Maryland and lots of sun and breeze, they actually dry quickly and really well.
We have two giant rain water tanks outside and toilets and outdoor faucets run off the rainwater. Once the tanks are dry, then we'd run off city water for everything. The cold water on the washing machine also runs off the rain tanks. Awesome! There is another law that requires all homes to use rainwater for outdoor watering at a minimum. It's harder to convert an older home to a rain water system since there is a lot of separate plumbing involved. All public toilets at parks, playgrounds, etc are required to run from a rain water system.
Our bills:
Here in OZ, we get billed quarterly rather than monthly. This means less paper being mailed, less fuel used by people to read the meters and less fuel used by postal carriers to deliver bills. Also, post only comes Monday through Friday and comes by motor bike. If you have a package that's too big for the motorbike, then you have to go to post office to pick it up.
Shopping:
While reusable bags are being used in the States, they are much more in use here. Most stores will not give you a plastic bag unless you have over 5 small items. Large items are never bagged and many many stores charge for any plastic bags. Every parking lot of every shopping place has a "don't forget your bags" sign in it. If you forget your bags, you get these looks from cashiers as if you have committed a great sin. No one wants that shame! I think every lady I know carries some kind of reusable bag in her purse to pull out if the shopping mood strikes. Love it!
Also, packaging- all Aussie stuff is packaged in stuff that makes less waste. Spices and baking products are all packed in baggies. You buy plastic containers for pantry and fridge and just refill them. Products that are made in Australia are much less expensive than those made anywhere else. Fruits and veggies at the store are about 99% Australian grown. Garlic is from Mexico for some reason though.
All foods here also have less preservatives. Better for us, but things do go bad faster so we have to watch how much we buy. The first couple of weeks here had a fair bit of wasted food that we let go bad. We adjusted and I know how much to buy at a time so we waste less.
Lots of people compost here, but we haven't yet. Our house backs to bush land so we have to be a little careful. If we start throwing out fruit and veg scrap, we'll attract mice and flies into the yard. With the mice comes snakes. With the flies come more spiders. We don't really want the snakes and spiders so we've decided not to compost so far.
The recylcing program here is good, but not as good as Anne Arundel County though. We have to wash our containers and they don't recycle pizza boxes for some reason.
We can also walk to the shops and to school. To be honest, we don't walk to the shops much because I have no way of getting everything back home again. We do walk down to the shops for dinner when we go out though. We went out last night and walked the 30 minutes to dinner, ate, drank and were merry...then walked 30 minutes home and put little ones to bed. I do walk to school a few times each week pick the boys up from school. It really irritated me that we weren't allowed to walk in Pasadena as we were across the street. So instead we walk the 2 km one way to school. Going there is easier as it is down hill, coming home is all uphill.
Electricity is much more expensive here, but it is split up by the hours it is used. Peak hours are the most expensive, between 2pm and 8pm on weekdays. Electricity cost $.35 per kw/h during peak hours. Shoulder hours are 7am-2pm and 8pm-11pm weekdays and 7am-11pm weekends. Rates then are $.21 per kw/h. Off peak is all the rest and is about $.15 per kw/h. In the States we paid about $.115 all the time. By knowing it is more expensive during peak hours, we delay our dish washer and dryer, etc until shoulder or off peak hours. It is better that way for the environment as well.
Our house:
No heating or air conditioning. It's all done with the windows and shades. Being up on the hill, we get plenty of wind and breeze so we just open the windows and it's cooler. Close them, and it's warmer. So far it has worked.
We have solar panels on the roof that run the hot water tank. There are laws in place that are requiring all Aussies to have either solar panels or gas for their hot water heaters by the year 2012. No electric hot water heaters are allowed after that. (the government has lots of programs to help home owners switch over to this). All newer homes (4 years or younger) have the solar panels and the rain tanks as it is required by law.
We hang almost all of our clothes out to dry. With lower humidity than Maryland and lots of sun and breeze, they actually dry quickly and really well.
We have two giant rain water tanks outside and toilets and outdoor faucets run off the rainwater. Once the tanks are dry, then we'd run off city water for everything. The cold water on the washing machine also runs off the rain tanks. Awesome! There is another law that requires all homes to use rainwater for outdoor watering at a minimum. It's harder to convert an older home to a rain water system since there is a lot of separate plumbing involved. All public toilets at parks, playgrounds, etc are required to run from a rain water system.
Our bills:
Here in OZ, we get billed quarterly rather than monthly. This means less paper being mailed, less fuel used by people to read the meters and less fuel used by postal carriers to deliver bills. Also, post only comes Monday through Friday and comes by motor bike. If you have a package that's too big for the motorbike, then you have to go to post office to pick it up.
Shopping:
While reusable bags are being used in the States, they are much more in use here. Most stores will not give you a plastic bag unless you have over 5 small items. Large items are never bagged and many many stores charge for any plastic bags. Every parking lot of every shopping place has a "don't forget your bags" sign in it. If you forget your bags, you get these looks from cashiers as if you have committed a great sin. No one wants that shame! I think every lady I know carries some kind of reusable bag in her purse to pull out if the shopping mood strikes. Love it!
Also, packaging- all Aussie stuff is packaged in stuff that makes less waste. Spices and baking products are all packed in baggies. You buy plastic containers for pantry and fridge and just refill them. Products that are made in Australia are much less expensive than those made anywhere else. Fruits and veggies at the store are about 99% Australian grown. Garlic is from Mexico for some reason though.
All foods here also have less preservatives. Better for us, but things do go bad faster so we have to watch how much we buy. The first couple of weeks here had a fair bit of wasted food that we let go bad. We adjusted and I know how much to buy at a time so we waste less.
Lots of people compost here, but we haven't yet. Our house backs to bush land so we have to be a little careful. If we start throwing out fruit and veg scrap, we'll attract mice and flies into the yard. With the mice comes snakes. With the flies come more spiders. We don't really want the snakes and spiders so we've decided not to compost so far.
The recylcing program here is good, but not as good as Anne Arundel County though. We have to wash our containers and they don't recycle pizza boxes for some reason.
We can also walk to the shops and to school. To be honest, we don't walk to the shops much because I have no way of getting everything back home again. We do walk down to the shops for dinner when we go out though. We went out last night and walked the 30 minutes to dinner, ate, drank and were merry...then walked 30 minutes home and put little ones to bed. I do walk to school a few times each week pick the boys up from school. It really irritated me that we weren't allowed to walk in Pasadena as we were across the street. So instead we walk the 2 km one way to school. Going there is easier as it is down hill, coming home is all uphill.
Electricity is much more expensive here, but it is split up by the hours it is used. Peak hours are the most expensive, between 2pm and 8pm on weekdays. Electricity cost $.35 per kw/h during peak hours. Shoulder hours are 7am-2pm and 8pm-11pm weekdays and 7am-11pm weekends. Rates then are $.21 per kw/h. Off peak is all the rest and is about $.15 per kw/h. In the States we paid about $.115 all the time. By knowing it is more expensive during peak hours, we delay our dish washer and dryer, etc until shoulder or off peak hours. It is better that way for the environment as well.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Back in the saddle again
So today was the first day back to school for the big boys. Both Joe and Tom seemed really excited to be heading back to school. I know I was pretty excited too! I celebrated by getting a new hair cut. This is the first cut I've had since I've moved and it was long overdue.
It feels so much lighter now that all the extra hair is gone. Today was just sorta a standard, get errands done sorta day.
In other news:
Tom has lost his first tooth!
He was a tiny bit freaked out about it. The tooth fairy gave him 50 cents. He was very excited about getting money for a tooth. The tooth next to it is losse as well, but I think it will be a while before that comes out.
We spent some time at a local beach on last Friday. We got to see both dolphins and whales! How incredibly cool is that!
I went to my very first Tupperware party on Saturday morning. Somehow I managed, at age 31, to be the oldest person there. Not very typical for me to be the oldest in the room. I didn't buy much as I felt like all of it could be bought somewhere else for a whole lot cheaper! I did get a couple of things though. Hopefully, they'll be worth the money spent.
Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Jay is going to a poker game on Friday and will be staying over. Drink Driving is very enforced here so poker games are overnight activities. I am going to a scrapbooking retreat in two weeks, all by myself. I am both excited and nervous.
Talking about being nervous, I noticed that when I am nervous lately, I have developed a nervous laugh. Maybe I have always had it and am just now noticing it. I tend to get nervous around people that I don't know at all. I went to the movies yesterday with Aleeya and a large group of ladies from her church. I felt like kicking myself because I can hear me doing my little nervous laugh, but can't seem to stop doing it. We went and saw Eat, Pray, Love. I feel like I need to read the book just so I can understand all the stuff I missed in the movie. Of course, everyone that I know that has read the book didn't really like it.
In other news:
Tom has lost his first tooth!
We spent some time at a local beach on last Friday. We got to see both dolphins and whales! How incredibly cool is that!
I went to my very first Tupperware party on Saturday morning. Somehow I managed, at age 31, to be the oldest person there. Not very typical for me to be the oldest in the room. I didn't buy much as I felt like all of it could be bought somewhere else for a whole lot cheaper! I did get a couple of things though. Hopefully, they'll be worth the money spent.
Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Jay is going to a poker game on Friday and will be staying over. Drink Driving is very enforced here so poker games are overnight activities. I am going to a scrapbooking retreat in two weeks, all by myself. I am both excited and nervous.
Talking about being nervous, I noticed that when I am nervous lately, I have developed a nervous laugh. Maybe I have always had it and am just now noticing it. I tend to get nervous around people that I don't know at all. I went to the movies yesterday with Aleeya and a large group of ladies from her church. I felt like kicking myself because I can hear me doing my little nervous laugh, but can't seem to stop doing it. We went and saw Eat, Pray, Love. I feel like I need to read the book just so I can understand all the stuff I missed in the movie. Of course, everyone that I know that has read the book didn't really like it.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Dorrigo National Park, the Big Banana and home again
So on Monday, we ventured out to Dorrigo National Park. The rain was still pounding us so we prepared by packing along extra clothes, extra shoes, beach towels, and rain gear. We had planned to spend two days at the park, doing one long hike/walk each day. For Monday, we decided to take the 5.8 km walk that orginates from the visitor centre and goes down to Crystal Shower Falls and Tristania Falls. We got to the visitor centre and piled on our rain gear. First up, the Skywalk. On clear days, you are up at the same level as the tops of the trees and you can see way out over the whole park. Pictures online are really cool. Monday was rainy and so much fog and mist that you couldn't see much at all.
Tom and Sam were actually excited about taking a long walk in the rain. Joe, on the other hand, had no interest in it. He had been begging to go to the park since the day we drove into Coffs Harbour. He just didn't want to do it in the rain. Sorry, bud, nothing we can do about the weather.
Joe complained and was miserable during the entire walk. The rest of us were fine for the most part. We were doing fine until after we got to the waterfalls.
Crystal Falls:
The boys thought it was cool that we got to hike down behind it as well as see it from the bridge. We told the boys over and over that if it hadn't been raining so hard, the falls wouldn't have looked as cool.
Tristania Falls:
This picture makes the falls look kinda small, but it was huge! There was so much water going over it. We stood on the bridge in front of it and Jay proclaimed "Holy Moley, that's alotta water." After we left the falls, Sam said "holy moley, that's alotta water" over and over to himself for the next 15 minutes or so. It was so cute.
Here's the guys standing on the bridge in front of the falls.
The water goes down under the bridge and the over another falls on the left side of the picture. Totally incredible and amazing!
After we left the falls, the boys were starting to tire. Even Jay and I were starting to tire. We were all wet and a little cold and had a 2 km walk back to the car still. Of course, there were also the leaches. Tom thought the walk was fun until we had to take a couple of leaches off his legs. Leaches are harmless, but they do drink your blood. They don't carry any diseases like ticks do, but Tom was freaked out by them. When they first climb up on you, they are tiny skinny little things. If they attach on and drink for a bit, they start to swell up like a water balloon. The ones that you see in movies are after they've been fed. Once we got done with the walk and in to the bathrooms to change, we had to deleach as well. Tom had gotten all of his off while still on the walk, Jay had one on his leg and one of his face (which I'd seen at the end of the walk and removed for him), Joe had seen them all before they got off his shoes and Sam and I... We weren't so good at not getting leaches. Sam had two on his legs, one under his arm and one on his belly. They'd all been on there a bit and were pretty big. Eww. I had three on my ankles that weren't big, one on my knee that was, and one on my stomach that was huge. Ewww. Leaches have both a pain killer and a anti-clotting agent in their saliva. Sam bleed a bit (about 10 minutes) and the clotted. The ones on my ankles were about 10 minutes, but the one of my knee was about 90 minutes (got blood all over my pants) and the one on my stomach was still bleeding 4 hours after I removed it. At this point we were back at the cabin and I put a bandaid on it.
We did a quick dinner that night and went to bed without to much fuss. We were all tired from that day.
We had to be out of the cabin early the next morning as check out was 9 am.
We drove over to the Big Banana. The Big Banana totes itself as one of Australia's most famous icons. Hmmm. Never heard of it until we went to Coffs Harbour so it must not be that famous. There is a banana plantation, a walk upto the top of a large hill for viewing Coffs Harbour, an Ice rink, a waterpark, and slide ride all at the Big Banana. However, it was closed at 9 in the morning and not opening until 10:30. We didn't want to wait around. So we took a few pictures and left.
We decided to give the kids a bit of fun and headed to an indoor family fun center. It opended at 9:30 and we were the first ones there. It had a big climbing structure, a ball pit, indoor mini golf and a nerf ball blasting zone. It was good fun, though Jay was tired and wanted to leave shortly after getting there.
I think the kids were just happy to be doing something out of the rain for once.
We stayed until about 11 and then headed out of town. The weather was clearing so we had a picnic lunch on the banks of a swollen river. We couldn't go back to Dorrigo National Park as the road was underwater. My car is not set up for going through water. (They don't close roads when there's water over them. They just put up markers to show how deep it is. If you get stuck, it's your fault.)
We'd love to go back to that area at some point. However, we have so much on our list, it's down at the bottom.
We spent a lazy day at home on Wednesday. On Thursday, while Sam was back at his school, I took the big boys on an educational hike through the National Parks system. The hike was called "Whose Poo is it? The goal of the hike was to show everyone animal tracks and poo and identify them. I found the first animal track. A single paw print in some sand on the side of the trail. Ranger Justin was stumped. He didn't know what it was. We didn't see much poo, just some rabbit and some dog. But we did see some tracks: dog, rabbit, wallaby, mystery track, and crow. It was an enjoyable two hours. And the boys had fun. (Oh, Selena and her two girls were with us, btw.) After the walk, all of us met up with Aleeya (who didn't have her oldest with her) and ate lunch at Fingal Bay Beach Park. After lunch, we all walked down to the beach for some sand and water play. We left there at about 3:15 because some of the kids were cold and all headed back to Aleeya's house for ice cream and coffee. It was a really fun day!
Crystal Falls:
Tristania Falls:
Here's the guys standing on the bridge in front of the falls.
After we left the falls, the boys were starting to tire. Even Jay and I were starting to tire. We were all wet and a little cold and had a 2 km walk back to the car still. Of course, there were also the leaches. Tom thought the walk was fun until we had to take a couple of leaches off his legs. Leaches are harmless, but they do drink your blood. They don't carry any diseases like ticks do, but Tom was freaked out by them. When they first climb up on you, they are tiny skinny little things. If they attach on and drink for a bit, they start to swell up like a water balloon. The ones that you see in movies are after they've been fed. Once we got done with the walk and in to the bathrooms to change, we had to deleach as well. Tom had gotten all of his off while still on the walk, Jay had one on his leg and one of his face (which I'd seen at the end of the walk and removed for him), Joe had seen them all before they got off his shoes and Sam and I... We weren't so good at not getting leaches. Sam had two on his legs, one under his arm and one on his belly. They'd all been on there a bit and were pretty big. Eww. I had three on my ankles that weren't big, one on my knee that was, and one on my stomach that was huge. Ewww. Leaches have both a pain killer and a anti-clotting agent in their saliva. Sam bleed a bit (about 10 minutes) and the clotted. The ones on my ankles were about 10 minutes, but the one of my knee was about 90 minutes (got blood all over my pants) and the one on my stomach was still bleeding 4 hours after I removed it. At this point we were back at the cabin and I put a bandaid on it.
We did a quick dinner that night and went to bed without to much fuss. We were all tired from that day.
We had to be out of the cabin early the next morning as check out was 9 am.
We drove over to the Big Banana. The Big Banana totes itself as one of Australia's most famous icons. Hmmm. Never heard of it until we went to Coffs Harbour so it must not be that famous. There is a banana plantation, a walk upto the top of a large hill for viewing Coffs Harbour, an Ice rink, a waterpark, and slide ride all at the Big Banana. However, it was closed at 9 in the morning and not opening until 10:30. We didn't want to wait around. So we took a few pictures and left.
We stayed until about 11 and then headed out of town. The weather was clearing so we had a picnic lunch on the banks of a swollen river. We couldn't go back to Dorrigo National Park as the road was underwater. My car is not set up for going through water. (They don't close roads when there's water over them. They just put up markers to show how deep it is. If you get stuck, it's your fault.)
We'd love to go back to that area at some point. However, we have so much on our list, it's down at the bottom.
We spent a lazy day at home on Wednesday. On Thursday, while Sam was back at his school, I took the big boys on an educational hike through the National Parks system. The hike was called "Whose Poo is it? The goal of the hike was to show everyone animal tracks and poo and identify them. I found the first animal track. A single paw print in some sand on the side of the trail. Ranger Justin was stumped. He didn't know what it was. We didn't see much poo, just some rabbit and some dog. But we did see some tracks: dog, rabbit, wallaby, mystery track, and crow. It was an enjoyable two hours. And the boys had fun. (Oh, Selena and her two girls were with us, btw.) After the walk, all of us met up with Aleeya (who didn't have her oldest with her) and ate lunch at Fingal Bay Beach Park. After lunch, we all walked down to the beach for some sand and water play. We left there at about 3:15 because some of the kids were cold and all headed back to Aleeya's house for ice cream and coffee. It was a really fun day!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Off to a rainy start
So, after much planning on Friday, we decided to go to Coffs Harbour, about 5 hours north of our house. This turns out to be the first vacation that we have taken as a family that didn't involve visiting family. We managed to get a little holiday cabin rented. There are two bedrooms, a living room, a small kitchen, a bathroom and fold out bed. There's a pool across the parking lot and a beach about an 8 minute walk. We mostly came up here for the Dorrigo National Park that I talked about in the last post. Big problem though, it's pouring. It is raining hard, non-stop pouring down rain. We came prepared for some rain, but it looks as if it might rain the entire time we are here. We'll make the best of it though.
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