Travelling with Cassie - Melbourne 2008

Well, a few weeks ago, I was inspired by Lisa, a friend from Mothers Group and also by the fact that we hadn't been away since July 2007, to arrange a spur-of-the-moment road trip to Melbourne. The lovely Sarah offered us a place to stay and once I had gotten over my initial freak-out at the thought of everything I had to pack, Ryan and I decided to brave it and do our first Holiday as Parents.

The packing, and the thinking about packing which was actually more arduous, was finally over by Thursday at 4pm and we headed off to pick up Cassie from childcare so we could hit the road. We'd had a slight change of plans that day as Sarah had come down with a fairly unpleasant illness so we were now staying with Catherine instead in a last minute switch.

Taking an hour or so to get through peak-hour traffic (yeah it was Adelaide, we have peak hour, dammit, especially on Glen Osmond Road!), we hit the freeway, with Cassie asleep in the backseat. All was pretty peaceful til Bordertown so that's where we stayed for the first night away. Cassie did really well in her portacot and we all woke refreshed the next day at 7am, ready for breakfast at the Bordertown Bakery (so good - definitely worth a stop every trip!) and a walking tour of historic buildings in town. The highlight was ex-PM Bob Hawke's childhood home which is now a Centrelink office (see photo below) and the old Takeaway (now closed) which is Bordertown's oldest building.

Driving across the country with a baby is pretty alright, for the most part. IF THE BABY IS RESTED. The rest of Friday was fairly uneventful until we stopped in Bacchus Marsh, just outside Melbourne, for a wander around Aldi (had to get those nappies that everyone keeps raving about!!) and then Cassie decided she was done. Upon strapping her in, she threw a fit and we screamed our way into Melbourne.

Saturday dawned with a early wakeup from Cassie for the household. Thankfully, Catherine has an excellent coffee machine. We went round to visit poor ol' Sarah who was much better but still probably a bit germy :) so she couldn't have a cuddle and then went on to Pam's, who was hosting a BBQ so we could catch up with people en masse. It was great to see Bram and Elizabeth's gorgeous girl, Amelia after all this time, and also to meet Harriet Scott who was born a week previously! It was also absolutely wonderful to see a lot of our Melbourne friends who we miss seeing regularly. Sadly, I didn't take the camera inside :)

After the BBQ would down, we headed to Julia and Rob's - who also have had a daughter since we saw them last!! It seems like a bit of a trend among our friends ;) We had a delicious dinner, thanks to Julia, and Cassie also got a ton of hand-me-downs from their girls (which kept her entertained for most of the trip home, so thanks guys!!)

On Sunday, we had the only social event that I organised in advance - a meet up with the girls from AYW. Breaking the trend, Michie had given birth to a BOY recently and Julia is working on a boy too! It was great to meet Michie after years of chatting on line and to see Julia and Ronan again. Ryan suffered through our talk with remarkable patience, helped by the pancakes, bacon and eggs on offer. Ryan and I spent an hour or so wandering around Chadstone after saying goodbye to the girls - we only meant to have a QUICK look around but the place is a rabbit warren with NOT ENOUGH LIFTS, We're still a bit scarred from the experience and won't be heading back to the "Fashion Capital" in a hurry.

We decided to make the most of our weekend pass on the CityLink and crossed the city again to Williamstown to visit our old haunts and have some gelati in the sun. We pulled out the picnic blanket and played on the grass for a bit with Cassie which she loved. I think it was the only time for the whole trip where we actually had perfect weather. Sadly, my favourite store down that way doesn't open on Sundays so I had to make do with just looking wistfully in the window :)

When we got back to Catherine's, it was time to head off again to dinner on Sydney Road with our host and our would-be host :) Yummmy Thai food!

On Monday morning, we had our first sign of things to come - Cassie is teething and had a restless night, followed by an even more restless morning. We ended up having to cancel our morning plans and were terribly late to meet the gracious Sarah Willy for a late lunch on Brunswick Street. Sadly, I didn't take the camera AGAIN! On our way out of the city, I caught up with another AYW friend, Meagan, and met her gorgeous children as well. Finally leaving Melbourne at about 6.30pm, we drove to Geelong and had a great meal out at a lovely pub near the water.

The next morning dawned pretty cold and blowy so we drove the Esplanade but that was about all we could see of Geelong's main tourist attraction. It looked very pretty despite the weather so we hope to go back sometime in the future. We did wander around the shopping precints which was fun - we found a great candy store that not only sold Dutch liquorice and American chocolate but also sold Jolly Ranchers!! We jumped in the car and drove to Warrnabool where we still didn't spot any whales off the coast :( but did have a nice lunch despite a very grumpy baby. Getting back in the car, Cassie alternated between sleeping and whinging but did pretty well until we checked into our hotel in Mt Gambier where she threw a fit and basically condemned us to a dinner of cookies and drinks from the vending machine so she could sleep.

Today was the last day of our trip and we set off fairly early from Mt Gambier because it was raining again, driving pretty much non-stop to Padthaway. We stopped for a drink there and found a bit of sun and a fun playground where Cassie had her first slide and a swing. The rest of the trip passed quickly and now we're home with a tired little girl who is very glad to be in her cot again. We're not too sorry that the trip is over either, and are glad that there are four more days before term 4 starts so we can recover from our holiday!

The North Lands!

We've been back almost a week from our trip up north to S.E. Queensland so I thought I should get around to this. Ryan (as will come as a surprise to none who know him well) is having an afternoon nanna nap so I have free access to the computer and a little bit of enthusiasm to get it done! It's been a long first-four-days-of-second-semester though so I am not promising to be coherent.

We set off obscenely early on the 11th of July, arriving in Brisbane at around 10am. Of course, after staying up far too late the night before and packing once again at about midnight, all we wanted to do was nap! We checked into our hotel and proceeded to do just that, getting up around 3pm, watching some cable (we miss cable :) ) and then went out to explore a little before meeting some friends for dinner. It was great to meet these girls that I had met online, planning our wedding more than three years ago. Ryan was happy to know that they weren't very committed axe murderers, posing as newly-marrieds. We ended up walking across to the South Bank with my friend, Anita and her husband, Arthur, then walking down the river and through the QUT city campus before heading back for a good night's rest. The next day, we wandered around Brisbane, taking in the sights. We went down to the mall and did some window shopping before visiting the Art Gallery and the Museum. Later, we met up with Anita and Arthur again who cooked us a lovely dinner at their house and then took us to see the new Harry Potter film.

On the Friday, we checked out of the hotel and trundled down to pick up our rental car. We drove down to Surfer's Paradise for breakfast and a glorious walk in the sunshine, down the beach and through the shopping area. We then drove down to Burleigh Heads, stopping at a Wildlife Park where we especially admired the biggest crocodile I've ever seen!


We then went for a walk through a mangrove area and a bamboo plantation - beautiful. The bamboo is bright yellow for some reason in this area of Queensland which makes for lovely photos.
Later, that day, we drove up to Oxenford where we stayed for the night, before driving to Mt. Tambourine and Lamington National Park.

The area is amazingly beautiful. It's thick forests have lovely walks and the mountain views are stunning. There are lots of little gourmet cafes to stop in at too!

We did a great walk in the afternoon to a natural rock formation called Natural Arch. You can actually walk into the cave, behind the arch and stand almost underneath the waterfall. There were some crazies swimming in the pool but the temperature's supposedly pretty arctic so we gave that a miss!









After that, we drove up to Toowomba, a surprisingly busy country town where we stayed the night and saw what a kickin' place it is to spend a Saturday night. However, being old, we were tucked up in bed by 10pm with our books! :)

The next day, Sunday, was our big driving day - about 5 hours. We drove most of the day away, with some unsuccessful attempts to reach a few National Parks along the way. Who would have thought that major roads to National Parks that were marked on all the tourist maps would have been unpaved, dirt roads?! Not this little rental-car-driving black duck! All in all, it was a little frustrating, but arriving back on the coast in Hervey Bay was wonderful. We got there in the late afternoon and had a lovely walk around the marina area.

We considered going on a cruise to Fraser Island but decided to save that for a trip when someone who is excited by dolphins is with us (hint hint, Robin!). Instead, we drove to Noosa Heads which was absolutely gorgeous. It's a cute little resort town with a stunning beach

and a little national park with a short, but lovely rainforest walk. The walk overlooks the coastline and it was all just gorgeous!


We then drove further down the coast and back up into the mountains to an area called the Hinterlands. We stayed at a gorgeous B&B for two nights, spending the day wandering in the local towns of Maleny and Montville, eating yummy food and doing the occasional walk up hills to admire the view. All too soon, it was time to head south again, back to Brisbane, stopping on the way to admire the Glass House Mountains. No climbing this time - we just admired from a distance!
(Yes, we also drove past the Irwin family's Australia Zoo, but no, we couldn't bring ourselves to pay the exorbitant entry fee!)

Arriving back in Brisbane, we hastily checked back in to the hotel and then set off for a final dinner with our now good friends, Anita and Arthur :) also meeting up with Tanya who I taught with in London and her new husband, Steven. After a yummy Greek meal, we ended up chatting away at a pub on the South Bank, before heading off.

Our final day was spent wandering again in Brisbane. We took the City Cat to New Farm, wandered around the shops there, found the Powerhouse and its collection of amusing signs and then pottered around at South Bank again. Soon it was time to head off home again to our very cute furbaby, who was exhausted after staying with my parents and their far-too-energetic border collie! And I'm going to add one more picture, just 'cause Jessie's so cute when she's plum-tuckered. :)

For anyone who reads this occasionally....

I've got a new project. :) Cause I don't procrastinate enough.

See: www.linkyloulists.blogspot.com for details.

Mount Gambier

I know it's not very exotic for South Aussies but we just are back from a GREAT weekend in Mount Gambier. It's the second biggest town in our state (Adelaide is the largest) with a population of about 24,000. It's part of the Limestone Coast and so there are lots of geological features to keep Ryan happy. I was just glad to get away from my marking :)

First off, we went to visit the Umpherstone Sinkhole. From the tourism website:

"Once a cave formed through dissolution of the limestone, this sinkhole was created when the top of the chamber fell to the floor of the cave, creating the perfect environment for its "sunken garden"."



This is us, funnily enough in front of the sinkhole. It was really bright out and I didn't check whether this photo worked. As you can see, it didn't. However, it's the only photo from the weekend with us in it, so I figured I'd post it anyhow.



The sinkhole is remarkably cool, even from the point of view of the geological ignorant (ie. me). There is a full time gardener who volunteers to keep it all pretty, and it certainly was!



Can you tell I liked the sinkhole garden? :) I think I was just impressed that it was so green. It rains a lot in Mt. Gambier. After viewing the Umpherstone sinkhole, we went into Mt. Gambier proper to see that it had closed for the entire long weekend - yay provincial towns! So we went and looked at another sinkhole and then wandered around the Blue Lake for a bit.



Once again, from the Mt. Gambier tourism website:

"The Blue Lake was formed when the volcano erupted through the limestone allowing the underground water to fill the crater, creating the lake that we see today. Each year in November the lake starts its colour change from winter sombre blue to brilliant turquoise blue, before returning to its winter hue in March."

So yeah, it was a bit grey. Ryan wanted me to take this photo so you can all see the different layers in the rock. :) You can see the blue colours around the bank though.

After walking around the Lake for a bit, we went on a bush walk. It was great though a little more strenuous than the "Easy, gradual slope" that the sign advertised. We spent a lot of time admiring the view as there was an old man in one of those electric buggies in front of us and we were sure he was going to get bogged and need our assistance at some stages!



As you can see, the recent rainfall made the whole area pretty vibrant! We ended our full day in Mt. Gambier with dinner and a movie, then wandered back to the sinkhole which is floodlit at night. So here's the last photo of it, I swear :)



So that's the "travel journal" updated - we had a really lovely time. Totally recommend the area for a quick getaway!

Adelaide to Melbourne - April 2007

Well, we went on a short trip the other week, just to visit friends in Melbourne. We normally fly over but since it was school holidays and we had time, we decided to save money and drive over instead. This was a pretty shocking trip. Officially, Australia is the driest continent (having the least precipitation - at least Antarctica has snow!), and has one of the most variable rainfall climates in the world. Our current drought is the worst on record and recently, the government has announced that water restrictions on farmers will be further increased so that they will be unable to irrigate from the river at all. This is especially a problem in South Australia and Victoria, the two states we drove through, as they have had only the smallest percentage of rainfall expected over the last two years.

Anyhow, I took these photos on the drive - I just couldn't believe how dry it is out there. Remember, these were taken at the very end of April, when we usually have had heavy autumn rains!





This one has a little greenery in it - thank goodness for the hard-living gum trees. This really shows how important it is for Australia to encourage the re-growth of our natural flora - cause when things get bad, they can survive on very little water.



And just to include some pics of us, here's one of me, having a stretch-break on the 8 hour drive:



And here's one of Ryan, relaxing at an outdoor cafe in Williamstown to end on a high note:



We're going to Brisbane in July - will post again then!

Ryan's 30th birthday party

Okay, so this isn't really a travel post but I'm going to post it here just so I can share some of the photos of this great night. Thanks very much to Cheryl from Xavier for her shots - they're the good ones :)



If your pic appears here and you don't want it to, please let me know. Comments about how gorgeous we all are are appreciated too :)

A few pictures...

...and then that's it for a bit.

We're all settled in back at home. All the laundry is finally done and all the gift distributed!! I've even lit my first candle :)

I've had a fun time getting used to driving on this side of the road though. Weird. I think I've hit the windscreen wipers hundreds of times - more than I did in the US!!


This first pic was taken in Kyoto. These guys are hawking for rickshaw passengers. I just love the trees and the light in this shot!


This is a gorgeous tree that I photographed in Kyoto. I think I'm going to have this shot framed. There was only the last of the autumn colours around when we were there. It must be AMAZING in fall.

Ryan is a big fan of the site Engrish.com and this was such a stunning example.


This is one of the Buddhist temples we visited. I had to lie down on cold marble steps to manage this shot. Andrea, Miyao and Ryan were standing below in the cold cold evening and thought I was quite mad!!


A shot of the Great Lawn in Central Park. I had a very well-timed flock of birds fly straight through the shot :)


Ryan's friend, Ken, took us to the riverwalk in Brooklyn and this is a shot of Manhattan from there. I just love the light in this photo. I don't think it takes any skill to take good shots in this light :)


This one is of Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. The coolest thing about it is that it was absolutely pitch dark when I took this and I couldn't see any of the detail! I just gave night vision a go and I love the result!


This is one of my shots of West Point, Virginia, where Ryan's sister lives.

And that's it for a bit. I've left out pictures of people as I don't know if they want them posted on the net. We had such a blast - can't wait to do it again.

Back to work tomorrow - looking forward to it in one way, but gee, holidays are nice!!

Love to all who read this,

Lynn
xx