A Melbourne kinda day

Today we went to explore Brighton Beach, a special request from Dylan who was really keen to see the bathing boxes. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as keen for us to be there, it was blowing a gale and almost sleeting. We donned our coats, and being the intrepid explorers that we are, managed to walk the box strip (actually Brian, Evie and Max bailed halfway but the big boys and I made it despite being almost washed away a couple of times).

The kids each chose their favourite:

Dylan's favourite

Lukas' favourite

Evie's favourite

Max's favourite

 After Brighton, we headed up the beach road to St Kilda whuch we planned to explore for the afternoon. We found a big open carpark (essential for parking Suzy Q) and made a sandwich to eat before we left. We were listening to the cricket while eating when it all got a bit exciting, so decided to drop everything and head into the MCG for the afternoon session. Why? Because we could!

It was a great afternoon in the hallowed ground, which I'd never been to before and I have to say was most impressive.

Unfortunately the Aussies couldn't show us a win, despite Max and Evie yelling Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi (or in Max's case Aussie Aussie Aussie...Aussie Aussie Aussie) but what a way to spend a spur-of-the-minute afternoon.

Oh yeah, and we'll forever remember our visit to St Kilda: a sandwich in a motorhome in a carpark!!

A lovely Christmas holiday

It's funny when you're on a six-month adventure to think of having a Christmas holiday, but I'm really glad that we did. I decided it would be nice for the kids to make Christmas a different part of the adventure, one involving a week in a caravan park by the sea like thousands of other families do every year.

We had a great time doing not much at all. Less adventuring and more relaxing : flying our new kites and watching the sunset over the ocean were priorities.

Christmas Day and Boxing Day we moved as far as the steps to the beach for a play in the rock pools, building sand castles and jumping over a couple of waves. Not a great swimming beach, as Dylan will attest to following a couple of dumpings, but fun nonetheless.

A barbecued butterflied lamb and snow pea salad made for a special Christmas dinner and some biscuits and puddings purchased in a gift box back at Beechworth Bakery ensured we had plenty of goodies to eat.

We also ventured all the way across the road to the Kilcunda General Store, a funky little cafe/post office/general store for a couple of coffees and even breakfast one day.

A day trip to San Remo and Phillip Island ticked another box as we watched the pelicans being fed, saw koalas and experienced the famous penguin parade. It was ridiculously busy and I suspect we'll find peak tourist season is not our favourite time for touring. I'm hoping we might find some more penguins in our travels (maybe Tasmania?) that we can enjoy without the 3,000 other people.

Once again, a couple of quiet moments saved us from the crowds...a walk along the pier after the pelican feeding frenzy where we saw big stingrays and dolphins surfing the tide....a little winery 'Purple Hen' on a Phillip Island back road where Brian and I got to taste while the kids played with some toys and picked giant gum nuts off some amazing eucalypts.

So all in all a nice break in one spot for a week with some time to relax, I even got to read a book, something I haven't done in a very long time!

We're now staying about half an hour out of Melbourne for a couple of days until our Tasmanian Adventure begins with a big boat ride on New Years Day.

Ok Christmas, we're ready now.....

We've set up at our Christmas destination, Kilcunda, on the coast near Phillip Island in Victoria.

Here's what a Christmas setup looks like when you're travelling around Australia:

And of course, we have to make sure that Santa remembers where we are:

We just had a special 'you can choose anything you want' Christmas Eve dinner at the Killy Pub, all of 200m away from Suzy Q. The views were amazing, the food was ordinary but the kids didn't mind.

Evie loved her 'fishen' nuggets, Max gulped down his fish, Lukas couldn't eat all of his 'adult's size' spaghetti bolognaise and Dylan ate every single mouthful of his porterhouse cooked medium-rare with chips and salad. I enjoyed the Yarra Valley pinot noir and Brian liked the boutique beers on tap.

So we're at the same stage as everyone else now - the kids are too excited to sleep and the adults are trying to convince them to go to bed before Santa comes.

So Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

What have those teddies been up to?

Well they've been almost as busy as us!

They've enjoyed a couple of days in the Dandenongs, including a ride on Puffing Billy the historic steam train. They are looking forward to spending a few days on the beach near Phillip Island over Christmas.

As you can see, they have had fun:

swimming in rock pools........

and then drying out afterwards.......

Playing in playgrounds........

Climbing trees....

And of course getting ready for Christmas!!

 

Wilson's Promontory - Wow

We spent a few days in Wilson's Promontory and loved it. We got a camp spot despite the impending Christmas ballot. Such a beautiful place with a wide range of landscapes, and wombats of course! I think the photos speak for themselves.....

 

Max turns 2!

Max had a lovely birthday yesterday.

We were at Wilson's Promontory and he had a very laid back morning going for beach and bush walks, followed by his favourite activity, riding his balance bike all afternoon.

There was a chocolate smartie cake baked in the motorhome's oven for morning tea, together with the much-loved babycino of course.

Life doesn't get much better when you're two!

 

From High Alpine to Coast

We left Bright a few days ago, feeling a bit sad I have to admit, after such a lovely time. It was time to test the capability of Suzy Q the motorhome so we decided to drive her straight over the Great Dividing Range via the less-travelled road.

She handled the test remarkably well, probably better than the rest of us actually, as we all got pretty sick of the windy roads. We went through Mt Beauty, Mt Bogong and Falls Creek and then decided that was enough for one day.

Victorian High Alpine Country

Another lovely riverside campground, Anglers Rest on the Cobungra River, helped revive us.

The next day was more winding through Omeo (stopped at the cuckoo clock shop) and Bruthen, a nice little town for a picnic lunch. The twists and turns had turned the children a little crazy - they decided they needed safety helmets for the next leg and donned a few of Max's nappies.

We're trying to do a few days free camping to save some money on accommodation ahead of Christmas so have been scouring our campsite guides. We found a beauty last night on Lake Wellington at the local Yacht Club. We parked right in front of the lake and while it was a bit windy yesterday afternoon, this morning was pristine. The awesome foursome decided to have breakfast on the beach this morning, after a little scooter riding along the road (hence Evie's helmet)!

Tonight we're at the Boolarra Pub in the Gippsland Region. It's pretty basic but the owners are happy for you to camp next door and use their showers and toilets. We're trading them for a few beers and pizzas for dinner, so everyone wins!

Our first 10/10

We've just spent the last few days hanging out in Bright, Victoria and we all love it! Lukas and Dylan have given it the first perfect score of the trip and I think all judges unanimously agree on this one.

Suzy Q's campsite at Bright

Everything was just stunning - the caravan park right on the river, the river swimming hole & water park and the fantastic playground which just happened to be straight below the delicious local brewery.

Throw in with all of that the great walking / riding tracks along the river, the morning we spent bushwalking through Mt Buffalo National Park looking at waterfalls & wildflowers and the local chocolate factory and we've pretty much covered off the wish list.

Dylan and Lukas wading up the river

Bright Splash Waterpark

A suspension bridge along the river

A couple of bar flies

Our first Victorian stop - Beechworth - also gets an honourable mention. We loved the ambience of the town with the historical buildings and tales of Ned Kelly sitting so well beside the classic Bakery and Icereamery as well as the modern vibe of the restaurants and local brewery (yes another - for the record the beer drinkers on the trip thought Bright's was the best!). Dylan and I decided we could definitely live there, but that was pre-Bright so we may now need to toss a coin.

The local Berry Farm just outside Beechworth didn't see us coming - we picked 2.6kg of strawberries in less than 10 minutes and boy did they taste good!

7 days into the adventure - An update - Part 2

So my last post ended at a caravan park in Parkes. Parkes was, well, hot and didn't capture our imaginations. I thought the connection to Elvis was a bit weird and rather tenuous as a tourist draw card, but obviously it works for thousands of people each year. Thankfully, after a bit of scouring we found a funky hole-in-the-wall coffee shop with rice paper rolls for lunch that improved our moods after a hot morning walking around.

A quiet and relaxing afternoon with water play and picnic blankets under a big shady tree cooled us all down and provided an opportunity for reflection, journal writing and planning our next moves. Dylan found a lovely old willow which he climbed and spent an hour hiding in and watching passers by. Lukas got stuck half way up but we won't mention that.........

As an aside, on the planning front, we're trying deliberately not to do too much of it! We like the idea of being able to stop for a few days at a place we find and love and keep moving past places that we don't. Most planning happens in the passenger seat during the day of travel and the beauty of this is that if we see a sign we like the look of we can just stop or change our route accordingly.

Having said that, we have booked in 5 nights at a Victorian beachside holiday park over Christmas (otherwise we figured they'd all be booked out) and will be heading over to Tassie on New Years Day for a few weeks.

Right, back to the update.....we gave Parkes a cursory wave goodbye and headed to Temora. Temora might sound like a strange choice but we knew it from our Pa as the site of the Aviation Museum. Dylan and Lukas were really looking forward to it, and it is an excellent museum run by people passionate about and dedicated to preserving a bit of airforce history. We had a personal guide through the museum who loved having the boys' undivided attention and letting them 'jump the ropes' a couple of times to see things on the aircraft he just couldn't help but show them. The planes are beautifully restored and looked after and we look forward to going back on one of their show days to see them fly. Lukas even purchased with his own money a copy of the Museum's DVD narrated by none other than Charles 'Bud' Tingwell so he can watch it all over and over and over again (not cheap for a 7 year old at $40!).

Following Temora, we decided that we had waited long enough to find an out-of-the-way riverside campsite and so, again on the advice of WikiCamps, headed towards Oura, east of Wagga Wagga.

I love this sign!

And what a site we found, right on the banks of the Murrumbidgee. We parked Suzy Q (as the van has now been named following our visit to Temora - Suzy Q was a CA-13 Boomerang if that means anything to anyone) so that as we looked out the door we were facing straight onto the river and spent two blissful days fishing, playing in the river, exploring and enjoying the cacophony of bird life each morning. Bliss!

This is living!

Our favourite friend who liked sitting near Suzy Q and singing to us.

Spectacular old River Red Gum

7 days into the adventure - An update - Part 1

Well we've almost completed a week on the road, so I thought an update might be in order.

Actually, I was planning to blog earlier but my laptop went flat and we've been (blissfully) out of a powered zone for the last couple of days so haven't been able to charge it.

We've been to a few places in a week, and are starting to get a feel for good travelling times in the vehicle - a couple of hours per leg seems plenty and there's bonus points if it coincides with when Max and/or Evie are particularly tired. We've had some travel sickness to manage with Lukas, but as long as he's not the one travelling backwards and has plenty of distraction he seems pretty good.

The kids and I have had a couple of conversations about how we best adjust to our travelling adventure. It's a funny feeling because even though this is one big fantastic journey, it's not a holiday -  this way of living is our every day life for the foreseeable future which means approaching things slightly differently. There's no cushy bed and flushing toilet to go home to in a couple of weeks time!

Not that we'd want to anyway, we've had a ball during our first 7 days!! Here's some highlights:

Oberon to Dubbo: our first leg. The van did a hot lap at Bathurst and we spent our first (free) night in the motorhome at Wellington race course. The locals thought we were a bit strange driving in there - it's listed in WikiCamps as a campsite - but it worked out well for a rather wet first night.

Western Plains Zoo: We did a Zoofari - absolutely amazing, if you get the opportunity, do it! Great accommodation, great tours, great food and a magnificent experience.

This lovely giraffe couldn't take his eyes off Evie through the mini bus window!

This was the pre-dinner entertainment!

We did one lap on bikes and another in the motorhome.

Lukas making a new friend.

After Dubbo it was on to Parkes. We stopped in at the big CSIRO telescope dish which was good to see up close. Lukas found a puzzle table and was nicely occupied for 20 minutes or so getting his hard puzzling back on and the rest of us just enjoyed being in the airconditioning for a while!

In Parkes we pulled up into our very first powered site at a caravan park. We were able to fill up water, charge up power and do some washing. The idea of bush camping is very appealing to us all, but it didn't take long to also see the appeal of a powered site, at least sometimes - we have airconditioning, can clean our clothes and linen and even plug in the Nespresso! 

Part 2 to come shortly......