Some photos

 Watching the rain come in

 The first of many chilly picnics

 The view from Fitzroy Falls

Eli in the vege patch

Delight and discovery

What a week! This time we left (shock, horror) to the sounds of Matilda screaming in the back seat as we waved goodbye to Uncle Peter in Tumut and set off for Kiama. Why were we doing this again? Sometimes it takes a few hours travel, a beautiful day and some spectacular scenery to remember. Our first stop was at the Big Merino in Goulburn, which surprisingly wasn’t the highlight of the week, but more about a place to stop for lunch. The Fitzroy Falls were well worth the visit and we found our first camping spot in Kiama just as the sun set over the beach last Monday night.

A brief visit to the Blow Hole the following morning (and a small incident involving a one way street) started the next leg of the journey over the Sydney Harbour bridge, through Newcastle to One Mile Beach for our next overnight stop. We explored rock pools at Fisherman’s Bay with the NSW Park Rangers and then travelled to Forster-Tuncurry for a 6 day stay involving whale watching, plenty of beach combing, a day trip to Taree and a step back in time to have tea and scones from the CWA ladies at the local market in Forster.

All in all it’s been a wonderful week, but particularly great for discovering...

-          Discovering that a whole 6 days in one caravan park is too long

-          That 5pm is far too late to arrive at your camping site

-          That (according to the kids) Mum’s showering habits are exceptionally entertaining

-          That going to bed with the kids and rising with the sun is fantastic

-          That the evening meal is much better and much more easily cooked in the middle of the day when you’re not relying on LED lanterns for lighting and the kids are not so tired

-          That the tent can withstand wind gusts of 60km/hr without blowing over and that it keeps us dry when it rains

-          That, as quaint and appealing as a town  might seem at first glance, it will lose its appeal quite rapidly if you stay too long

-          That Ben and Matilda make a very good sand castle

-          That Elouise loves collecting shells

-          That if it has two dorsal fins, it’s not a dolphin and you should get out of the water

-          That Goulburn is freezing in winter and 3 degrees can actually feel like -8 degrees in the wind

-          That you can’t get pepper on a sandwich if it’s blowing a gale

-          That exploring rock pools near massive seas is a recipe for disaster (but averted if you have a Matilda to yell “WAVE”!)

-          That seeing a whale up close is AMAZING and well worth the rough ride and being covered in someone else’s vomit

-          That you can’t keep kids out of a resort style pool, despite inappropriate temperatures for swimming

-          That the ‘scenic’ drive is usually not very scenic

-          That sometimes a wrong turn can provide unexpected delights ... as someone once told me – that’s exactly where the adventure is. In the unknown, the unplanned, the unexpected. So glad we didn’t plan every inch of the trip!

Chilled out.

Our first week ends as it began. Wintry. Other than freezing, it's been largely enjoyable and mostly uneventful - unless of course, you count me wearing my jumper inside-out to the supermarket as an 'event' or Ben and Matilda setting off the alarm at All Saints Church, Tumut, as they investigated what hid behind a particular door.
We set off from Bendigo last Monday, stopping in Violet Town for morning tea (and a chance meeting with another family from Bendigo), Albury for a very chilly picnic and Tarcutta for an emergency toilet stop, arriving late afternoon in Tumut, NSW, to stay with my extended family for the week.
We've ticked off visiting the snow from our 'must-do' list, with a stop near the Yarrangobilly caves in the Kosciusko National Park to make a snowman and have another very chilly picnic. So chilly, in fact, that the girls had barely taken a bite before we bundled them back to the car.
We've seen the Tumut river rise rapidly after water was released from the Blowering Dam and wildlife encounters have been frequent. Hundreds of kangaroos, plenty of kookaburras and even a few emus have crossed our path.
The highlight of the week, though, must go to Albert the talking cockatoo who lives across the road from the public amenities block in Tarcutta. Who knew that an emergency toilet stop (which very nearly ended in disaster) could end up being so enjoyable? Both girls thought Albert was the most hilarious cockatoo they had ever seen.
Already we find our trip evolving though it has barely begun. Our original plan to head towards Orange has been scrapped after a quick check of the forecast - a nippy minus 3 degrees overnight, with daily tops of around 6 degrees. Bit too cold for a tent we think! So now we are aiming for the coast where it's slightly warmer... though, judging by the response of the park owner, apparently unpowered tent sites are still not in demand. "No need to book, darl, there's plenty here" she said when I rang yesterday. Hmm. Trips to the shower block will be very quick indeed.