Second Honeymoon

Wow, I have not stopped running since we got back from our time away celebrating our 25 years of marriage. It was so good to get away for four nights even though it required major organisation. We had to put our two foster boys into respite care and organize our own kids. We could have done anything for our time away and I did consider a few luxury options like a cruise, flying to the Gold Coast or Whitsundays, but really spending a fortune for a few days and having absolute luxury is just not us (I know you all think we are MAD!!). If it wasn’t winter we probably would have packed our tent and gone camping. Anyway we settled on a road trip – some of our best memories in our marriage is just being in the car and travelling – talking and sharing our dreams. So that is what we did. We jumped in the car and Hubby had no idea where we were going or staying – I totally surprised him. We headed up to the Sapphire Coast in New South Wales as we had not been that way before and it was beautiful. The beaches were stunning – crystal clear turquoise water and fine white sand. We stayed at a lovely hotel in a place called Huskisson that was a good mix of old world charm and modern comfort and was just us down to a tee. Sleeping in, long walks, eating out and getting to a movie is something we don’t often get to do these days with such a big family so we savoured every moment. We talked future and where we see our business going – a great time away. Thanks to my best friend and hubby – I love you babe – you have made life fun and adventurous – so love your enthusiasm for life and your positive outlook.

Enjoy all the pics

On the road – we saw some beautiful countryside

 The town of Huskisson where we stayed.

We went to the movies in this quaint little movie house – a converted mechanical institute building. Below  is a photo of our hotel that looked over the river mouth and the bay.

 

The sunrise and sunsets were magnificent

The best part was the stunning beaches

Honeymoon Bay

Even the kangaroos were romancing at honeymoon bay

Murrays Beach

Wreck Bay

We had many laughs trying to take selfies on the trip – some came out great and others were a disaster

Love this man!

Our last night was spent at a unit right on Quarantine Bay

We had such fun – we travelled through many state forests with our radio blaring and singing at the top of our voices – just because we could!!

On the way home we stopped at this little town called Cobargo. It had art cows all over the town.

Another place we passed through and loved was Lakes Entrance – about a 3 hour drive from home.

We loved the pelicans – they were waiting outside a boat restaurant for scraps.

All in all we had beautiful weather – not a drop of rain all week which changed of course when we were about an hour from home – back to wintry, rainy Melbourne. The kids seemed pleased to have us home.

We are not waiting another 25 years to do this again – we already have our dream of buying a caravan one day and touring Australia when the kids are gone. I take after my Mum and Dad.

Day at the Zoo

During the holidays we decided to take all the kids to Werribee Open Range Zoo. This is not the city zoo but further out and more widespread so that the animals have more of their natural habitat to roam in than your typical zoo. This zoo is also mostly designed to give an African experience  although there are other animals too such as Bison and Mongolian ponies. Obviously the bigger cats are contained otherwise they would have a problem but the other African wildlife (like giraffes,zebras, rhinos etc) are out in what they have made a savannah land. We had such a great day – the weather was amazing for a winters day – sunny and warm. The park is designed with reeds and walkways that have African style huts and bridges in various places and there are even bush noises that play through speakers as you walk down the paths so the kids enjoyed hearing warthog noises or crickets.

The two year old we are fostering (Jay – *not his real name) was so excited at hearing all the noises. He is so curious that he wanted to take off into the bush all the time. He loved the old Landrover at the lion pen and spent more time climbing in and out of it than actually looking at the lions. The lions were very lazy (as lions are when they aren’t hunting and so we didn’t get a close up look at them) but the cheetahs were very co-operative and walked up to the glass right in front of us.

We all climbed on a safari bus and did the drive around the park – it was lovely seeing giraffes, zebras, rhinos and ostriches again. The most exciting thing for Hubby and I though was seeing the Guinea Fowl roaming around the park – that really made it feel more African. Michaela loved the Meerkats and Jay loved the two baby crocs they had in a big tank.

This little outing reminded me of our trip to the Kruger National Park in 2007. Aaron was just 18 months old then but he already enjoyed looking at the animals then. I dug out some of my old photos of that trip for memories sake.

We stayed at Lower Sabie camping – it was lovely.

The kids and Hubby loved the park – Hubby had never visited it in all his years of living in South Africa so it was a real treat, Even Aaron enjoyed “game spotting” through the binoculars.

We saw some amazing animals – glad to see lion and elephants and buffalo.

We stopped some mornings at the picnic area for a delicious breakfast cooked by Mom and Dad. The kids loved looking at the insects as there are very few insects in New Zealand where we were living at the time. The kids even saw a couple of snakes.

The only member of our family to see a hyena was Michaela – she came face to face with one at the one lookout spot – boy did she run fast when it growled at her – she still talks about it to this day.

This was a memorable time for us a s a family and one day I would love to do it again. Going to Weribee Zoo was a reminder of life back in South Africa and of the things that make it such a unique place. I honestly can say that I feel I have been so blessed to have been able to live in three very different but very beautiful countries.

Inverloch Camping Trip

We are home after a week camping at Inverloch. What a lovely time we had. Our only sadness was to arrive home and discover that our chickens had been killed by someone in our neighbourhood. Yes you heard right – they were deliberately decapitated by someone. We have our suspicions but no proof of course. We were all angry, heartsore and upset that our poor birds had been so brutally abused and attacked. I had a friend who lives a couple of houses away coming in each day to check on them and she found them – I feel so bad that she had to deal with all the ugliness of it, but relieved that Aaron didn’t find them that way – he loved them so much and had tamed them so well.

Anyway we are determined not to let some psycho spoil our time away.

Inverloch is a small village located on the Anderson Inlet. It is lovely and not too far from home – only about 100 km so very good for day trips too. We stayed at the Inverloch Foreshore Camping ground and we were only a few hundred metres from the beach. There were also some lovely walks in the area which we did each day.
The kids enjoyed swimming in the loch/inlet as it was always fairly warm and good for Aaron. We toasted ourselves in the sun and played beach cricket. I have read more books in the last few weeks than I have in the last few years and I have thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in stories – I don’t think I will give this up – I need to make time to read for myself.

 

 

 

I even managed to get some photos of my oldest son – amazing that he is becoming more camera friendly and not so aggressive when I take his picture. Nice for me to have some photos of him not scowling or hiding his face!!

I loved the trees in the area – they were gnarly and windswept with interesting shapes – this one tree in particular was amazing – hubby and I had to find a time when it wasn’t full of children to get a few photos.

One night we went down to the BBQ’s along the foreshore to have our dinner. Hubby barbequed some chops and the kids had fun playing soccer. Ethan did some amazing flips off the wooden boardwalk.

 

 

We enjoyed our last supper by getting pizza from the local take away as a treat and watching Prince of Persia on Hubby’s laptop in the tent. We did chuckle at the size TV our neighbours brought camping – it was a giant widescreen TV that took up the whole one side of their tent. Other people had their own solar panels and one tent even had an air-conditioner. We realized that we camp quite simply but that is the fun of it I think. We did however treat ourselves and bought camp stretchers as last year our inflatable mattresses deflated every night leaving us with backache and sleeping on the hard floor. Oh what a good idea!!!

The last day we were there we drove to Cape Paterson – a 10 minute drive from our campsite to a surf beach so that the kids could catch waves. What a lovely beach. I even swam a few times as it was so hot. The children loved the waves (as our closest beach in Melbourne doesn’t have waves as it is in the Port Philip Bay and so very flat) and spent hours in the water. Even Aaron was proud of his wave catching ability.

The day we packed up was not great – the weather had turned and the wind was howling. Fortunately we managed to get our tent down and everything packed before a full wind blizzard hit us and the rain came.

We are so glad that we had this time to get away despite the horrible arrival home. Holidays are very important and many times this camping trip I thought back to times when I was a kid and we went camping in remote and exciting places. They are memories I will never forget.

The Big Climb

My men (Hubby and  15 year old son) went off for a boys weekend with two other blokes. They decided to climb the second highest mountain in Victoria in the snow. Well, as any interested party, I decided to Google  information on this mountain – bad idea!! I first learned that it has steep summit slopes and not a nice round dome to stand on at the top. It also has a sizable snow cornice that forms along the summit ridge in winter, the collapse of which has claimed the life of a number of people who stood on it. So I could picture them all standing on this ice that had nothing supporting them underneath and the mountain giving way. I have to admit I was very nervous initially – neither hubby nor son are trained mountain climbers although they are both fit. I also read that it gets up to -7 degrees on the mountain and the thought of them camping in tents in that weather made me rather worried. That’s what mothers/wives do – we worry when our men need these testosterone adventures. I was very good though I didn’t say no and I convinced myself that men need adventure – it’s part of their make-up ( as I am typing this I am giggling thinking how many times my Mom has climbed gorges, pushed cars stuck in mud and many other things with my Dad!!). So after trusting that Jesus would look after them and giving Him strict instructions I waved them goodbye. I did make them promise not to stand on any edges and to snuggle in one tent if they were freezing and they humoured me by agreeing. My consolation in this adventure was that they were with a friend who has climbed this mountain a few times and knows it well.

It took them about five hours to get to the mountains. The first night they slept in a cabin ready to have an early start the next day climbing. Bright and early they parked their car at Mt. Hotham and began their route across the Razorback.

This is an 11km hike across the mountain ridge through snow – a very tiring walk. It took them about 5 hours to walk to Federation Hut which is a base camp on the mountain. There they set up their tents for the night and had some lunch.

Then the hard work began. Climbing up to the peak took a few more hours. They needed to put spikes on their boots as it was an uphill climb in slippery, hard ice at times.

I was so relieved to get a call from the summit and hear they were safe ( all the while reminding them not to stand too near the edge!!). I did leave strict instructions to call me when they got back down to base camp.

They had beautiful weather during the day (although the wind howled when they slept in their tents) which was another answer to prayer. A great adventure for them both and I was so delighted at the father-son bonding time they had together – We have seen a big change in our teenage boy in the last 3 months – he is coming out of his man-cave and becoming likeable and friendly once more. (Murphy’s law – just as I type this he has made his sister cry – aaarggghhh!!!). Nonetheless we are so pleased to see him interested in family activities again, making some good friends and getting fit and gyming – all positive signs. Let’s hope this was one of the first of many father/son trips and outings.

Warburton Rail Trail

Monday was a public holiday and the weather was beautiful. We decided the day was too good to be cooped up at home. I had a serious dose of cabin fever after being at home all week with a nasty head cold after our New Zealand trip. I spent most of the week blowing out vast quantities of mucous – disgusting YES!! I am still not quite myself after a week and trying to get rid of these nasties that don’t seem to want to budge. As a Mum, sickness doesn’t feature in the household agenda – there is sympathy for a few moments then it seems that all has to return to normal, even when I feel far from normal. So despite feeling a bit grotty, I decided to get out into the fresh air with the family. We drove to a place called Woori Yallock and then hopped onto the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail. This is a lovely gravel path that meanders through the countryside and passes through many little villages and towns along the way. It was certainly buzzing with activity – walkers, cyclists, horse and riders.

We cycled all the way to Warburton and along the way we passed a farm that had deer and also an ostrich and some emus.

 

I never seem to get tired of the countryside – I love it so much and I always feel very invigorated and inspired when I get out into nature. Fields of flowers, mountains and water all do it for me!! The beautiful creation that Jesus gave to us to enjoy and relish!!

When we arrived in Warburton, we were rather hungry, thirsty and had very tender rear ends. The girls moaned that they were exhausted. The promise of chocolate and coke for energy seemed to do the trick.

The cycle back to the car seemed to go a lot quicker than our cycle to Warburton. It’s amazing how the return trip always seems to go much quicker. Of course the task master was none other than the Ironman himself!!

This was a day that was so enjoyable and one that I hope to repeat again in the future. We all loved it. Where were the boys you ask? Aaron was out with a friend which was a good thing as the cycle was probably a bit too far for him, and Ethan of course was where most teenagers would be on a day off school – sleeping in!

We worked out the distance of our mammoth cycle – about 32.2km – no wonder my backside was tender!!

I made a major change last week although it wasn’t meant to be so major – I had my haircut – it always infuriates me when hairdressers can’t follow instructions about how much to cut off. I wanted a new style but not all the length cut off – well I got a new SHORT hairstyle. I have never liked my hair short and so now with it about 2 inches shorter than I requested I have to grin and bear it until it grows again – I do like the colour though!!

 

Ironman…

We have just returned from New Zealand after the Ironman event. This was the culmination of a few years dream that Hami had to complete this monster event. It took a lot of planning on our part – taking that first step to pay for his registration followed by searching for air tickets that were on sale and then accommodation that was both affordable and comfortable.It required buying equipment and clothing and then of course all the weeks and months of training that went into preparing for this event.When I look back and add up all the time and money required for this event it is astounding (and we did it on the budget triathlete scale – pros would spend thousands more!) – it required Hami to take a week of unpaid leave to follow his dream – something that impacts us all as a family. All this sounds admirable really, but in one moment every dream we pursue can to tossed on its head. For us this happened the weekend of the triathlon event. Hami was physically and mentally prepared for the day – excited and really nervous at the same time. The day before the event we received the news that the Ironman New Zealand event would be postponed till the Sunday and then cut in half to be a 70.3 Ironman. The reason?  – extreme weather conditions blowing in over Lake Taupo on event day. Oh the disappointment I felt for my man – all his hard work over the last year crushed with one weather front blowing in. He was gutted – but he is an amazing man and overcame the disappointment like a champion. Aaron even drew a picture on our wet window to show what had happened – dad has a sad face and there are big clouds and rain.

We decided to take a drive to Huka Falls to get our minds off the disappointment. These falls always amaze me – the sheer volume of water and the force is incredible – the water can fill 10 Olympic sized pools in 1 minute – that’s a lot of water!!

The decision turned out to be a good one – foul weather with extreme winds and pelting rain. The lake looked like an angry sea – people were even surfing on the lake in the late afternoon as the storm tapered off – boats were tossed all over and some even beached. Sunday morning was beautiful but freezing – the temperature was 5 degrees and the thought of my poor man swimming in that weather made me cold.

The event began at 7:55 am and 1500 swimmers hit the water. There were quite big swells that Hami says made it difficult to swim and left him feeling quite seasick. The water was icy and we saw many people being pulled out of the water onto kayaks and boats as they had cramp. I always pray really hard when Hami does his swim as this is not his favourite part of a triathlon. He did us proud and completed his swim in 47 minutes. He looked a combination of icy blue and seasick green when he left the water but he gave us a cheerful smile as he passed us nonetheless. The children love cheering for him and Michaela particularly is his most vocal supporter. His bike leg went well for the first half but there was quite a headwind on the return leg which was tricky.

 

The run went okay – he has ITB problems and this gave him some serious pain at 7km into the run. A few pain relief pills was the solution to that and just a case of managing the pain. He came into the stadium and completed the event in 6:45:05 – bettering his previous time. We all were so proud of him. He feels proud of his achievement but it is bittersweet as although they still classified it as the Ironman event and he has the medal to show for it, it wasn’t the actual Ironman distance.

 

 

Even Aaron and Zoe had a run down the Ironman carpet.

We realized this week that sometimes achieving your dream doesn’t always look the way you imagine it to look and we have also settled in our hearts that it is okay if it looks different to how you imagined it. It is the dreaming that is important and the running the race that counts – the cost we incurred getting there is not important in retrospect – what we have gained and learned is far more valuable –  he had the option to opt out when they shortened it, but he chose to run it anyway and to enjoy it regardless.  The children enjoyed catching up with friends too – Michaela was spoiled by her two good friends and taken out a few times.Aaron caught up with his mate too and it was as though they were never apart. Zoe too had fun catching up with friends again.

 

We wish to apply this to every area in our lives – dream big, have fun living life, make a difference! Technically I am married to an Ironman, but to me he has always been a champion and my best friend – this event just reinforced what I always knew. We have no regrets.

Counting down the days….

It is just twenty-five days till Hami does his Ironman event. He is starting to feel nervous and apprehensive and of course he continually wonders if he has trained enough. He is looking pretty hot though  ( an observation I am allowed to make!!) as he is tanned from cycling and swimming and looks so healthy. He has really worked hard these last few weeks – last weekend he did a five hour cycle and this weekend a three hour run so all is looking good. Tickets are booked, accommodation sorted and things are good to go!! A couple of weeks ago his swimsuit ripped right across his backside while he was trying to get into it – disaster for us as  a good few hundred dollars are not in our budget – everything is strictly planned. I have to say I LOVE google – I googled repairing wetsuits and hey presto a bit of stormsure glue and wetsuit is repaired and strong as ever.

Beautiful Lake Taupo – see you in 23 days!!

We are all settling back into routine – Aaron happily goes off to school everyday and Zoe is enjoying High School ( she’s even stopped complaining about wearing a dress!!). The person feeling all this the most is me – I feel lost at home without Aaron here – I really miss him after having him with me all these years – empty nest syndrome has hit me hard!! Nevertheless I will get through it sniff, sniff…

I have completed editing my book and now I am running through it again to iron out all kinks before I give it to a couple of people to read – man it’s hard reading the same thing over and over – I must have read it at least five times now – although there have been a number of changes along the way. Right now I am going to give God glory for this book – it may never be viewed as literary brilliance, but to me it has been inspired from above and I have learned so much and my thinking has been shifted many times through this journey – thank you Jesus – you are incredibly generous, gracious and beautiful – I do love you so much!

We are on a new journey ourselves at the moment -God has been stirring our hearts the last six months as to what the church looks like – we haven’t always liked what we have seen at times. We are questioning the whole structure of church meetings – how relational are they really and did Jesus mean for us to build huge congregations where we sing a few songs and then one man gets up and instructs us all how to behave and interpret scripture ? – when I think of it like that I feel sure that is not how it is meant to be – a couple of meetings a week that are supposed to sustain people. We need to be the church and do life with people – not in a structured context but with integrity, reality and love above everything. Just a journey we are on personally – I don’t despise church – how can I? – it’s not a place you go to worship – it’s the people of God and I love them. I would love to see greater freedom and less religion in us all though. I am excited at where we are going in the next season – I don’t see leadership as the highest calling in His body – I would rather be free just to be myself and impact people as I go through life – it’s been a full circle journey and one I am loving so much. I have determined in my heart to hear Him and Him only for my dreams and desires – I can’t allow myself to ever be manipulated or coerced into being who I don’t want to be – not even if there is a prophetic word –  unless I myself have heard from God directly first and it is a confirmation of that revelation. This sounds a bit silly doesn’t it? – you would think it sounds obvious, but when you are stuck in a structure of church  and a belief system for years and years, you begin to believe some crazy things. It’s time to air out the closet and let the fresh air of God in to dust out ugly cobwebs and the clothes I have been hanging onto for years (you know, the ones you think you may fit into someday again) need to be  thrown out – time for living in the revelation I have now!! I do realise of course that some people will think we have been deceived and gone off the rails but frankly I am over that too!! Others have told me they believe I have never recovered from the hurts we went through years ago in leading a church  (see my Journey blog posts) but I am happy to let them believe that if it makes them feel better – in my heart I know what we are hearing from God is not tied to that – I no longer feel the need to defend myself on that front.  Actually I feel freer than I have in years – I see our dreams coming to fruition this year – no more laying down our hopes for causes. In all this we love Jesus more than ever, we love His church (not just a church) and we want to make a difference wherever and however He shows us.

Change and new dreams…

Hi everyone,

I realise I have been a little absent from my dear friend (I’m talking about this blog and you of course!!) but I have been trying to get a few things set in place.

I am not very good at keeping things the same for too long – I get easily bored and need change constantly. Sometimes this is a good thing, but other times it is a real pain. It means that I often don’t finish things I start  and this is not a quality I like about myself. No indeed, it is frustrating to those around me as well as to myself (Hubby would be vigorously nodding his head at this point!!).

I am trying to change this about myself and to see things through.

I have launched out on a new venture (yes again! This time I hope I have found what stirs me). I am not living in dream world believing that I am going to make big bucks, but I have decided that since I enjoy writing I may as well try to earn a few bob from it. So because I don’t want my blog full of advertising I have joined some writing forums. These sites enable me to write for them on any topic I like and through Google, Amazon and other places I earn a little for advertising. I have decided to do this because mostly I love writing and it will stand me in good stead should I ever try to tackle freelance writing jobs in the future. I am convinced that writing is the future for me and God has been almost needing a loudhailer to get my attention regarding this. I guess if He keeps saying it to me then I need to start believing I am capable and  get busy with it instead of sitting in doubt and lack of self-confidence.So this is my way of  getting content out there.  I have published a few measly posts and I have already had welcomes from fellow members and a few views so that is exciting to me.

The other project that Michaela and I are busy with, is trying to set up an Etsy store as we need an outlet for our creative abilities. Again I don’t see us making a mint, but every line in the water hopefully will catch a few fish along the way. So will keep you updated as that progresses – I am hoping to be up and running in the next few weeks. We have a home market planned for early December where we plan to invite some ladies to a tea/coffee/cake afternoon to see our things. Invites are already designed and planning happening. Just need to make sure we have enough goodies!! This is simply a sideline and a way for us to keep ourselves busy and supplement our family income. I have already determined in my heart that everything I make I aim to give at least twenty percent (Hopefully more if I can) towards the orphanage we as a church support in Gunthur India. If you want to check out these cute kids then go to http://www.friendsfirstchurch.com.au/centre-of-hope-guntur-india .

The reason for all this crazy activity is that I am feeling pressure to get a job next year once Aaron is settled into his school routine. Hubby and I have spoken about quality of life and not slogging away and having no family time so we are thinking of both working part time. Hami  (I have decided to give to start giving this wonderful man a name instead of a title – another new change for mad me!!) already works part time as a science and maths teacher and his hours may be even better next year. This means that I need to do my share too! Unfortunately my studies will not be complete so I won’t be working in that line yet, but the thought of  going teaching again literally makes me feel physically sick! I really don’t want to be a primary teacher again – I feel that I am over that phase of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I like teaching – just hate all the red tape and administration nightmares that go with it. So I am throwing a few lines in the water and seeing what bites. Please pray for me! I also need to get my books published and finished which means I need to be earning. I really believe in these projects and I can see the finishing line in sight but I am just not getting there yet.

Otherwise all is good and I am hoping to enjoy the season we are going into. Hami and I have some other projects up our sleeves that we hope to reveal to you all soon – can’t wait! So there is a lot happening in our household – creativity is aflow but there are just not enough hours in the day!!

What exciting adventures are happening in your life?

A few days in Lorne….

Getting away for a couple of days was wonderful – even just the change of routine and no demands was like a breath of fresh air. We decided to head off to Lorne but we chose the very scenic route to get there. Melbourne bay is huge – about a 300km round trip so getting from one side to the other is never a quick easy trip. We decided to head down to Sorrento (near Blairgowrie)  from home ( which is between Springvale and Drouin on the map)  on our side of the bay. We  caught a ferry across the bay to Queenscliff and then we drove along the Great Ocean Road to Lorne. All in all it took us about five hours with stops for lunch.

Sorrento is a very pretty spot – some lovely homes and quite a quaint village. The kids enjoyed the ferry ride – Aaron was fascinated that we could drive our car onto the ferry. Unfortunately we didn’t spot any dolphins on the crossing but the weather was good and it wasn’t freezing.

We enjoyed the trip down to Lorne as we have never explored that side of Melbourne due to the bay being so huge. It is very different in places to where we live – at times it was drier and the grass was browner, but then we also passed through some National Parks that were beautiful and lush and green. We arrived in Lorne in the late afternoon and we spent the rest of the day setting up camp while the kids explored and played in the stream below our campsite. We had borrowed some camp gear from friends and I discovered that not everything was there – I had one pot for the few days so cooking in THE POT was a challenge. I did it though!!!

The next morning we had breakfast and then went down to the pier to have a walk. The sea was magnificent and the water crystal clear in places.

This was a highlight for me – a photo with Ethan – he definitely is getting over the  “it’s not cool to be seen with Mum” phase.

Then we took a drive up to the Erskine Falls and had a walk through the forest. It was so pretty with all the tree ferns and moss – it reminded me a lot of New Zealand!!

For lunch we headed back to the beach in Lorne and had a BBQ picnic overlooking the bay. The kids enjoyed swimming (crazy as it was freezing, but they don’t seem to feel it!!) and hubby and I enjoyed the view and a glass of wine with lunch.

Michaela and I decided to walk back to our campsite through the village and do some shopping along the way. It was great to browse in the little shops and to get some good ideas from different places.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the stream around our campsite.

That evening I had a run in with a possum at the entrance to our tent. The dear little creature decided it wanted to come down the tree as I was making my way into the tent. I clapped my hands trying to scare it but instead of running up the tree it decided to jump down towards me – well instinct took over and I ran around the boys tent screeching like a mad woman in the middle of the night – poor hubby had to get out of his warm bed to rescue me and chase away the possum.

During the night it began to rain, but our tents stayed nice and dry and warm – the only lousy part was packing up in the drizzly rain. Our trip home was uneventful – we drove around the bay and through the city this time taking us about 3 hours.

I never got to see the 12 Apostles after all, as it was still another 145km from where we were staying. Hubby and I decided that we will make the trip when we can get away without the kids as their tolerance for sitting in the car for hours is somewhat limited.

All in all we had a great few days away – it was so lovely exploring more of where we now live.

A break….

We have had some incredibly busy weeks the last few weeks so at the last minute we have decided to take three days break and go camping on the spur of the moment. The weather is going to be kind to us according to the forecast so that is good news. Our plan is to head down the coast to Sorrento where we will catch the ferry across the bay to Queenscliffe. This will be a great experience for the kids as we should see dolphins in the bay.  Then we plan to make our way along the coast to a campsite in Lorne. Part of our trip will hopefully include going to see the 12 apostles (although I think there are only 7 left now) so Iam looking forward to the quick break and getting to see more of our coastline. Of course I will have my camera and I plan to take many photos. See you when we get back!!!