Geelong Waterfront New Years Fair

Ok, I’m late with these updates so apologies. We’ve had to wait til we get to our second Brisbane location  to get internet back but more of that later!

New Years day started later than usual thanks to the kids going to bed late on New Years Eve. No one was really up and about until about 9.30am and we did little really until heading down to Geelong’s Waterfront for their new years fair, a free attraction put on between 12 and 5 down at the Waterfront (well, dur!)

We arrived in ‘iffy’ weather (by Geelong standards!) Much cooler than the previous day (18-20ish) and overcast although it did brighten up a bit mid-late afternoon. It was cool enough that we’d all had to dig out our cardis or jackets though!

What's that grey stuff in the sky???

The fair had the usual mix of crafty type stalls, kids rides (merry-go-round swings, inflatable slide, bouncy castles etc – all free), food stalls and a main stage which was occupied by various DJs, entertainers and acts throughout the afternoon.

Kids get down and 'dirty' on the bouncy castle

Geelong Cats' cat mascot thingie (I think!)

We visited the reptiles tent and got up close and personal with a few creatures. There were a couple of people wandering through the queuing people with snakes (small ones!) and, as we entered, there were lizards which we could touch and hear more about from the handlers.

There were also some larger, enclosed snakes and a couple of saltwater crocs. “Crikey” is a 3 year old ‘saltie’ and was pretty placid as his handler held him, allowed people to ‘stroke’ him and posed for photos.

"Crikey"!

There was also a larger croc who just didn’t look real at all as it never moved a muscle the whole time we saw it! Apparently, this is normal as they rarely move in the wild (except to hunt/eat) but it did make the croc look dead or fake or something! Only the muzzled mouth indicated otherwise!

Is it alive??

The boys bought themselves some new ‘jibbitz’ for their crocs (actually, knock-off jibbitz and the first time I’ve ever seen knock-off ones!), watched some kids doing circus stuff on the stage (which was good!) and we wandered for a few hours before heading home.

That’s about all we did!

Late start, afternoon at the fair and an evening in. Hard life, huh?

Happy New Year (sunshine, beaches and thunderstorms)

I know you’re all sick of reading about it by now but ‘crikey’ it was a scorcher today! 39 degrees at its hottest (between about 2 and 5pm)

We spent a leisurely morning at ‘home’ (it’s great being able to wash all the swim/beach stuff and dry it on the line in under an hour!) before heading to the beach, down at Torquay, after lunch.

It was about 2pm by the time we arrived and it truly was hot! It was another one of those ‘desert wind’ days where even the breeze wasn’t cooling so we headed for the water pretty much as soon as we parked on the sand (which was too hot to walk on in places)

The beach itself didn’t seem very busy. Not many people on it at all…then we looked in the water! Torquay (where we were, anyway) is a huge bay and there must have been a couple of hundred people in the water! They all knew where the best place to be was, that’s for sure.

We had the body board and the boys spent quite a bit of time just floating on that. There was quite a strong gusty wind at times (which was pretty horrid way up on the loose sand as it was like a desert sandstorm!) but the sea itself was completely calm. Eerily so. Despite it being a bay, there had been some pretty good waves previously but this time it was so still, almost like a pool or a lake rather than the sea!

Now, brace yourselves because here comes proof that I not only entered the water but that I actually immersed myself, shoulder deep!

Undisputable proof that miracles DO happen!

Nik built the kids a 'sand car'

We spent about 4 hours down on the beach (the majority of it in the water!) before grabbing a McDonalds for tea which provided us with MUCH needed liquid refreshment (and aircon!)

As we headed home, there was a thunderstorm brewing which looked to be headed our way. Typical timing because we had planned to go down to Geelong Waterfront for New Years Eve to watch the fireworks at dusk but, sadly, Mother Nature had other ideas and instead gave us a fireworks show of her own.

A phenomenal thunder and lightning storm arrived, about half an hour after we got home, and there was some incredible lightning. Unfortunately, the 2 photographers had trouble actually capturing it on camera but Steve did get a pretty good shot of the end of some lightning (Nik later caught one but, as he had to camera on a long 10 second exposure, fireworks were caught on it, with the lightning, and this resulted in the lightening itself being invisible on the end shot (much to our amusement!))

Tail end of some lightning over Geelong- courtesy of Steve Coppock (credit where credit's due!)

The thunderstorms carried on for a couple of hours and  we stood outside (undercover) watching lightning and fireworks for a while. Apparently, there was also a blue moon last night but you couldn’t see it for cloud. Disappointing all round really as it had put paid to our evening our but we did get a good light show as compensation.

The kids decided they wanted to stay up for ‘New Years’ even though I’m not sure any of them had any idea of what this entailed beyond staying up until midnight!

Needless to say, none of them made it although good efforts were made all round with E making it til 11pm and J and Beth making it til 11.30.

By the time the last of the kids had gone, we ‘grown ups’ (I use the term loosely!) were ready for bed too but we did manage to squeeze another hour out, watched the Sydney New Year Fireworks on TV at midnight and headed to bed soon after.

A bit of a washout really but I suppose there won’t be much sympathy forthcoming, eh?

Tomorrow (well, as I post, it’s actually this morning) we’re hoping to head down to the seafront for the new year fair that is on. Weather permitting, I guess!

The Great Ocean Road(trip)

Wow, WHAT a day!

We made an early start in the morning, leaving at about 7.30am to set off on our ‘great’  journey along The Great Ocean Road.

We weren’t really sure of our itinerary for the day (much to the annoyance of the boys!) just that we were, to begin with, driving and occasionally stopping to take in the sights.

And BOY what sights there were!

Seemingly endless stretches of soft sandy beaches with flawless blue/green/turquoise sea and stunning landscape.

Stunning Great Ocean Road views

Perfect Seas (well, the Pacific Ocean, in fact!)

As we had left so early, we were ready for a ‘pit stop’ by about 8.45 so we called in at a little place called “Wye River” (we eye-balled a shop and that was reason enough!)

After buying various provisions from the shop (drinks, crisps, sweets. The usual stuff!) we took a break on the beach. At that time of the morning, the beach was almost deserted with lovely warm sand, perfect for sand sculpting and drawing. We spent about 45 minutes playing in the sand here before setting back off on our trip.

Who's this then? (Nose size for dramatic effect only!)

Wye River Beach

We drove some more (we did a lot of that! Royal ‘we’, Nik drove!) and passed through Apollo Bay. We were going to stop but it was really busy by this time so we decided to push on through the Great Otway National Park and it’s ‘rainforest’ (a 60km stretch of woodland-like roads) towards Port Campbell and The Twelve Apostles.

The Twelve Apostles is, in many ways, the point of the Great Ocean Road(trip). The whole coastline, in that area, is randomly eroded leaving nooks, crannies, inlets, bays and outcrops that you couldn’t design for all the time and money in the world.

We walked out to the viewpoint (actually, I’ll confess, Nik walked the whole viewpoint route. The boys and I sheltered in the Visitors Centre. It was just too hot with too many flies to stand about for too long) and Nik took some stunning photos.

The Line Up (or part of it)

Walking out to the edge

Which one's this then

We were in two minds about whether to do the helicopter tour but, after seeing the sights from the ground, we decided to take a deep breath, part with a load of cash (well, flex the plastic!) and all 4 of us booked to do the London Bridge Tour. A 15 minute flight from the Twelve Apostles down to London Bridge (and back, obviously!)

Nik flew with J (who sat in the front) and E sat in the front and flew with me. Jake and Nik had the cameras and took some amazing photos from above (J ‘video-ed’ the whole trip)

I’ll put a few of the images here but there are many, many more!

One of the first shots, taken minutes after take off

You can fly a helicopter through here (apparently!)

London Bridge (has fallen down. It used to link to the mainland. Hence the name!)

Loch Ard Gorge (an accessible beach cove to anyone not scared of heights/steps!)

Lined up from the air

E and me, coming in to land

Everyone loved the helicopter tour and it was definitely well worth the money (remind me that, when the credit card bill arrives!)

After the tour, we drove up to Port Campbell for lunch and then started to make our way back towards home (which is a 3 hour continuous drive from Port Campbell)

We decided to do a beach stop, on the way back, at Apollo Bay. Nik had bought a body board at Port Campbell and all 3 boys were desperate to try it out.

We chose a beach spot that was slightly outside Apollo Bay itself but one with toilets.shower so we could get washed off and changed after.

J being pulled on the body board

Nik surfing (well, body boarding)

J managed to get some pretty awesome ‘surf’, coming right in, from the fairly-deep waves breaking, all the way up to the beach. Nik managed a few but he needed to start deeper to get set off.

E just loved being pulled along in the really shallow water (except when he fell off, of course!)

E 'skimming'

By the time we left the beach, it was 7pm and we were ready to eat. After a brief drive, we parked up at Apollo Bay an ordered a ‘family size’ BBQ chicken pizza at the food court. We must have been hungry because it was the BEST pizza!

It was about 9pm when we left Apollo Bay and a stunning sunset was starting to come into view. We stopped to take a few photos and then headed home.

Stunning sunset around 9.30pm (and still 25+ degrees out)

Over the hills and far away, Teletubbies come to play

It was 10.30pm when we got home (and VERY dark, despite the stunning full moon) and the boys were fast asleep, snoring. We transferred them from car straight to bed and chilled for an hour or so.

All in all, we had an AWESOME day. WELL worth the 15 hours out.

Oh, and there are nearly 150 photos and videos in all so prepare to get the ‘Full Monty’ when we get home

Water Park madness!

This morning started off beautiful. Glorious blue sky and warm sunshine even before breakfast and a great start to our day which was planned for Geelong’s Adventure Park.

We set off in time to arrive at the park by 10am (opening time) and were amongst the first dozen or so to arrive. Once in, the boys (all 3 of them) headed for the bigger water slides. E changed his mind about the “Tunnel of Terror” (who could blame him!) and Rapid Rider but J and Nik did it a few times and the queues were practically non-existant at that time.

We then set off across the park to the other main water attractions, the Aqua Racer and the River Torrent which did a big circuit of the main water area. These were great fun as you floated around on an inflatable ring, bumping off people and occasionally being buffeted about by ‘rapids’ and ‘waves’

We did many laps of this and then ‘chilled’ out for a bit before lunch.

There was also a couple of decent sized kids play zones which the boys played on briefly. They weren’t keen on the huge bucket which fills up the top and then tips over. It certainly provides some amusement (and some terror!) for the kids!

We then explored the rest of the park, took the train which runs round the perimeter and the boys had a quick play on the electric cars (NOT bumper cars, as the attendant pointed out many times to our 2!)

The breeze was pretty chilly on our wet swim clothes but the sun was lovely. It still took a good while to dry out after the water fun. Just as we were pretty much dried out, we decided to head back to the River Torrent for a few laps (until the lifeguards/attendants threw everyone off because a queue was building up!)

Everywhere got really busy around 2-3pm onwards as the sun heated up and there were some hefty queues for the main slides.

J drying out

E drying out

We decided, around 3.30, to dry out (again!) and head back home (via Target for a new bikini!)

Chinese takeaway for tea and we’re heading out to the Great Ocean Road tomorrow.

The beach was a-calling!

It’d been nearly a week since we’d been to the beach so today we decided it was time to re-acquaint ourselves with the sand and the sea!

We headed back down to Torquay and boy, we soon were reminded that it was a bank holiday monday!

It was MUCH busier than the previous Tuesday when we first visited but, even still, there was still plenty of beach to go round.

The boys played in the sea for a while before J lost a battle with a crab (apparently, he thought it was a rock so picked it up. Finding it was actually a crab (and a biggish one too!) he dropped it and it grabbed his foot!) and came to sit with me for a while

E stayed and played with Nik in the water though and they were out for some time.

After a couple of hours on the beach (and I remembered my book this time!) we had lunch and took a drive along Torquay’s seafront, along the Esplanade. A beautiful area with some very expensive homes with an amazing view. Definitely one for the lottery win!

The weather heated up even more by mid afternoon and we headed into Geelong again for a brief wander around the shops for a few things. We’re heading to Adventure Park tomorrow (Tuesday) so we invested in a couple of rash tees (sun protective tee shirts) for Nik and me to protect us against the sun tomorrow (and beach days!)

The boys are very excited about the water rides tomorrow so it should be a pretty good day in all. The weather forecast is good (of course!) and we’re hoping it won’t be SO busy that we end up queuing for hours!

I’m only going to ‘chill’ on a lounger (most likely in the shade!) but the boys will be on all the rides and slides, no doubt.

Gold Rush!!

Sunday 27th, we decided to all visit Sovereign Hill at Ballarat, home to Victoria’s Gold Rush!

Sovereign Hill is a kind of ‘themed’ park (as opposed to a theme park!) where the theme is the Victorian Gold rush era and the discovery and processing of mined gold.

There are mine tours, ‘olde worlde’ shops, demonstrations of candle-making, wheel-making, gold pouring and more. You can even grab a pan and shovel and ‘pan for gold’ yourself! Apparently there really IS some to be found.

The place itself was VERY busy. This was apparent as soon as we arrived as we queued for a while to get tickets and the gold-panning area was hectic as everyone tried their luck to find that elusive gold!

It was a good day out overall (although a rather warm and dusty one!)

The kids panned for gold for a while but, typically, no one found anything (although, apparently, someone nearby did)

We also visited the “Frozen in time” exhibition which was a frozen ‘hut’ housing ice sculptures, kept in minus 10 degrees (which was something of a shock to the system!)

Beth and Eliot tried their hands at some ‘candle dipping’ and we all watched the ‘Red Soldiers’ march and fire their muskets (that made us ALL jump!!)

There was loads to do here actually and there was quite a lot we didn’t get chance to do too. We didn’t manage either of the mine tours mostly because the queues were quite long and it was just too hot to stand queuing (without shelter)

We also didn’t get to do the ‘Coach trip’ (and no, not quite your average double decker!) which would also have been pretty cool.

We did have a great day here and the boys spent some money on various gold-related souvenirs. J bought a ‘Bottle of gold’ which was a really neat thing and E bought a ‘gold bar’ paperweight and a souvenir spoon (he’s fond of them!) as well as his candle.

We paid a brief visit across to the Gold Museum which was also on site too. E sat with me and watched a video presentation on the ‘history of gold’ which he was engrossed in for a while and we had to watch to the end while everyone else toured the museum (I didn’t mind too much. They were comfy cinema-type chairs!)

The gift shops had loads of tempting goodies but I resisted and we eventually headed home for Steve to knock us up some BBQ-ed steaks (hot dogs for the boys!)

umm…yeh. Better late than never, eh?

Ok, ok. So it’s been a few days since I blogged. I guess actually being able to relax on holiday has cured me of my wordpress addiction. Maybe!

I’m resuming this at Christmas morning. Apparently there WAS a Christmas morning although it seems a distant memory really!

The boys woke at about ….early! I actually can’t remember what time but I think we strung it out til about 7 before present opening was allowed.

The boys were pretty good about their presents really. They understood that there are presents waiting at home for them, from Santa and that only smallish ones made it all the way to Oz. Luckily, amongst those ‘small’ presents, there was a Nintendo DSi each (which is a thing of wonder, I have to say!) and a camera so along with numerous other things, they were happy. Result!

Steve knocked up a cracking Christmas lunch which we ate on the patio (did ya do that in the UK?? Did ya? Did ya??) in nicer-than-forecast Christmas day weather which, I think, was about mid 20s, warm and sunny.

The remainder of Christmas Day was spent enjoying new Christmas toys and generally not doing very much.

Isn’t that what a ‘proper’ Christmas Day should be like?