Camping at Easter

 

Desperate to eek out the last of the good weather, we headed off to Lorne on the Ocean Road for a spot of family camping over the Easter long weekend. The campsites were busy but we managed to get a pitch overlooking the ocean and drifted off to sleep to the sound of the roaring waves (and the blokes next door coming back from the pub.) All worth it in the morning when our kids got revenge and we got to watch the sunrise over the waves without leaving the tent.

An absolutely splendid time was had by all. Mum and Dad enjoyed a spot of boogie boarding on the big waves, Thea made an Easter Garden out of sand, and Dulcie threw herself headlong into the surf on numerous occasions. (Our kids are worryingly not showing the ocean the respect it deserves.) Lorne was great for coffee shops, kids trampolines, fish & chips...

One day we headed off to Kennett River to see the koalas: there are hundreds of them who live in the trees just by the beach and they're pretty easy to spot. They don't move all that fast! The beach there has some wonderful rock pools, so Thea, Dulcie & I played mermaid houses while Daddy rode the surf.

 
 
 

Real life stuff - term time

W's parents were with us until towards the end of February, when real life kicked in again. So here's a taste of this term.

Thea started her new kindergarden, JJ McMahon Memorial, once we were back from holiday. It's a lovely preschool where she goes for 2 days a week, and we're very impressed with the staff and the nurturing atmosphere they create. T settled pretty well once she had overcome her inability to use the loos (they are health & safety standard issue doorless loos, and she's not one to poo in public). But a couple of doses of infant laxative and a star chart later, and all was well. Vics found it quite hard to be at the school gates alongside people who all know each other, but is gradually getting to know some other parents.

Dulcie started at her 'occasional care' at Kew Neighbourhood House, which is a 3 hour session each Tuesday morning and once again we've been really impressed with the staff and their care of her. After four or five weeks, she's stopped screaming the house down when mummy leaves and instead goes happily to her favourite carer. At the end of term we got an email from them which had photos of her progress each week: cute!

Vics continues to work one day a week at Finpa New Media, where she is officially termed an instructional designer, and helps develop interesting interactive e-learning materials. The wonderful Jane comes to look after Dulcie and then picks Thea up from kinder at 3pm. She is in the Mary Poppins vein: by the time parents get home from work, the house is tidy, children fed and bathed, calm descends and the gin and tonics can begin. Hurrah.

In addition, each week the girls go to a lovely playgroup, a music session that they both enjoy, Thea has a creative dance class and we are pretty busy! I'm not sure how interesting all this really is.

Term has just ended and it's the Easter break. More soon!

Photos

To see more of us try our Picassa photo page at http://picasaweb.google.com/Thewilliamsongang

Vics adds - yes, W has bought a new digital camera and is now producing masterpieces quicker than I can create text. We've started creating picassa albums so that despite the blog getting out of date quite quickly, you can still see up to date pictures.

 

Cradle Mountain

And finally on to the most beautiful part of our stay, the Cradle Mountain National Park. It was actually quite a bit parkier than expected and some of us ended up wearing all of our clothes to keep warm. We did some lovely walks, short ones to see waterfalls on wonderful boardwalks, and a long one around the lake where Thea completed over 4km without being carried. We were extremely proud!

Nearby was a Tassie devil sanctuary. These creatures are dying out in the wild due to a facial cancer that actually spreads as they interact (ie fight over food, which is often). They're surprisingly cute looking up close. Not that you'd want to be in the cage with them.

Sorry some of the pics are sideways. I just can't face fixing them. Lie down next to your computer and you'll get the idea.






 
 
 
 

Going wild

Heading west through Mount Field National Park and Lake St Clair to the edge of the world at Strahan.

The ranger we did our walk thru Mount Field with swore that you could hear the trees drinking if you used a stethoscope. Vics wasn't quite so sure.

We experienced the Roaring Forties on the beach at Strahan. Man did they roar.

 
 
 
 

Hittin' Hobart

The Williamson's can't be without a decent cafe latte for too long. Time to go to Hobart.

The weather wasn't quite so good at Hobart, and we had an amusing drive up Mount Wellington for the fabled view over the city, only to have the mist descend so we could hardly see each other at the top.

Good cafes, and restaurants. While we were there a massive cruise liner arrived. Worth a gawp.


 
 
 
 

Freycinet frolics

At wineglass bay your wineglass is always half full.

We stayed at a beautiful beach house just outside Coles Bay, which was only slightly spolit by the appearance of a massive (harmless, but huge, really) spider in our bedroom on the first night. Gallant Will soon disposed of it.

The scenery around Coles Bay was truly stunning, and we did a beautiful but very tiring walk over the hills to Wineglass Bay itself, which was stunning. As you can see.

 
 
 
 

Lovin' Launceston

First stop on the grand tour of Tassie was Lanceston, a quiet little town on the river. We hung out at Cataract Gorge, where there was a chairlift over a lake (half way across I wondered if it really was a good thing to do with Thea), a swimming pool, and some stunning scenery. A cruise on the river completed the stay.

 
 
 
 

All aboard

Departing marvellous Melbourne for the delights of Tassie.

The highlight of Joyce & Mike's trip to see us was a two week holiday to Tasmania. Thea, Daddy, Nanna and Gramps travelled on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry for an 8 hour day trip across to Devonport on Tassie's north coast. Mummy and Dulcie took a flight which got them to the same place in around an hour.

 
 
 
 

A night on the tramcar

How much fun can you have on a tram?

One of the first things we did when W's folks were with us was to get on board the travelling tramcar restaurant and have 5 courses and a few drinks (can you tell?) whilst gliding round the city's tram tracks. I was paranoid that drinks would spill on the bends, but said tram has been fitted with some sort of stabilising gear to make sure it doesn't happen. The decor is an Australian version of victorian, so a bit chintzy. But huge fun.