I don’t mean the people are backward, I mean I’m writing this blog backwards as it’s been so long since I’ve written one, I’ve forgotten half the stuff we’ve done, plus, the kids and John are on top of their game so I don’t need to write quite as much. To be honest, my free time goes into helping the kids with their journals, blogs and homework, once those are done, I can get on with my writing – hence why I’m not getting much chance.

It’s March 23rd (or thereabouts), we honestly don’t know what day or date it is sometimes, which is a great way to live until you realise you’ve moved into a new month or season and you didn’t even realise.

The Great Ocean Road.

Bimbi Park in Otways National Park- it’s turned cold! We’ve had to put on our ‘New Zealand’ clothes, it’s windy and rainy and about 18*! A woody, hilly, foresty camp site, we’re in a budget cabin which is actually really nice, no shower or toilet but really comfy and modern. The kids have especially liked Bimbi Park because they’ve been allowed to go out and play without us breathing down there necks, they could stay out until it got dark and then they come back. It’s a big milestone for all of us and I’m still twitchy about it. There are some rules, always staying together etc.

On our last day there we managed to blag our way into a ‘home schooling camp’. The Victoria home schoolers were having a meet up in our camp ground and they were having a science session with a local palaeontologist called Mike – a dinosaur discoverer. We had a great time on the beach learning about dinosaurs and looking for signs of their existence.

H & A particularly liked Bimbi Park, not only because of the their freedom to explore without us but they made some friends too. Their confidence is growing by the day. I was warmed by Arlo’s confidence when we went on a tree top adventure ropes course, he’s got balls of steel and was so independent and willing, refusing my help when I offered.

 

 

Our prior stop was in Port Fairy, an artsy beach town on the south coast of Australia, we’re heading to Melbourne and should arrive there on the 25th, we’re in the middle of a section of the 3 week road trip starting at Adelaide.  Port Fairy was special for us as Arlo lost his first tooth and as the Tooth Fairy must live in Port Fairy he got a bonus payout of $5 (£3). He blew it all on sweets and arcade games. We stayed in a fabulous converted train carriage

 

The prior few days we stayed in Robe, a little beach town with nothing much to write about apart from Henna joined me in a grown up yoga class and loved it. Our ‘budget’ cabin on Lakeside Touring Park really was bloody budget, no bog or shower, we used the camp sites block. When I say it’s the worst place we’ve stayed in, it wasn’t really that bad, it was fine, it’s just that we’ve stayed in some really fantastic places and the budget cabin wasn’t quite as fantastic.

We’ve been eating basic/ usual foods from Aldi, Woolworths and Coles, just like we would at home, so lots of little food shopping trips, we can’t buy too much as most of our accommodations have little fridges and we only have a small cool bag to keep stuff cold whilst on the road. The kids have been great shopping with us but are constantly asking for sweets/ biscuits/ sugary cereal etc, like most kids do, most of the time. And like most parents (?) I say NO. Arlo (being the sneaky blagger he is) suggested that he and Henna do the shopping next time so they can buy what they want, so we agreed. They made a list of a few of our essentials, bread, almond milk, apples etc and they bounced round Aldi with $50 – we watched them (from the car park) go up and down the same isles looking for sugary goodies. 20 minutes later they came out armed with sugar coated cereals, gelatine jelly sweets, the most expensive pack of 20 yoghurts and of course our bread, almond milk and apples. They spent EXACTLY $50. They loved it.

Earlier before Robe, we had a one night camp in Coorong National Park, and I can confirm, I don’t like sleeping on the ground in a tent. John gallantly gave me his sleeping matt (so I had two) but it’s still not enough. A terrible nights sleep only saved by the 15 minutes I spend looking at the brightest stars in the night sky before (I try to) fall asleep.

Before Coorong we stayed 5 days on Kangeroo Island, we all loved it, mainly due to the fact we stayed in our best house to date. La Viv was a big wooden house, hand built by an artist with rough wooden ceilings, unfinished concrete walls, stained glass panels and murals, the biggest bed we’ve ever had and – a pool table (Arlo) and a cozy reading room (Henna) …both kids and we loved it. On KI we really enjoyed sand boarding but it was exhausting climbing up the dunes for the short thrill of sliding down, I’m not as fit as I was before we left in December, I’m not too worried about it yet, I’ve lost weight before so I know I can do it again when we get back home. We got very close to a mother and baby Koala (in the wild), just a few metres away, this rare and lucky find unfortunately now means that our future Koala huntings will be redundant as nothing can compare to this. A highlight were the Australian Sea Lions along with New Zealand Fur Seals…and some Remarkable Rocks.

Our first stop on the south coast was Adelaide, we spent 5 days in Brownhills Campground, again in a budget cabin that looked like a 1970’s campervan…..ooohhh, we lurve Adelaide. It’s very different to Perth, a little rougher around the edges, more ‘lived in’. We arrived at the perfect time, unknowingly to us it was Adelaide Arts Festival, with other Fringe Festivals going on too. We hired free bikes in the city and cycled to the ‘green belt’ that skirts the CBD, it was way too hot (again) and we were all tired quickly in the 35* heat.

We visited the Art Gallery to see part of the Adelaide Art Biennial, the City Library (like something from Hogwarts, Henna was suitably impressed) and the Jam Factory (like Manchester Craft and Design Centre where my studio is but with more funding). Just outside the Jam Factory there was a graffiti artist casually signing his name on a piece he’d just finished, we watched and clapped at his end and he asked if we’d like to have a go, he had some paint left in his 3 cans and as he was going to the airport he couldn’t take them with him. We checked the legality of us spraying the walls of an underpass and he reassured us it was ok and perfectly legal (in this spot). The kids were in their element and both created their logos with pride to be adorned forever – or until someone else sprays over them.
Henna was particularly fascinated with the glass blowing demo at the Jam Factory a mesmerising performance of skill and timing. Arlo’s question was (as usual) “How much will you sell that for?” I don’t know where he gets it from!
We scoured the Arts Festival brochure for something we would all enjoy and settled on a magic show, Kevin Quantum (from Scotland) was billed as a magic show – with science. Of course we sat in the front row and Henna was picked to go on stage and help the magician, she did a sterling job in holding a ballon that seemed to move up and down based on the audiences gasps of air and wonderment. After the show we walked through town to see the evenings light festival.

Oh joy of joys, I got my first wax in 3 months! Just need to find someone to cover my grey roots now and I’m done.