Australia Day Holiday and Back to School

It's Skippy! G'Day Mate!




Maria and Sharon

Blimey...it's been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that! At risk of severely pissing you all off, I have to tell you that a large factor in my absence has been that it has been too hot upstairs where the computer is for me to sit there and write. However, you will all be very pleased to hear that it is now pouring with rain, and it looks like it will be pretty rainy for the whole of February.

So - what have we been up to? Well 26th January is Australia Day, and a national holiday (not a Bank Holiday - we've been led up that particular garden path before). Ozzies seem to take it very seriously, celebrating all things Australian, waving flags out their car doors and wearing Australia Day t shirts. Of course, the traditional way to spend the day is on the beach then have a BBQ, although when you think about it, that is pretty much the way they mark any special event. We chose to go camping with Sharon, Richard and their three children and Maria, Kenton and their three children.

Naturally, given that the trip had been some months in the planning, on the day it all started to go wrong. We were going to The Basin (which has featured on here before) and is only accessible by boat. As we were going on the Friday and George was returning from Mission Adrenalin on the same Friday evening, we decided that Anna would go over and spend the night with everyone else and Andrew, George and I would join them on Saturday morning.

The first obstacle to arise was when I phoned Sharon to ask what time I should deliver Anna to the ferry that morning. A certain amount of disharmony was being experienced in the Leifer household as Richard had unexpectedly announced the need to work that morning. Sharon was clearly frustrated, and we agreed that they would give me a ring when they were ready.

So Anna and I got all her things ready, planted them by the door and got on with things until we got the call. Unfortunately, when it came, and I tried to drive Anna off to the ferry, I discovered that the car and house keys could not be found anywhere. Eventually they were located - in the car. And the car was locked. Great. No way to get Anna to the ferry, and no room for Anna in Sharon and Richard's car. We agreed that Anna would join them when we had resolved the problem (which wasn't likely to be until after Andrew got home with George late that night). Anna was devastated but getting little sympathy from me as she was the one who had left them in the car!

However, later on - good news! At least for Anna....Maria and Kenton had arrived on their boat, and discovered that they had left all the food in the fridge at home, so they were coming back, and would pick Anna up.

It was all going splendidly....lol.



Shark net at the opening of the lagoon


And worse was to come....when George got home, he was COVERED in spots! We were told there had been an outbreak of chicken pox at his camp, but I was sceptical. George has had it at least once already, if not twice, and it didn't seem to me that the incubation period at the camp had been sufficiently long. George had been spot free before getting on the bus, and then erupted during the five hour journey home. He'd had a great time though, and was dirty and exhausted just as you should be!




Messing about on boats

Problem was, that even if George didn't have chicken pox, he clearly had something else very contagious...in the morning our GP confirmed that it was a weird virus (ie he didn't know what it was but it wasn't chicken pox). A camping trip to the Basin was clearly out of the question for George. In the end, Andrew and I did a night each, which seemed fair, although the last straw was when one of the poles for our brand new tent broke when we were putting it up....




A goanna investigating our camp

However..... we did have a wonderful time. The Basin is ridiculously beautiful, as you will be able to see from the photos, and the weather was exactly what it should be in an Ozzie summer (too hot). We were visited by wallabies, bush turkeys, and goanas, the children played from sun up to sun down, and us adults enjoyed some wine, a bit of kayaking, some power boating and a lot of chatting. And we have been inspired (despite everything) to go again at Easter! This time we will be going somewhere with hot showers (only cold ones at the Basin, but to be honest it was so bloody hot we didn't really care - and we had some solar showers, which are basically a big black bag you fill with water at the beginning of the day, and by the end of the day it is a lovely warm torrent of water). And somewhere you can get to by car, and not take every morsel of food you and drinking water you will need for the duration!



Look how clear the water is in the lagoon. Can you see the fishes?

So we returned home and then it was haircuts, pack your bags and back to school!



Oooo - haven't you grown??!

This year George is in the middle school, where they have a two week rotational timetable he is trying to get to grips with, and an hour of homework 7 nights a week. They do, however, get to wear long trousers and no longer have to wear the Billy Bunter hat. There is always a silver lining eh? They have both really grown - especially Anna who now comes up above my nose. It's not going to be long before she is as tall as me....

Right - I have to go to bed. I did two classes back to back at the gym today, and my legs are killing me. I don't know what possessed me....