Holiday - Summary

We thoroughly enjoyed our 17 day holiday around NSW & Victoria. Our total travel distance finished at 3,866km. Taemar was much closer in her guess as to what the total distance covered would amount to. It’s funny because Mike & Taemar separately were a little skeptical as to whether a driving holiday with a 3 year old was a good idea, but neither strongly expressed their doubts. Fortunately the trip exceeded both their expectations.

What was a surprise was that the actual driving was at least half the fun of the trip, where our initial feelings of trepidation were because we felt the driving component would be mostly pretty dull, plus a bored 3 year old would make it even tougher. In actual fact, because the majority of the roads and places had never been seen by either of us previously, it was actually interesting and the time didn’t drag at all. A huge bonus was how well Stephen took to the borrowed in-car DVD player. He watched a heap of movies, some, like Fireman Sam, many, many times, and he rarely complained or got upset. Plus, Stephen generally slept for an hour or two on the longer parts of the journey.

These were the main highlights:

• Anglesea to Apollo Bay – the best portion of the great ocean road. Absolutely beautiful and mouth-dropping natural beauty. The towns of Anglesea and Apollo Bay were also nice places to spend a few days, and the pizza place in Apollo Bay is awesome!
• Zoofari at Western Plains Zoo – we love zoo’s at the best of times, but sleeping in the zoo grounds and going on three behind the scenes tours with an incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic zookeeper, where we got to touch and feel some amazing animals – well we would have paid double for the pleasure, it was that good.
• Bendigo – not a focus for our trip initially, but a lovely surprise. It’s a beautiful historic town, and the talking tram tour was fantastic.
• Hallidays Point – the best part about this was spending some decent time with Sean, Karen, and all our friends, plus Sean & Karen’s great news.
• Tocumwal – specifically the Murray River. It was peaceful and beautiful. Made us think that perhaps a houseboat holiday might be for us after all.
• Warrnambool – although it was shockingly cold when we were there, it’s a nice town and the children’s playgrounds are phenomenal.

Other notable mentions:

• The 12 Apostles – actually I thought the Arch & London Bridge were more impressive. We didn’t see these natural wonders on their best day as the weather was pretty awful the day we saw these.
• Temora Aviation Museum – definitely worth the diversion, and it will be great to get back there for a flying weekend.
• Parkes Radio telescope – definitely worth a stop & when Stephen is older it will be worth a longer look.
• Merimbula, Barlings Beach – both were nice places to stay and spend a couple of days.
• Big4 Caravan Parks – we stayed mostly in cabins in the Big4 caravan park chain, and the quality was pretty consistent. The Apollo Bay & Dubbo cabins were a highlight, partly due to the inclusion of a spa in the cabin, and in the case of Apollo Bay the view was great, and being 50m to the beach was excellent. The bonus of staying in the parks is that there is most often a pool and a childrens playground, plus bbq facilities.

What wasn’t so great:

• Ballarat, Parkes, Temora – somehow these towns just didn’t feel nice to us. Ballarat we probably didn’t give much of a chance, but both Parkes & Temora actually felt pretty horrible.

Here are two maps showing our total journey, firstly from Dee Why, via Barlings Beach, Lakes Entrance, Anglesea, Apollo Bay, and onto Warrnambool. The 2nd is the return journey starting at Warrnambool, via Bendigo, Echuca, Tocumwal, Temora, Dubbo, Hallidays Point, and back to Dee Why.

Holiday - 2006/10/30

• Time to head back home today for the remaining three families. There was just time for another hour at the playground where we invented a new game where a batsmen attempts to kick a ball that has been bounced to him. This doesn’t sound difficult until you realize the batsmen is swinging on a swing!
• It was time to leave when the 10am checkout time rolled around and for Taemar, Mike, & Stephen it was time to head home from their holiday on the last of their 17 day trip that started in Sydney and went to the south coast of Victoria and then back up to Hallidays Point before south again to Sydney.
• Not wanting to head straight home we stopped at Pacific Palms and Smiths Lake. Both locations seem very nice and have a couple of great caravan parks to choose from, so we think there might be a future holiday in those locations as well.
• Lunch was at Heatherbrae for some nice pies and coffee.
• When we arrived back in Sydney we first stopped to pickup Jordan. After we had unpacked the car and relaxed for a little while we all went for a walk to Dee Why Beach. We finished our holiday with a nice warm spa.
• Drove 350km.
• Google map

Holiday - 2006/10/29

• Daylight savings started last night, so it almost felt like a sleep in to have Stephen wake at 7am! We had a quick breakfast at home and then headed into Hallidays Point bakery for a coffee, croissants and the Sunday paper. Stephen then went for a bike ride along a bush path to the beach and Tae and Mike followed behind for a nice walk. When we got back to the caravan park everyone else was up and ready for the beach. The Dads and children headed for the beach and the Mums had a lovely chat over cups of tea on the verandah.
• There were many holes dug on the beach in the morning and it also included many tunnels, channels to the water, bridges over the channels using available sticks, and walls and towers. With the tide coming in, each major construction would eventually be swamped by the rising water. Sean was able to successfully capture the construction phase, but always seemed to miss out on the destruction phase! There was also a great deal of kicking of the footy on the beach, and running in and out of the water – a great time!
• The Cameron’s left just after lunch and it was sad to see them go. It was great to have everyone together and we all felt that this should be the first of many family holidays together. It was agreed that Mike & Tae would arrange the next holiday for April/May next year.
• The remainder of us, except for Kylie and Laura, then went on a bush walk to find the lookout. And it turned out to be a nice walk, but a fairly arduous track for Rob who was pushing a pram with a sometimes sleeping Elise, and Stephen who was riding his bike.
• Once again, a little bit of exercise was enough justification for ice creams upon our return.



• The Dads and kids enjoyed a game of Boulle later in the afternoon while the lovely ladies provided nibbles and thirst quenchers. Stephen seemed to come up with a different technique every time he through one of the heavy boulle’s, with varying degrees of success. The combination of Sean & Josh was too hard to beat – their consistency made them a tough challenge.
• It was time for a break from cooking bbq’s so the Dads were able to provide fish & chips for dinner, and after dinner (and Australian Idol) had finished Sean got out his Poker kit and we played poker for an hour or so. Not surprisingly peoples enjoyment of the game closely followed the degree of success they had in building their pile of chips. It maybe that Sean will have to do some overtime to pay back the bank all of his borrowings!

Holiday - 2006/10/28

• We spent the morning at the beach before the wind picked up and then moved to the pool in the caravan park. While we were at the beach Taemar spotted whales off the shore and they were having a lovely time. At times you could see the entire underbelly of a whale as it rose up out of the water before crashing back down with a huge splash. We weren’t sure weather they were fishing or playing as they seemed to spend quite a lot of time beating the top of the water with their massive tails.



• Near the pool there is a large playground with a heap of equipment, and there is also a basketball court. Mike, Sean, Josh, Michael, and Stephen played basketball until they were too hot and then it was back in the pool to cool down.
• After lunch Taemar went for a run, while most of the others went up to the shop and bought ice creams which were thoroughly enjoyed.
• Rob, Kylie, Laura, and Elise arrived in the afternoon, and we had another bbq in the evening, although because of the wind we all crammed inside Sean & Karen’s cabin. Stephen had fallen asleep just before 5pm and really wasn’t happy to be awake, so after the bbq was cooked he went off to bed early – it had been a very big day!

Holiday - 2006/10/27

• Today started with a zoo tour before breakfast. We visited the giraffe’s (Gerald), black rhino (Gwonza), Cheetahs, and the Simian Gibbons from Sumatra. We were all given the chance to feed Gerald who is a very friendly giraffe with a very long tongue. He loved the carrots for breakfast. Afterwards, Stephen said feeding Gerald was his favorite part of our zoo trip. On the way to feed Gwonza the Black Rhino we paused to look into a paddock where some of the white rhino’s were lounging including a 2 week old baby who is identical to his mother, except for the absence of a horn (less painful birth without the horn). We also visited two young male cheetahs who were quite frisky and running around their enclosure. They are an awesome sight when they wind up to a decent pace. Interestingly, while the cheetahs can only go at their top speed for 400m or so, the wild African dogs we saw the previous day can sustain a speed of 60-70km per hour for 7 to 8 kilometers. Our last stop before a hearty breakfast was the Simian Gibbons who will put on a show a few times a day to let everyone know where the boundaries of their territory lays. We recorded this on the video camera – the sounds the male a female pair made were extraordinary and the interaction between the two was great to watch. They have a young baby gibbon who also danced around during the performance. While it was great to watch it was also sobering to be told that if someone were to actually encroach on the gibbons territory they would definitely be killed. The Simian Gibbons are fiercely territorial and aggressive in their defense of their territory.



• After breakfast we set off on our long drive to Halidays Point. We had a few stops a long the way, but only short stops. Our longest stop was at Raymond Terrace where we picked up a few things at the grocery store for a bbq that night. We took approximately 6.5 hours to cover the distance from Dubbo to Hallidays Point.
• We arrived just on 5pm and Sean, Karen, and Josh arrived 5 minutes later. Angela, Michael, Matthew, and Joel were already there having arrived around 2pm. Incedibly Stephen had stayed awake the entire drive, mainly watching DVD’s, but he fell asleep about 5 minutes before we arrived! We had a nice catch-up – everyone was very happy to see each other and we had a bbq for dinner and ate together on the deck of Sean & Karen’s cabin.
• The big news is that Karen and Sean are expecting a baby next year. Everyone was overjoyed at the news – we know how excited they are to be expecting a little brother or sister for Josh, including Josh himself.
• Josh & Sean introduced us to Josh’s cricket card game called Wickets, and we spent a fun couple of hours playing the game while tweaking the rules.
• Drove 515km.
• Google Map

Holiday - 2006/10/26

• What an absolutely awesome day!



• We had some shopping that needed doing this morning and the car was pretty dirty & dusty, so while Tae went shopping the boys took the car to a car wash. Stephen & Mike had a great time washing the car – even Tonky got a wash. At one point Stephen was holding the hose when Mike started the high pressure rinse. Stephen was laughing while trying to tell Mike that he was being pushed backwards almost onto his bottom.
• We checked out of the park & headed straight to the zoo. We got there around 10am and first off we drove around the 6km circuit. We stopped a couple of times for the Rhino feeding and the Hippo feeding.



• Next we went to the Elephant enclosure. Stephen had told us the previous day that “there aren’t any elephants at the zoo, they’ve gone to Dubbo”. When we told him we were at Dubbo, he got a very puzzled expression and was quiet for some time while he thought that through! We saw three African elephants, and they are very large. I think we’d forgotten how big elephants are.
• We finished driving around the circuit and stopped at the café for some milkshakes and muffins.
• We then hired bikes so we could ride around the zoo at a more leisurely pace. Stephen got a carriage that was attached to Mike’s bike. It was quite a hot day so we had lots of drinks breaks.
• We visited the elephants again, but this time it was feeding time with a zoo keeper talk, which was great. The elephants are able to be controlled by the keepers – they’re very intelligent animals and can be trained to a greater level than other animals, e.g. horses. There are three African elephants ranging from 5 tonnes to 7.5 tonnes, and they eat approximately 300kg of food per day.
• Next, we visited the two Asian elephants who were previously at Taronga zoo. They have smaller ears, only the males have tusks, and they don’t have wrinkles. The African elephants are wrinkled so when they cover themselves in damp mud the mud fills the wrinkles and the outer layer dries leaving a cool moist layer below.



• We stopped for a brief look at a lounging Cheetah – the fastest land animal with a top speed that would allow them to sit comfortably in the right lane of a NSW expressway.
• We climbed up to the top of the African viewing tower and had a great view of the elephants and the giraffes.
• Next, we stopped to admire the size of the White Rhino’s which grow to 1.8m tall compared to 1.5m of the Black Rhino’s. Did you know that the White Rhino’s aren’t white! They are named because of their wide lower lip, and the word for wide in Africaans is “weit”, pronounced “white”.
• We stopped to look at the sleeping Tiger and then saw some sleeping Lions, but our time there coincided with a large group of disabled kids who don’t have any of the inhibitions of other kids their own age, so they were whooping and hollering trying to get the Lions to wake up. Well, it worked! First, the Lions sat up, and then the male lion actually got up and walked past the female towards the back of the enclosure. I actually think he just wanted to get away from the noisy kids, but they were ecstatic and gave him three cheers.
• We saw many other animals, wild horses, dingo’s, kangaroos, deer, camels, etc… Finally, just before 2pm we made it back to the start and we all enjoyed a well earned ice cream.
• We then checked into our zoofari lodge, and the first thing we did was take a dip in the saltwater pool to cool down.
• At 3:40pm it was time to begin our first behind the scenes zoo tour. There were two minibuses of approximately 12 people, plus a taxi that carried a person in a wheelchair, and that person was none other than the Olympic Champion Louise Savage!
• Our first stop on the afternoon tour was the elephants night time sleeping quarters. This was such a fantastic way to start – we stood behind a fence with the enormous elephants no more than 2m from us, while the zookeeper told us about the elephants and asked “Yum Yum”, the matriarch to lift each foot in turn and put them on the fence so each foot could be inspected and cleaned. This included the back feet. They respond to a huge variety of spoken commands, and are generally extremely responsive. Mind you they are very well rewarded with treats! The next largest elephant, “Cuddles”, then showed us her trick which is keeping her massive mouth open while treats are thrown straight in. Cuddles has a longer left tusk than right task because elephants are right or left tusked much like humans are right or left handed, so she wears the right tusk down as fast as it can grow.



• We then visited the Sumatran Tiger who had been kept waiting for his dinner. When we arrived he was pacing along the other side of the moat. He then jumped into the water and swam backwards and forwards until his keeper threw his dinner to him. His keeper informed us that the only way to control Tigers is through food and it would not be safe for him to be in the enclosure with the Tiger at any time – he would be mauled.



• We also visited the Wild Dogs of Africa at their feeding time. We had visited the Wild Dogs earlier in the day and they weren’t moving at all. Feeding time was a completely different story. Firstly, they made a high pitched squealing noise at the mere prospect of food, which rose in volume tenfold when food was thrown to them. I caught on camera the first chicken (not live) being thrown to them. Five separate dogs grabbed hold and all pulled in different directions until the chicken tore apart, which only took a few seconds. They were able to gobble down their portions in a matter of moments. Their teeth are very strong. We had seen these dogs on a BBC documentary which highlighted how they can communicate and work as a very effective hunting pack. Well, in this environment teamwork was not the priority!
• Our last stop of the afternoon was to visit the white handed (and faced) gibbon and view his tricks. He was a massive showoff and loved swinging from branch to branch and then hanging calmly from one hand while watching us to make sure we were watching him.
• Then it was back to the lodge, time for a quick freshen up and another swim for Stephen, and then it was dinner time. We had pre-ordered when we had checked-in, so that saved time. Stephen had fish fillets with chips and vegetables. Mike had Pumpkin soap, followed by Atlantic Salmon. Taemar also had the Atlantic Salmon for main, and she had a goat’s cheese tart for her entrée. Mike & Taemar both had sticky date pudding for desert, while Stephen almost ate all of his “Frog on a Pond”, which was ice cream, green jelly, and a large chocolate frog!
• After dinner it was time for the night tour. Our tour guide, Greg, was excellent. Twice he stopped, jumped out of the bus and came back with gecko’s to show us and touch. The first was a fat tailed gecko and the second was a velvet gecko.
• Our first stop on the night tour was the lions. Greg took us within a couple of metres of the female and the male lion. The male was pretty laid back but the two females were very active. In an attempt to get the male on his feet, Greg turned out all the torches and lay down on his back beside the fence. After about three seconds I heard the sound of paws hitting the ground beside Greg’s head. I had assumed it was the male, but when the torches came on a female lion had absolutely silently and with incredible speed come from the back of the enclosure and had her head inches from Greg’s. She had seen him in a vulnerable position and thought there was a chance of quick kill. The female left but stopped for a wee. This was what finally got the male lion on his feet. He went and sniffed the wee quite extensively before making a face like it was the most offensive thing he’d ever smelt.
• We next visited the maned wolf, a native of South America, and looks like a fox on stilts. We had also seen the maned wolf earlier in the day, but she was out to is when we saw her. She, and her three grown up cubs were very active at night, and Greg fed her baby chicks (not live) as treats.
• We then got to visit a wombat who was more awake than any wombat we’d ever seen before. Although by this point, about 8:15 at night, Stephen was more asleep than any Wombat that has ever slept. It had been a really big day, and he’d had no naps at all during the day. He was great all day, even during the meal at the restaurant. Greg told us lots of interesting facts about Wombats, like they very hard plate of bone that makes up their rear backs so they can leave that poking out the whole and it acts as a front door. Also, they can flatten themselves so if an animal pokes it’s head in the burrow the Wombat can flatten itself and then stand up and crush the would-be predator’s skull between the Wombat’s back and the burrow ceiling. Also, their pouches are rear facing so they don’t get full of dirt when they’re digging. He also told us a tale about the previous wombat who discovered that she couldn’t dig out because of the cement underneath the dirt, but if she dug the dirt from the middle towards the fence she could make stairs that she could use to escape. They had to bring her back on the zoofari bus a couple of times, until an ample breasted women went to pat her and “Molly” grabbed onto the lady’s breasts.
• Our last visit was to “Happy” the Hippo. He was born on Christmas Day 21 years ago so was given the name Happy. Unfortunately he’s the grumpiest Hippo at the zoo and you’re not safe in the same enclosure as him. Hippo’s kill more people in Africa than any other animal. They are extremely territorial, then can swim and run at speeds up to 35km per hour. They can stay under water for up to 30 minutes at a time and they can open their mouths to a 180 degree angle, and the have massive teeth. Basically, they are not to be messed with at all.



• Finally, it’s time for sleep, and from our accommodation – solid walls for the bathroom, and the remainder is a luxurious tent about the size of a large hotel room – we can hear lots of fantastic sounds. It sounded like a Lion roar earlier, and you feel like you’re in the jungle. Just a simply wonderful experience.

Holiday - 2006/10/25

• We went to the Temora Aviation Museum this morning. It’s a fantastic museum because all the planes actually fly. We weren’t there on a flying day, but the planes are in fantastic condition. We spoke to a volunteer for some time about the planes. They have one of the only flying spitfire’s in the Southern hemisphere and recently acquired a 2^nd spitfire. At the last flying day the Prime Minister attended to open a new runway – the federal government has given quite a substantial amount to the museum, it helps when the main benefactor has the surname Lowy!
  


• Anyway, James Packer and a number of other distinguished guests were present, apparently 600 million dollars worth of executive jets were there that day, plus 7,000 visitors. On our visit there were probably 15 visitors so it was good to be there on a quiet day.


• We stopped at a lake just outside Temora for lunch and Stephen had a play in the sand.


• We drove onto Parkes where we had thought we would spend the night, but it looked like a bit of a dive, we got some information and then we visited the radio telescope made famous in the movie “The Dish”. It’s a very impressive piece of equipment and its well setup for visitors.
  One of the cool things they have there is two small dishes (2m or so across) that are arranged vertically (the edge of each dish is touching the ground about 50m apart. By standing on a step and facing the dish you are facing the centre of the dish. The way the dishes are configured you can talk into a dish and your voice is clearly heard by a person standing in front of the other dish. In fact, you can whisper and the person 50m away can hear you clearly!
• We decided to drive onto Dubbo – there is a Big4 caravan park in Dubbo and we are staying in a spa cabin – very nice.


• Tonight we went out and got takeaway pizza for dinner and we all had a spa afterwards – very relaxing.
• Tomorrow we check-in to the Dubbo Zoofari lodge, so no driving & we’re all really looking forward to our zoo trip.
• Drove 335km.
• Google Map

Holiday - 2006/10/24

• In the morning we went back to the banks of the Murray river for another play in the sand. What was really cool was that our hole from the previous day was still there! We were able to extend it using the cups from Mike & Tae’s coffee’s with the bottoms cut out. This made a great pipe which we built a bridge over the top.
• We drove to Narrandera and arrived there at lunch time. We stopped at a park in the centre of time for a cuppa and a sandwich. We also played in the park and there is a cricket field at the same place and the sprinklers were on. Stephen & Mike had some fun running across the field and dodging the sprinklers. There was also a little wildlife enclosure that had an emu, some kangaroos, and some native birds.
• We arrived in Temora around 3pm and we spent a while deciding where to stay. There were no decent caravan parks so we stayed in a motel, which is actually quite nice – the lady gave us a big room. When you arrive in Temora the sign says, “The friendliest town in NSW”. By all indications this is somewhat exaggerated. When we went to the information centre, which is in the library, we couldn’t actually interest anyone in helping us, even though we were there for 15 minutes!
• Stephen is very excited about the aircraft museum, but it was too late in the day to go to the museum, so Mike & Stephen went to the local recreation centre which has a full length Olympic pool and a smaller pool for little children. They had great fun in the pool and doing interval training (Stephen’s insistence).
• In the evening we all went to the Ex-Services club for dinner. Fish & Chips, followed by ice cream for Stephen. Mike asked for the chicken Madagaskar (sounded nice) but they were all out of chicken breast! So, Mike had a steak and it was massive, and also quite nice. Taemar had Penne alla amatriciana.
• Drove 310km.
• Google Map

Holiday - 2006/10/23

• Mike was suffering from his cold last night and this morning so Taemar & Stephen went for a walk in the Bendigo park where they saw ducks, baby ducks, swans, and baby swans.
• Stephen & Mike planned to do a mine tour at Bendigo’s Deborah Central Mine. Unfortunately Stephen decided he didn’t want to go down the hole after all, so instead we panned for gold and caught the tram again into town where we met Taemar.
• We drove on to Echuca for lunch which is a lovely town on the Murray with an historic port region. We saw plenty of paddle steamers cruising up the Murray, Stephen played in the park, and we had sandwiches for lunch.



• We arrived in Tocumwal before 3pm – Stephen had a good sleep in the car. We found another very nice caravan park and a brand new cabin to stay in, right opposite a solar heated pool and a bbq.
• We all had a swim in the pool to cool down. It’s much warmer inland than what it was down on the south coast – around 30 degrees here today.


• Later this afternoon we all went down to the banks of the Murray river. Mike has thought about the Murray a lot and remembered reading the book Riverboat Bill, set on the Murray, when he was a child. The banks of the Murray where we spent time were nice and sandy & Stephen & Mike were able to play happily digging holes, tunnels, and channels before the sun went down. We were surprised at how quickly the Murray was flowing, even quite close to the shore.



• At the Murray where we played is a campsite, not a caravan park, but a site where people can camp. There were approximately 20 caravans and campervans and when we arrived it seemed like they were all sitting in a big circle chatting and sipping wine & beer, no doubt swapping tales about the “good old days”.
• We had another bbq tonight – sausages, pumpkin, potato, mushrooms, and salad. Stephen struggled to finish his dinner – he was very keen on the ice cream that he knew was in the freezer, but the parents one this battle of wills and even though it took another half an hour Stephen got his ice cream only after he had finished all his dinner.
• Drove 220km.
• Google Map

Stephen - Master Negotiator

• Stephen is a fierce negotiator. We've had numerous instances where he will try a number of methods to get his way.
• On Taemar's Birthday there was an incident where he lashed out and hit Taemar. As a result his two current favorite toys were confiscated. Now, he was truly repentant and very upset. He apologised but insisted that the cars should be returned. Initially Mike said the cars wouldn't be returned until the following day. This upset Stephen a lot because he knew he would be seeing Pa that night and wanted to show Pa his new cars. Stephen kept up such a persistent stream of wailing, constantly telling us that he had apologised and he was being good, we were forced to renegotiate and return one car now and the other car later in the afternoon.
• A major challenge we face with disciplining Stephen is that he sees himself as an equal. Consequently any punishment he interprets as us being naughty.
• Stephen has also learnt to bend the truth if not outright lie. He uses the method of isolating his victim and then telling them that the other person lets him do or have whatever he currently wants.
• He also attempts to renegotiate at the logical conclusion to a prior negotiation, I.e. One more ride.
• Recently, when unhappy with a decision by Mike he attempted to convince Mike firstly that Taemar had made a different decision. He then told Mike that he was like a jigsaw puzzle that couldn't put the pieces together the right way, but Stephen knew how to put the pieces together, I.e. Mike was too stupid to understand what Taemar meant, but Stephen did understand.

Holiday - 2006/10/22

• Travelling to Bendigo today.
• After brealkfast we visited Warrnambool's fabulous park one more time. Stephen was not happy when it was time to leave.
• Stephen fell asleep half an hour outside of Ballarat so we decided to press on to Bendigo. We did stop by a dam just outside of Ballarat for a cuppa and a sandwhich.



• We arrived in Bendigo just before 3pm. Just driving through town we felt like Bendigo is a lovely historic town with plenty of original buildings from the past.
• We did a “talking tram” tour of Bendigo which was fantastic. It went for an hour and took us on an historic trip around Bendigo of both the town and the history of the tram service. As we thought there are many buildings that date back to the 1800’s that have been superbly maintained or restored. We were also very interested to learn about the Gold Rush and the wealth of Bendigo in it’s prime. Would you believe that Bendigo has it’s own Charing Cross & Pall Mall. Also, at one time there was a population of 5,000 Chinese making up a quarter of the total Bendigo population.



• Bendigo had trams before Melbourne – the first tram service began in 1894 and was run on batteries, but these proved inadequate as a power source and were scrapped 13 weeks after beginning service. They were replaced with steam trams but these were found to be too noisy, scared the horses, and used too much water. Finally in 1903 electric trams began in Bendigo and remained in service until 1972. Eventually with the popularity of cars the cost of running the trams was no longer viable, but after a popular uprising the state government reinstated the tram service as a tourist attraction and the “talking tram” has been running since late 1972.
• We had a play in the park at the caravan park and then Tae cooked a lovely pasta and sauce for dinner.
• Drove 310km.
• Google Map

Holiday - 2006/10/21

• Nan & Pa looked after Stephen while Mike & Tae went to the surf club for a relaxing breakfast. It was nice to enjoy some quiet time together overlooking the beach.
• It was pretty cold today. A maximum of only 14 degrees.
• Nan & Pa left mid morning.
• The three of us went to the train station to watch the daily train arrive. We spent an hour at the station because it was quite exciting. We watched the men decouple the engine, drive it over the points, then a man switched the points so the engine could drive past the carriages. Then they went through the same steps so the engine could be coupled to the other end of the carriages. Stephen & Mike then got on the train & walked through the carriages until it was time for the train to leave for Melbourne.



• Taemar then went to the beautician while Stephen & Mike went to the park. They played on the diggers, in the boat, maze, and on the flying fox.
• We relaxed in the afternoon and planned our onward journey.
• In the evening we had a bbq of steak, sausages, asparagus, corn, and potato.
• After Stephen had gone to bed Tae & Mike enjoyed a desert of a mixed berry pie.

Holiday - 2006/10/20

• It was Taemar’s Birthday today. Tae was woken by Stephen coming into our bedroom and quietly saying, “Happy Birthday Mummy”. Tae thought it was the best possible way to wake up.
• We got away before 9am & our first stop was Mait’s Rest, a rainforest. This was an excellent walk of about 20 minutes. There are some enormous Myrtle Beech trees in the rainforest. Stephen said, “That tree is so high, I think it touches the sky”. It was very interesting because it was a Eucalyptus forest connected to a rainforest. The rainforest will encroach on the Eucalyptus forest unless there is a fire. The Eucalyptus forest recovers very well after a fire, while the rainforest does not.
• We visited Otway Lighthouse which was completed in 1848 after a shipwreck that lost 400 lives. The lighthouse was operational until 1994. It was originally powered by whale oil, then kerosene, and finally electricity. It has now been replaced by a solar powered automatic lighthouse, the “Tupperware Lighthouse” the locals call it. We were able to climb to the top of the lighthouse, and it was incredibly windy at the top.



• We drove to the 12 Apostles, and they are spectacular, although the weather was cloudy and a bit drizzly. It was also quite windy, and I can say, “the sea was angry that day my friends”.


• We next stopped at the Arch. We got a chance to experience the full range of Victorian weather. In a five minute period it went from sunny to sleet that was not so much falling as being flung horizontally. Mike was carrying Stephen & we all had to run as fast as we could back to the car. By the time we arrived at the car we were wet, but Stephen and Mike were laughing at each other!


• Our last stop was London Bridge. We were a bit tired of running in the rain carrying Stephen so we took turns to visit London Bridge. We were interested to read that one of the arches collapsed in 1990, and while no one was injured two people were trapped on the newly created island and had to be rescued by helicopter.
• We arrived at Warrnambool at around 3pm. We had booked ahead knowing it was the weekend coming up and we’re staying in a nice cedar cabin. We also booked a cabin for Cecelia & Brian and they are staying opposite our cabin. The caravan park is right beside the lawn tennis centre – with about 25 lawn tennis courts. It looks like a great place for tennis!
• Brian & Cecelia had arrived before us, but were out when we arrived. However, we had only unpacked the car and started sipping a cup of tea when they arrived back. Stephen was especially excited to see his Nan & Pa, not least because he could show them the latest addition to his toy collection – The King & Sarge from the movie Cars.
• We all went for a walk around the park where we are staying in Warrnambool. Stephen was keen to have a swim in the heated swimming pool but we managed to convince him it was too cold for swimming.
• Stephen & Mike then went to Adventure World, an enormous playground in Warrnambool. They had a great time on the slippery dips & particularly on the tire roundabout. Stephen would sit in a tire and Mike would spin the roundabout as fast as he could – it was awesome fun!
• We all went out to dinner at the RSL club. Once again Stephen had fish & chips followed by ice cream. Cecelia & Brian both had roast lamb & Tae & Mike had Scotch fillet steak with prawns and Tasmanian scallops in a Korma sauce (it sounds a bit strange, but it was nice).
• Drove 190km.
• Google Map

Holiday - 2006/10/19

• Traveled at a very leisurely pace from Anglesea to Apollo Bay today.
• Taemar & Stephen went for an early morning walk/run/ride along the beachfront and to the park for some exercise. They saw a mother and father duck with 8 duckings. Stephen rode a little close on his bike and the parents chased them with their beaks open and their wings flapping. They were not happy!
  
• After breakfast we played in the playroom provided by the park we were staying in – lots of lego to play with.
• We went to the beach at Anglesea (Toddlers Beach) for a couple of hours in the morning. This involved more digging and also some climbing up the cliffs at the end of the beach. Stephen & Mike had a great time clambering over the rocks. Mike couldn’t see why Taemar was so anxious until she pointed out the signs that said “No climbing - unstable cliffs”.



• Then the really fun part of the day began. We slowly drove the first section of the Great Ocean Road. We knew it was supposed to be scenic, but our expectations were low compared with the beauty of the landscape. It compares very favorably with Cinque Terre in the Italian Riviera. We think our coastline is actually prettier for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the headlands are separated by beautiful white sandy beaches.



• Secondly, it has the ruggedness and cliffs that drop into the Ocean like Cinque Terre, but the Great Ocean Road has a very well maintained road, with plenty of places to stop, lookouts, etc… Basically the beauty of the landscape has been maximized for the benefit of the tourist. Cinque Terre is more…well, it’s more Italian.


• We’re staying in a Spa cabin overlooking the beach. It’s in a fantastic position and the sound of the waves combined with the birds singing…well, it’s great to be on holidays!
• We had a play on the beach this afternoon and then great pizza for dinner. Stephen says that the best thing about being on holidays is going to the beach.
  


• Drove 90km.
• Google Map

Holiday - 2006/10/18

• Big travel day today.
• Stephen woke us at 5am (marvelous) & we were on our way at 7:40am. We got some extra sustenance at Bairnsdale to keep us going (large coffee’s).
• Stephen got a bit bored with the Cars DVD and asked for the Incredibles, but he was bored of this before the previews finished! He asked for Fireman Sam, and he then watched Fireman Sam for the next 5 hours (over & over again).



• Our only drama was when Stephen announced he need to wee (right now!) just as we got onto the Motorway in the heart of Melbourne. It took us about 10 minutes to find an exit where we could stop, during which time Mike introduced Stephen to holding the end of his penis to stop the wee coming out.
  It all ended happily though :-)



• We made it to Torquay at 1:15pm and we found the most enormous playground for Stephen to play in. It covered at least half an acre and had lots of raised walkways, firemans poles, ladders, etc…



• The best feature was the diggers. There were three of these (one for each of us) and it has two levers for digging in the sand like a real crane and you can spin the digger and dump the sand in a new pile.



• We went to Bells Beach, which is only 5 minutes out of Torquay. Incredibly, Stephen fell asleep between Torquay and Bells Beach.
  When we were leaving Bells Beach we spotted an Echidna & stopped to take some photo’s.
  The echidna completely ignored us & wasn’t bother in the least by the silly humans.



• We had booked a cabin at Anglesea in advance, so 15 minutes on from Bells we were at our next home.


• Stephen was asleep so Taemar & Mike also had a rest. After the drama of Stephen needing to wee on the motorway it was ironic that when Stephen woke up he had wet his pants! No major drama though – clean, dry clothes and we were off and running again.
• Taemar washed some of our dirty clothes while Stephen & Mike had a swim in the indoor heated swimming pool.
• In the evening we went to the Golf Club – more fish & chips for Stephen followed by ice cream – yummy!
• Drove 440km.
• Google Map
  

Holiday - 2006/10/17

• We stayed in Lakes Entrance today.
• We had breakfast at the cabin before heading out to Metung – a little village 15km from Lakes Entrance. We picked up a couple of coffee’s on the way – the locals like their coffee LARGE!


• We picked out the best spot on the lake – a lovely bit of beach with no-one in sight. Actually, we spent about 4 hours at the beach and saw less than 10 people the entire time. It was fabulously quiet and private.




• Stephen & Mike then spent a few hours digging a massive channel (named Suez). It seemed like a simple task at first until we dug 10cm below the surface and discovered that the beach was half sand and half rocks and shells. If this wasn’t hard enough Stephen insisted the last part of the channel be a tunnel. After numerous disagreements relating to design and work assignments the task was finally complete. Stephen celebrated by caving in the tunnel.


• We enjoyed lunch on the beach and then headed back to the cabin for a well deserved rest.
• We cooked a bbq in the evening and relaxed with cheese and biscuits from the Cheese Factory at Tilba, accompanied by a Sparkling Shiraz. This holiday stuff is pretty good!