Lane Cove National Park - Sydney

 We booked into lane cove national park caravan park right in the centre of town. It said it was an Eco park so we weren’t sure what to expect in regards to power and water but it was fairly cheap and our travelling friends the James were staying there and they told us it was good to go. We arrived and the place was right in the middle of the city but surrounded by bush and trees. We got a site right next to the James’ and we had a nice dry slab which was great because there had been a bit of rain and it was a little muddy. The kids were all wrapt to see each other again and they were off playing while we set up the van.


The amenties were right across from us which was handy for the kids and they were nice and clean. They had a pool, a tv room, night tours of the national park, a guy that cooked pizza’s at the park Wednesday to Sunday and an aboriginal cultural dance every Wednesday night. The aboriginal dance was very entertaining they had the kids up dancing like emus and even Clint got up with the Jayson and danced the emu dance as well. There is a You Tube link.

But the highlight was that very afternoon that we arrived, Jayson knocked on the van door to tell us that Home and Away was being filmed a couple of doors down!! Well...me being a fan couldn’t get out the door fast enough to have a look. We saw Colleen doing a scene at her caravan and this was the caravan park that they shoot the scenes for the summer bay caravan park. I couldn’t believe it we drove all the way to palm beach to try and see some home and away action and low and behold her they were in the very park we were staying at!! A few of the park visitors all gathered around with camera’s and we all watched Colleen short scene that they filmed quite a few times. The park ranger was telling me that yes this is where they do the home and away shots but that they aren’t allowed to advertise or tell anyone as it would get too crazy with people. Slade got his photo taken with Colleen which was exciting and she was a really nice lady. Slade was also very excited with all the commotion and on another day when they came to film we got to meet Charlie (Esther Anderson), Slade spent a few hours with her in her trailer playing games on her phone. The crew even asked Slade to hang around and help them. They were giving him cookies and drinks throughout the day. I went to grab him to go food shopping and they asked Slade to come back after the shopping. Well that was it for Slade he was so excited, he would tell us “Dont be long at the shops because I have to go to work on home and away” so when we got back he was off. He was hanging out with the home and away extras and Nathan the fellow that was in charge of the extras, he met the most of the crew the film editors, he met Luke Mitchell who plays Romeo and they took pictures of Slade with the crew. Later in the night when I went to pick up slade I saw Alf Stewart. I was happy I got to see them but stoked that Slade got to meet a few people.


At this stage I am still feeling great about Sydney, wow!! We were only a 15 minute walk to the train station so we would catch the train to the city and we took the kids to the Opera House, we went on a ferry ride on the Sydney harbour and went under the harbour bridge. One day we went to the Powerhouse Museum, this is a must see place of past and present technology and fun things for kids. There was an 80’s section with all the music hits and memorabilia, clothing, albums, newspaper clippings, toys and tickets of all things from the80’s. They had lots of fun things for the kids, they had a playzone construction site where they could build a house with foam bricks. The kdis loved it and they loved putting on the hard hats and safety jackets. It was very cheap too $20 for the whole family for the whole day, we thought it was very good value.

After a really long walk to the train station we finally got home. On one day when we went to the city we just couldn’t get the right train home, we got on one then realised it wasn’t going our way, so we got off and waited for the next one got on that one and this one didn’t stop at our stop, then got off on another one and anyhoo it was about 8 trains till we got the right one but we got back and we had another adventure on the trains.


We were frequent visitors of the Macquarie Park Shopping centre, this is where we did our food shopping, heaps of Asians in the area maybe due to the Macquarie University, but it was upper class shops everyone seemed to dress up here. The kids saw the teletubbies on show which they enjoyed dancing and jumping around. There was an inside ice rink below the foodcourt.



We went to Sydney Olympic Park and visited the aquatic centre where they had the Olympics. It was obviously a buzz with action when the olympics was on but it was kind of ghostly when we were there. The aquatic centre was always busy with kids and people but the rest of the place was dead. They had the Easter Show there was which would of been huge and the AC/DC concert was also held there so when there is an event is most probably works well. The aquatic centre was so cool the kids loved it had a water playground, a gigantic bucket that fills with water and then an alarm rings to let you know that it is about to tip over and all the kids gather around and lay down on the ground and wait for it to tip on them. It makes a huge splash too. You will see the pictures. They also had a huge 'plughole' as they called it, its a circular pool of water that the water pushes anticlockwise and you just swim into it and it takes you round and round. It was great for all the kids and even us big kids!! There was a giant water tube that Slade wasnt quite tall enough but conned his way down past the guard. Shelby was shattered she was way too short to go down, she tiptoed and jumped but the guard just wouldn't let her go down.

 What we couldnt believe was we had just travelled 30,000kms around Australia and didnt see any snakes or reptiles and we arrive at Lane Cove Caravan Park in the middle of busy Sydney and a huge monitor lizard was walking around our caravan. It was a really big one too and a big chunky probably from eating left overs from the park visitors. I had tipped out of a small bowl of 2 minute noodles that Isla not finished and within 5 minutes the Lizard was licking them up like a baby with a 50cent icecream cone. We also saw a frilly necked lizard wandering around camp too.
 
One weekend we made a last minute decision to drive down to Melbourne for the Caravan and Camping Show, it was Friday afternoon about 2pm when we thought lets pack up and head down. We had been wanting an annexe for the van and thought we might be able to check out a few at the show and maybe get a good deal on one. We called David and Karen to see if they wanted some visitors for the weekend and they were excited to see us. We headed off at about 4.30 but that was before I jammed my thumb in the door of the Landcruiser!! Ouch was all I could say as the kids were watching in the car. I did have a moment of cursing when I went back into the van and closed the door. We stopped overnight at Gundagai in a Motel and got up early in the morning to get to Melbourne. We stopped at Seymour for breakfast and then arrived at Davids at 11am headed straight to the Caravan Show. We only found 1 annexe crew but it was the one we had checked out on the net so that was good. We paid our deposit and all that was needed was to measure up. We had a lovely weekend with David and Karen and headed home on the Monday morning. We decided to take the coast road and turned off at Moss Vale as we were looking for Grand Pacific Way, long story short we couldnt find it and when we did we had just had enough of the driving being that is was now 5pm and we left Melbourne and 8 in the morning!! And...we were still an hour away from home, so we decided we would see another day. Just another St Albans adventure!!

On the last week I got a chance to visit Paddy's markets made you feel like you were in Singapore there were so many Asian people there. This is where a chinese man and his wife helped Slade to use chopsticks, he couldnt quite get it at first and told them he should just go home and keep practicing, but being Slade he persisted and was eating away like an old chinaman. Shelby had a go too and she managed to master it, although when it comes to food she doesnt fall far from the apple tree, eat it eat eat it. We finally got our fix of chicken rice and it was lovely!!! Thanks Paddy.

See all the pictures

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059279&id=1178196973&l=563801eae9
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055203&id=1178196973&l=13be9a18bf

UMINA BEACH - CENTRAL COAST NSW

Well...we liked this place so much we stayed for 4 weeks (28 days to be exact). This is the place we decided was going to be the place where we just chilled out, catch up on schoolwork and let the kids run wild!! I  picked Umina Beach  from the list of Big 4's Caravan Parks looking for place along the coast somewhere. When I rang and got the price is was very cheap about $170 for a week.

When we arrived it looked really flash like a resort, the pools were all huge with a hot spa, a slide into the pool, a kiddies pool which was also very large with giant mushrooms spurting water from the top, they had 2 bouncy pillows for different aged kiddies, a playground, the caravan park was right on the beach, there was a cafe, a gamesroom and the van sites were a good size too, enough parking for your car which is always a good thing when you need to plug in our car fridge.

Initially there was a slight hiccup with the directions the front desk gave us to the site because the way she told us to go we would not have been able to back the van in and considering it was a drive through site we should not have had to back in. Not a worry, after Clint pulled over and checked out the options and with help from our neighbour Gwen we got into the site without incident. Gwen was the lady I had originally called to make the booking and she was also staying and working at the caravan park. She booked us the site right next to hers because I had told her our van was 31ft and she knew the site next to hers had occupied other large vans like ours.She lived with her partner Hank and  I did warn her there was going to be children but she didnt move us and we all got along great. Gwen also warned us about the crazy lady 2 doors up saying do not make eye contact as we would not get rid of her and she was trouble. Gwen and Henk were not wrong she was 2 snags short of a bbq for sure!!! She was eventually asked to leave the park due to their 28 day stay policy.

Our site was right across from the toilets which was great during the week but on the weekends the park filled up with camping folk and they would trash the toilets for the weekend they stayed. It was a very popular park and it filled every weekend. We could see the bouncy pillows from our van and the playgrounds so that was handy for the kids when they wandered over there. They  also had security so that also made it safer knowing that someone was always around and watching.

And Birds...heaps of birds and ducks and with these come poo's. Every morning Clint was out sweeping of the poo from the slab. Lots of beautiful Lorikeets which the kids would feed with Henk. We went through a loads of loaves of bread feeding them. They were very tame and always very hungry they would sit on the kids heads, arms and chairs and eat the bread from your fingers.

The weather was really great in the 4 weeks we were there just perfect. We had one day where it was really windy and we witnessed a fellow caravanner lose his awning in the wind. Nasty bit of damage for them.

We met some really nice people and the kids made alot of new friends. We became regulars at the Gosford RSL and even joined for discounts on the food and drinks. The RSLS have great playareas for the kids which give us peace and quiet to speak to each other and enjoy a drink!

The scenery around the central coast is truly beautiful. You drive through rainforrests, windy roads, up hill down hills and then your on the beach. When you are down the beach you see the ocean and when you look behind you see the hinterland. Really great landscapes, better than I ever thought NSW was going to be.  You will see the pictures for yourself.

Around Umina there are other small towns like Woy Woy, here we did our food shopping, the kids found a pet shop that they would spend an hour or so playing with the dogs, cats, looking at the fish tanks and asking the shop assistants 50 questions. I even found a beautician who groomed me so I wasnt so 'Carnivaly'. They also had markets here but I didnt get a chance to see them.

We had lunch one day at a pub in a town called Patonga Beach right on one of the coasts points. Gwen had given us the tip on the good food here and she didnt let us down. We had surf and turf's overlooking the beach watching the world go by.

One day we went to Palm Beach where they film Home and Away. We didnt see any filming but we did walk around the surf club which has Alf Stewart's name up on a board. We were a bit upset we didnt spot any stars but at least we saw where is was filmed. It was a beautiful spot but I did expect the beach to look more like Cable Beach, in fact it was quite slopey on the sand banks. On the other side of the surf club is the boat shed where they film the shots for the fishing boats Alf has and the jetty you quite often see in the show.

We went out for an hours drive to the central Mangrove area to get some fresh veges and fruit and visited a place called Kulnara here we stopped for a bit of a snack and behind the cafe was a workshop where a man called Dave Thurston turned old Gas Bottles into Ned kelly Letterboxes. He used a lot of steel and aluminium and turned it into art, mostly australian animals. He also did wooden furniture which was really different but nice. Out the front of the shop was 'The Big Chair' which you will see a picture of. On the way home my beautiful man stopped on the side of the road to buy me a bunch of roses for Valentine's day xx love you.

We were able to do a bit of school work which was good as we hadnt done too much of it recently. Clint would take the girls for a walk on some days when Slade needed a bit of quiet time to do his schoolwork. We did have a couple of days where there was a wild storm with lots of rain, lightening and thunder, its all good when everyone is safe and sound and even exciting! It does get loud in our tin home but its a good experience and all part of the adventure!

At the caravan park which was owned by NRMA they had weekly activities for the kids and this was not just on school holidays it was all the time. They had arts and crafts, sporting activities, beach cricket & tractor rides. It wasnt like a kids club as they encouraged parent involvement so that families do things together.

One day we took a day trip to Bondi Beach. Now that was very scenic lots of tanned, muscley, fit looking people heaps of tourists. On the day we went it 32 degrees so there were plenty of people. We also saw the filming of Bondi Rescue. One of the life guards came up to Clint when he was sitting under the sun shade, I was in the water with Isla and I thought we were going to be asked to put the sun shade down. When we got to the beach it was pretty busy and I told Clint to go right down to the water and set up the sun shade. I came out of the water to ask Clint what was said thinking the worst and all he asked was where did we get the sun shade from as he liked the one we had. Clint has so many people come up and talk to him about the truck, the weather, the van or the kids. Its quite funny sometimes when we are just minding our own business and someone comes out of the blue and starts having a chat.

The parking at Bondi was a joke it cost us $15 to park for a couple of hours!! Its so expensive the ticket machine has slots for your credit cards.

At Umina we met the James's, Annette, Jason, Chloe, Curtis and Tiffany, from QLD they were just starting their aussie adventure and the kids all enjoyed each others company. Slade met another boy who's dad lived in the park and on weekends he went to his mums or grandma's his name was Maddox and Slade enjoyed going over to his place to play xbox and riding off on their bikes. On the weekends there was always alot of kids staying at the park and that was good for the kids to get off and find new friends. There was another lovely family we met the mum and dad were Erin and Danny and the kids were Sam,Cooper,Abby, Fletcher,

Lone Star
One of the good things about Sydney and NSW...they have Lone Star Restaurant!!! Oh how I miss this place and it was still as good as it was when it was in the west.

ACDC

Rob and Lou had a spare ticket to the AC/DC  concert so we drove to Sydney to the apartment Rob,Lou and Dawsey were staying in and Clint went along with them. The kids and I just camped out in their pad until the concert finished and then we drove back to Umina. The concert was well worth it of course, it was a shame I couldnt go but at least one of us got to go. It was great to catch up with them again.

See some of the pics here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059261&id=1178196973&l=1723ca862e

WISEMAN FERRY ADVENTURE - CENTRAL COAST NSW

We were leaving Blackheath and the Blue Mountains to head to a free camp around Wisemans Ferry (That is the name of the town). It was only just over a 100kms to our next booked destination Umina Beach, but we had a day to get there so we decided on finding a nice spot in the area. Wisemans Ferry has the oldest cable ferry crossing in Australia and it crosses the Hawkesbury River and we thought it would be pretty cool to take the van across. We had googled the Ferry and it looked big enough for us to get on, we even googled the map to see the directions to get to Umina Beach. It was another 15kms longer but we really wanted to go on this Ferry.

We stopped just before Wisemans for lunch and a bit of a run around and Clint suggested we just stop here for a night. I was not to keen as the sign said no camping and there was an old bloke living across the road and he kept checking on us, so I said lets just head to Wisemans Ferry and find something over that way.

It was a little bit rainy but the scenery was very nice in this region. We arrived at the Ferry but we were a little unsure if we were going to get on there but the operator waved us on and on we got. We had a lot of people checking us out and the young people parked next to us wanted to swap cars with us. The caravan looked really huge on this Ferry!! So, we had a lovely ride across the river taking pictures of the river and we slowly embarked of the ferry trying not to scrap anything along the way only a bracket came off on the plastic tubes but we stopped off and cable tied it back up. We continued on still looking for a free camp along the way the camps book said that there were a few along the river but we werent seeing any and the roads were getting a little narrower and really windy. I noticed a sign that said St Albans but didnt think too much of it until...we arrived at a one way bridge that we had to turn sharp right on with the van on the back!! A bit of a manouevre and we got across, but I was still a little puzzled as to how we arrived at St Albans when that on the map looked to be a long way left of where we should of been...

NOTE TO SELF!! When one purchases a GPS one should use it instead of watching kids movies!!

I had been using the map book instead!! I know that GPS sometimes take you the long way around but had WE flicked the woman on she might of taken us to the OTHER FERRY that was before the one we took. We did not read enough about Wisemans Ferry where it stated there was 2 Ferry's across the river!! Because they were so close to each other it was hard to see that there were two of them.

So we were across this one way bridge with no where really to turn the big beast around and at this stage we were still unaware of the two ferrys and we didnt fancy driving all the back and crossing the ferry again. So we continued on and switched the GPS on to see what our alternatives were going forward. There were no other roads available except for the one we were on which was dirt. As we crossed the bridge there was an old limestone brick pub and being Sunday there were quite a few people outside enjoying a sunday session. We could feel the attention we were getting as the people (most probably local) looked at us with the van and wondered where we were heading, we smiled and continued on.

Sure the road was a dirt one fairly narrow but flat and it was only 35kms to the road we needed to get too to head back down to the Umina Beach. It was around 4.30pm and we were running out of daylight for finding a camp site. Well let me tell you that was the least of our worries!! As we headed along this dirt road and it was thinning out and getting a bit bumpy our ride started to get steeper and windier. We were travelling at no more than 20kms sometimes even slower. When you are towing 3 tonne behind you it is wiser to drive at a speed where you arent shaking the bejesus out of the van.

There were many steep hairpin corners and the road was made up of holes, cows and bumps. We couldnt believe how much traffic there was on this dirt road and each time a car passed we had to pull over to the side. So at driving at this speed it was a slow old ride with plenty of time to look at the scenery. As beautiful as it was, that thought was far from my mind as I asked for the angels to get us out of here safely. At times when I looked out of the side mirrors behind me I could see the lean too of the caravan when we turned on a hairpin...quite frightful.

At one point a ranger had passed us and the look on his face was disbelief!! What the and where the hell were we going? He didnt stop and we focused on getting the hell out of here. The kids were unaware of our concerns as they were happily watching DVD's. As I looked out over the sides I gushed at the sight of a car that had left the road and crashed and was resting on branches, this had not just happended but was still not helping the situation I was feeling. On another bend I saw what I thought was caravan debris down a hill all smashed into pieces that didnt help. Clint and I werent saying too much, we usually chatter quite a bit but the silence was my nervousness and it was better for me to say very little, I was just eager to be able to sigh we had sight of bitumen.

It was nearing 6.30 and it has been over 2 hours we have been on this dirt road the bitumen couldnt be far off now, Clint and I were eager to get out of here when it started to rain a bit heavier and then the kids wanted to go to the toilet. We couldnt say too much they had been so good the whole way so we pulled over in the rain and got them out for the toilet. We got going and we could see the road and what a relief that was when we finally got out of it. It was really raining now and dark but we were out of the danger and happier.

All we needed now was to find a spot to camp for the night. We checked the camp five book and trusted in the GPS lady to get us there. We put the GPS co-ordinates in for the rest area and we saw the sign before the GPS told us we had reached the destination so we pulled in and the rest area was already full of overnighters. So we decided to let the GPS just take us to the co-ordinates we had entered in the book. We ended up on a private property on the other side of the river to the rest area we had just stopped at and at a dead end. So out in the dark and wet I got out and helped the 300 hundred point turn we had to make to get out of there (a slight exaggeration but I was not happy). We were tired and hungry and noticed a bus turning area and decided that this was going to do for the night. I was a bit nervous of the spot and made Clint close the door and windows as I thought someone might get us and yes he did take the piss out of me for that.

One thing Clint kept saying while we were on the scary road was " Its all part of the Adventure".
My comment was just 'OK then'

I only took a few videos as I was too distracted to take pictures.

BLACKHEATH AND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

It was a beautiful day when we arrived at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, it was misty and damp with low lying clouds. It was a great atmosphere we felt we were  up in the clouds.  The caravan park was very nice, not very big compared to some parks  we had been too, but big sites with grass and slab so you can keep a little bit dry in the wet times.

The kids loved it because it was raining so they could put on their gumboots and splash in the water. We gave them some popsticks and they made boats and raced them  in the puddle streams on the kerb. They have had no trouble finding ways to amuse themselves outdoors.

We found some beautiful drives through the mountains and valleys. It was like hidden secret rainforests in the middle of nowhere. So very peaceful. They were having unusual amounts of rain when we were there and apparently is was much needed. We found some clifftop lookouts that took your breath away, some flooded bridges we drove over and some nice yellow muddy dirt tracks. Another car wash needed.

My favourite place in the mountain is Leura, a small town but some neat little shops. There was a couple of toy shops, cafe's, bookshops and a christmas shop. Its just nice to walk up and down the street and watch the people going about their businesses.

We found a place called Selwood Games,Science and Puzzle shop. This was an old house with all the rooms filled with games, puzzles, illusions and science paraphernalia. When you walked through the door and old piano starts playing on its own. Creepy but different. Its a great place to take the kids because they have everything out for you to try and one room has a very large table with lots of chairs so the kids can sit and play for hours.

We went on the Zig Zag Railway which goes down the side of the blue mountains to Lithgow, we had a guided tour with a few stop offs at various points where the conductor would have to get off the train and change the lines so we could head down. The kids loved it and we went through a pitch black tunnel which was different. The train driver asked Shelby and Slade to come sit up the front with him and they were so excited, you couldnt wipe the grins off their faces. The poor train driver though probably wasnt expecting them to give him 50 questions as they had many questions on how everything worked. They were both a little concerned that there was only one windscreen wiper until the driver explained that he only needed to look through one particular section of the screen. It was only raining a little but they obviously wondered how that one little wiper was going to perform the duty.

We also visited Trains, Planes  and Automobiles, possibly the oldest toy shop in Australia where they stocked antique toys. The owner was very nice and he started some of the moving toys for the kids to see. The had old lego pieces and they were expensive and some of the old tin type toys that I used to see when I was a kid. Heaps of trains and planes so the boys were rightly intrigued.

We went to the local pub in Blackheath for dinner which was nice and Slade managed to find himself a friend to talk too. They had got on so well his parents thought their son knew Slade from school. He is just a bit friendly the lad.

We went to Katoomba and took a picture of the three sisters, visibility was not very good but the clouds were moving so fast that for a minute as they passed I managed to sneak a really clear picture of them. There were alot of tourists mostly Asian but the low lying clouds didnt seem to bother anyone.

We went to scenic world in Katoomba and bought a day pass for all the rides so the kids loved going up and down on them. The day we went was beautiful no rain but still the ground was damp and still gave that rainforresty look and feel about it.

On the skyway the kids managed to impress the guide here too and she let the kids control the skyway which was funny because Shelby opened the door on the wrong side and all the people started to walk off, she then had to tell them to get back in and use the other door. It was funny for us. They had the old conveyor style seated train that went backwards through a tunnel and up the side of the mountain, not very far but far enough to enjoy.You sat in it and then you had a bar that came across the middle of you. I had to hold on the Isla because she could easily slip through. The kids loved this too and I think we went up and down 4 or 5 times!!

We spent the whole day here just walking through the walks and reading all the pathway plaques that were along the way. Funny thing when we left just outside there were some aboriginal naked statues made of steel and Shelby on her way out goes up and has a feel of the boobies whilst the Japanese were taking their pictures. It was like nothing to her she just went up had a feel and then had a giggle!!

On another day when we went out sightseeing and it started to really pelt down with rain, so much you couldnt see in front of you. We detoured off the main highway because those truckies still go flat out even in the pouring rain so we ducked a couple of side streets and it was amazing to see how quickly the streets flooded. There was water gushing out of storm drains on the road and lots of puddles for us to drive through. We decided it would probably be best to just head back to the van as the rain was not going to stop. It was a good decision because as we were heading back through the roadworks the rain had had really flooded the highway and some of the roadworks barracades had started to float across the highway onto the oncoming traffic, we had just got through but the puddles were reaching as high as the middle of the drivers doors!! We put the two-way on just to listen to the truckies talk to each other about the road conditions and some of them were laughing at the drivers getting caught up in the chaos. We were ok we were in the black cruiser. When we got home and watched the news it seemed we just got out of the way before a train had derailed right where we turned around and came home, caused a lot of traffic congestion and we were glad to be home safe and sound.


See Pictures here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053068&id=1178196973&l=014fb8abdf.

BATHURST

We stayed at the Big 4 Bathurst Caravan park, there is only one park here. The park was good although our site was a bit shotty, just rock and dirt but it had its good points which was, it was close to the amenties, playground and pool. The pool was very nice with slippery slides that the kids loved!! We had a drive up Mt Panorama in the V8 cruiser, it was pretty hairy coming around the corners. Now when I watch it I will be able to get a better feel for the danger. I was trying to take a video which is probably worse viewing than the Blair Witch Project. We stopped at the Museum at the track and it had a lot of history and pictures of the Legend Peter Brock. We also visited the park in town where the Sargent family's got together for family reunions. We took the kids to the Bathurst Dinosaur Museum where they got up close to a skeleton. They enjoyed themselves. They also had alot of displays of natural minerals found in Australia which was interesting to read about. WE also took a drive down to Oberon and past a little town where my Pappy was born and grew up, O'Connell. His name (William Wallace Sargent) is engraved on the war memorial plaque inside the church. It was closed on the day we went but in the small cemetary was some gravestones of my ancestors!! Check out the pictures http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2053067&id=1178196973&l=3ea098c13e.

FORBES & DUBBO NSW

Forbes...this town is always going to be my most special place because it is where I have the best memories of our family holidays with dad. Every second christmas we would pack up our trailer and drive across the nullabor. I was still very young but the memories I have are of happiness and fun. It is also the place that my dad grew up in and where all dad's family live. My Grandma, my Pappy (who I miss so much) Uncle Lindsay, Aunty Arlene, Rob, Kerri, Aunty Rachael, Uncle Bill, Uncle Porky, Rick & Pete were always so excited to see us and we would have family get togethers at every chance we could. Most often we would have family reunions with Grandma's family the Ellis's in Dubbo at the zoo and then Pappy's family the Sargent's in Bathurst at the park (I have new pictures of this beautiful park)

So each time I arrive in Forbes my heart beats with excitement as I become that excited little girl that cant wait to see her much loved family. This time was even more special because I got to share it with Clint, Slade, Shelby & Isla. And, when I left there as hard as it was to say goodbye I knew that I was taking away another memory of happiness and fun!!

We stayed at the Forbes Big 4 for most of the time which was on the road out to Pappy's place, a small park but it had a pool, bouncy pillow and playground for the kids. It was also safe enough for the kids to ride happily around on their bikes. There was the whipper snipper incident where the owner wanted to do around our van and Clint told him in few words to rack off and come back tomorrow. After the last snipper man snipped out hoses in Darwin we werent to fond of this one repeating the hassle.

We stayed at the park for 3 weeks we werent sure about staying out at Aunty Arlene's and Uncle Lindsay's as Arlene was diagnosed with bowel cancer late last year and was just recovering from having it all cut out successfully, so we didnt want to burden her. As it turned out they both invited us to bring the van up to their house to spend the last week which was really great.

Slade loved being the farmer with Uncle Lindsay going out in the ute and feeding the sheep. We had many nights up at the farm talking to after midnight which was really special although I think Uncle Lindsay was feeling it the next morning ha ha. Uncle Lindsay had about 7 black working dogs and Shelby had a special relationship with Bunny and she loved seeing her everyday. Isla loved swinging the days away on Aunty Arlene's old hills swing set, it was a little squeeky when we got there but Clint found some oil and it was quiet as a mouse.

Back at the park on the first week Aunty Rachael and Uncle Bill also stopped with us for a week in their van and they parked next to us. They were on their way back to Renmark but wanted to spend a bit more time with us. At night we were back to watching satellite's and even got Kerri, Holly, Wally and Laura hooked on it too. And speaking of Wally, Slade and him instantly formed a special friendship (as Slade usually does with people) and about an hour into meeting each other were inseparable saying they were 'best cousins' instead of best friends!! Laura and Shelby hit it off as girls do and Holly took a shine to Isla. Peta which is Rob and Lou's little girl with her cute little curls loved all the kids and they loved her back just the same.

We went up to Redhill which is Rob and Lou place one night for Pizza and see their extensions. They should be very proud of their work, their house was fantastic huge rooms and a large usuable living area. The outside was just as nice with a covered verandah all the way around. They had a cubby on stilts out the back which the kids loved and played into the night. I really loved their place at the top of hill it was so peacefull looking out at the paddocks. Peace didnt last long though that night as the bourbons kept coming out and I must say that Rob was the pissiest of us all. As the night went on and he got drunker he spilled the beans on his AC/DC tickets telling us he had a spare and would we like to come. We said Yeah of course but he started to get a little protective of his precious tickets and started to think we were conspiring to steal them, so we went along with that for awhile just for a laugh. The funniest was when we caught up with Dawsey the next night and told him that we bought all of 4 tickets from Rob and that he wasnt going!!! That was priceless because for a minute he did believe us. But you couldnt fool Rob he could of been in a coma and you wouldn't of got his tickets!!

We caught up with Kerri and Matt quite a few times but Matt works out at the mines and does shift work so he needed to sleep, but we caught up when we could. He took us for a drive to where he works at the gold mine and it was very interesting to see. Kerri was my best cousine when we were growing up she would never leave my side when we came to Forbes and I remember one time when I had to leave and was parking my bag when she dived onto it and protested that I could not go!! Now she is the mother of 3 beaut kids and she should be proud of how special they are. There was a little friction with Uncle Lindsay and Kerri when we first arrived but a little whisper to the gentle giant and he became the grandad of all grandads. I was asked for help and I hope I made a difference to them both. My only speech to them is that Life is too short, so if the world gets on your shoulders get it off as quick as possible because the happiness makes life last a lot longer. I love them both!!

We went out to Uncle Porky's house at Gareema this was on my to do list. his place was an old Post Office in a 4 house town it was old and run down but with its own character. Uncle Porky is not a fussy man just one who gets on with his day to day business. He let us wander through the house and I loved it, not for its look but just for knowing he had a place he called home. It was great to see him and he was equally excited to see all of us he came out to the caravan park and had dinner and drinks with us too. As I write this though now he is not very well and we are awaiting tests on how he is doing.

We went to Dubbo for a night to catch up with Don and Kerrie and also saw Daphne and Norm. Daphne is Dad's cousin and she was wrapped to see us all. The next day Kerrie and Don took us around Dubbo to all the kids playground and the kids absolutely loved it!!

We went out for a couple of days with everyone to the surroundings towns of Forbes. A lot of little tiny towns with pubs, I guess you know whats important...Beer and counter lunches. We went to this really neat place called Albert to a pub called 'The Rabbit Trap', excellent lunch and a kids section...priceless.

Rob and Lou showed us 'The Utes in the Paddock' which is a whole lot of artists doing their art on old holden utes (good choice of make too). See my pics on this link
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052692&id=1178196973&l=dff551d553

Soemthing special to me was to visit a childhood memory of mine which was 'The Cottage' this is where Pappy and Grandma lived and where I spent most of my christmas holidays. When I was really little I remembered a place called 'Oak Park' another family home which was built by my great great great grandfather(Ellis). A whole lot of history here which I managed to get from another of my Dads cousins Dawn and her husband Ron Welsh. She was so happy to meet the kids and she told Slade;

I am so happy to have met you because, I loved your grandfather he was my cousin and he was very special to me and I miss him very much. To have met his grandkids means so very much, thank you.


I can tell you that I was holding back the tears because it meant so much to me for her to meet the kids too. She said they were a pleasure to have had over and so very polite and kind.

Thank you Aunty Arlene for making the call to Dawn and by giving me that family history. We both had a lot of fun looking at old pictures.

We went out to Dawes place which is Rob's best mate and a "Farmer needing a Wife". I hope he meets someone eventually he's not a bad sort. WE had a drive around his farm and out on one of his property's was another house of the Sargent's where all the kids grew up. It was old and run down as are all the others but still have that something special...memories. On the way out of his place we managed to get a flat tyre from a sharp piece of stick in the paddock. We werent far out of town and had to pull over and fix it. Luckily Uncle Lindsay had stopped in town and he saw us on his way home and helped Clint change the tyre.

Anyway I had the best time here and I could rabbit on for ages but I still have more blogging to catch up on.

So check out the pics Oh and we visited the Dish in Parkes so theres pics of that too...Enjoy


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052697&id=1178196973&l=
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051649&id=1178196973&l=3aabd88c35

MARSDEN REST AREA

We had an overnight stay in MARSDEN REST Stop which is just off the main highway about 70kms from Forbes. Here we met up with Uncle Bill and Aunty Rachael as they were heading to Coffs Harbour for a few days to see Aunty Rachael's cousin.

It's always great staying at a free camp always very peaceful although here the temperature was 40 degrees at 6pm and didnt change much through the night! (Well it felt like it) and the flies so many of them!

We were having a nice night of drinks under the stars and the kids were playing in their coloured buckets full of cold water. All was good until it was time to go to bed when Isla seemed very hot so I checked her temperature and yes she was scorching at 38 degrees, I dosed her with panadol and she went off to sleep until about 2am when she was still quite warm so I sat up with her for quite a few hours hoping not to have to go to hospital. I wet a few flannels and bathed her and it bought her temp down to an acceptable level before I fell asleep with her around 4ish. It had been a long days driving the day before and we were all very tired.

The next morning although very tired all seemed well so it was goodbye to Bill and Rachael and off to Forbes we went.