Aunty Rob's

What a fantastic family weekend we've just had!

On Friday at midday, we picked Little Miss R up from school and started our 3 hour journey to Shane's Aunty Rob's for the weekend.

She lives on about 80 acres of land out at Clifton on the Southern Downs about halfway between Toowoomba and Warwick.

It was the first time we had been there so we followed my father-in-laws VERY BASIC map and actually found the right place (after a couple of phone calls).

I just love rambling old farmhouses that seem to have such character. 

We set the camper trailer up just outside the house yard, had a cup of tea and some scrummy homemade fruit cake, then it was time to explore.

I just love the wide open space feeling on the downs where you can see for miles.  The below photo is what we saw from the side of the camper.

The next photo is looking over the back of the farm to the neighbours house.

Of course you can't have a farm without a shed and this one is filled with hay bales.

They've had so much rain out there that there's plenty of grass growing, it's pretty green too so the stock have plenty of sweet, yummy grass to munch on.

You can't be on a farm without animals either.  Aunty Rob has 3 dogs which were a bit excited to see the kids.  It took awhile for everyone to get used to each other, especially Little Miss R who was TERRIFIED of one of the fast running and jumping dogs.

The kids were in their element though and while hubby and I finished setting up the camper, Aunty Rob took them around to meet and feed the animals. 

Mud, poo and everything else didn't worry them at all.  They had a ball and just loved being there.  In fact they both didn't want to come home and wanted to stay there forever.

There were goats to be fed.

Chickens and ducklings to collect eggs from.

Pigs that wanted attention (and food).

...and of course, cows to be milked.  The four calves were a hit too.

Yummy!  Fresh milk twice a day. 

It's interesting to note that my lactose intolerant boy could drink fresh cows milk without a problem.

It's a little difficult to make out on the next photo but a calf escaped so the round up started.

Little Miss R (in green dress), with Daddy and Master M following, had to chase the calf back towards Aunty Rob so she could get it back in the paddock. 

Now the kids thought that was great fun.

It was just such a relaxing couple of days with everyone enjoying good company, being around the animals, doing something different and just relaxing.

Oh and the storms each day were pretty good too.

It was a fantastic weekend and we're all looking forward to heading out again sometime soon. 

I hope you all had a great weekend too.

xx Susan

Do you remember this?

Our beloved camper trailer.

We've had two trips away in it, both had plenty of torrential rain moments.

We're really hoping this time will be different.

We're off to visit Shane's Aunty Rob tomorrow.

She lives on a farm 3 hours drive away with cows that she milks, some new baby calves, pigs, dogs, chooks and who knows what else.

The kids are excited and so am I.

Will let you know more when we return!

The end of our holiday

As holidays come to a close you seem to be torn in two.  I know I always am and that's because I want the holiday to continue but I'm also looking forward to getting home.  Does anyone else have this problem?  I'm sure I'm not the only one but when you're living in the moment it seems that no-one else feels like you do.

We had some fantastic days boating, kayaking, reading, crocheting (not as much as I'd like though), relaxing and just having a fantastic time.

For me it was being able to go to the toilet in peace because I had other's to help so I didn't hear the work 'mummy' screamed every 10 seconds.  I'm sure other mother's with young children know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.  Anyone who doesn't know, NEVER underestimate that one small luxury!

Even though the fishing wasn't great, we did manage to get some redclaw into the pots.

The storms and rain may have put a bit of a dampener on the holiday but it was so good to get away for awhile that I don't even really mind that.

Christmas is the next big thing for us, then Master M's fourth birthday in early January but I'm sure I'll be thinking of campfires and sunsets over the lake for awhile to come yet........

Our days were spent....

....teaching the kidlettes how to kayak.  They were spent fishing, reading, wandering around the campsite and basically being disconnected from all modern conveniences.

There were storms every day which is to be expected in Queensland in the lead up until Christmas.

I loved to head out early in the morning for a relaxing kayak myself before having to start the day.  It was so lovely watching the sun rise above the trees, look back at our campsite...........and know that I had about an hour to myself with no kids!!!!!!!!

We did go for a drive to the other side of the dam to the lookout one day as well as along the same side of the dam we were on and checked out some of the other campsites for future reference.

It was lucky we did because we spied some people we knew.  In fact there was a whole group of people camped together from Little Miss R's class at school so one afternoon I kayaked my girl around to their camp so she could play with a whole group of her school friends while I chatted to all the mum's.  We all thought it was hilarious that we all camped at the same dam and  Little Miss R just loved being able to play with her friends.

Unfortunately all holidays come to an end and we had to start thinking about packing up and going home.

More of that next time though.

xx Susan

The bulk of our holiday

Lake Boondooma or Boondooma Dam is where we went for our holiday this time.  It's about an hour's drive west of either Kingaroy or Murgon in Queenland and a freshwater fishing and redclaw dam for those that love those pastimes.

For us it meant 5 days away from it all with family and the chance to catch some fish or redclaw if we were lucky.

The whole 5 nights away consisted of me, my two kids, my parents and my nephew J.  Hubby Shane missed the first night because of work but was there all the other nights and my Uncle I was there the first night as he towed the boat for us, then went home and returned the last night to help us pack up the final day and tow the boat home.

We had storms almost every day so after our Cania Gorge trip (see side bar for more on that trip), I'm really getting used to camping in torrential rain.

Camping on the side of a dam meant that the water would really run down through the camp into the dam.   Most things got wet but thank goodness our trusty camper trailer withstood the rain and everything inside stayed dry.

The fish weren't really biting but we did get some redclaw in the pots and more than anything just enjoyed our time together away as a family.

We had campfires (thanks to Nana the campfire goddess) with marshmallows, as well as fun times going out to check the pots with daddy and poppy in the boat.

Once the kids realised they could have fun in the kayak then the entertainment really kicked up for them.

Nephew J (whose now 7) was pretty competent in the kayak so we let him paddle on his own but the other two little ones we tied a rope to the kayak so we could pull them back in if needed.

The kids did all have such a fantastic time and I have to say one of the miracles of our time away was the relationship between my Nephew J and my daughter Little Miss R.

These two have NEVER got on.  Nephew J is the older by 13 months and doesn't like girls.  He has also never got along with his cousin (Little Miss R).  In fact we had all decided that they would have a love/hate relationship for the rest of their lives because all they have ever done is fought.

After two days camping they were inseperable!  They got on so well and did everything together including sitting in the same chair.  No matter if it was dinner, colouring in or whatever activity they did, they just HAD to sit in the same chair snuggled up together.

They played together so well that all the adults who had watched their relationship for the last 6 years were in utter awe and on more than one occasion found ourselves in that giggly 'I can't believe it' attitude.

It will be interesting to see how their relationship changes now we're back home in our normal environment.  Will they continue to hate each other or will the holiday have changed their attitudes.  Time will only tell.....

xx Susan

The first day of our holiday...

....and I'm really starting to wonder why we wanted to go.

It's pouring rain, I have two kids fighting and I've had to do all the packing myself because hubby is away working and will be meeting us at the dam.

By 8am we're ready to go so I strap the kids into the car and we head around to my parents place to hook up the camper trailer and head off.

Before we go though there has been a change of plans.  My parents had origanlly decided to camp in a tent and tow the boat.  It's now pouring rain and we all decided it would be better if they took the caravan and my Uncle would come with us to tow the boat.

Just over two hours later after a bit of a reshuffle, we actally left.

It's a 4 hour drive give or take depending on the way you go, how many toilet stops your six year old needs and how many tantrums your 3 year old has.  I could write about the trip itself in a whole looooooong blog post but that would be just whinging and you don't really want to hear about it....trust me,  you really don't.

We finally got there (even though I was tempted to turn around a few times and go home), and got set up under dark and rainy looking skies.  Thank goodness the rain held off while we set up!  (Well I think it did, my brain really doesn't let me remember that far back unless I have photos of the actual moment).

After the basics were done, we enjoyed our first night in our new 'home' for 5 days with dinner, a brief wander around the area near us, then early bed for the night.

The next morning Daddy arrived for breakfast and then it was birthday cake time for morning tea as it was his birthday a few days before and we hadn't seen him because he was at work.

The day was spent going out in the boat, putting redclaw pots out, doing some fishing, plenty of relaxing and then there was an uninvited visitor......

...this goanna was pretty thirsty and had run down to the dam for a drink then nearly ran though our campsite while trying to get away from the pesky birds that squarked and pecked at him the whole time. 

Talk about exciting times for the kids!! Not much beats a goanna and noisy birds for entertainment.

Will write about the next few days soon.

xx Susan

A taste of holidays

Five days away with no electicity.

That means 5 days with campfires, lots of space for kids to run.....

...a 98% full dam for kids to swim, boat and kayak in....

...and plenty of rain, storms, steamy weather (it is summer after all), and just some plain family fun.

5 days with no mobile phone reception, no internet, no electricity.

It was absolute bliss even if the fish weren't biting.

There will be more soon once I'm a bit more organised.  Hopefully that will be before Christmas!

love to all

xx Susie

Off to.......

.......Boondooma Dam near Murgon tomorrow for 5 days.  Lets hope it's relaxing and lots of fish and red claw will be caught.

I'm in desperate need of a break (more so from my kids but that's not likely to happen in the next week) but will have a lovely time with hubby, kids, my parents and my nephew as well as any other family members who may turn up during that time.

I'm longing for help with the kids and some time to sit, relax, do some crochet and be able to complete a sentence or even half a thought without getting interrupted with a loud, wailing MUMMY!

See you all soon and hopefully I'll be so relaxed and recharged I'll be able to get back into normal blogging.

xx Susie

Cania Gorge:: Part 5 - In Camp

Camp was where we spent a lot of time in our 4 or so days at Cania Gorge.  The main reason for that was because it rained so much but we did have moments when we could get out and about to do some outdoorsy things.

Making campfires is one definate things that you have to do while camping.

We got one night in all the nights away when we could actually light a campfire because it wasn't raining.

It was so fantastic to be able to sit around it, stoke it up, chat and watch the kids enjoying it.  Thank goodness we had one good night!

There was plenty of bird life around the camp as well which is not unusual.

 The birds love to see what they can scavenge from campsite and the Currawongs are no exceptions.  We had plenty of them as well as magpies and kookaburras around trying to steal from under the tarps so we had to keep everything packed away pretty well.

The kids were entertained by riding their bikes, kicking balls and running around with sticks and making up some interesting games and imaginative roleplays which was quite cute to listen into.

We also had a night when there was a sausage sizzle put on by the park owners.  It happened between downpours and the snags were cooked to perfection over the communal campfire in the middle of the park.

We got to meet other lovely campers who all knew about us mainly because of the kids.  We were the only one with kids in the park (middle of the school term and not holidays), so everyone pretty well heard where we were.

We were intending to be away for nearly two weeks but in the end we left home on Thursday and arrived back home on Monday afternoon.

Why?

Lovely hubby got a bit ill with a middle ear problem called Vertigo and we ended up at Monto hospital on Saturday arvo because we had no idea what was going on.

He couldn't stand up straight because he kept having head spins and falling over so we thought it best to get it checked out at home.

So we were so looking forward to spending nearly a month away going up to

Cape York.

Because of Lovely hubby's work that ended up having to be cut short so we decided on a couple of weeks away to Cania Gorge and we would decide where to go after that.

In the end we were away for 5 days and two of those days were spent driving.

I had to drive all the way home from Cania Gorge to home on the Monday because Lovely hubby is not allowed to drive.

We left at 11 am and got home about 4.45pm.  I did a bloody good job if I say so myself pulling a heavy trailer and quickly learning how to tow things up and down hilly ranges.

It was great and has given me a lot more confidence although I know I couldn't do it by myself in future, I'm just too short and not strong enough to set everything up so I'll always need help.

Back to normal blog stuff soon as our holiday is definately over (sigh.....).

xx Susan

Cania Gorge:: Part 4 - Bushwalking

Now there's two reasons to go to Cania Gorge.  One is for the fishing as the dam is on the other side of the Gorge, the second is for the bushwalks.

We love getting out and about and going for a bushwalk and the ones at the gorge were great for the kids.  There were some reasonable walks that the kids could easily do without getting too tired and grumpy and we got to see a variety of things including creeks....

...caves (this one's the Dragon's cave)...

...and plenty of amazing formations in the sandstone.

 

We got to check out the views when we walked to the top of the escarpment below.

Then there were some more caves to explore.  This one's the Bloodwood cave.....

....so called because it has the roots of a bloodwood tree growing down into a corner of it.

There's plenty of interesting logs and other things to look at on the way.

One walk started at the place where we stayed and just 50 metres away from the main building (you can see it peeking through the trees)...

was Big Foot.  This was a natural picture of a foot on one of the sandstone walls.  The kids loved seeing this one and being so close to camp meant we could come for a quick walk to look at it when they were getting a bit full-on (which was most of the time!)

I just loved the difference in rainforest, to open forest in a small area.

Some of the shapes made by the rocks, not to mention the peep holes, caves and paths through the rocks was pretty amazing too.  We could let our imaginations run wild and pretend lots of things out there with the kids.

So even though it rained a lot of the time and we had to come home early (more on that another time), we still got to get out and about and see some of the beautiful things that Cania Gorge has to offer.

xx Susan

Cania Gorge:: Part 3 - Textures

I love taking photos and have come to realise over the past few days that I love taking photos when I'm out and about. 

Natural, spur of the moment photos are what I love taking and I have a lot of difficulty taking good still life photos.  I don't seem to have an eye for setting things up and taking a good photo of them.

When you're out bushwalking there's so many amazing things to see.  Not just the path, trees, rocks and caves but the little things too.

I loved these tiny little plants about as big as a 10 cent piece, nestled in the arm of a tree root.

The moss on the rocks was springy to touch.

There were so many different kinds of trees.  Some had dimples...

 

...some had sap running out. (The kids were a bit distressed because they thought the tree was bleeding)

Some trees were loosing their bark which made them look half dressed....

...and some trees had rough bark.

The bush flowers were beautiful.

And of course moss on logs is always a favourite.

There's plenty of other wonderful things to see at Cania Gorge too and not everything seen through a macro lens!  I'll show you some of the caves and creeks next time.

xx Susan