Lightening Online

Only a few more sleeps until we head off on our big adventure to Melbourne.  SQUEEEE!!!

I am MEGA excited!!!!!

All except for the flying bit.

I’ve been deliberately trying not to think about that.

You see, I’m flying phobic.

I’m 36 years old and I’ve flown in a plane ONCE in my entire life.

A small 12-seater plane.

I thought I would be pretty safe because it was a short flight over the gulf.

My biggest fear is going down in the water.  But I figured it was only a short expanse of water so any trouble and the plane could simply glide across and land safely, right?

Wrong!

Less than 2 weeks after my inaugural flight, the exact same company in an exact same model plane I had flown in had an accident.  The plane went down in the water and all onboard were killed.  Including our next door neighbours.

On that day I vowed and declared I would NEVER fly again!

And I haven’t.

Until early next week when I’m planning to conquer those fears and fly again.

Not with the same company mind you.

They went bust after the accident.

But firstly in a small plane from Port Lincoln to Adelaide.

Then a larger one from Adelaide to Melbourne.

All with Qantas (yeah, the company that’s been having all the engine troubles in recent times… at least no-one has died though).

But right now, I’m not even thinking about dying.

I’m too confused about what I’m allowed to take and not take.

Particularly in the carry-on section.

So, help me out peoples who are used to flying.

1.  Can I take all my medications for the trip on board?

Some places seem to be saying only what you need for the actual flight (or in my case I assume both flights given it’s been booked together - basically flying from Port Lincoln to Melbourne with a change of planes in between).  Others seem to say take all your medications on board in case your luggage goes missing.

2.  Am I allowed to take my own bottled water on the plane?

From what I’ve read, you have to restrict all liquids to 100ml and that includes water?  How stupid!  Will they give me water on the plane and will it be nice water????

3. Do I have to put any lipsticks or lipglosses I usually carry in my handbag, into a little clear plastic bag?

Guess I might have to clear the million and one of them out of my handbag and only carry 1 or 2?

4.  Will they offer me a gluten free snack or can I take my own?

They won’t allow me to put gluten free in my special requests on the Qantas website as we don’t get a meal.  But I understand they still serve some kind of refreshment on the plane (?).  The trips are only short (about 45 minutes and then an hour and a quarter) but I like eating when I’m bored and we leave home at 6am and get to Melbourne after 1pm so I’m gonna get hungry at some point!

5.  Are they going to strip search me?

Bwwahaahaaa.  No, seriously.  I’m terrified about all this “security” stuff and I’m not even leaving the country!

6.  What if they lose my luggage?

And what if we think they’re putting it onto our next flight (which they’ve said they will do) and they don’t and it’s left sitting in Adelaide?  Or what if someone else grabs it and I have no clothes to wear?  And what if we get lost in the Melbourne Airport, or worse still, our flight from Port Lincoln gets delayed and we never make it to Melbourne?

Yeah, I’m a worry-wart. 

Please share with me any tips you have for flying, including ways to overcome my fears and relax and enjoy the journey!

I mean, come on, people do this all the time.  I don’t want to spoil the trip by being over-stressed about the flying bit.

P.S.  My kids are SO jealous that we’re leaving them behind AND that we’re flying - we never fly when we have them with us (I did the sums with them to show them the reason we don’t fly when we have all 5 of us).

I cannot believe we are actually going to do this!

A week or so ago we decided to do something a bit “out there” for our 15th wedding anniversary and fly to Melbourne for a few days.

Our Wedding Anniversary is later this month so it’s pretty much a last minute thing.

I’m so excited I hardly know what to do with myself!

We found a good deal on accommodation here:

Doesn’t that look like a castle to you?

It’s called the Hotel Windsor and it’s 5 star!!!!

5 star!!!!!!

I hope they don’t expect big tips!

I’ve NEVER stayed in anything close to 5 stars before and wasn’t thinking I ever would.

The deal was almost 1/3 of the “normal” price AND includes breakfast (I’m sure “normal” prices on those last minute places are on the inflated side of “normal”).

Still more than we would normally pay but for 3 nights, it’s doable.

One of the reasons we decided on Melbourne (other than the fact that I LOVE the place), is so we can go and see this:

I’ve always wanted to go to the theatre with Farmboy.  It’s not really his “thing” but I’m hoping Hairspray will be a good choice that both of us can enjoy.

I’ve also always wanted to go on one of these:

I’m hoping to book one to pick us up from the theatre and take us on a short ride (about half an hour) around the city before dropping us back at our hotel.  It’s the one thing I haven’t actually booked yet but I have started making enquiries and we should be able to get one.

You’d think that would make for a lovely anniversary wouldn’t you?  But that’s all happening the day BEFORE our wedding anniversary.  For our actual anniversary, we’re going on this:

It’s a restaurant on a tram and I always wanted to go on it when we lived in Melbourne.

3 hours and a 5 course meal while we enjoy the night lights of Melbourne and inner suburbs (when we’re not busy gazing lovingly into one another’s eyes of course LOL).

Other plans include a cruise down the Yarra River (just a sightseeing cruise), a visit to the Lindt cafe, SHOPPING and generally just hanging out together.

We’re spending as much on 4 days as we’d normally spend on about 2 weeks holiday but hopefully we’re going to cram at least 2 weeks of fun and memories into those 4 days!

At the very least, I’m going to have a few things to add to my “101 Things I Thought I’d Never Do” list.

There’s only a few days now until the Summer holidays are over for another year.

I need another 2-3 weeks at LEAST!

They just go so quickly and I always have grand plans for what we’ll achieve.

Only to find we run out of time.

Year after year after year.

I think it would be good if we had a 3 month break like the US and the UK seem to (don’t quote me on the exact length of their break, I’m not really sure but it always seems longer than ours).

This years holidays, while being a week longer than some we’ve had, seem to have gone even quicker than usual.

I think between harvest running late and me being in bed for nearly 3 weeks, it’s been doubly hard to fit in the “fun and relaxing” stuff we’d like to.

Not to mention the fact that we did 2 weeks of swimming lessons this year instead of the normal 1 week.

It’s been great though (if you don’t count me being ill).

The kids have been getting along really well.

We’ve had some quality time with pretty much all of our extended family (and with 3 siblings each for Farmboy and I, that’s a few people to catch up with - we have missed seeing my youngest brother and his wife but they’re the only ones).

The kids have had a ball with their cousins (Christmas with my side and New Year with Farmboy’s side).

And we’ve just spent 5 nights away at our nearest beach (about half an hours drive) having some quality family time.  Lots of fishing, cycling, swimming and generally “hanging out” together.  With Lleyton starting high school this year, we’re aware that we need to take advantage of these years.

It was a fitting “end” to the summer holidays.

How many weeks until the next lot?

My apologies for the delay in getting more pics posted.  Our internet is playing up (again!).  Here are the photo’s of Cooper Creek:

Underneath all that water is the Birdsville Track!  As you can see, it’s not exactly passable by vehicle at the moment.  Farmboy didn’t really drive through it, he just backed up the car to the edge. 

If you wish to get further North, you have to take a detour track:

And as you can see, it’s pretty much a “track”.  I was amazed that some people brought caravans through here and others attempted it with 2WD vehicles (and then wished they hadn’t).

You can see the single-car ferry behind the kids.   The last time this ferry was running was 1990.  So 20 years ago.  There was just a phenomenal amount of water!  And when you realise how many lakes the creek has to fill on it’s way down it’s hard to even comprehend how much water it takes for the creek to flood over the Birdsville Track.

We took a boat ride on the Cooper.  Above you can see us looking back at the Ferry from the creek and also our silver Pajero’s (our friends also have a silver Pajero).  The silver building is a long drop toilet marked “women”.  I guess the men are expected to use a bush!!??  You need a peg for your nose and your own roll of paper to use it.

The boat cruise was very interesting.  We got a good look around and a bit of history of the place as well.  At one spot we were shown where a make shift bridge was built to get sheep across when the creek was wet.  It certainly would have taken a special breed of people to work the stations back in pioneering days!  Lots of hard yakka!

I’ve forgotten the name of it but the image above is one of the Lakes that gets filled as the water makes it way along, eventually ending up in Lake Eyre.  When there is water around, there is some good money to be made fishing in some of those lakes too.  And because they will dry up, there’s no real point in not fishing them “dry” (the fish are not going to survive once the water disappears).

It was a really interesting day and the kids seemed to enjoy it as much as we did (I wasn’t sure how boring they would find it).

On our way back to Marree, we stopped in at a little camping spot set up by one of the stations.  They had a little tub there that could be filled direct from a hot spring.  It was a bit warm for my liking but the kids enjoyed it:

Next Installment (hopefully in the not too distant future): Lake Eyre.

It’s been a while since we’ve used our camper trailer.  More than 2 years (that’s how long we’ve had the caravan) although I’m not exactly sure when the last time we used it was.

We kept it thinking we’d still use it for camping but hadn’t used it since we bought the caravan.

So in the school holidays we dragged it out of the shed, dusted it off and decided to take a trip.

Trailer Boy was particularly excited as he can’t even remember going camping in the Camper Trailer.

We decided to head north with some friends to see the Cooper Creek in flood and the ferry that has been reset up for the first time in 20 years to take traffic across the creek (the Birdsville track is cut off where the Cooper has run over the road).

To make it lots more fun, we went with another family.

To make it more challenging - we told the kids they had to go “electronics free” (okay, we did let them have their DS’s for a while in the car but then locked them in the glove box).

So the kids didn’t feel totally “abused”, we also went phone free and I went make up free (well, Farmboy went make up free also but that’s normal for him! LOL).

Stupid phones didn’t work out there anyway (yeah, we did try and send 1 text as a friend went into hospital just before we left and we thought we’d better check if he was still alive - he is by the way).

Our kids are used to caravan parks with lawn and jumping pillows etc etc.

This one just had dirt.

Yet another challenge.

But they were up to it.   It did take a little while but they soon figured out ways to turn dirt and stones into games:

This had disintegrated a bit by the time I got a photo of it but it was a hopscotch of sorts.  Half the fun was in the making!

While we were packing up, the kids invented some kind of game which had them exercising to become “strong men” or something like that:

It was a GREAT experience for them and I was tempted to come home and throw out all of their toys.  Kids don’t really need toys do they?

Of course, camping wouldn’t be camping if you didn’t have to share the facilities with a few Australian natives:

This little lady had taken up residence in the Female Toilet Block.  She didn’t really bother us though (at least she wasn’t on the toilet seat!).

The facilities in Marree were basic but at least the water was hot and the toilets flushed.  I’m not a huge fan of the whole “bush camping”. 

More photo’s of Cooper Creek and Lake Eyre to come.

I did my “Easter Shopping” today. So I’m all ready now. I generally try not to shop too early as it’s too tempting!!! LOL.

We often go away for Easter but this year we’ve been so busy that we decided against an Easter weekend away. Fun as it would be, I just don’t have the energy to get packed up again (We’ve had 2 weekends away in March as well as being away Tuesday night for our anniversary plus 2 of the kids have had school camps this term).

Of course, added to that is the complication of “who” to spend Easter with. Farmboys family tend to gather at the family shack. We also have a few friends who we’ve gone camping with and it gets hard to choose who we will go with.

So, we’re looking forward to a little quieter weekend this year.

Our weekend looks something like this:

Thursday night - Tennis wind-up
Friday - Church in the morning then down to the beach to spend some time with DH’s family.
Saturday - Quiet day at home. Farmboy is planning to do some more paving and I’d like to get out in the garden (hopefully the weather is nice).
Sunday - unlikely that we’ll make the dawn service this year (would have to leave around 5.30am to make it) so most likely a quiet morning at home then down to the beach for more time with Farmboys family.
Monday - another home day

It should be pleasant without being too overwhelming or exhausting.

We also seem to have fallen into a kind of pattern for what we give the kids:

* pr winter pj’s (would buy anyway but it’s nice to put out for Easter as it’s often about when the weather starts to cool down - although being so early this year, they might not get used for a few weeks).
* book
* chocolate eggs

Plus I’ve bought some small eggs for an egg hunt (another tradition we’ve done any Easter we’re home since the kids have been little).

We also give to the nieces and nephews on Farmboy’s side of the family (when we see them which is most years).

I’ve tried not to buy too much chocolate this year but by the time you add in hot cross buns with butter, chips, dip, cheeses etc, Easter is a really DANGEROUS time for my waist line.

So, what are you planning this Easter?  Heading away or staying home?  Do you have any family “traditions” for this time of year?

And the big one:

What do you do in the way of Easter “gifts”?

Do you buy the same things each year or vary it.  Do you set a money limit?  Do you buy more than just chocolate for gifts?

I mentioned in my last post before going away for Easter the certainty of having plenty of smiley moments over the Easter weekend.

I obviously wasn’t thinking straight.

Or didn’t expect:

• To bash myself in the eye trying to unload the kids bikes from the back of the ute
• To come down with a cold and spend half the time sweating and the other half shivering uncontrollably.
• To have a young child crash into me while riding their bike
• To get bitten by March flies and have to endure HORRIBLE itching from the bites1
• To poke a stick through the bottom of my foot and end up with horrible bruising all around the wound that I can feel every time I take a step
• To be picking up after my children every half hour so that I can find the caravan under all their stuff!!!!
• To eat so much my pants don’t seem to want to do up (okay, I did kind of expect to eat too much)

LOL.

It wasn’t all bad, honestly. 

We did have HEAPS of fun!  It’s interesting to holiday close to home and really get a chance to have a good look around “in your own backyard” (figuratively speaking).

Views like this make my wonder why we’d ever want to go anywhere else!!!

These are some local fishfarms on the horizon:

The kids enjoyed running up and down some sand-dunes.  These are not far from where we stay in January every year and I had NO IDEA they were there!!!

Lleyton feels like he’s “on top of the world”:

We tried our hand at  Geogaching for the first time.  It’s a bit of a treasure hunt using GPS co-ordinates.  I don’t know a lot about it but the friends we were with did the research and found out about it.  We simply tagged along for the fun.  I think we’ll try and do some while on our big trip.

This was the first one we found:

Lots of fishing was the order of the weekend.  We even managed to actually catch some!!!!

And you gotta love a man fishing with a PINK fishing rod!!!!

Pity you can’t really tell from the photograph. 

I think you could safely say that “a good time was had by all”.  And the wonderful thing about not going far away is that we’re home, the caravan has been unpacked AND cleaned (go me!!!  I usually put it off for about a week) AND so far 2 loads of washing have gone through the machine (something for which my parched garden is extremely thankful).

The weather over the weekend was absolutely superb.  Great living weather.  We’d be happy for it to rain anytime now though. 

On the agenda for tonight is eating up leftovers and getting to bed early!!!!

Hope you all had a fabulous Easter weekend!!!!

We’re home.

And I need a holiday!

To get over our holiday!

A full-on week with extended family followed by a week of travelling back and forth for swimming lessons (yeah, we stayed at the beach but our kids did Vacswim at the pool in town). Next year we’ve decided to stay at home for the week of swimming lessons. Farmboy may as well get some work done while I’m travelling back and forth and we can have a weeks break (or even a few days) a little later in the holidays (so goes the plan anyhow).

Topped off with a sleep-over for Singstar Princesses 8th birthday.

We had lots of fun swimming and fishing and staying up half the night talking (and trying to get a room of 5 cousins asleep at a decent hour!).

But in a way I’m relieved to be home.

Or at least I will be when I get through the mound of unpacking, washing and sorting of Christmas gifts that needs doing.

Oh, and I guess I should take our Christmas tree down sometime.

And pack away the decorations for another year.

Is it just me or do the January school holidays tend to fly by?

Only 2 more weeks and the kids are back at school!!!! It’s unreal!

I can’t complain too much about the busy-ness of the past 2 weeks though. I managed to read my way through 6 novels in that time! Ahhh….bliss!!!!

My apologies to those who were looking for Smiley Saturday on Saturday. We should be back to regular programming now (whatever that means around here) and look out for the return of Smiley Saturday this weekend.