The Aftermath

This is the bit everyone hates about camping (except maybe the kids).

When we camp, we set up a large tarp over the top of the tents. This means there is usually no need to set them up again when we get home to let them air out.

When there is a Category 4 cyclone 400 km away from your campsite, that changes things a tad.

After getting home, we had to set everything up, clean it up, put it away again that night (it only took a couple of hours to dry) & go to work the next day.

Under our house was not spared. There were camping ropes, poles, bags, helmets, bikes, esky's, & a ton of wet clothes.

For a week I had to stand in the trailer to hang the washing up under the house because it took us that long to finally clean the last of it up.

Still, it was a good weekend & I would do it again.

( ...maybe next year)

The First Step

Today we got our letter from Kindy that Little Bear will start going full time from the week after easter.

That makes me one step closer to having to work full time.

The next step is to agree to a starting date & full time hours with my work.

The final step will be on 1 May (subject to change but that is unlikely) when I work my first Friday in almost 2 years.

(Of course any mother reading this will realise I am referring to paid work because the hardest work of all is the work we do for free at home).

Interestingly, my first full time week will also be my first time I am away from Little Bear overnight, as I will be travelling to Brisbane for 2 nights with work. I know her Father is very capable of looking after her & Cheetah alone, however I will miss them all very very much. I cannot deny though that I am also looking forward to not having to prepare dinner, or do dishes, or nag children to do their homework & get ready for bed on time. Whatever will I do with myself ?

More Camping

OK, I know you are all dying to hear what else we got up to while camping.

OK, so I am going to tell you anyway !!!

Friday afternoon (I think) it was starting to get a bit overcast - thanks to Cyclone Hamish who we didn't even know existed at that time. We just knew it looked like the fire was going to go out.

The boys came up with a plan (although I think DH would have prefered it if we had been using one of Uncle J's tarps but lo and behold, they didn't have any suitable so Uncle J's idea had to be carried out using our tarp. Anybody who knows Uncle J knows that this is a dangerous situation).

This was their plan !!!

Interestingly, it actually worked (although DH swears his tarp is a foot shorter each side). Since there was very little wind, when it rained, the rain just came straight down & the fire hardly got wet. There were still hot coals in the morning.

You might also notice the 2 door "ensuite" (which when camping means a tent to shower/get changed in) in the background & the hoses running towards the fire.

DH spoke to some fella's at work about his upcoming camping trip & someone told him about this idea they had tried in order to have hot showers. They ran a hose from a large tub of water to the fire, connected it to a spiralled copper pipe that sat in the fire which was connected to another hose running back to the tub of water & a small pump keeping the water moving between the tub & the fire. The water got to a lovely temperature & stayed there because the fire was heating at the same time the rest of the bucket was cooling. The pump also worked to move the water from the tub into the shower head & could do this at the same time as moving it through the fire.

Seeing as DH's works with pump's and at one time his job description was "Pump Technician" I knew he would make it work, but even I was impressed at how nice the shower was. Much better than the usual camping shower.

Anyway, enough about roughing it (yes, we do it tough !!!) here are some that reflect why we enjoy camping.

A butterfly that liked the colour blue. Little Bear & I were the only one's wearing a lot of blue & it kept landing on us, much to Little Bear's absolute delight. Notice my beautifully pedicured tonails (pity about the old woman's feet they are attached to). Those were a birthday gift from my SIL - Aunty J. Her birthday was also this month & she will also get a present .... eventually!

This is a Lace Monitor. I think he is the same one we see every time we come to this place. He is just nosy enough to come up close, but not nosy enough that I worry about him hurting the kids (or us for that matter).

Little Bear 'helping'. (Yes that is a patch of dirt, but how dare it mess up that beautiful green grassy landscape. Unfortunately it was a bit stubborn & she never got rid of it, but not for lack of trying).

Here is why we don't get too many photo's of Cheetah lately. He's usually doing something like this ...

(BTW - Before Grannysaurus & Mummy McT have a fit that I have allowed my son to have a can of coke, that is my can not his ! and to clarify, Grannysaurus & M.McT just know how anal I am about my son not drinking coke or other caffeinated beverages)

Well you can't expect us to give up all life's little pleasures when camping, - can you?

Little Bear when asked "what have you got" showed us. It's a mouthful of M&M's

Mmmmm - Chocolate !!!

Princess

Isn't she perfect?



She was dressed for Aunty J's birthday tea at Grannysaurus's place. It is not often that her dress is clean, she is wearing both shoes & she doesn't have a hair out of place (all at once). She was also in a really good mood & actually stood still long enough for me to take a photo.

There are some more photo's with Cheetah in them, but they are on his camera. If any of them are OK I will post one later. Have to download them onto my computer first though.

She has really been turning on the cuteness lately. Of course she has her moments but when she turns her head on the side & uses those big puppy dog eyes on you it melts your heart (or when she squishes your face between her palms, touches noses & calls you "my tootie pie" {translation: my cutie pie} in the sweetest voice)

Fateful Voyage

More camping tales...

Here is Little Bear & her daddy having a nice peaceful float on a rubber raft.


Little Bear wasn't entirely keen on the boat, however it kept her out of the very cold water so she didn't fuss too much.





This was the first day we were camping. The next day everyone except Little Bear & I (3 adults & 3 children) decided to take the raft up the rapids, all climb in & ride it down. All of them can swim.


They did this successfully once & decided to go again. The second time down wasn't quite so good.


As they were rushing down one particular spot, the raft was swept by the rapids into a tree.


I will now give you Cheetah's version of this story.


"The boat crashed into a tree and I went smashing into the tree and T was underwater & I was tangled in the rope which was wrapped around my finger & it was the only thing stopping me from drowning & it nearly severed my finger. I nearly died & the boat is still stuck in the tree 'cause Uncle J couldn't get it out."


I thought he was exaggerating. Some bits were exaggerated, but not as much as I thought.


The boat crashed into the tree with half the occupants going one way, half going the other & Cousin T going under. Cheetah got tangled in the tree with the boat. DH grabbed him, asked if he was OK & when Cheetah said yes he got shoved to the river bank. DH then went looking for the other kids. Aunty M had gone forward & when she looked back she could see Uncle J but Couldn't see either of her two kids. Uncle J meantime had found Cousin C who was panicking (out of view behind the tree to Aunty M) & he managed to get her off to the side & raced back to extract cousin T who was still under water.

It happened very quickly with none of the adults exactly sure what happened when the boat hit the tree.

All were OK with only some scratches & bruises & some very bad memories to speak of. I have written a very brief & unembellished story (there was other stuff that happened) because I wasn't there, so I don't know exactly what happened & the adults that were don't really want to talk about it. It must have been quite traumatic.

Everyone survived except the raft. I think everyone was so glad the kids were alive, they didn't really care about the raft.

Pay It Forward

I have won somehing from Possum. I'm not sure what it is, because it's going to be a surprise! I can't wait till I get it!!!

Now that I have won, I have to host my own 'Pay it Forward'.

The rules are:

* The first 3 people who comment on my blog, telling me what they think of it, will win a homemade prize from ME!!!
* I have to post it within 365 days. I don't think it will take that long though! ;)
* The 3 people who win a prize, MUST host a 'Pay it Forward' on their blog, then follow the rules as normal.

Good Luck!!!

Tranquility

Welcome to the first installment of the camp experience...

Now camping with kids isn't the most peaceful experience, but it is still usually better than the hustle & bustle of everyday life.

When it came to the noise level, this camping trip definitely wasn't peaceful.

Here is a video of a Lace Monitor (otherwise known as a Goanna). It isn't a very exciting video, (sorry it's sideways but I couldn't help that) however if you turn the sound up as loud as you can, you will hear what we listened to all weekend.

That is the sound of Flying Foxes. Usually they are only this noisy at dawn & dusk, but this time there were so many of them fighting for space in the trees that they kept this up all day & all night long.

The only time this noise stopped was when it was raining so hard that the noise of the rain was as loud as the noise of the flying foxes had been previously. As soon as the rain eased up, the flying foxes began again. The worst of it was when it was only gently raining, because then we had both the noise of the rain AND the noise of the flying foxes.